阅读短文，并按照题目要求用英语回答问题。Somepeople-优题课

It had been some time since Jack had seen the old man. College, carrier, and life itself got in the way. In fact, Jack moved clear across the country in pursuit of the dreams. There, in the rush of his busy life, Jack had little time to think about the past and often no time to spend with his wife and son. He was working on his future, and nothing could stop him.
Over the phone, his mother told him, “Mr. Belser died last night. The funeral is Wednesday.” Memories fleshed through his mind like an old newsreel as he sat quietly remembering his childhood days.
“Jack, did you hear me?”
“Oh, sorry, Mom. Yes, I heard you. it’s been so long since I thought of him. I’m sorry, but I honestly thought he died years ago,” Jack said.
“Well, he didn’t forget you. Every time I saw him he’d ask how you were doing. He’d reminisce (回忆) about the many days you spent over ‘his side of the fence’ as he put it, ” Mom told him.
“I loved that old house he lived in,” Jack said.
“You know, Jack, after your father died, Mr. Belser stepped in to make sure you had a man’s influence in your life,” she said.
“He’s the one who taught me carpentry. I wouldn’t be in this business if it weren’t for him. He spent a lot of time teaching me things he thought were important. Mom, I’ll be there for the funeral.” Jack said.
Busy as he was, he kept his word. Jack caught the next flight to his hometown. Mr. Belser’s funeral was small and uneventful. He had no children of his own, and most of his relatives had passed away.
The night before he had to return home, Jack and his Mom stopped by to see the old house next door one more time, which was exactly as he remembered. Every step held memories. Every picture, every piece of furniture … Jack stopped suddenly.
“What’s wrong, Jack?” his Mom asked.
“The box is gone,” he said.
“What box?” Mom asked.
“There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk. I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he’d ever tell me was ‘the thing I value most’,” Jack said.
It was gone. Everything about the house was exactly how Jack remembered it, except for the box. He figured someone from the Belser family had taken it.
“Now I’ll never know what was so valuable to him,” Jack said sadly.
Returning to his office the next day, he found a package on his desk. The return address caught his attention.
“Mr. Harold Belser” it read.
Jack tore open the package. There inside was the gold box and an envelope. Jack’s hands shook as he read the note inside,
“Upon my death, please forward this box and its contents to Jack Bernett. It’s the thing I valued most in my life.” A small key was taped to the letter. His heart racing, and tears filling his eyes. Jack carefully unlocked the box. There inside he found a beautiful gold pocket watch. Running his fingers slowly over the fine cover, he opened it.
Inside he found these words carved: “Jack. Thanks for your time! Harold Belser.”
“Oh. My God! This is the thing he valued most …”
Jack held the watch for a few minutes, then called his assistant and cleared his appointments for the next two days. “Why?” his assistant asked.
“I need some time to spend with my son,” he said.
46. Why did Jack think Mr. Belser died years ago?
A. College and career prevented him from remembering Mr. Belser.
B. Jack was too busy with his business and family to think about Mr. Belser.
C. Jack was too busy realizing his dreams to think about Mr. Belser.
D. His present busy life washed away his children memories.
47. Jack’s mother told him on the phone about Mr. Belser EXCEPT that _________.
A. Mr. Belser often asked how Jack was doing
B. Mr. Belser’s funeral would take place on Wednesday
C. Mr. Belser had asked for Jack’s mailing address
D. Mr. Belser had pleasant memories of their time together
48. Why did Belser send Jack his gold watch?
A. Because he was grateful for Jack’s time with him.
B. Because he had no children or relatives.
C. Because he thought he had to keep his word.
D. Because Jack had always wanted it during his childhood.
49. Why did Jack say he needed some time to spend with his son?
A. He was very tired of his work and wanted to have a good rest.
B. He had promised to spare more time to stay with his son.
C. He had missed his son and his family for days.
D. He came to realize the importance of the time with his family.
50. Which of the following is the most suitable title for this passage?
A. The Good Old Times B. What He Valued Most
C. An Old Gold Watch D. The Lost Childhood Days

