B
In ancient Egypt, the pharaoh（法老）treated the poor message runner like a prince when he arrived at the palace, if he brought good news. However, if the exhausted runner had the misfortune to bring the pharaoh unhappy news, his head was cut off.
Shades of that spirit spread over today’s conversations. Once a friend and I packed up some peanut butter and sandwiches for an outing. As we walked light-heartedly out the door, picnic basket in hand, a smiling neighbor looked up at the sky and said, ”Oh boy, bad day for a picnic. The weatherman says it’s going to rain.”I wanted to strike him on the face with the peanut butter and sandwiches. Not for his stupid weather report, for his smile.
Several months ago I was racing to catch a bus. As I breathlessly put my handful of cash across the Grey hound counter, the sales agent said with a broad smile ,”Oh that bus left five minutes ago.”Dreams of head-cutting!
It’s not the news that makes someone angry. It’s the unsympathetic attitude with which it’s delivered. Everyone must give bad news from time to time, and winning professionals do it with the proper attitude. A doctor advising a patient that she needs an operation does it in a caring way. A boss informing an employee he didn’t get the job takes on a sympathetic tone. Big winners know, when delivering any bad news, they should share the feeling of the receiver.
Unfortunately, many people are not aware of this. When you’re tired from a long flight, has a hotel clerk cheerfully said that your room isn’t ready yet? When you had your heart set on the toast beef, has your waiter mainly told you that he just served the last piece? It makes you as traveler or dinner want to land your fist right on their unsympathetic faces.
Had my neighbor told me of the upcoming rainstorm with sympathy, I would have appreciated his warming .Had the Greyhound salesclerk sympathetically informed me that my bus had already left, I probably would have said, ” Oh, that’s all right I’ll catch the next one.” Big winners, when they bear bad news ,deliver bombs with the emotion the bombarded（被轰炸的）person is sure to have.Why did the writer tell the story of the pharaoh in paragraph 1?
| A．To make a comparison | B．To introduce a topic |
| C．To give an example | D．To offer an argument |
What does “Dreams of head-cutting!” in Paragraph3 mean?
| A．The writer was mad at the sales agent |
| B．The writer was reminded of the cruel pharaoh |
| C．The writer wished that the sales agent would have had dreams |
| D．The writer dreamed of cutting the sales agent’s head that night. |
Why was the writer angry with his neighbor?
| A．Because he couldn’t have a picnic. |
| B．Because the weather was bad. |
| C．Because he hated smiles. |
| D．Because of his unsympathetic attitude. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Learning ancient traditions can be useful. |
| B．Delivering bad news properly is important in communication. |
| C．Helping others sincerely is the key to business success. |
| D．Receiving bad news requires great courage. |
Renault's new Twizy could be the future of motoring ... or at least a big part of it. This is not some crazy future concept -- this is a real vehicle, fully electric, and on sale now. Prices for the Twizy start at £6,690, with battery hire from £45 a month. But is it a car? Technically no, it' s classified under UK law as something closer to a moped (摩托自行车).
A two-seater (the passenger sits behind the driver), the Twizy runs on electric power only, and is designed to cover all those little trips we do. And as 87 percent of Europe’s drivers do less than 37 miles a day -- 50 per cent less than 12—there’s really no need to be burning gas for that sort of journey.
The Twizy is arguably the most unusual vehicle in this country. Other cars have been beautifully designed, others have been small, but no car has turned motoring on its head in quite the same way.
The Twizy’s batteries have a range of 62 miles, and it plugs into a standard socket like any other electrical equipment, going from flat to full power in three and a half hours. There are no full doors on the vehicle, so think of it like a covered moped with four wheels, but no noise and no need for a helmet. There's also a lower-powered type being designed, the Twizy 45, for which you don' t need a license.
