The world is filled with smart, talented and gifted people.We meet them every day.A few days ago, my car was not running well.I pulled it into a garage, and the young mechanic had it fixed within just a few minutes.He knew what was wrong by simply listening to the engine.I was amazed.The sad truth is that only great talent is not enough.

I am often shocked at how little talented people earn.I heard the other day that less than 5 percent of Americans earn more than $100,000 a year.A business consultant (顾问) who specializes in the medical trade was telling me how many doctors and dentists struggle with money.It was this business consultant that gave me the phase, “They are one skill away from great wealth”.

There is an old saying that goes,“Job means ‘just over broke(破产)’”.And unfortunately,I would say that the saying applies to millions of people.Because school does not think financial(财务的)intelligence is intelligence, most workers “live within their means”.They work and they pay the bills.Instead I recommend to young people to seek work for what they will learn, more than what they will earn.

When I ask the classes I teach, “How many of you can cook a better hamburger than McDonald’s?” almost all the students raise their hands.I then ask, “So if most of you can cook a better hamburger, how come McDonald’s makes more money than you?” The answer is obvious: McDonald’s is excellent at business systems.The reason why so many talented people are poor is that they focus on building a better hamburger and know little or nothing about business systems.The world is filled with talented poor people.They focus on perfecting their skills at building a better hamburger rather than the skills of selling and delivering the hamburger.

1.How did the mechanic find the problem in the car?

A.by listening to the engine

B.by listening to what the author said

C.by pulling it to the garage

D.by driving it

2.Why do talented people earn so little according to the author?

A.They have no talents.

B.They have no good skills.

C.They don’t work enough.

D.They don’t have financial intelligence.

3.The success of McDonald's lies in its

A.skills at making hamburgers

B.excellent service

C.talented workers

D.good business systems

4.Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A.The world lacks smart, talented and gifted people.

B.The world lacks skilled workers.

C.The world lacks people like McDonald’s.

D.The world lacks excellent doctors and dentists.

When Armida Armato’s daughter, Alexia, came home from school one day last year keen to go on a school trip to Ecuador, she wasn’t too sure how to feel. She was happy that her daughter could experience something she never did as a teen but was fearful of letting her travel to such a remote part of the world.

Alexia was 16 at the time, a student at Westwood High School. The school sponsored a humanitarian trip for 26 students and two teachers to spend 18 days living in a mountain village to build a one-room school. Even though Armato trusted her daughter, the other students and the teachers, she was worried about the side effects from the travel vaccines, possible accidents, and medical care.

Now that Alexia was home, Armato said she saw her daughter’s new maturity, greater confidence and independence. “This is the best thing I ever did,” Alexia said. “The experience was so eye-opening and life-changing. You’re with people who are not as lucky as you are. They live in very poor conditions but they’re so happy and outgoing. You say, ‘My God. I’m taking everything for granted back home.’”

She said they built a one-room school from scratch with no mechanical cement mixers. They used their hands, shovels and basic tools. She and another student lived with a local family in a small village about eight hours outside the capital, Quito. Despite the initial strangeness and knowing only basic Spanish, she said they grew very close and felt like a family.

Every year, groups of students at Montreal High School like Alexia pack their bags and fly off with classmates and teachers to developing countries where they volunteer for a variety of projects.

“Armato’s worries are very common among parents,” says Bill Nevin, a teacher at St. George’s High School. He organizes a humanitarian rip to India to the Sheela Bal Bhavan orphanage and says the three biggest fears families have are health, security and contact.

1.When hearing the news that her daughter would go on a school trip to Ecuador, Armato was _______.

A. proud and happy

B. supportive but concerned

C. fearful and nervous

D. excited but puzzled

2.The underlined phrase “from scratch” in Paragraph 4 probably means “______”.

A. having great help

B. using high technology

C. ending up in failure

D. starting from the beginning

3.What would be the best title for the text?

A. Volunteering helps students grow and develop.

B. School trips make parents worried about their children.

C. Ecuador is the most attractive travel destination in the world.

D. Brave Alexia dreams to work in Ecuador one day.

I had the meanest mother in the whole world.While other kids ate candy for breakfast, I had to have cereal, eggs or toast.While others had Cokes and candy for lunch, I had to eat a sandwich.As you can guess, my supper was different from the other kids’ too.But at least, I wasn’t alone in my sufferings.My sister and two brothers had the same mean mother as I did.

