The other day I heard a few local musicians talking:

“I hate all the terrible pianos in this town. I hate that rubbish they play on the radio. They can’t even understand a bit of music.”

“I’m never playing in that club again. Too many drunks and nobody listens to us.”

But, one younger musician said, “There are a few clubs that book my band a few nights a month, and I’m trying to find other places to play. I’m also looking to book a few summer festivals this year.”

I’ve heard that you are the average of the five people whom you spend the most time with, or to put it another way, you are who your friends are.

Attitudes are important. Whether they’re positive or negative, they’re rubbing off on you. If you’re around people who complain about lack of work and about other musicians, or blame (责怪) others, and you play the role of victim (受害者), chances are you will start to as well. So it’s time to take a look at the people you call “friends”.

This is an easy exercise: Make a list of the people who you hang out with, and simply stop spending time with the negative people on your list. Set a new standard (标准) for yourself and don’t become friends with people who fall below that standard.

Keep successful people around you and your own chances for success will be much better. Ask them how they do it. Ask if they will help you get the work you’re looking for, or maybe give you some advice to help you on your career path.

Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?

A. A friend in need is a friend indeed

B. How to make friendship last for ever

C. You are who your friends are

D. Friends are the most important in one’s success

The underlined sentence “they’re rubbing off on you” in Paragraph 6 means ______.

A. they’ll push you ahead

B. they’ll influence you

C. they’ll cover your shortcomings

D. they’ll help you achieve your goal

The musicians’ words at the beginning are written mainly to show ______.

A. the musicians’ living conditions are quite poor

B. people have poor taste in music

C. people have different attitudes towards the same thing

D. young people have greater chances of succeeding

By taking the exercise mentioned in Paragraph 7, you can ______.

A. improve a lot in making more friends

B. come to the right way of making friends

C. develop a better relationship with your friends

D. arrange the time with your friends properly

The passage is mainly written for ______.

A. musicians

B. managers

C. negative people

D. people wanting to succeed

第二部分阅读（共两节，满分80分）
第一节：阅读理解（共35小题；每小题2分，满分70分）
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从21~55各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
　　August has always been difficult for me. It is the time when I realize that the books my English teacher assigned to me are not going to read themselves and that I have a difficult month in front of me.
　　You might think that I don’t want to spend my summer reading, but that’s not the problem: I love reading. On the first day of my summer holidays this year, I went to the library and got “A Gathering of Old Men” by African-American writer Ernest Gaines. I enjoyed it very much. I read all the magazines that my parents subscribe to and spend about 30 minutes every day with the morning paper. So why do I hate summer reading for school? Because the books on summer reading lists are often slow-going and just uninviting. Teachers and librarians don’t understand that summer reading can be entertaining as well as educational. They choose books that a friend of my mother’s calls “spinach books”: good for you, but not much fun to take in. Every summer, I read them, hate them and get bitter about the experience.
　　This bitterness started three years ago when I was about to begin high school. As preparation, my English teacher told me to read “The Age of Innocence” by American author Edith Wharton. I’m sure there are many people who enjoyed “The Age of Innocence” — some might even say it’s their favorite book.
　　But I don’t think any of these people read it as a 14-year-old boy on his summer vacation.
　　“The Age of Innocence” is the story of a forbidden romance in New York 100 years ago. At 14, my only experience with romance was my love for baseball. I couldn’t imagine being in love, much less being in love in 1900. “The Age of Innocence” was totally different to my life.
　　Most of my required summer reading has been like that — books written in a style that plays up the adjectives and plays down the verbs. I guess teachers don’t think exciting plots make for “good literature”. To me, though, a good writer describes events and characters in a way that makes the reader want to know what happens next.
　　If I were making up a summer reading list, it would include “The Friends of Eddie Coyle” by George V. Higgins, “The Right Stuff” by Tom Wolfe, and “Into Thin Air” by Jon Krakauer. These are all books that have literary value but, just as important, can also entertain kids on vacation. If the teachers could stand a little fun in the books they assign, my Augusts would be a lot more enjoyable.
1. The author thinks he will have a difficult August because ____________.
A. he doesn’t like reading in summer vacation
B. he is to read the books boring and not right for kids
C. he hates the English teacher assigning homework
D. he hates August
2. What can make students interested in August reading ought to be ___________.
A. romantic                                                      B. out of date
C. entertaining and educational                            D. pure
3. The author listed such books as “The Friends of Eddie Coyle” because he thinks __________.
A. they can change his opinion                            B. he can learn a lot more from them
C. they are of literary value, and enjoyable    D. he has to do as teachers tell him to
4. In the opinion of the author of this passage, a good writer should be ___________.
A. one who describes events and characters in different ways
B. one who is full of imagination
C. one who is learned
D. one who uses a way of describing that makes the reader wish to know what to happen next
5. Which of the following could be the best title of this passage?
A. Why Can’t Teachers Set Us Fun Books?
B. I Don’t Like Reading on the Vacation
C. Teachers, Don’t Set Us Any Reading Assignments
D. Teachers, Set Us Free