C
Several years ago, I read a book Your Money or Your Life, written by Joe Domingguez and Vicki Robin. The major theme of the book is the idea that if you want to cut your spending, you’ll have to begin by stopping trying to impress other people.
The authors divide people into two groups : people whose opinions you care about, and people whose opinions you don’t care about one way or another. It’s easy to stop caring about people whose opinions you don’t care about. Who cares what they think ? As long as you’re not doing something truly immoral —— something that might potentially create a negative reputation for you —— it doesn’t matter what they think.
But shouldn’t you impress other people whose opinions you do care about ? Anyway, they are people you want to meet : customers, friends and family.
The answer is that you don’t need to impress those people with expensive, shiny things. The relationship you’ve built with them —— or you’re going to build with them —— is based on you, not on the material items. They’ll either like you for you or they won’t.
To put it simply, take care of the basics. Keep yourself clean. Keep your weight under control. Wear reasonable clothing. Work on your communication skills. If you have them covered, you don’t need to invest time and money in impressing other people.
Coming to this realization is incredibly valuable. It drops your clothing budget. It drops your automobile budget. It drops your electronics budget. It drops your housing budget. You don’t need a shiny car, an iPhone, or a ＄50 haircut.
Yes , you may actually still want one or two of these things, but the impetus(动力) comes from what your personal values are, not what other people around you seem to value or what marketing messages you receive.
For some people, it seems impossible. Their social cues come from advertising-laden media and from friends who also get their cues from advertising-laden media.They believe they need a slick cellphone and ＄100 casual clothes. Their self-worth revolves around that little burst they get from impressing others.
People should learn to break through that situation. In short, don’t play socially by the tiring old rules that revolve around needing to impress people. Instead, spend your time on things that bring real value to you and give real value to others.
46. Which of the following behaviours is “immoral”according to the second paragraph ?
A.  Caring about other people’s opinion.
B.  Dropping your clothing budget.
C.  Copying existing works.
D.  Obeying the traffic rule.
47. To build relationship with others, you should pay attention to the following EXEPT _______.
A.  dressing casually
B.  learning about weight control
C.  improving communication skills
D.  being a tidy person
48. As for people we care about, what does the author advise us to do ?
A.  To impress them in a proper way.
B.  To buy them special gifts.
C.  To spare more time to be with them.
D.  To impress them with shiny things.
49. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage ?
A.  An iPhone is totally unnecessary in our life.
B.  Your family members’ opinions are always worth caring about.
C.  Learning how to impress others helps people save money.
D.  You should always be aware of what other people around you seem to value.
50. What is the best title for the passage ?
A.  Whose opinions do you care about ?
B.  Two different groups of people.
C.  My favorite book : Your Money or Your Life
D.  Stop trying to impress other people.

The home of the future won’t be completely different and we will be living in houses and flats just as we do today．But people will want to shape their homes to match their dreams．No two homes will be the same．People will be able to buy “house kits” containing a basic house structure, with movable walls, doors and windows．They will put together the different parts to create the home they want．

　　　 Many jobs that we do today will disappear, others will still exist but will change and new jobs will be created. Skilled workers such as builders, gardeners and electricians won’t disappear because machines can’t replace them. Teachers will still exist because students need human contact. But they will be using modern technology in class more and students will be working more from home. The medical technology revolution and space travel will create new jobs which we can only imagine today．

　　　 Space holidays will develop in the future, but these holidays won’t be for everyone because they won’t be cheap. Short space trips will develop first, then space hotels will orbit the earth where it will be possible to have a longer vacation. By the end of the next century, there will be holiday centres on the moon with leisure facilities for families．

　　　 Paper won’t exist in the future. Instead, there will be e-paper which people will be able to use over and over again. This will develop in order to save natural resources. E-newspapers and e-magazines will replace traditional newspapers and magazines and we will download information and news articles from the Internet every day onto our reuseable paper．

　　　 The laws of physics tell us that the earth is going to disappear some time in the future．This isn’t going to happen tomorrow but scientists predict that it will happen in five billion years when our sun explodes (爆炸)．We will have to explore the universe and find another home. At some point in the distant future, either we stay on the earth and die with it, or we leave and move to another planet. There won’t be any other choice.

