Who’s in control of your life? Who is pulling your string? For the majority of us, it’s other people—society, colleagues, friends, family or our religious community. We learned this way of operating when we were very young, of course. We were brainwashed. We discovered that feeling important and feeling accepted was a nice experience and so we learned to do  everything we could to make other people like us. As Oscar Wilde puts it, “Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry(模仿), their passions a quotation.”

So when people tell us how wonderful we are, it makes us feel good. We long for this good feeling like a drug—we are addicted to it and seek it out wherever we can. Therefore, we are so eager for the approval of others that we live unhappy and limited lives, failing to do the things we really want to. Just as drug addicts and alcoholics live worsened lives to keep getting their fix (一剂毒品). We worsen our own existence to get our own constant fix of approval.

    But, just as with any drug, there is a price to pay. The price of the approval drug is freedom—the freedom to be ourselves. The truth is that we cannot control what other people think. People have their own agenda, and they come with their own baggage and, in the end, they're more interested in themselves than in you. Furthermore, if we try to live by the opinions of others, we will build our life on sinking sand. Everyone has a different way of thinking, and people change their opinions all the time. The person who tries to please everyone will only end up getting exhausted and probably pleasing no one in the process.

    So how can we take back control? I think there’s only one way—make a conscious  decision to stop caring what other people think. We should guide ourselves by means of a set of values---not values imposed(强加)from the outside by others, but innate values which come from within. If we are driven by these values and not by the changing opinions and value systems of others, we will live a more authentic, effective, purposeful and happy life.

What Oscar Wilde says implies that _____________.

A. we have thoughts similar to those of others

B. most people have a variety of thoughts

C. other people’s thoughts are more important

D. most people’s thoughts are controlled by others

What does the author try to argue in the third paragraph ?

A. Changing opinions may cost us our freedom.

B. We may lose ourselves to please others.

   C. We need to pay for what we want to get.

D. The price of taking drugs is freedom.

In order to live a happy, effective and purposeful life, we should _________.

A. care about others’ opinions and change opinions all the time

B. guide ourselves by means of values from the outside

C. stick to our own values

D. persuade others to accept our opinions

It can be concluded from the passage that __________.

A. it’s better to do what we like           B. we shouldn’t care what others think

   C. we shouldn't change our own opinions   D. it’s important to accept others’ opinions

Betty Friedan, born in 1921 in Peoria, Illinois, attended Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. She finished her studies in psychology in 1942. After college she attended the University of California at Berkeley to continue her studies. Later, she moved to New York City and worked as a reporter and editor for labor union newspapers.

In 1947, Betty married Carl Friedan. They had a child, the first of three. When Betty Friedan became pregnant for the second time, she was dismissed from her job at the newspaper. After that she worked as an independent reporter for magazines. But her editors often rejected her attempts to write about subjects outside the traditional interests of w omen.

In 1966, Betty Friedan helped found NOW, the National Organization for Women. She served as its first president. She led campaigns to end unfair treatment of women seeking jobs. She wanted women to take part in social and political change. Betty Friedan led a huge demonstration(游行) in New York City for women’s rights. Demonstrations were also held in other cities.

In 1981, Betty Friedan wrote a book called “The Second Stage” about the condition of the women’s movement. Friedan wrote that the time for huge demonstrations and other such events had passed. She urged the movement to try to increase its influence on American political life. Some younger members of the movement criticized her as too conservative.

Betty Friedan died on February 4, 2006. She was considered the mother of modern women’s liberation movement. Betty Friedan once told a television reporter how she wanted to be remembered: “She helps make women feel better about being women.”

1.According to Paragraph 2, Betty lost her job because         .

A. she was pregnant                                                 B. she got married

C. her editors didn’t like her                                           D. she was too independent

2.Betty led a huge demonstration to           .

A. fight against the government

B. fight for women’s rights

C. take part in political life

D. get support from the government

3.The book“The Second Stage”            .

A. was popular among young women readers

B. thought highly of those huge demonstrations

C. was about the condition of the women’s movement then

D. decreased the movement’s influence on American political life

4.Fr om the last paragraph, we know that         .

A. Betty help ed women live better

B. Betty wanted to be remembered forever

C. Betty thought it better to be a woman

D. the television reporter knew Betty well

 

A child, who has once got interested in 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 just “read” it out of a book, and, if a parent can produce his own as an improvement on the printed text, according to his child’s actual situation, so much the better.

