Ourbrainsworkincomplexandstran-优题课

Most Americans are turning to charm school to gain an advantage over competitors in a job market stricken by the longest economic slowdown since the Great Depression.
Etiquette (礼节) trainers report business growing from clients who believe that good manners could be the key selling point that helps them get hired or keeps them off the unemployment line.
“People are prepared to do whatever it takes to keep their job”, said Gloria Starr, an adviser on image, etiquette and communications in North Carolina. Starr, who says business is up 40 percent in the past year at her school, said people were “realizing that it takes more than just ability and knowledge” to keep or win a job.
Peggy Newfield, who had been teaching etiquette for 30 years and runs a charm school, said business was “booming.” “When the economy is down etiquette training will always be up. They’re focusing on‘What I can do to survive, I really have to keep up my game because the competition is keen.’”
Proper business manners, however, extend far beyond greeting or thanking a would-be employer. Etiquette classes deal with the basics of presentation in an interview, including what to say and how to dress.
“It’s so much more than writing the thank-you note at the end,” Newfield said. “It’s about walking in for the job interview, every hair is in place, your clothes are perfectly pressed, your shoes are polished, you’re groomed to the nines, you speak the part, and your English is correct.”
It’s great that we have seen this renewal in etiquette and manners and self respect.
Studies have shown that 85 percent of the reason a person gets a job, keeps a job and moves up is related to their personal skills. There are very few jobs out there where your manners, where your socials skills, are not a big piece of being successful. If you have manners you can walk into any business or social situation.
Teaching etiquette has become a tougher task. Some people point to bad public behavior by athletes and celebrities as a factor in ruining good manners in US society. Hotel owner Paris Hilton, actress Lindsay Lohan and singer Britney Spears are among those who have been charged with setting a poor example, especially for children and adolescents. Hilton is infamous for a sex tape that became an Internet hit, Lohan has long been gossip stuff due to her quarrels with the law and Spears was photographed partying without underwear.
61. The writer wants to tell the readers____________.
A. the etiquette training in America B. the ways to avoid failure
C. good manners count in keeping a job D. how to keep business up
62. From the passage we learn that the charm school____________.
A. helps those who are unemployed B. deals with moral problems
C. becomes more popular with people D. does good to the economy
63. The underlined sentence “you’re groomed to the nines” probably means “you’re ____________”.
A. dressed in the best way B. fully understood
C. greeted with good manners D. very concerned
64. We can infer from the last paragraph that ____________.
A. good examples contribute to etiquette teaching
B. good public behavior doesn’t exist any more
C. teaching etiquette has become a tougher task
D. some famous people don’t have good manners
65. Which of the following can you NOT learn in Peggy Newfield’s charm school?
A. How to dress in a job interview
B. How to hack into the company central database.
C. How to maintain an edge over other competitors in the job market.
D. How to improve your communicative skills with your colleagues.

