CTheyearof2014sawsmartpeopleal-优题课

Ⅲ阅读（共两节，满分40分）
第一节：阅读理解（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
In modern society there is a great deal of argument about competition. Some value it highly, believing that it is responsible for social progress and prosperity, others say that competition is bad; that it sets one person against another; that it leads to unfriendly relationship between people.
I have taught many children who held the belief that their self – worth relied (依赖) on how well they performed at tennis and other skills. For them, playing well and winning are often life – and – death affairs. In their single – minded pursuit (追求) of success, the development of many other human qualities is sadly forgotten.
However, while some seem to be lost in the desire to succeed, others take an opposite attitude. In a culture which values only the winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players, they strongly blame competition. Among the most vocal are youngsters who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society. Teaching these young people, I often observe in them a desire to fail. They seem to se ek failure by not trying to win or achieve success. By not trying, they always have an excuse: “I may have lost, but it doesn’t matter because I really didn’t try.” What is not usually admitted by themselves is the belief that if they had really tried and lost, that would mean a lot. Such a loss would be a measure of their worth. Clearly, this belief is the same as that of the true competitors who try to prove themselves. Both are based on the mistaken belief that one’s self – respect relies on how well one performs in comparison with others. Both are afraid of not being valued. Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to dissolve (缓解) can we discover a new meaning in competition.
41．What does this passage mainly talk about?
A．Competition helps to set up self – respect.
B．Opinions about competition are different among people.
C．Competition is harmful to personal quality development.
D．Failures are necessary experiences in competition
42．Why do some people favor competition according to the passage?
A．It pushes society forward. B．It builds up a sense of duty.
C．It improves personal abilities. D．It encourages individual efforts.
43．The underlined phrase “the most vocal” in Paragraph 3 means .
A．those who try their best to win
B．those who value competition most highly
C．those who are against competition most strongly
D．those who rely on others most for success
44．What is the similar belief of the true competitors and those with a desire to fail ?
A．One’s worth lies in his performance compared with others.
B．One’s success in competition needs great efforts.
C．One’s achievement is determined by his particular skills.
D．One’s success is based on how hard he has tried.
45．Which point of view may the author agree to?
A．Every effort should be paid back.
B．Competition should be encouraged.
C．Winning should be a life – and – death matter.
D．Fear of failure should be removed in competition.

Tell a story and tell it well, and you may open wide the eyes of a child, open up lines of communication in a business, or even open people’s mind to another culture or race.
People in many places are digging up the old folk stories and the messages in them. For example, most American storytellers get their tales from a wide variety of sources, cultures, and times. They regard storytelling not only as a useful tool in child education, but also as a meaningful activity that helps adults understand themselves as well as those whose culture may be very different from their own.
“ Most local stories are based on a larger theme(主题),” American storyteller Opalanga Pugh says, “ Cinderella(灰姑娘), or the central idea of a good child protected by her goodness, appears in various forms in almost every culture of the world.”
Working with students in schools, Pugh helps them understand their own cultures and the general messages of the stories. She works with prisoner too, helping them knowing who they are by telling stories that her listeners can write, direct, and act in their own lives. If they don’t like the story they are living in, they can rewrite the story. Pugh also works to help open up lines of communication between managers and workers. “For every advance in business,” she says, “ there is a greater need for communication.” Storytelling can have a great effect(影响) on either side of the manager-worker relationship, she says.
Pugh spent several years in Nigeria, where she learned how closely storytelling was linked to the everyday life of the people there. The benefits(益处) of storytelling are found everywhere, she says.
“I learned how people used stories to spread their culture,” she says, “What I do is to focus(重视) on the value of the stories that people can translate into their own daily world of affairs. We are all storytellers. We all have a story to tell. We tell everybody’s story.”
46. What do we learn about American storytellers from Paragraph 2?
A. They share the same way of storytelling.
B. They prefer to tell the stories from other cultures.
C. They learn their stories from the American natives.
D. They find storytelling useful for both children and adults.
47. The underlined sentence (Paragraph 4) suggests that prisoners can _____.
A. start a new life B. settle down in another place
C. direct films D. become good actors
48. Pugh has practised storytelling with _____ groups of people.
A. 2 B. 3 C. 4 D. 5
49．The underlined phrase “was linked to” in paragraph 5 means_______.
A. 脱节 B. 与…..无关 C. 与….联系 D.与…..不同
50. What is the main idea of the text?
A. Storytelling can influence(影响) the way people think.
B. Storytelling is important to the growth of business.
C. Storytelling is the best way to educate children in school.
D. Storytelling helps people understand themselves and others.

