When someone gives you advice, listen without judgment, try to find value in what you’re hearing, and say “Thank you”．This wise advice is easy to understand yet hard to practice．I’ll give you an example from my life when I totally blew it in terms of practicing what I teach．

In my work I travel constantly．I always put off going to the airport until the last second．My wife, Lynda, was sitting next to me in the front seat．I was racing along and not paying much attention．Lynda cried out, “Look out! There is a red light up ahead．”

Being a trained behavioral science professional --- who teaches others the value of encouraging advice --- I naturally screamed at her, “I know there is a red light up ahead! Don’t you think I can see?” When we arrived at the airport, Lynda didn’t speak to me．I wondered why she seemed mad at me．

During the flight to New York, I did a cost-benefit analysis．I asked myself, “What was the cost of just listening when Lynda called out the warning? Zero．” I then reasoned, “What was the potential benefit? What could have been saved?” Several potential benefits came to mind, including her life, my life, and the lives of other people．

I landed in New York feeling ashamed of myself．I immediately called Lynda and told her my cost-benefit story．I convinced her, “The next time you help me with my driving, I am just going to say, ‘Thank you．’”

A few months passed, and I had long forgotten the incident．Again, I was racing off to the airport, when Lynda cried out, “Look out for the red light!” I was embarrassed, and then shouted, “Thank you!”

I’m a long way from perfect, but I’m getting better．My suggestion is that you get in the habit of asking the important people in your life how you can do things better．And be ready for an answer．Some people may tell you things like “Look out for the red light．” When this happens, remember that there is possibly some potential benefit．Then just say, “Thank you．”

1.What do we know about the author?

2.The underlined part “blew it” in Paragraph 1 probably means “__________”．

3.It can be inferred from the passage that people __________．

4.The purpose of the passage is to advise people to __________．

What troubled the teacher was that no one present made an answer when asked who had broken the glasses, so he didn’t know who _____________.

A．was blamed        B．was to be blamed    C．was to blame       D．would be blamed

As any homemaker who has tried to keep order at the dinner table knows, there is far more to a family meal than food. Sociologist Michael Lewis has been studying 50 families to find out just how much more.

Lewis and his co-workers carried out their study by videotaping the families while they ate ordinary meals in their own homes. They found that parents with small families talk actively with each other and their children. But as the number of children gets larger, conversation gives way to the parents’ efforts to control the loud noise they make. That can have an important effect on the children." In general the more question-asking the parents do, the higher the children’s IQ scores," Lewis says. "And the more children there are, the less question-asking there is."

The study also provides an explanation for why middle children often seem to have a harder time in life than their siblings(兄弟，姐妹). Lewis found that in families with three or four children, dinner conversation is likely to center on the oldest child, who has the most to talk about, and the youngest, who needs the most attention. “Middle children are invisible,” says Lewis. “When you see someone get up from the table and walk around during dinner, chances are that it’s the middle child.” There is, however, one thing that stops all conversation and prevents anyone from having attention: “When the TV is on,” Lewis says, “dinner is a non-event(扫兴的事).”

1.The writer’s purpose in writing the text is to _________.

　　A. show the relationship between parents and children

　　B. teach parents ways to keep order at the dinner table

　　C. report on the findings of a study

　　D. give information about family problems

2. Parents with large families ask fewer questions at dinner because____.

　　A. they are busy serving food to their children

　　B. they are busy keeping order at the dinner table

　　C. they have to pay more attention to younger children

　　D. they are tired out having prepared food for the whole family

3.By saying “Middle children are invisible” in paragraph 3, Lewis means that middle children__________.

　　A. have to help their parents to serve dinner

　　B. get the least attention from the family

　　C. are often kept away from the dinner table

　　D. find it hard to keep up with other children

4.Lewis’ research provides an answer to the question_________.

　　A. why TV is important in family life

　　B. why parents should keep good order

　　C. why children in small families seem to be quieter

　　D. why middle children seem to have more difficulties in life

5.Which of the following statements would the writer agree to?