Seeing the Twizy in the flesh, you' re surprised by how striking it looks. Sit in it and everything feels right --just car enough to be easy, but different enough to be exciting. With the battery underneath you, the vehicle is suckered (吸) to the road, and the electric power means it accelerates with real energy up to about 50 mph. You don't feel you need any more. In the UK, the weather alone may make it a good buy, but the lack of easy access to outdoor sockets is the biggest challenge. Only time will tell if this brave move answers enough problems to find a place in our lives.According to Paragraph 1, Renault' s new Twizy________
| A．is a concept car |
| B．is classified as a car |
| C．can be hired by the day |
| D．has been put on the market |
Which of the following is TRUE about the appearance of the Twizy?
| A．Attractive. | B．Awkward. |
| C．Traditional. | D．Colorful. |
What do we know about the Twizy 45?
| A．A helmet is needed to drive it. |
| B．It makes more noise than the Twizy. |
| C．You can drive it without taking a test. |
| D．Its batteries are better than the Twizy' s. |
What will probably prevent the popularity of the Twizy?
| A．Its low speed. |
| B．Its weak batteries. |
| C．Its limited inner space. |
| D．Its demand for outdoor sockets. |
In which part of a magazine can we most probably read this text?
| A．Travel. | B．Technology. |
| C．Economy. | D．Environment. |
“Mobile phone killed my man,” screamed one headline last year. Also came claims that an unpublished study had found that mobile phones could cause memory loss. And a British newspaper devoted its front page to a picture supposedly showing how mobile phones could heat the brain.
For anyone who uses a mobile phone, these are worrying times. But speak to the scientists whose work is the focus of these scares and you hear a different story.
One of the oddest effects comes from the now famous“memory loss” study. Alan Preece and his colleagues at the University of Bristol placed a device that imitated the microwave radiation of mobile phones to the left ear of volunteers. The volunteers were good at recalling words and pictures they had been shown on a computer screen. Preece says he still can’t comment on the effects of using a mobile phone for years on end. But he rules out the suggestion that mobile phones have an immediate effect on our cognitive（认识的）abilities. “I’m pretty sure there is no effect on short-term memory,” he says.
Another expert, Tattersall, remarked that his latest findings have removed fears about memory loss. One result, for instance, suggests that nerve cell synapses（神经元突触） exposed to microwaves become more — rather than less — receptive to undergoing changes linked to memory formation.
An even happier outcome would be that microwaves turned out to be good for you. It sounds crazy, but a couple of years ago a team led by William Adey at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in California found that mice exposed to microwaves for two hours a day were less likely to develop brain tumours when given a cancer-causing chemical.
“If it doesn’t certainly cause cancer in animals and cells, then it probably isn’t going to cause cancer in humans,” says William. And while there’s still no absolute evidence that mobile phone use does damage your memories or give you cancer, the conclusion is: don’t be afraid.Mobile phone users are worried because ______.
| A．they are not sure whether mobile phones can cause memory loss |
| B．it’s said that mobile phones have a lot of side effects |
| C．one headline reported “Mobile phone killed my man” |
| D．a British newspaper showed mobile phones could heat the brain |
According to the scientists, ______.
| A．there is no evidence that mobile phones cause illness in people |
| B．the more people use mobile phones, the healthier they’ll be |
| C．mobile phone users are less likely to develop cancer |
| D．mobile phones’ radiation is the same as the general radiation |
According to this passage, we can know that _____.
| A．the mobile phone is a most wonderful invention |
| B．there’s no need to worry about the radiation from mobile phones |
| C．something must be done to stop people using mobile phones |
| D．mobile phone companies shouldn’t cheat customers |
The underlined word “it” in the last paragraph refers to ______.
| A．mobile phone radiation |
| B．a cancer-causing chemical |
| C．a happy outcome |
| D．a brain tumour |
What would be the best title for this passage?
| A．New Mobile Phones. |
| B．Special Mobile Phones. |
| C．New Special Investigation: Mobile Phones. |
| D．New Investigation. |
Walter Wetzel had met Ryan Lamantia nearly eight years ago in a hospital waiting room. Both were very sick——Ryan with brain cancer, Walter with leukemia (白血病). Ryan, who was 3 at the time, began making silly faces at Walter and chatted about going home to change into his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles costume. Several days later, Ryan moved to another hospital. Though they saw each other only a handful of times after that, Walter never forgot Ryan.