The Diet Zone: A Dangerous Place
Diet Coke, diet Pepsi, diet pills, no-fat diet, vegetable diet… We are surrounded by the word “diet” everywhere we look and listen. We have so easily been attracted by the promise and potential of diet products that we have stopped thinking about what diet products are doing to us. We are paying for products that harm us psychologically and physically（身体上）.
Diet products significantly weaken us psychologically. On one level, we are not allowing our brain to admit that our weight problems lie not in actually losing the weight, but in controlling the consumption of fatty, high-calorie, unhealthy foods. Diet products allow us to jump over the thinking stage and go straight for the scale（秤）instead. All we have to do is to swallow or recognize the word “diet” in food labels.
On another level, diet products have greater psychological effects. Every time we have a zero-calorie drink, we are telling ourselves without our awareness that we don’t have to work to get results. Diet products make people believe that gain comes without pain, and that life can be without resistance and struggle.
The danger of diet products lies not only in the psychological effects they have on us, but also in the physical harm that they cause. Diet foods can indirectly harm our bodies because consuming them instead of healthy foods means we are preventing our bodies from having basic nutrients(营养成分). Diet foods and diet pills contain zero calorie only because the diet industry has created chemicals to produce these wonder products. Diet products may not be nutritional, and the chemical that go into diet products are potentially dangerous.
Now that we are aware of the effects that diet products have on us, it is time to seriously think about buying them. Losing weight lies in the power of minds, not in the power of chemicals. Once we realize this, we will be much better able to resist diet products, and therefore prevent the psychological harm that comes from using them.
51. From Paragraph 1, we learn that ________.
A. diet products fail to bring out people’s potential
B. people have difficulty in choosing diet products
C. diet products are misleading people
D. people are fed up with diet products
52. One psychological effect of diet products is that people tend to _____.
A. try out a variety of diet foods
B. hesitate before they enjoy diet foods
C. pay attention to their own eating habits
D. watch their weight rather than their diet
53. In Paragraph 3, “gain comes without pain” probably means ______.
A. losing weight is effortless
B. it costs a lot to lose weight
C. diet products bring no pain
D. diet products are free from calories
54. Diet products indirectly harm people physically because such products ______.
A. are over-consumed
B. lack basic nutrients
C. are short of chemicals
D. provide too much energy
55. Which of the following shows the structure of the passage?

It had been some time since Jack had seen the old man. College, carrier, and life itself got in the way. In fact, Jack moved clear across the country in pursuit of the dreams. There, in the rush of his busy life, Jack had little time to think about the past and often no time to spend with his wife and son. He was working on his future, and nothing could stop him.
Over the phone, his mother told him, “Mr. Belser died last night. The funeral is Wednesday.” Memories fleshed through his mind like an old newsreel as he sat quietly remembering his childhood days.
“Jack, did you hear me?”
“Oh, sorry, Mom. Yes, I heard you. it’s been so long since I thought of him. I’m sorry, but I honestly thought he died years ago,” Jack said.
“Well, he didn’t forget you. Every time I saw him he’d ask how you were doing. He’d reminisce (回忆) about the many days you spent over ‘his side of the fence’ as he put it, ” Mom told him.
“I loved that old house he lived in,” Jack said.
“You know, Jack, after your father died, Mr. Belser stepped in to make sure you had a man’s influence in your life,” she said.
“He’s the one who taught me carpentry. I wouldn’t be in this business if it weren’t for him. He spent a lot of time teaching me things he thought were important. Mom, I’ll be there for the funeral.” Jack said.
Busy as he was, he kept his word. Jack caught the next flight to his hometown. Mr. Belser’s funeral was small and uneventful. He had no children of his own, and most of his relatives had passed away.
The night before he had to return home, Jack and his Mom stopped by to see the old house next door one more time, which was exactly as he remembered. Every step held memories. Every picture, every piece of furniture … Jack stopped suddenly.
“What’s wrong, Jack?” his Mom asked.
“The box is gone,” he said.
“What box?” Mom asked.
“There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk. I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he’d ever tell me was ‘the thing I value most’,” Jack said.
It was gone. Everything about the house was exactly how Jack remembered it, except for the box. He figured someone from the Belser family had taken it.
“Now I’ll never know what was so valuable to him,” Jack said sadly.
Returning to his office the next day, he found a package on his desk. The return address caught his attention.
“Mr. Harold Belser” it read.
Jack tore open the package. There inside was the gold box and an envelope. Jack’s hands shook as he read the note inside,
“Upon my death, please forward this box and its contents to Jack Bernett. It’s the thing I valued most in my life.” A small key was taped to the letter. His heart racing, and tears filling his eyes. Jack carefully unlocked the box. There inside he found a beautiful gold pocket watch. Running his fingers slowly over the fine cover, he opened it.
Inside he found these words carved: “Jack. Thanks for your time! Harold Belser.”
“Oh. My God! This is the thing he valued most …”
Jack held the watch for a few minutes, then called his assistant and cleared his appointments for the next two days. “Why?” his assistant asked.
“I need some time to spend with my son,” he said.
46. Why did Jack think Mr. Belser died years ago?
A. College and career prevented him from remembering Mr. Belser.
B. Jack was too busy with his business and family to think about Mr. Belser.
C. Jack was too busy realizing his dreams to think about Mr. Belser.
D. His present busy life washed away his children memories.
47. Jack’s mother told him on the phone about Mr. Belser EXCEPT that _________.
A. Mr. Belser often asked how Jack was doing
B. Mr. Belser’s funeral would take place on Wednesday
C. Mr. Belser had asked for Jack’s mailing address
D. Mr. Belser had pleasant memories of their time together
48. Why did Belser send Jack his gold watch?
A. Because he was grateful for Jack’s time with him.
B. Because he had no children or relatives.
C. Because he thought he had to keep his word.
D. Because Jack had always wanted it during his childhood.
49. Why did Jack say he needed some time to spend with his son?
A. He was very tired of his work and wanted to have a good rest.
B. He had promised to spare more time to stay with his son.
C. He had missed his son and his family for days.
D. He came to realize the importance of the time with his family.
50. Which of the following is the most suitable title for this passage?
A. The Good Old Times B. What He Valued Most
C. An Old Gold Watch D. The Lost Childhood Days