There is a charge made against some fairy tales, as they probably harm children by frightening them or leaving them sad feelings. To prove it, an experiment has been done to show that children who have heard terrible fairy stories often feel more uneasy than those who have not. As for fears, there are some cases where children get timid (胆怯的) by some fairy story. Often, however, this arises from the child having heard the story once. Familiarity with the story by repetition may weaken the pain of fear.

There are also people who object to fairy stories on the grounds that the stories are not objectively true, and that those giants, witches, two-headed dragons, magic carpets etc. do not really exist, so children should be taught to learn the reality by studying history, instead of being got fond of the strange side in fairy tales. Those, who prefer to create such stories, are so peculiar (奇怪的) that it is hard to argue with them. If their creative exaggeration (夸张) 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.

Not once is a fairy story ever declared to be a description of the real world, but not every child is clever enough to be aware of it. Parents should choose their children’s “bed-time” reading materials with much care. Only the fairy stories containing positive effect will make a clever and caring child with rich imagination.   

1.The author considers that a fairy story is more effective when it is ______.

A.repeated without any change

B.treated as no more than a joke

C.made some changes by parents

D.set in the present situation

2.According to the passage, when a child hears a terrible fairy story, ______.

A.he will get more interested

B.great fear can take place in him

C.he will like it to be repeated

D.an experiment is being done

3.The word “sound” in Para.3 can be understood as ______.

A.fashionable        B.forgettable        C.available          D.believable

4.The author mentions “sticks” and “telephones” to prove that ______.

A.fairy stories are all made up

B.fairy tales lead to misunderstanding

C.children are cheated by old stories

D.there is more concern for children

5.One of the reasons why some people are not in favor of fairy tales is that ______.

A.they are made up far from the truth

B.they are so full of imagination

C.they are not interesting at all

D.they make history difficult to teach

6.It makes sense that parents choose fairy stories with ______ as “bed-time” reading materials..

A.formal printings     B.creative scenes     C.positive effect      D.terrible characters

 

Busy senior managers need no longer waste time in showering themselves-an Australian company has invented a suit that can be worn while they wash.

The suit has been specially designed so that it can be cleaned under the showerhead. There is no need for soaking (浸泡),dry cleaning-or even soap.

The Japanese market has taken a liking to the “shower suit”,described as “revolutionary” by its owner Australian Wool Innovation (AWI),which is the research and marketing body that represents Australian wool-growers. Orders have been placed for 170,000 of the woolen suits.

The suit could be worn in the shower,although it was probably better to hang it on a clothes hanger and carry it instead,AWI corporate affairs spokesman Stephen Feighan said.“The idea is that you hang it up and then...you give it a spray (喷雾),and it’s dry the next morning,” Mr Feighan said.

A Japanese researcher working for AWI invented the suit by combining three technologies. The secret is the best lining (内衬),which allows the suit to dry quickly.The shower suit attracted busy corporate people,particularly those who often traveled or stayed up late,Mr Feighan said.The airline industry was also interested.

Mr Feighan confessed he had not worn one of the suits yet,or tried to wash it in the shower,because they cut to fit Japanese figures.AWI believes that the shower suit will spread from the Japanese market through Europe and India. Mr Feighan hoped the suit,made from local wool,would be available in Australia in 12 to 18 months’ time.

1.What is the writing purpose of the article?

A.To introduce a newly-designed shower suit.

B.To help the white collars arrange their life more sensibly.

C.To provide suggestions on saving time in bath.

D.To praise AWI for its important achievement.

2.Which is true about the suit according to the passage?

A.It can spare the owner’s trouble of soaking,dry cleaning and applying soap.

B.It is of the quality of fast dry for its best cloth.

C.It is not suitable for hanging.

D.It has attracted more orders than any other suit.

3.The suit draws the attention from all the following groups EXCEPT________.

A.corporate people who are always on the go

B.people on occasional business trips

C.the airline industry

D.people burning the midnight oil

4.Which of the following has much to do with Mr Feighan?

A.The invention of the suit.

B.The try-on of the suit.

C.The combination of the three technologies on the suit.

D.The popularization of the suit and best wishes for it.

 

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