If you were given a chance to choose your favorite life metaphor(比喻), what would it be? Do you agree with Forrest Gump’s mother that life is “a box of chocolates” because “you never know what you’re going to get”? Or do you prefer the phrase from the 1930’s song that “life is just a bowl of cherries(樱桃)”? Though simply stated, each conveys a very different view. A “box” implies mystery, because we don’t know what is in a closed box. Meanwhile, a “bowl” of cherries is completely in view.
For many centuries, the metaphor of life that probably burst into most people’s mind was the one suggested by Shakespeare: “All of life is a stage…” On that stage, we take seven roles. More recently, psychologist Erik Erikson took up the idea of life as a stage. Erikson regarded development as a “powerful unfolding” in which we are driven from one stage to the next as our bodies, minds, and social roles develop.
Stage metaphors fit with many of our common-sense ideas about change, but the problem with the stage metaphor is that it isn’t particularly accurate. None of the studies that try to clarify the universality of adult life stages actually studied people as they developed over time. All of them were based on performances of their samples(样本) at one point in time. People’s actual lives don’t fit into these stage metaphors. They don’t automatically transform when people reach a certain age. Instead, people’s real lives are messy, unpredictable, and full of surprises.
Today, I’d like to focus on an even longer study, an 80-year study which is the subject of a recent book by Howard Friedman and Leslie Martin. Their final chapter summarizes the “many changes of healthy and unhealthy pathways” that their participants took over the course of their lives. As I too discovered in my research, the pathway provides a perfect metaphor of human development. We don’t all go down the same road marked with the same signposts based on age. People travel through diverse routes as they track the years of adulthood. Friedman and Martin use health and long life as their measure; I’ve used sense of achievement. In both cases, we are in perfect agreement in evaluating development not according to age but “the key features of life”.
The paths that Friedman and Martin describe seize the changes that characterize people as they age. Some examples are “The High Road” (reliable, full of plans); “Not Easy Street” (exposed to high stress throughout life), “Catastrophe Lane” (a downwardly twisty life); “Happy Trails to You” (cheerful, sociable), “The Road to Resilience” (able to handle stress with a strong will). Though I haven’t yet been able to follow my participants for 80 years, I too saw some of these pathways among my samples: “The Minding Way” , “The Downward Slope” , “The Straight and Narrow Path” , and “The Successful Trail”.
The pathway metaphor gives you hope for changing the direction of your life if you are unhappy with it so far. You can’t stop the clock from ticking the minutes between one birthday and the next, but you can adjust the road that you’re on by changing yourself, your situation, or both.The author introduces the topic of the passage in the first paragraph by ______.
| A．making comparisons | B．giving examples |
| C．describing scenes | D．providing explanations |
According to the passage, the “stage metaphor” ______.
| A．leads to misunderstandings |
| B．is used in memory of Shakespeare |
| C．doesn’t exactly reflect one’s real life |
| D．hasn’t enough stages to clarify life changes |
The author is convinced of the life metaphor Friedman and Martin suggest because she ______.
| A．spent less time on her research | B．has found their book a bestseller |
| C．considers their measure more scientific | D．got a similar finding to theirs |
When a person is facing difficulties bravely, which metaphor can best describe him?
| A．“Not Easy Street” | B．“Happy Trails to You” |
| C．“Catastrophe Lane” | D．“The Road to Resilience” |
What does the passage focus on?
| A．The pathway as a perfect life metaphor. |
| B．Various views on life metaphors. |
| C．The stage as a common life metaphor. |
| D．Different kinds of life metaphors. |
Our spiritual intelligence quotient (精神智商)，or SQ, helps us understand ourselves, and live fuller, happier lives.
Though we're all born with SQ, most of us don’t even realize that we have it. Fortunately, you don't have to sign up for classes to learn how to improve your SQ. Here are some simple steps that can lead you to this new level of understanding.
Sit Quietly. The process of developing spiritual intelligence begins with solitude(独处)and silence. To tune in to your spirit, you have to turn down the volume (强度) in your busy, noisy, complicated life and force yourself to do nothing at all. Start small by creating islands for silence in your day. In the car, instead of listening to the music, use the time to think. At work, shut the door to your office between meetings, take a few breaths and let them out very, very slowly. Enjoy the stillness in your home after the kids are finally in bed.
Step Outside. For many people, nature sets their spirit free. Go outside to watch a beautiful sunset. If you are walking with the dog, take the time to admire flower in bloom; follow the light of a bird and watch clouds float overhead.
