It happened to me recently. I was telling someone how much I had enjoyed reading Barack Obama’s Dreams From My Father and how it had changed my views of our President. A friend I was talking to agreed with me that it was, in his words, “a brilliantly（精彩地）written book”. However, he then went on to talk about Mr Obama in a way which suggested he had no idea of his background at all. I sensed that I was talking to a book liar.
And it seems that my friend is not the only one. Approximately two thirds of people have lied about reading a book which they haven’t. In the World Book Day’s “Report on Guilty Secrets”, Dreams From My Father is at number 9.The report lists ten books, and various authors, which people have lied about reading, and as I’m not one to lie too often (I’d hate to be caught out), I’ll admit here and now that I haven’t read the entire top ten. But I am pleased to say that, unlike 42 percent of people, I have read the book at number one, George Orwell’s 1984.I think it’s really brilliant.
The World Book Day report also has some other interesting information in it. It says that many people lie about having read Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Fyodor Dostoevsky (I haven’t read him, but haven’t lied about it either ) and Herman Melville.
Asked why they lied, the most common reason was to “impress” someone they were speaking to. This could be tricky if the conversation became more in depth!
But when asked which authors they actually enjoy, people named J. K. Rowling, John Grisham, Sophie Kinsella (ah, the big sellers, in other words). Fortytwo percent of people asked admitted they turned to the back of the book to read the end before finishing the story (I’ll come clean: I do this and am astonished that 58 percent said they had never done so).
| A．By judging his manner of speaking. |
| B．By looking into his background. |
| C．By mentioning a famous name. |
| D．By discussing the book itself. |
| A．Charles Dickens is very low on the topten list. |
| B．42% of people pretended to have read 1984. |
| C．The author admitted having read 9 books. |
| D．Dreams From My Father is hardly read. |
| A．control the conversation | B．appear knowledgeable |
| C．learn about the book | D．make more friends |
| A．Favorable. | B．Uncaring. |
| C．Doubtful. | D．Friendly. |
When international aid is given, steps must be taken to ensure (确保)that the aid reaches the people for whom it is intended. The way to achieve this may not be simple. It is very difficult for a nation to give help directly to people in another nation. The United Nations Organiztion(UNO) could undertake to direct the distribution of aid. Here however rises the problem of costs. Also tied with this is time. Perhaps the UNO could set up a body of devoted men and women is every country who can speedily distribute aid to victims of floods and earthquakes.
More than the help that one nation can give to another during a disaster, it would be more effective to give other forms of help during normal times. A common proverb says, “Give me a fish and I eat for day, teach me to fish and I eat for a lifetime.” If we follow this wise saying, it would be right to teach people from less developed nations to take care of themselves. For example, a country could share its technology with another. This could be in simple areas like agriculture or in more complex areas like medical and health care or even in building satellites. Even small country is able to help less developed nations. Sometimes what is take for granted, like the setting up of a water purification plant or the administration of a school, could be useful for countries which are looking about to solve common problems. It does not cost much to share such simple things. Exchange students could be attached for a number of months or years and learn the required craft while on the site. They can then take their knowledge back to their homelands and if necessary come back form time to time to clear doubts or to update themselves. Such aid will be truly helpful and there is no chance of it being temporary or of it falling into the wrong hands.
Many countries run extensive courses in all sorts of skills. It will not cost much to include deserving foreigners in these courses. Besides giving effective help to the countries concerned, there is also the build-up of friendships to consider. Giving direct help by giving materials may be effective in the short run and must continue to be given in the event of emergencies. However, in the long run what is really effective would be the sharing of knowledge. According to the author, how could international aid reach the victims in time ?
| A．By solving the cost problems |
| B．By solving the transportation problems |
| C．By setting up a body of devoted people in every country. |
| D．By relying on the direct distribution of the UNO. |
What does the author try to express in the underlined sentence ?
| A．Providing food is vital |
| B．Learning to fish is helpful |
| C．Teaching skills is essential |
| D．Looking after others is important. |
The second paragraph is developed mainly _________.
| A．by example | B．by process |
| C．by comparison | D．by contrast |
What can we infer about international aid from the passage ?
| A．It is facing difficulties. |
| B．It is unnecessary during normal times |
| C．It should be given in the form of materials |
| D．It has gained support developed countries |
Online Money Earning
Yes, you can earn money online without any investment or without anytime limit. I have many useful easy methods for earning easy money while we all spend our useful time on the Internet by surfing, chatting, downloading and other work. There is no need to stop any other work. We can earn with or without our daily routine. Here I tell you the complete method for online earning.