"He inspired me to fight against my cancer," said Walter, now 17, a football player. Then one day, Walter saw a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shirt at a mall, which made him decide to search out Ryan. Back home, Walter typed in "Ryan Lake in the Hills brain cancer" on his computer, and a link to a Facebook page for Ryan came up. But, the news was shocking.
Ryan had died on Sept. 8, 2005. He was 6. The Facebook page was for the Ryan Lamantia Foundation, a non-profit organization that Ryan's family formed after his death to raise money for brain cancer research.
Walter left this message right away: ."Ryan is my hero. My trips to the hospital were always horrible, until the day I met Ryan."
Ryan's mom's eyes were filled with tears as she read Waiter's message. "We always knew Ryan was special, but to hear it from somebody else, it really means the world to us," Lamantia said.
Walter wasn't the only person who was greatly impressed with Ryan.
"He was a little superhero," said Wendy Stellpflug, a nurse at Children' s Memorial Hospital. "Ryan always kept his spirits high, even after he suffered hearing loss and experienced 14 operations."
"Ryan didn’ t let his illness stop him. He always had a smile on his face," said Dr. Stewart Goldman, the doctor who treated Ryan.
Walter and his family have been in touch with the Lamantias for the past few weeks. And last week, they met for the first time since Ryan's death. The families told stories of being affected by cancer so young and Walter expressed his hope to volunteer with Ryan' s foundation.Walter and Ryan_________.
| A．first met in 2005 |
| B．suffered severe illnesses |
| C．were in the same hospital for a long time |
| D．both liked the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles costume |
Walter finally wanted to get in touch with Ryan because___________.
| A．he saw the news about Ryan on the Internet |
| B．he wanted to thank Ryan in person |
| C．an object reminded him of Ryan |
| D．he raised money for Ryan |
After reading Waiter's message online, Ryan' s mom felt_____.
| A．proud of her son |
| B．grateful for his help |
| C．happy about his recovery |
| D．sad again at her son' s death |
Which of the following can best describe Ryan?
| A．Determined and considerate. |
| B．Optimistic and brave. |
| C．Friendly and patient. |
| D．Brave and proud. |
We know from the text that Walter_________.
| A．survived the cancer |
| B．experienced 14 operations |
| C．searched for Ryan on the Facebook |
| D．founded the Ryan Lamantia Foundation |
We know that hugs make us feel easy inside. And this feeling, it turns out, could actually ward off stress and protect r the immune (免疫) system, according to a new research from Carnegie Mellon University.
It’s a well-known fact that stress can weaken the immune system. In this study, the researchers sought to determine whether hugs----like social support more broadly ----could protect individuals from the increased sensitivity to illness brought on by the particular stress that come with interpersonal conflict.
“We know that people experiencing ongoing conflicts with others are less able to fight off cold viruses. We also know that people who report having social support are partly protected from the effects of stress on psychological states, such as depression and anxiety, “the study’s lead author, psychologist Dr. Sheldon Cohen , said in a statement. “We tested whether awareness of social support is equally effective in protecting us from sensitivity to infection caused by stress and also whether receiving hugs might partially account for those feeling of support and thus protect a person against infection.”
In the experiment , over 400 healthy adults filled out a questionnaire about their perceived (感知) social support and also participated in a nightly phone interview for two weeks . They were asked the frequency they engaged in interpersonal conflicts and received bugs that day.