Ask Questions of Yourself. Ask open--ended questions, such as "What am I feeling? What are my choices? Where am I heading?"
But don't expect an answer to arrive through some supernatural form of e--mail. "Rarely do I get an immediate answer to my question," says Reverend Joan Carter, a Presbyterian minister in Sausalito, California. "But later that day I suddenly find myself thinking about a problem in a perspective(角度) I never considered before. '
Trust Your Spirit. While most of us rely on gut(本能的) feeling to realize danger, spiritual intelligence pushes us, not away from, but towards some action that will lead to a greater good.
45. The passage is mainly about .
A. what your SQ is and in what way it can benefit our life
B. what your SQ is and in what way it can be improved
C. the relationship between your SQ and your life
D. advantages and disadvantages of SQ
46. The underlined phrase "tune in to your spirit" in the third paragraph probably means to _____.
A. get your spirit relaxed B. keep up your spirit
C. keep seated quietly D. change your spirit
47. The author mentions the example of Reverend Joan Carter to show that .
A. there are no immediate answers to your questions
B. e--mails can't keep working out a problem
C. the more questions you ask, the better answers you'll get
D. changing your way of thinking might help you solve a problem
48. From the passage, we can know that the most important thing to improve your SQ is .
A. a peaceful mind B. deep thought C. spare time and hobbies D. good spirits
第二部分：阅读理解（本题有两小节，第一节共20小题；每小题2分，第二节共5小题；每小题1分；满分45分）
第一节：阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出一个最佳选项
I must have been about fourteen then, and I put away the incident from my mind with the easy carelessness of youth. But the words, Carl Walter spoke that day, came back to me years later, and ever since have been of great value to me.
Carl Walter was my piano teacher. During one of my lessons he asked how much practicing I was doing. I said three or four hours a day.
"Do you practice in long stretches, an hour at a time?"
"I try to.”
"Well, don't,” he exclaimed. “When you grow up, time won't come in long stretches. Practice in minutes, whenever you can find them five or ten before school, after lunch, between household tasks. Spread the practice through the day, and piano-playing will become a part of your life."
When I was teaching at Columbia, I wanted to write, but class periods, theme-reading, and committee meetings filled my days and evenings. For two years I got practically nothing down on paper, and my excuse was that I had no time. Then I remembered what Carl Walter had said. During the next week I conducted an experiment. Whenever I had five minutes unoccupied, I sat down and wrote a hundred words or so. To my astonishment, at the end of the week I had a rather large manuscript ready for revision, later on I wrote novels by the same piecemeal method. Though my teaching schedule had become heavier than ever, in every day there were idle moments which could be caught and put to use. I even took up piano--playing again, finding that the small intervals of the day provided sufficient time for both writing and piano practice.
There is an important trick in this time--using formula: you must get into your work quickly. If you have but five minutes for writing, you can't afford to waste four chewing your pencil. You must make your mental preparations beforehand, and concentrate on your task almost instantly when the time comes. Fortunately, rapid concentration is easier than most of us realize.
I admit I have never learnt how to let go easily at the end of the five or ten minutes. But life can be counted on to supply interruptions. Carl Walter has had a tremendous influence on my life. To him I owe the discovery that even very short periods of time add up to all useful hours I need, if I plunge in without delay.
41. What is the best title of this passage?
A. Concentrate on Your Work B. A Little at a Time
C. How I Became a Writer D. Good Advice
42. Which of the following statements is true?
A. The writer owes great thanks to his teacher for teaching him to work in long stretches.
B. Carl Walter has had a great influence on the writer’s life since he became a student.
C. The writer didn't take the teacher's words to heart at first.
D. Rapid concentration is actually more difficult than most people imagine.
43. The underlined part "counted on" can he replaced by____
A. enriched B. concentrated C. valued D. expected
44. We can infer that the writer .
A. has new books published each year however busy his teaching is
B. is always tired of interruptions in life because his teaching schedule is always heavy
C. has formed a bad habit of chewing a pencil while writing his novels
D. can find sufficient time for mental preparations beforehand, so he’s devoted to work instantly
Would you eat a ready meal from the fridge rather than cook? Have you been doing internet shopping rather than going to the stores? What can’t you be bothered to do?
A study into how lazy British people are has found more than half of aduhs are so idle（闲散的）they’d catch the lift rather than climb two flights of stairs.
Just over 2,000 people were quizzed by independent researchers at Nuffield Health, Britain’s largest health charity. The results were shocking.
