I entered high school having read hundreds of books.But I was not a good reader.Merely bookish,I lacked a point of view when I read.Rather,I read in order to get a point of view.I searched books for good expressions and sayings,pieces of information,ideas,themes—anything to enrich my thought and make me feel educated.When one of my teachers suggested to his sleepy tenth-grade English class that a person could not have a “complicated(复杂的) idea” until he had read at least two thousand books,I heard the words without recognizing either its irony(嘲讽) or its very complicated truth.I merely determined to make a list of all the books I had ever read.Strict with myself,I included only once a title I might have read several times.(How,after all,could one read a book more than once?)And I included only those books over a hundred pages in length.(Could anything shorter be a book?)

There was yet another high school list I made.One day I came across a newspaper article about an English professor at a nearby state college.The article had a list of the “hundred most important books of Western Civilization.”“More than anything else in my life,”the professor told the reporter with finality,“these books have made me all that I am.”That was the kind of words I couldn’t ignore(忽视).I kept the list for the several months it took me to read all of the titles.Most books,of course,I hardly understood.While reading Plato’s The Republic,for example,I needed to keep looking at the introduction of the book to remind myself what the text was about.However,with the special patience and superstition(迷信) of a schoolboy,I looked at every word of the text.And by me time I reached the last word,pleased,I persuaded myself that I had read The Republic,and seriously crossed Plato off my list.

On heating the teacher’s suggestion of reading,the writer thought ______.

A.one must read as many books as possible

B.a student should not have a complicated idea

C.it was impossible for one to read two thousand books

D.students ought to make a list of the books they had read

While at high school,the writer ______.

A.had plans for reading

B.learned to educate himself

C.only read books over 100 pages

D.read only one book several times

The underlined phrase “with finality” probably means ______.

A.firmly                                                                 B.clearly

C.proudly                                                               D.pleasantly

The writer’s purpose in mentioning The Republic is to ______.

A.explain why it was included in the list

B.describe why he seriously crossed it off the list

C.show that he read the books blindly though they were hard to understand

D.prove that he understood most of it because he had looked at every word

The writer provides two book lists to ______.

A.show how he developed his point of view

B.tell his reading experience at high school

C.introduce the two persons’ reading methods

D.explain that he read many books at high school

Habits are a funny thing. We reach for them mindlessly, setting our brains on auto-pilot and relaxing into the unconscious comfort of familiar routine.“Not choice, but habit rules the unreflecting creatures,”William Wordsworth said in the 19th century. In the ever-changing 21st century, even the word“habit”carries a negative meaning.

       So it seems contradictory to talk about habits in the same context as innovation (创新). But brain researchers have discovered that when we consciously develop new habits, we create parallel paths, and even entirely new brain cells, that can jump our trains of thought onto new, innovative tracks.

       Rather than dismissing ourselves as unchangeable creatures of habit, we can instead direct our own change by consciously developing new habits. In fact, the more new things we try, the more creative we become.

       But don’t bother trying to kill off old habits; once those ruts of procedure are worn into the brain, they’re there to stay. Instead, the new habits we deliberately press into ourselves create parallel pathways that can bypass those old roads.

       “The first thing needed for innovation is attraction to wonder,”says Dawna Markova, author of The Open Mind.“But we are taught instead to‘decide’, just as our president calls himself‘the Decider’.”She adds, however, that“to decide is to kill off all possibilities but one. A good innovational thinker is always exploring the many other possibilities.”

       “All of us work through problems in ways of which we’re unaware,”she says. Researchers in the late 1960s discovered that humans are born with the ability to approach challenges in four primary ways: analytically, procedurally, collaboratively (合作地) and innovatively. At the end of adolescence, however, the brain shuts down half of that ability, preserving only those ways of thought that have seemed most valuable during the first decade or so of life.

       The current emphasis on standardized testing highlights analysis and procedure, meaning that few of us use our innovative and collaborative ways of thought.“This breaks the major rule in the American belief system—that anyone can do anything,”explains M. J. Ryan, author of the 2006 book This Year I Will…and Ms. Markova’s business partner.“That’s a lie that we have preserved, and it fosters commonness. Knowing what you’re good at and doing even more of it creates excellence.”This is where developing new habits comes in.

Brain researchers have discovered that      .

       A.the forming of new habits can be guided

       B.the development of habits can be predicted

       C.the regulation of old habits can be transformed

       D.the track of new habits can be created unconsciously

The underlined word “ruts”in Paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to       .

       A.zones                     B.connections             C.situations                D.tracks

Which of the following statements most probably agrees with Dawna Markova’s view?

       A.Decision makes no sense in choices.

       B.Curiosity makes creative minds active.

       C.Creative ideas are born of a relaxing mind.

       D.Formation of innovation comes from fantastic ideas.

he purpose of the author writing this article is to persuade us       .