As the pace of life continues to increase, we are fast losing the art of relaxation. Once you are in the habit of rushing through life, being on the go from morning till night, it is hard to slow down. But relaxation is essential for a healthy mind and body.
Stress is a natural part of everyday life and there is no way to avoid it. In fact, it is not the bad thing it is often supposed to be. A certain amount of stress is vital to provide motivation and give purpose to life. It is only when the stress gets out of control that it can lead to poor performance and ill health.
The amount of stress a person can withstand depends very much on the individual. Some people are not afraid of stress, and such characters are obviously prime material for managerial responsibilities, others lose heart at the first sign of unusual difficulties. When exposed to stress, in whatever form, we react both chemically and physically. In fact we make choice between "flightorfight" and in more primitive days the choices made the difference between lifeordeath. The crises we meet today are unlikely to be so extreme, but however little the stress, it involves the same response. It is when such a reaction lasts long, through continued exposure to stress, that health becomes endangered. Since we can't remove stress from our lives (it would be unwise to do so even if we could), we need to find ways to deal with it.
46. People are finding less and less time for relaxing themselves because _____.
A. they regard working as their greatest enjoyment
B. they believe that work is superior to relaxation
C. they are traveling fast all the time
D. they are becoming busier with their work than ever before
47. According to the author, the most important character for a good manager is his _____.
A. strong will to hold out stress
B. knowing the art of relaxation
C. high sense of responsibility
D. having control over performance
48. Which of the following statements is TRUE, according to the passage?
A. We can find quite a few ways to avoid stress.
B. Stress is always harmful to people's health
C. It's easy to change the habit of keeping oneself busy with work.
D. Different people can bear different amount of stress.
49. In the last sentence of the passage, "do so" refers to _____.
A. "expose ourselves to stress"
B. "find ways to deal with stress"
C. "remove stress from our lives"
D. "establish links between diseases and stress"
50. According to the author, the right attitude toward stress is _____.
A. to avoid it B. to try to cope with it
C. to regard it as a vital motivationD. to find some relaxation

A child who has once been pleased with a tale likes, as a rule, to have it retold in almost the same words, but this should not lead parents to treat printed fairy stories as formal texts. It is always much better to tell a story than read it out of a book, and, if a parent can produce what, in the actual situation of the time and the child, is an improvement on the printed text, so much the better.
A charge made against fairy tales is that they harm the child by frightening him or making him sad thinking. To prove the latter, one would have to show in a controlled experiment that children who have read fairy stories were more often sorry for cruelty than those who had not. As to fears, there are, I think, some cases of children being dangerously terrified by some fairy story. Often, however, this arises(出现) from the child having heard the story once. Familiarity with the story by repetition turns the pain of fear into the pleasure of a fear faced and mastered.
There are also people who object to fairy stories on the grounds that they are not objectively true, that giants, witches, two-headed dragons, magic carpets, etc. do not exist; and that, instead of being fond of the strange side in fairy tales, the child should be taught to learn the reality by studying history. I find such people, I must say so peculiar(奇怪的) that I do not know how to argue with them. If their case were sound, the world should be full of mad men attempting to fly from New York to Philadelphia on a stick or covering a telephone with kisses in the belief that it was their beloved girl-friend.
No fairy story ever declared to be a description of the real world and no clever child has ever believed that it was.
41. The author considers that a fairy story is more effective when it is _______.
A. repeated without any change B. treated as a joke
C. made some changes by the parent D. set in the present
42. According to the passage, great fear can take place in a child when the story is _______.
A. in a realistic setting B. heard for the first time
C. repeated too often D. told in a different way
43. The advantage claimed(提出) for repeating fairy stories to young children is that it _______.
A. makes them less fearful
B. develops their power of memory
C. makes them believe there is nothing to be afraid of
D. encourages them not to have strange beliefs
44. The author’s mention of sticks and telephones is meant to suggest that _______.
A. fairy stories are still being made up
B. there is some misunderstanding about fairy tales
C. people try to modernize old fairy stories
D. there is more concern for children's fears nowadays
45. One of the reasons why some people are not in favor of fairy tales is that _______.
A. they are full of imagination
B. they just make up the stories which are far from the truth
C. they are not interesting
D. they make teachers of history difficult to teach