PART THREE READING COMPREHENSION
Directions: Read the following three passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A.B.C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage.
NEW YORK(Reuters)----The Internet and advances in technology are transforming fashion, making it easier for designers to create collections and less expensive for them to show and sell their work, experts say.
Instead of spending tens of thousands of dollars on a runway(T形台)show at New York Fashion Week, some designers presented collections for spring and summer 2010 online, while others are expanding the reach of their brand by making it easier for shoppers to buy their clothes online.
Designer Norma Kamali and Polo Ralph Lauren Corp both have applications for Apple Inc’s iPhone that allows shoppers to buy clothes from their phone.
“This is the technology that’s changing our lives,” said Kamali, who displayed her spring and summer 2010 collection as well as exclusive lines (专卖品) for eBay Inc and Walmart.com at the Apple store in Manhattan’s Soho neighborhood.
Kamali’s iPhone application has a “Try Before You Buy” option, which allows clothes to be sent overnight to a customer, who provides her credit card information, so she can try them on at home before deciding to buy.
Menswear designer Miguel Antoinne and womenswear designer Marc Bouwer both put on virtual fashion shows, while models at fashion designer Vivienne Tam’s show carried a laptop computer adorned(装饰) with a Tam design.
Mazdack Rassi, co-founder and creative director of Milk Studios, a downtown space that showed about 70 collections during New York Fashion Week, and was considering projecting shows on the side of a building so people at nearby park could watch.
With cable TV and the Internet, designers know that their shows can be seen by many more people than just the editors and media who attend.
Designers are finding that technology can also help the actual design work by allowing artists to explore new ideas and processes.
But Simon Collins, the dean of fashion at Parsons----the new school for design, said even though technology is helpful, there is still no substitute for talent and hard work. “Absolutely, there’ll be people out there that have successful businesses that don’t know the first thing about draping(剪裁) and construction, just think it up, put it on the computer, fire it off the factory and it works,” Collins said. “But they’re the exception, not the rule.”
56. According to the passage, one advantage of the Internet is that it allows the designers to____________.
A. share their collections with other designers
B. display their work at a lower cost
C. receive information about the popular fashion trend
D. inform the editors and media of their collections
57. Which of the following is TRUE about Kamali?
A. She’s aware of the importance of the Internet.
B. She’s against buying clothes online.
C. She thinks New York Fashion Week will attract fewer and fewer people.
D. She’s considering holding a show on the side of a building.
58. We can infer from the passage that ____________.
A. it’s difficult to become a well-known designer
B. it’s dangerous to do online shopping
C. few people pay attention to virtual fashion shows
D. designers are finding various ways to make their shows known to the public
59. According to the last paragraph, we know that Collins ____________.
A. is a successful businessman
B. does not agree that technology is helpful in designing works
C. pays more attention to people’s natural gift and hard work
D. does not understand the fashion of actual design work
60. The purpose of the writing is to ____________.
A. celebrate the success of New York Fashion Week
B. stress the role of technology in fashion
C. introduce the activities in New York Fashion Week
D. advertise New York Fashion Week

When families gather for Christmas dinner, some will stick to formal traditions dating back to grandma’s generation. Their tables will be set with the good dishes and silver, and the dress code will be Sunday best.
But in many other homes, this china-and-silver elegance has given way to a stoneware (粗陶) and stainless informality, with dresses assuming an equally casual-Friday look. For hosts and guests, the change means greater simplicity and comfort. For makers of fine china in Britain, it spells economic hard times.
Last week Royal Doulton, the largest employer in Stoke-on-Trent, announced that it is eliminating 1,000 jobs－one-fifth of its total workforce. That brings to more than 4,000 the number of positions lost in 18 months in the pottery (陶瓷) region. Wedgwood and other pottery factories made cuts earlier.
Although a strong pound and weak markets in Asia play a role in the downsizing, the layoffs in Stoke have their roots in earthshaking social shifts. A spokesman for Royal Doulton admitted that the company “has been somewhat slow in catching up with the trend” toward casual dining. Families eat together less often, he explained, and more people eat alone, either because they are single or they eat in front of television.
Even dinner parties, if they happen at all, have gone casual. In a time of long work hours and demanding family schedules, busy hosts insist, rightly, that it’s better to share a takeout pizza on paper plates in the family room than to wait for the perfect moment or a “real” dinner party. Too often, the perfect moment never comes. Iron a fine-patterned tablecloth? Forget it. Polish the silver? Who has time?
Yet the loss of formality has its down side. The fine points of etiquette (礼节) that children might once have learned at the table by observation or instruction from parents and grandparents (“Chew with your mouth closed.” “Keep your elbows off the table.”) must be picked up elsewhere. Some companies now offer etiquette seminars for employees who may be able professionally but inexperienced socially.
67．Why do people tend to follow the trend to casual dining?
A. Family members need more time to relax.
B. Busy schedules leave people no time for formality.
C. People prefer to live a comfortable life.
D. Young people won’t follow the etiquette of the older generation
68．It can be learned from the passage that Royal Doulton is ________.
A. a seller of stainless steel tableware B. a dealer in stoneware
C. a pottery chain store D. a producer of fine china
69．The main cause of the layoffs in the pottery industry is ________.
A. the increased value of the pound
B. the worsening economy in Asia
C. the change in people’s way of life
D. the fierce competition at home and abroad
70．Formal table manners, though less popular than before in current social life, ________.
A. are still a must on certain occasions B. are certain to return sooner or later
C. are still being taught by parents at home D. can help improve personal relationships