It was a spring day for end-of-the-year conferences(会议). Mrs. Lake reminded everyone that both parents and students should take part in these important reports, 20 minutes for each family.
Lauri’s name was at the end of the list. But it didn’t matter much to her. Despite the many phone calls her teacher had made, Lauri knew her parents would not be coming. Her father always got drunk, and her mother could do nothing but cry and quarrel with him.
Now Lauri watched all day long as each child went to the door leading into Mrs. Lake’s office, where parents would greet their sons and daughters with proud smiles. Lauri imagined how it might feel to have her parents greet her at the door.
When at last everyone else’s name had been called, Mrs.Lake opened the door and signed for Lauri to come in. Silently Lauri went in and sat down on a chair. As she felt rather uneasy that her parents had not come, she looked down. Mrs Lake had Lauri raise her face so she could see her in the eye. “First of all,” the teacher began, “I want you to know how much I love you.” Lauri saw things she’d never seen: kindness.
“Second,” the teacher continued, “you need to know it is not your fault that your parents are not here today.” Again Lauri looked into Mrs Lake’s face. No one had ever talked to her like this. No one.
“Third,” she went on, “you deserve to hear how well you are doing and how wonderful I think you are.” In the following minutes, Mrs Lake held a conference just for Lauri. She showed Lauri her grades, papers and projects, praising her efforts. She had ever saved a pile of watercolors Lauri had painted.
Lauri didn’t know exactly when, but at some point in that conference she heard the voice of hope in her heart. And somewhere a change started. It was then that Lauri realized, for the first time in her life, that she was lovable.
41. Why were parents required to come to the conferences?
A. To see how important it was to encourage their children.
B. To learn how their children had performed in their studies.
C. To report to the teacher how their children were doing at home.
D. To see how their children were getting along with their classmates.
42. How did Lauri feel at the end of the conference?
A. Encouraged B. Ashamed C. Challenged D. Disappointed
43. What does the underlined word “deserve” mean?
A. 必需　　　　　B. 得到　　　 C.　应该　　　　D.　可能
44. We learn from the text that Mrs. Lake ____________.
A. disliked Lauri’s parents
B. filled Lauri with hope and self-respect.
C. was worried about her poor performance
D. was dissatisfied with the end-of-the-year conferences.
45. What is the best title of this text?
A. A Parents’ Meeting B. Mrs Lake’s Kindness
C. Lauri’s Spring Day D. A Progress Reports Meeting