　　A. It is important to have the right food for children.

　　B. It is a good idea to have the TV on during dinner.

　　C. Parents should talk to each of their children frequently.

　　D. Elder children should help the younger ones at dinner.

Far from the land of Antarctica (南极洲), a huge shelf of ice meets the ocean. At the underside of the shelf there lives a small fish, the Antarctic cod.

For forty years scientists have been curious about that fish. How does it live where most fish would freeze to death? It must have some secret. The Antarctic is not a comfortable place to work and research has been slow. Now it seems we have an answer. Research was begun by cutting holes in the ice and catching the fish. Scientists studied the fish’s blood and measured its freezing point. The fish were taken from seawater that had a temperature of -1.88°C and many tiny pieces of ice floating in it. The blood of the fish did not begin to freeze until its temperature was lowered to -2.05°C. That small difference is enough for the fish to live at the freezing temperature of the ice-salt mixture.

The scientists’ next research job was clear: Find out what in the fish’s blood kept it from freezing. Their search led to some really strange thing made up of a protein (蛋白质) never before seen in the blood of a fish. When it was removed, the blood froze at seawater temperature. When it was put back, the blood again had its antifreeze quality and a lowered freezing point.

Study showed that it is an unusual kind of protein. It has many small sugar molecules held in special positions within each big protein molecule. Because of its sugar content, it is called a glycoprotein. So it has come to be called the antifreeze fish glycoprotein, or AFGP.

1. What is the text mainly about?

A. The terrible conditions in the Antarctic.        B. A special fish living in freezing waters.

C. The ice shelf around Antarctica.             D. Protection of the Antarctic cod.

2.Why can the Antarctic cod live at the freezing temperature?

A. The seawater has a temperature of -1.88°C.   B. it loves to live in the ice-salt mixture

C. A special protein keeps it from freezing.  

D. Its blood has a temperature lower than -2.05°C.

3.What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 5 refer to?

A. A type of ice-salt mixture.              B. A newly found protein.

C. Fish blood.                          D. Sugar molecule.

4.What does “glyco-” in the underlined word “glycoprotein” in the last paragraph mean?

A. sugar                B. ice          C. blood            D. molecule

完型填空（共20小题；每小题1．5分，满分30分）

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。

A friend in need

Brownie and Spotty were neighbor dogs who met every day to play together. Like pairs of dogs you  36  find in any neighborhood, these two  37 each other and played together so often that they had worn a path through the grass of the field between their own houses.

One evening, Brownie's family   38  that Brownie hadn't returned home. They went looking for him with no   39     Brownie didn't appear the next day, and despite(尽管)their  40  to find him, by the next week he was still missing. Curiously, Spotty  41  at Brownie's house alone, barking. Busy with their own lives, Brownie's family just ignored the  42  little neighbor dog. Finally, one morning Spotty   43  to take “no” for an answer any longer. He followed Ted about, barking strongly, then running towards a nearby wood, as if to say,"  44  me! It’s urgent!”

Then Ted followed the anxious Spotty. The little dog led the man to a   45  spot a half mile from the house. There Ted found his beloved Brownie   46  but one of his hind legs stuck in a steel leg-hold trap. Horrified, Ted now wished he'd taken Spotty's earlier requirement   47  Then Ted noticed something quite remarkable. Spotty had done more than simply  48  Brownie's owner to his trapped friend. In a circle around the   49   dog, Ted found some dog food, which was later   50 as the remains of every meal Spotty had been fed that  51 !Spotty had been visiting Brownie   52  in a single-minded quest to keep his friend alive by offering his own comfort. Spotty had obviously 53  with Brownie to protect him from being hurt, snuggling(依偎)with him at night to keep him warm and touching him gently with its nose to keep his  54  up. Brownie's leg was treated by a veterinarian and he recovered. For many years afterward, the two   55  watched the faithful friends frolicking(嬉戏)and chasing each other down that well worn path between their houses.

14.A. injured    B. defeated      C. frightened    D, worried