First Method
Earn money with“Bux. to”. You can earn money through “Bux.to” by clicking on ads on“Bux. To” site. First you need to open an account at“Bux. To”.
“Bux. To” is a new international and free English based service that allows advertisers to reach thousands of potential customers by displaying their ads on our“Surf Ads”page. An exact calculated percentage of all advertising income is paid to our members. “Bux. to” makes money through advertising.
How you make money
You view websites in 30 seconds through the “Surf Ads” page. Once the 30 seconds is up, you’ll either get a green tick(对号) sign or a red “x”. The green tick sign means you’ve earned $0.01and the “x” means you have not earned money for the visit. You’ll get red “x”s when you have more than one website from the “Surf Ads” page open. When this happens, you get no credit.
Earnings example
You click 10 ads per day =$0.10
20 referrals(转送) click 10 ads per day =$2.00
Your daily earnings =$2.10
Your weekly earnings =$14.70
Your monthly earnings =$63.00
How to get paid
If you have at least $10.00 accumulated, you can click on your account balance within your states area and it will meet your request. At present, it only makes payments through “AlertPay”. It will soon be using other methods of payment.
AlertPay is the payment processing solution that we use to pay members. Your AlertPay address is the e-mail address you use to register with AlertPay. You can get a free AlertPay account at http:// alertpay. com.
Method 2 will publish soon… What is the author’s purpose of writing this passage?
| A．To tell an interesting story. |
| B．To introduce a surprising way to earn money. |
| C．To solve a puzzling problem. |
| D．To present an exciting research. |
You can earn money by ________.
| A．chatting online |
| B．advertising some products |
| C．clicking on advertisements |
| D．choosing green ticks or “x”s |
The underlined word “accumulated” can be replaced by “________”.
| A．wasted. | B．spent. |
| C．lost. | D．gathered. |
Researchers found that people become happier and experience less worry after they reach the age of fifty. In fact, they say by the age of eighty-five, people are happier with their life than they were when they were eighteen years old.
Arthur Stone in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stony Brook University in New York led the study. His team found that levels of stress were highest among adults between the ages of twenty-two and twenty-five. The findings showed that stress levels dropped sharply after people reached their fifties. Happiness was highest among the youngest adults and those in their early seventies. The people least likely to report feeling negative emotions were those in their seventies and eighties.
The findings appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers say they do not know why happiness increases as people get older. One theory is that, as people grow older, they grow more thankful for what they have and have better control of their emotions. They also spend less time thinking about bad experiences.
The researchers considered possible influences like having young children, being unemployed or being single. But they found that influences like these did not affect the levels of happiness and well-being related to age.
The study also showed that men and women have similar emotional patterns as they grow older. However, women at all ages reported more sadness, stress and worry than men. What is the best title of the passage?
| A．The older a person is, the more stressed he feels. |
| B．The more lighthearted a person is, the happier he is. |
| C．The older a person is the more clever he grows. |
| D．The older a person is, the happier he grows. |
We can learn from the research that _________.
| A．only when people get older, will they feel happier |
| B．older people usually have no worries in their life |
| C．stress levels among the youngest are the highest of all |
| D．older people are more likely to be thankful in life |
According to the researchers, what is probably the reason why people grow happier when they get older?
| A．When people get older, they can’t remember bad experiences. |
| B．When people get older, they have no young children to care about. |
| C．When people get older, they learn to adjust their feelings. |
| D．When people get older, they don’t care about their feelings. |
What would the writer probably deal with in next paragraph?
| A．Advice to the young people on how to keep happy. |
| B．Advice to the old people on how to live longer. |
| C．Why women at all ages are more sad, stressed and worried. |
| D．Why people will grow happier with their ages. |
Brrriiinnng．The alarm clock announces the start of another busy weekday in the morning．You jump out of bed, rush into the shower, into your clothes and out the door with hardly a moment to think．A stressful journey to work gets your blood pressure climbing．Once at the office, you glance through the newspaper with depressing stories or reports of disasters．In that sort of mood, who can get down to work, particularly some creative, original problem-solving work?