       A.to give up our traditional habits deliberately

       B.to create and develop new habits consciously

       C.to resist the application of standardized testing

       D.to believe that old habits conflict with new habits

Mr. Glen is a millionaire. Five years ago, after returning from abroad to his motherland, he  16  his small company. Speaking of success, Glen often tells us a story about his extra expensive “school” fee. He always  17  his success to it.

At that time, Glen, who already got a Ph.D. degree,  18  to return to the homeland, starting a company. Before leaving, he bought a Rolex watch with the  19  made through years of work after school and the scholarships. At the airport he had to accept the  20  customs check. The watch on his wrist was also demanded to be taken down for  21 . Glen knew that carrying the specific goods out had to pay the tax, and he worried about paying 22  for his watch. So when he was checked, he told a lie that his watch was a  23  fake. When he was 24  of his “smarts”, immediately, in the presence of Glen, the officers hit the watch, 25  cost nearly 100,000, into pieces  26  hearing Glen’s words. Glen was  27  before he understood why, he was taken to the office to be examined  28 . For many times of entry-exit  29  he knew that only those people in the “blacklist” would “enjoy” this special treatment. The officers looked over everything carefully in the box, and   30   him no matter what time of entry and exit he must accept the check and if  31  reusing and carrying fake and shoddy goods, he would be  32  according to law! Suddenly, his face turned red, and he had nothing in mind after boarding the plane for long.

     After returning to the homeland, he often told the story to his family, and his employees, too. He said that this made a deep  33  on him, because the additional high “school” fee that he had ever paid made him realize the value of  34 , which he would remember as the  35  of his success forever.

1.A. set up         B. took up         C. went up         D. picked up

2.A. honors         B. mentions         C. brings           D. owes

3.A. decided    B. refused         C. objected         D. asked

4.A. books      B. things           C. savings          D. pounds

5.A. ordinary   B. routine          C. regular          D. common

6.A. look      B. inspection    C. test                 D. experiment

7.A. one        B. it               C. them             D. these

8.A. priceless B. useful           C. worthless        D. valuable

9.A. afraid         B. proud            C. ashamed         D. hard

10.A. that      B. what             C. as               D. which

11.A. on            B. at               C. who              D. in

12.A. disappointed  B. delighted    C. amazed           D. satisfied

13.A. strictly     B. quietly       C. quickly              D. curiously

14.A. conditions   B. experiences   C. experiments      D. chances

15.A. stopped     B. hoped              C. warned           D. urged

16.A. came out    B. found out      C. sent out         D. set out

17.A. hit           B. blamed           C. praised          D. charged

18.A. expression  B. idea               C. thought          D. impression

19.A. honesty     B. lies           C. goods            D. bravery

20.A. secret        B. lesson           C. choice           D. Belief

 

“Love your neighbor as yourself”is a saying familiar to most of us. It means that you must have he ability to love and accept yourself in order to form and keep satisfying relationship with others self-esteem means accepting yourself for who you really are, and believing that you are indeed a worthwhile person who is deserving of love and respect from others.

Self-esteem is our sense of how good we feel about ourselves. It is based on our judgment of ourselves, not on other people's assessment, but simply on our own. Our self-esteem is not dependant on our talent. Some very ordinary people feel very good about themselves, while other extraordinarily high achievers hold low opinions of themselves.

Self-esteem is the primary key to long-term stress management. Why? The first three sources of stress are: predictable life event, unexpected changes and build-up of daily stresses, These are much easier to handle when we believe in ourselves, A positive, healthy self-esteem gives us the “hardiness”(强健) to deal with the difficulties of life, and to see them as challenges to be met, rather than threats to be feared.

The forth category of stress is entirely the result of a low self-esteem. It is the category of stress that is most common and tiring over the long run. This kind of stress cannot be overcome, or even changed, until the self-esteem problems that cause it are corrected.

Learning to love yourself for who you are is the key to overcoming stress. Self-esteem comes form the self, and cannot be promoted by others. A person who feels that his self-esteem comes from the approval of those around him or her is bound to self-destruct(自毁), One cannot keep the level of “performance” required to please everyone else, especially if that performance disagrees with who you are and is simply a facade that makes you popular with the world. When the applause is gone, there is nothing left.

Only those who can feel the strength of knowing who they are and those who can feel good about that will survive the stresses of life. Self-esteem is the basis of contentment and positive living.

1.What is self-esteem?

A.A kind of positive lifestyle.

B.The impression we have on other people.

C.Our sense of how good we feel about ourselves.

D.Our understanding of how we are seen by others.

2.What is the key to overcoming stress according to the passage?

         A.Removing yourself from stressful situation.

         B.Learning to love yourself for who you are.

         C.Facing the stress and dealing with it.

         D.Getting help from friends.

3.What does the underlined word "facade" (in Para 5) mean?

         A.A false appearance. B.A big worry.

         C.A wrong action.      D.A strange feeling.

4.The passage is written to ______.

         A.tell people how to overcome stress

         B.help people form good relationship with others

         C.show the importance of feeling good about yourself

         D.provide the different methods to get a clear view of yourself

 

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