Then, the researchers exposed the participants to a common cold virus, and monitored them to assess signs of infection. They found that both perceived social support and more frequent hugs reduced the risk of infection associated with experiencing interpersonal conflict. Regardless of whether or not they experienced social conflicts, infected participants with greater perceived social support and more frequent hugs had less severe illness symptoms.
“This suggests that being hugged by a trusted person may act as an effective means of conveying support and that increasing the frequency of hugs might be an effective means of reducing the effects of stress,” Cohen said. “The apparent protective effect of hugs may result from the physical contact itself or hugging being a behavioral indicator of support and closeness. Either way, those who receive more hugs are somewhat more protected from infection.”
If you need any more reason to go wrap your arms around someone special, consider this: hugs also lower blood pressure, reduce fearsome around death and dying, improve heart health and decrease feeling of loneliness.In Paragraph 1, the underlined words “ward off “can be replaced by ____.
| A．produce | B．increase | C．prevent | D．support |
Dr. Sheldon Cohen’s experiment shows that ____.
| A．hugs can hide serious illness symptoms |
| B．social conflicts can monitor signs of infection |
| C．social support can reduce the risk of having a cold |
| D．depression and anxiety result from less social support |
The passage aims to convey that ____.
| A．hugs can have protective effects |
| B．social support can sure diseases |
| C．interpersonal conflicts cause infections |
| D．stress can weaken our immune system |
The passage is most likely to be found in ____.
| A．a social science magazine |
| B．a commercial brochure |
| C．a medical report |
| D．an academic essay |
While you may think that being smart and talented would logically make someone successful in running a business, unfortunately, this is often not the case.
This problem starts back in school when the stressful “group projects” are first assigned .The smartest don’t want to risk their grade in the class by dividing the work equally and hoping that an average student does his part well. They just take over and do the whole project themselves.
And thus begins the smart-people work cycle. The smartest people do just about everything better than most everyone else until it comes to running a business. They are not better. A smart person who can’t stand someone else doing a job badly does everything himself. Then, he is stuck with the one-man band “job-business” and ends up not being able to grow. However, it is quite interesting and strange that some “slackers” ( a person who is lazy and avoids work) are better suited to be a business leader than the “smart” people.
Smart and talented people often have a gift for the unusual, complicated or different. They don’t like to follow the KISS principle (keep it simple, stupid), which is required to make a business succeed. Maybe you think the global presence of McDonald’s complex, but in reality, in the company, every single task is broken down into easy-to-follow steps and everything has been standardized. These successful companies have just a few smart enough people to run the majority of the tasks in a way that can’t be screwed up by their average employees. So, being smart or talented isn’t going to help you unless you can use those smarts to figure out a way to simplify those tasks that will make a business successful.
Another issue with the smart people starting businesses is that they often have the most to lose. The smarter you are, the more options you have available to you. You will be able to make a lot of money in various fields and have room in your career to become promoted. This means that when you start a business, you have a lot more to risk than those who are not equally smart. This is often referred to as the “golden handcuffs” dilemma.
So, don’t be surprised when the person “MOST Likely to Succeed” from high school ends up as an employee and it is one average student that finds success in his or her own business.In group work, smart students often take over the whole project because they believe ____.
| A．the work is not divided equally |
| B．they can perform better than others |
| C．the group projects are too stressful |
| D．average students are unwilling to participate |
McDonald’s is used as an example to prove that ____.
| A．a business calls for smart people’s talent |
| B．average employees can perform complex tasks |
| C．smart people are important for a successful business |
| D．simplified tasks are required for the success of a business |
The underlined expression in Paragraph 5 refers to the situation where smart people ____.
| A．have fewer options in a company |
| B．risk more when starting business |
| C．are unwilling to put money to a business |
| D．can have a good income in many different fields |
What is the best title for the passage?
| A．Potentials for Success |
| B．Bases for Business |
| C．The Ordinary Achieve Bigger Success? |
| D．Talent Means Successful Business? |