My mother insisted upon knowing where we were at all times.She had to know who our friends were and where we were going.She insisted if we said we’d be gone an hour, then we should be gone one hour or less -- not one hour and one minute.And she always insisted upon us telling the truth.Now you can see how mean she was.

The worst is yet to come.We had to be in bed by nine each night and up at eight the next morning.We couldn’t sleep till noon like our friends.So while they slept - my mother actually had the courage to break the Child Labor Law.She made us work.We had to wash dishes, make beds, and learn to cook.We had to wear clean clothes and take a bath every day.The other kids always wore their clothes for days.We reached the height of disgrace because she made our clothes herself, just to save money.I believe she laid awake at night thinking up mean things to do to us.

Through the years, things didn’t improve a bit.We could not lie in bed “sick” like our friends did, and miss school.Our marks in school had to live up to expectations.Our friends’ report cards had beautiful colors on them, black for passing, red for failing.My mother, being as different as she was, would be satisfied with nothing less than ugly black marks.

As the years rolled by, first one and then the other of us was put to shame.We graduated from high school.With our mother behind us, talking, hitting and demanding respect, none of us was allowed the pleasure of being a drop-out.

My mother was a complete failure as a mother.Out of four children, a couple of us attained some higher education.None of us have ever been arrested or divorced.Each of my brothers served his time in the service of this country.She forced us to grow up into God-fearing, educated, honest adults.I am now trying to raise my three children.I am filled with pride when my children call me mean.Why? Because now I thank God every day for giving me the meanest mother in the whole world.

1.The author’s mother wanted her children to _________.

A.do their best at school and be educated and respected citizens

B.be top students in school and graduate with honors

C.stop seeing her friends who pretended to be sick to skip classes

D.bring home colored report cards like her friends did

2.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the text?

A.The author has a deep hatred for her mother.

B.The author’s mother set timetables for her children whenever they went out.

C.Some of the children weren’t able to go to college because of their mean mother.

D.As a parent, the author is following her mother’s example.

3.It can be inferred from the passage that________.

A.All the other kids at school studied better than the author.

B.The author worked hard and usually got good grades in studies.

C.Mother was punished for breaking the Labor Law.

D.The author’s family lived a miserable life.

Simon Sinek is naturally shy and doesn’t like speaking to crowds.At parties,he says he hides alone in the corner or doesn’t even show up in the first place.He prefers the latter.Yet,with some 22 million video views under his belt,the optimistic ethnographer also happens to be the third most watched TED Talks presenter of all time.

Sinek’s unlikely success as both an inspirational speaker and a bestselling author isn’t just dumb luck.It’s the result of fears faced and erased,trial and error and tireless practice,on and off stage.Here are his secrets for delivering speeches that inspire,inform and entertain.

Don’t talk right away.

Sinek says you should never talk as you walk out on stage.“A lot of people start talking right away,and it’s out of nerves,” Sinek says.“That communicates a little bit of insecurity and fear.”

Instead,quietly walk out on stage.Then take a deep breath,find your place,wait a few seconds and begin.“I know it sounds long and tedious and it feels excruciatingly awkward when you do it,” Sinek says,“but it shows the audience you’re totally confident and in charge of the situation.”

Show up to give,not to take.

Often people give presentations to sell products or ideas,to get people to follow them on social media,buy their books or even just to like them.Sinek calls these kinds of speakers “takers,” and he says audiences can see through these people right away.And,when they do,they disengage.

“We are highly social animals,” says Sinek.“Even at a distance on stage,we can tell if you’re a giver or a taker,and people are more likely to trust a giver — a speaker that gives them value,that teaches them something new,that inspires them — than a taker.”

Speak unusually slowly.

When you get nervous,it’s not just your heart beat that quickens.Your words also tend to speed up.Luckily Sinek says audiences are more patient and forgiving than we know.

“They want you to succeed up there,but the more you rush,the more you turn them off,” he says.“If you just go quiet for a moment and take a long,deep breath,they’ll wait for you.It’s kind of amazing.”

Turn nervousness into excitement.

Sinek learned this trick from watching the Olympics.A few years ago he noticed that reporters interviewing Olympic athletes before and after competing were all asking the same question.“Were you nervous?” And all of the athletes gave the same answer: “No,I was exciteD. ” These competitors were taking the body’s signs of nervousness—clammy hands,pounding heart and tense nerves—and reinterpreting them as side effects of excitement and exhilaration.