Motherhood may make women smarter and may help prevent dementia(痴呆) in old age by bathing the brain in protective hormones(荷尔蒙) , U.S. researchers reported on Thursday.
Tests on rats show that those who raise two or more litters of pups do considerably better in tests of memory and skills than rats who have no babies, and their brains show changes that suggest they may be protected against diseases such as Alzheimer’s(早老痴呆症). University of Richmond psychology professor Craig Kinsley believes his findings will translate into humans.
“Our research shows that the hormones of pregnancy(怀孕) are protecting the brain, including estrogen(雌激素), which we know has many neuroprotective (保护神经的) effects,” Kinsley said.
“It’s rat data but humans are mammals just like these animals are mammals,” he added in a telephone interview. “They go through pregnancy and hormonal changes.”
Kinsley said he hoped public health officials and researchers will look to see if having had children protects a woman from Alzheimer’s and other forms of age-related brain decline.
“When people think about pregnancy, they think about what happens to babies and the mother from the neck down,” said Kinsley, who presented his findings to the annual meeting of the Society of Neuroscience in Orlando, Florida.
“They do not realize that hormones are washing on the brain. If you look at female animals who have never gone through pregnancy, they act differently toward young. But if she goes through pregnancy, she will sacrifice her life for her infant—that is a great change in her behavior that showed in genetic changes to the brain.”
51. How do scientists know “Motherhood may make women smarter”?
A. They know it by experimenting on rats. B. Many women say so.
C. Some researchers have told them. D. They know it through their own experience.
52. What does the phrase “litters of pups” mean in the second paragraph?
A. Old rats. B. Animals. C. Baby rats. D. Grown-up rats.
53. What can protect the brain of a woman according to the passage?
A. Estrogen. B. Taking care of children.
C. More exercise. D. The hormones of pregnancy.
54. “It’s rat data but humans are mammals just like these animals are mammals.” What does the sentence suggest?
A. The experiments on the rats are much the same on humans.
B. The experiments on the rats are very important for animals.
C. The experiments on the rats have nothing to do with humans.
D. The experiments on the rats are much the same on other animals.
55. Which title is the best for this passage?
A. Do You Want to Be Smarter? B. An Important Study
C. Mysterious Hormones D. Motherhood Makes Women Smarter

Five years ago, David Smith wore an expensive suit to work every day. “I was a clothes addict,” he jokes. “I used to carry a fresh suit to work with me so I could change if my clothes got wrinkled.” Today David wears casual clothes-khaki pants and sports shirt-to the office. He hardly ever wears a necktie. “I’m working harder than ever,” David says, “and I need to feel comfortable.”
More and more companies are allowing their office workers to wear casual clothes to work in the United States. The change from formal to casual office wear has been gradual. In the early 1990s, many companies allowed their employees to wear casual clothes on Friday (but only on Friday). This became known as “dress-down Friday” or “casual Friday”. “What started out as an extra one-day-a-week benefit for employees has really become an everyday thing.” said business consultant Maisly Jones.
Why have so many companies started allowing their employees to wear casual clothes? One reason is that it’s easier for a company to attract new employees if it has a casual dress code. “A lot of young people don’t want to dress up for work,” says the owner of a software company, “so it’s hard to hire people if you have a conservative dress code.” Another reason is that people seem happier and more productive when they are wearing comfortable clothes. In a study conducted by Levi Strauss and Company, 85 percent of employers said that they believe that casual dress improves employee morale. Only 4 percent of employers said that casual dress has a negative impact on productivity. Supporters of casual office wear also argue that a casual dress code helps them save money. “Suits are expensive, if you have to wear one every day,” one person said. “For the same amount of money, you can buy a lot more casual clothes.”
46. David Smith refers to himself as having been “a clothes addict” because _______.
A. he often wore khaki pants and a sports shirt
B. he wanted his clothes to look neat all the time
C. he couldn’t stand a clean appearance
D. he didn’t want to spend much money on clothes
47. The reason why David Smith wears casual clothes now is that _______.
A. they make him feel at ease when working
B. he cannot afford to buy expensive clothes
C. he looks handsome in casual clothes
D. he no longer works for any company
48. Which of the following statements cannot be inferred from the passage?
A. All the employers in the U. S. show their approval for casual office wear.
B. Comfortable clothes increase employees’ productivity.
C. A casual clothes code is welcomed by young employees.
D. Many employees don’t like a conservative dress code.
49. According to this passage, which of the following statements is true?
A. Company workers started to dress down about twenty years ago.
B. “Dress-down Friday” was first given as a favor from employers.
C.Dress-down has become an everyday phenomenon since the early 1990s.
D. Many workers want to wear casual clothes to impress people.
50. In this passage, the following advantages of casual office wear are mentioned in the passage except ___.
A. saving employees’ money B. making employees more attractive
C. improving employees’ motivation D. making employees happier