By far the most common difficulty in study is simple failure to get down to regular concentrated work. This difficulty is much greater for those who do not work to a plan and have no regular routine of study. Many students muddle along, doing a bit of this subject or that, as the mood takes them, or letting their set work pile up until the last possible moment.
Few students work to a set timetable. They say that if they did work out a timetable for themselves they would not keep to it, or would have to change it frequently, since they can never predict (foresee) from one day to the next what their activities will be.
No doubt some students take much more kindly to a regular routine than others. There are many who shy away from a self-controlled weekly timetable, and dislike being tied down to a fixed programme of work . Many able students state that they work in cycles. When they become interested in a topic they work on it attentively for three or four days at a time. On other days they avoid work completely. It has to be admitted that we do not fully understand the motivation to work. Most people over 25 years of age have become used to a work routine, and the majority of really productive workers set aside regular hours for the more important areas of their work. The “tough-minded” school of workers doesn’t fully accept the idea that good work can only be done naturally, under the influence of inspiration.
Those who believe that they need only work and study as the fit takes them have a mistaken belief either in their own talent or in the value of “freedom”. Freedom from control and discipline leads to unhappiness rather than to “self-expression” or “personality development”. Our society insists on regular habits, timekeeping and punctuality (准时), and whether we like it or not, if we mean to make our way in society, we have to meet its demands.
63．The most widespread problem in applying oneself to study is ________.
A. changing from one subject to another
B. the failure to keep to a set timetable of work
C. the unwillingness to follow a systematic plan
D. working on a subject only when one feels like it
64．Which of the following is true ?
A. Many students are not interested in using a self-controlled timetable.
B. Many students don’t like being told to study to a fixed timetable.
C. Most people over 25 years of age don’t work to a set timetable.
D. Tough-minded people agree that good work is done naturally.
65．The underlined part “as the fit takes them” in paragraph 4 means ________.
A. when they have the energy B. when they are in the mood
C. when they feel fit D. when they find conditions suitable
66．A suitable title for the passage might be ________.
A. Attitudes to Study B. A study Plan
C. The Difficulties of Studying D. Study and Self-discipline

Most people would agree that it would be wonderful if humans could regenerate (再生) limbs. Those who have lost their arms or legs would be complete again. The day is still far off when this might happen. But in the last 10 years, doctors have reported regeneration in smaller parts of the body, most often fingers.
Regeneration is not a newly-discovered process. For centuries, scientists have seen it work in some kinds of animals. Scientists now are looking for a way to turn on this exciting ability in more highly-developed animals, including humans. Their experiments show that nerves (神经), cell chemistry and the natural electric currents in the body all seem to have a part in this process.
The body of every animal contains general purpose cells that change into whatever kind of cells the body needs. These cells collect around the wound. They form a mass called a blastema (芽基). The cells of the blastema begin to change. Some became bone cells, some muscle cells, some skin cells. Slowly, a new part re-grows from the body outward. When completed, the new part is just like the old one.
More than 200 years ago, Italian scientist Luigi Spallanzani showed that younger animals have a greater ability to regenerate lost parts than older animals. So do animals lower on the ladder of evolutionary (进化的) development. The major differences seem to be that less-developed animals have more nerves in their tails and legs than humans do in their arms and legs.
Another helpful piece of information was discovered in the late 1800s. Scientists found that when a creature is injured, an electrical current flows around the wound. The strength of the current depends on how severe the wound is and on how much nerve tissue (组织) is present.
59．According to the passage, limb regeneration ________.
A. will become a reality in the near future
B. has been reported successful in some patients
C. has a long way to go before it works in humans
D. is a branch of study set up by a group of modern doctors
60．What animals are lower on the ladder of evolutionary development ?
A. More-developed animals. B. Less-developed animals.
C. Highly developed animals. D. Fully-developed animals.
61．According to Luigi Spallanzani’s discovery, ________.
A. humans have less nerves in the limbs than animals
B. some animals may not have so much nerve tissue as others
C. an injured animal regenerates masses of cells round the wound
D. electrical current can be found around the would in younger animals
62．The passage is mainly about ________.
A. a newly-discovered process B. research on animal evolution
C. a new medical discovery D. research on regeneration