When you’re up on stage you will likely go through the same thing.That’s when Sinek says you should say to yourself out loud,“I’m not nervous,I’m excited!”

Say thank you when you’re done.

Applause is a gift,and when you receive a gift,it’s only right to express how grateful you are for it.This is why Sinek always closes out his presentations with these two simple yet powerful words: thank you.

“They gave you their time,and they’re giving you their applause.” Says Sinek.“That’s a gift,and you have to be grateful.”

Passage outline

Supporting details

1.to Simon Sinek

He is by 2.shy and dislikes making speeches in public.

Through his 3.effort, he enjoys great success in giving speeches

Tips on delivering speeches

Avoid talking 4.for it indicates you’re nervous.

Keep calm and wait a few seconds before talking, which will create an 5.that you are confident.

Try to be a giver rather than a taker because in 6.with a taker, a giver can get more popular and accepted.

Teach audience something new that they can 7.from.

Speak a bit slowly just to help you stay calm

Never speed up while speaking in case you 8.the audience.

Switch nervousness to excitement by 9.the example of Olympic athletes.

Express your 10.to the audience for their time and applause to conclude your speech.

阅读下列短文,从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中,选出最佳选项。

In my first week as a graduate student at Cambridge University in 1964 I met with a fellow student, two years ahead of me in his studies; he was unsteady on his feet and spoke with great difficulty.This was Stephen Hawking.I learned that he had a bad disease and might not live long enough even to finish his PhD degree.

But, amazingly, he has reached the age of 73.Even mere survival would have been a medical miracle, but of course, he didn’t merely survive.He has become arguably the most famous scientist in the world for his brilliant research, for his bestselling books, and, above all, for his astonishing victory over hardship.

Stephen received his “death sentence” in 1964, when I thought it was hard for him to go on with his study.Stephen went from Albans School to Oxford University.He was said to be a “lazy” undergraduate, but his brilliance earned him a first class degree, an “entry ticket” to a research career in Cambridge and a uniquely inspiring achievement.Within a few years of the burst of his disease he was wheelchair bound, and his speech was so unclear that it could only be understood by those who knew him well.But his scientific career went from strength to strength: he quickly came up with a series of insights into the nature of black holes (then a very new idea) and how the universe began.In 1974 he was elected to the Royal Society at the exceptionally early age of 32.

The great advances in science generally involve discovering a link between phenomena that were previously conceptually unconnected — for instance, Isaac Newton realized that the force making an apple fall to earth was the same as the force that holds the moon and planets in their orbits.Stephen’s revolutionary idea about a link between gravity and quantum(量子) theory has still not been tested. However, it has been hugely influential; indeed, one of the main achievements of string theory(弦理论) has been to confirm and build on his idea. He has undoubtedly done more than anyone else since Einstein to improve our knowledge of gravity and he is one of the top ten living theoretical physicists.

1.What impressed the author most about Stephen Hawking?

A. His brilliant research.

B. His bestselling books.

C. His serious disease.

D. His defeating hardship.

2.What made Stephen Hawking start his research career at Cambridge?

A. His death sentence.

B. His “lazy” attitude.

C. His above average talent and ability.

D. His rich experience.

3.It can be inferred that Stephen Hawking was born ________.

A. in the early 1940s

B. in the late 1940s

C. in the early 1930s

D. in the late 1930s

4.What can we learn from the text?

A. Hawking’s theory was proved years ago.

B. Hawking was not as successful as Newton.

C. String theory built on Hawking’s ideA.

D. Hawking’s theory has had little influence on others.

5.Which of the following is Not True according the passage?

A. He achieved one success after another in his career despite his disease.

B. He couldn’t walk when the author first met him at Cambridge.

C. He not only survived his disease but contributed greatly to science.

D. He is among the greatest scientists to improve the knowledge of gravity.

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1.According to the passage, we know that the Amazing Diet Patch is some kind of _______.

A. pills B. soup C. vegetables D. plaster (膏)

2.Which of the following words can replace the underlined word “suppressing”?

A. increasing B. changing

C. controlling D. burning

3.The Amazing Diet patch is available only _______.

A. on the TV B. through the online

C. in the drug store D. in the supermarket

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A. change your metabolism

B. doing large amount of exercises

C. brightening your mood

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