The way most of us spend our mornings is exactly opposite to the conditions that promote flexible, open-minded thinking．Imaginative ideas are most likely to come to us when we’re unfocused．If you are one of those energetic morning people, your most inventive time comes in the early evening when you are relaxed．Sleepy people’s lack of focus leads to an increase in creative problem solving．By not giving yourself time to tune into your wandering mind, you’re missing out on the surprising solutions it may offer．
The trip you take to work doesn’t help, either．The stress slows down the speed with which signals travel between neurons(神经细胞), making inspirations less likely to occur．And while we all should read a lot about what’s going on in the world, it would not make you feel good for sure, so put that news website or newspaper aside until after the day’s work is done．
So what would our mornings look like if we wanted to start them with a full capacity for creative problem solving? We’d set the alarm a few minutes early and lie awake in bed, following our thoughts where they lead．We’d stand a little longer under the warm water of the shower, stopping thinking about tasks in favor of a few more minutes of relaxation．We’d take some deep breaths on our way to work, instead of complaining about heavy traffic．And once in the office—after we get a cup of coffee—we’d click on links not to the news of the day but to the funniest videos the web has to offer．According to the author, we are ore creative when we are________?
| A．focused． | B．relaxed |
| C．awake． | D．busy． |
What does the author imply about newspapers?
| A．They are normally full of bad news． |
| B．They are solution providers． |
| C．They are a source of inspiration． |
| D．They are more educational than websites． |
By“tune into your wandering mind”in Para．2, the author means “_______”．
| A．wander into the wild |
| B．listen to a beautiful tune |
| C．stop concentrating on anything |
| D．switch to the traffic channel |
The author writes the last paragraph in order to _______．
| A．establish a routine for the future |
| B．summarize past experiences |
| C．advocate diverse ways of life |
| D．offer practical suggestions |
阅读下列应用文及相关信息，并按照要求匹配信息。把答案填涂在答题卡上相应的题号的答案标号上。
首先请阅读下列深圳书城的畅销书的封面及基本信息：
| A.Foreword |
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The Antidepressant Survival Guide： Beat the Side Effects of Your Medication by Robert J.Hedaya， M.D， Robert J.Hedaya， M.D.， is a clinical professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University Hospital's Department of Psychiatry. Motto： Live well. |
| B.How Fear Limits Us |
|
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On Becoming Fearless in Love， Work， and Life by Arianna Huffington Arianna Huffington was raised in Greece by her fearless mother.She has written this book for her two daughters in the hope that they will lead fearless lives. Motto： Overcome the obstacle， get over the next hill. |
| C.Determination： How to Set Goals and Go After Them |
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Fight Your Fear and Win by Don Greene， Ph.D. Don Greene， Ph.D.， was a nationally ranked high school diver.He was the sports psychologist for the U.S.Olympic Diving Team. Motto： Determination is drive. |
| D.The Anger Business |
|
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Anger ： The Misunderstood Emotion by Carol Tavris， Ph.D. Carol Tavris， Ph.D.， was senior editor，she now teaches from time to time in the department of psychology at UCLA Motto： Reduce Stress！ |
| E.In the Presence of Danger |
|
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The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker Davin de Becker， America's leading expert on violence， is the best－selling author of the Gift of Fear： Survival Signals. Motto： Trust and act on our straight instincts. |
| F.Moving from Fear to Freedom |
|
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Transforming Anxiety， Transcending Shame by Rex Briggs， M.S.W. REX BRIGGS， M.S.W.， has been a selected speaker at the National Anxiety Disorders Association of America's conferences since 1986. Motto： Weaken anxiety |
下面是这些书的简要内容，请匹配相关的书名。This useful，popular book shows that if you are gone broke and lose love， please hold yourself back. If you look fat， just face it calmly. If you are in survival thinking， the most important is that you get rid of all the difficulties in front of us， life will be safe， perfect. If your daughters are to take their rightful place in society， they must become fearless.
In this book， the author calls the nation's leading experts on violent behavior， and shows you how to spot even tiny signs of danger before it's too late. Most violent acts are unpredictable. It points out that true fear is often a signal that can save your life. Believe the threat of violence surrounds us every day. But we can protect ourselves by straight judgment.
This book based on his years of clinical experience. It says about twentyfive million Americans take medicine to avoid depression. Despite the advances in the treatment of depression in recent years， many patients， even with the best medical care， feel that they are not living rich and fulfilling lives. This book will direct you how to survive well.
This interesting book tells us that annoyance is as much a political matter as a biological one. And anger is a definite message： Pay attention to me. I don't like what you are doing. Restore my pride. You're in my way. Give me justice. This book suggests that when you're angry， just let it right out.
This valuable book states that nervousness has become a constant factor in today's society like a sign of the times， but it is sometimes difficult to recognize the effects of anxiety on our mental health. The only way to feel better about ourselves is to go out and do it.