About one in six people surveyed said if their remote control was broken, they would continue watching tile same channel rather than get up.
More than one third of those questioned said they would not run to catch a bus. Worryingly, of the 654 questioned people with children, 64% said they were often too tired to play with them.
This led the report to conclude that it’s no wonder that one in six children in the UK are classifted as obese（肥胖）before they start school.
Dr Sarah Dauncey, medical director of Nuffield Health, said: “People need to get fitter, not just for their own sake, but for the sake of their families, friends and obviously their pets too. If we don’t start to take control of this problem, a whole generation will become too unfit to perform even the simplest tasks.”
And Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow, was shamed as the laziest city in the UK, with 75% surveyed admitting they do not get enough exercise, followed closely by Birmingham and Southampton, both with 67%.
The results pose serious challenges for the National Health Service, where obesity-related illnesses such as heart disease and cancer have been on a steady increase for the past 40 years and are costing billions of pounds every year.
72. According to the researchers at Nuffield Health, about_______people who were surveyed would not run to catch a bus.
A. 10 B. 150 C. 330 D. 660
73. One in six children in the UK are classified as obese before they start school because ________.
A. they stay too long a time with their pets
B. they spend too much time watching TV
C. their parents don’t play with them much
D. they suffer from obesity-related illnesses
74. ________ is the second laziest city in the UK.
A. Scotland B. Glasgow C. Birmingham D. Nuffield
75. What’s the writer trying to tell us?
A. Parents have much to do with their children’s obesity-related illnesses.
B. British people are getting lazier, which can cause serious social problems.
C. The National Health Service has to face a lot of serious challenges every year.
D. A study into how lazy British people are has been carried out at Nuffield Health.
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68. The purpose of the advertisement is ________.
A. to help parents with their daily life
B. to attract more subscribers
C. to collect money for children
D. to sell children toys and games
69. Which of the following is true?
A. Only $12 is paid for 24 issues of the magazine.
B. Readers can get a free offer any time of the year.
C. Readers from all over the world can enjoy the free offer.
D. Readers can communicate with child experts on the Internet.
70. A reader subscribed PARENTS three months ago, but now he finds the magazine dissatisfying. What can he do?
A. He can cancel and get all his money back.
B. He can cancel without getting money back.
C. He can cancel after answering some questions.
D. He can cancel at a certain time to get money back.
71. Where can we most probably read the text?
A. In a newspaper. B. In a website.
C. In a science book. D. In a magazine.
China’s telecommunications supervisor（管理者）has given long-awaited third-generation, or 3G mobile phone licenses to three mobile operators, a move that is expected to lead to billions of dollars being used in building new networks. As you know, 3G mobile phones are the next big step for the telecom industry and data speed in 3G networks is much quicker than that in present technology. This means users can have high-speed Internet and enjoy video and CD-quality music on their phones. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said China’s biggest mobile operator, China Mobile, was given a license for TD-SCDMA, the domestically-developed 3G standard.
Wang Jianzhou, President of China Mobile said the company had already started construction of new networks to cover all cities by 2011. “After our testing operation of the network which started from last April, we have seen that the new technology has developed into maturity（成熟）. By this June, we will finish the second stage of the network construction which covers 28 cities around the country.”
The other two main carriers, China Telecom and China Unicom, received respectively licenses for the 3G standards of U. S.-developed CDMA2000 and Europe’s WCDMA. Both the three operators expressed an active attitude on the future competition and cooperation in the field of 3G mobile.
The 3G high-speed networks can handle faster data downloads, allowing handset users to make video calls and watch TV programs.
Officials expect that there could be about 280 billion yuan, or about 40 billion dollars of direct investment in new networks over the next two years, an effective measure to boost（提高）the domestic（国内的）demand and perfect telecom market competition.
64. The 3G standard developed in China is ________.
A. SLEDMA B. CDMA2000 C. TD - SCDMA D. WCDMA
65. How soon will the new networks cover most parts of China?
A. In half a year. B. In one year. C. In two years. D. In three years.
66. According to the president of China Mobile, ________.
A. 3G mobile phone has developed into maturity
B. the network construction has been finished
C. the network has covered 28 cities in China
D. the second stage of the network hasn’t started
67. Which of the following statements is true?
A. More and more companies will receive respectively licenses for the 3G standards.
B. With 3G high-speed networks, users can watch different programs at the same time.
C. Not all of the three operators thought well of the future competition of 3G mobile.
D. The operators will spend a great amount of money first before earning more money.