48.　　 Homes of the future will ________．

　　　 A. be completely different from those of today

　　　 B. be very similar to our homes

　　　 C. all be different from one another　　

　　　 D. be movable as you want

49.　　 Space trips and staying in space hotels will ________．

　　　 A. become a very common way to spend a holiday

　　　 B. be the best holiday option for families

　　　 C. attract a lot of people

　　　 D. still only be for very rich people

50.　　 E-paper will replace traditional paper because ________．

　　　 A. we will use it again　　　　　 　　　 　　　　　　

B. it won’t waste natural resource

　　　 C. it will be cheaper to produce　　 　 　　　　　　

D. it will be convenient to carry

51.　　 We will have move to another planet ________．

　　　 A. if we want to save the human race

　　　 B. when the sun explodes

　　　 C. when the earth disappears

　　　 D. when the earth is too crowded to fill people on

C

     Several years ago, I read a book Your Money or Your Life, written by Joe Domingguez and Vicki Robin. The major theme of the book is the idea that if you want to cut your spending, you’ll have to begin by stopping trying to impress other people.

     The authors divide people into two groups : people whose opinions you care about, and people whose opinions you don’t care about one way or another. It’s easy to stop caring about people whose opinions you don’t care about. Who cares what they think ? As long as you’re not doing something truly immoral —— something that might potentially create a negative reputation for you —— it doesn’t matter what they think.

     But shouldn’t you impress other people whose opinions you do care about ? Anyway, they are people you want to meet : customers, friends and family.

     The answer is that you don’t need to impress those people with expensive, shiny things. The relationship you’ve built with them —— or you’re going to build with them —— is based on you, not on the material items. They’ll either like you for you or they won’t.

    To put it simply, take care of the basics. Keep yourself clean. Keep your weight under control. Wear reasonable clothing. Work on your communication skills. If you have them covered, you don’t need to invest time and money in impressing other people.

     Coming to this realization is incredibly valuable. It drops your clothing budget. It drops your automobile budget. It drops your electronics budget. It drops your housing budget. You don’t need a shiny car, an iPhone, or a ＄50 haircut.

     Yes , you may actually still want one or two of these things, but the impetus(动力) comes from what your personal values are, not what other people around you seem to value or what marketing messages you receive.

     For some people, it seems impossible. Their social cues come from advertising-laden media and from friends who also get their cues from advertising-laden media.They believe they need a slick cellphone and ＄100 casual clothes. Their self-worth revolves around that little burst they get from impressing others.

      People should learn to break through that situation. In short, don’t play socially by the tiring old rules that revolve around needing to impress people. Instead, spend your time on things that bring real value to you and give real value to others.

46. Which of the following behaviours is “immoral”according to the second paragraph ?

   A.  Caring about other people’s opinion.

   B.  Dropping your clothing budget.

   C.  Copying existing works.

   D.  Obeying the traffic rule.

47. To build relationship with others, you should pay attention to the following EXEPT _______.

   A.  dressing casually

   B.  learning about weight control

   C.  improving communication skills

   D.  being a tidy person

48. As for people we care about, what does the author advise us to do ?

   A.  To impress them in a proper way.

   B.  To buy them special gifts.

   C.  To spare more time to be with them.

   D.  To impress them with shiny things.

49. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage ?

   A.  An iPhone is totally unnecessary in our life.

   B.  Your family members’ opinions are always worth caring about.

   C.  Learning how to impress others helps people save money.

   D.  You should always be aware of what other people around you seem to value.

50. What is the best title for the passage ?

   A.  Whose opinions do you care about ?

   B.  Two different groups of people.

   C.  My favorite book : Your Money or Your Life

   D.  Stop trying to impress other people.

C

By far the most common difficulty in studying is simple failure to get down to regular concentrated work. This difficulty is much greater for those who do not work to a plan and have no regular routine of study. Many students muddle (胡乱对付) along, doing a bit of this subject or that, as the mood takes them, or letting their set work pile up until the last possible moment.

    Few students work to a set timetable. They say that if they did work out a timetable for themselves they would not keep to it, or would have to change it frequently, since they can never predict from one day to the next what their activities will be.

No doubt some students are more willing to accept a regular routine than others. There are many who shy away from a self-controlled weekly timetable, and dislike being tied down to a fixed program of work. Many able students state that they work in cycles. When they become interested in a topic, they work on it attentively for three or four days at a time. On other days they avoid work completely. It has to be admitted that we do not fully understand the motivation (动机)to work.. Most people over 25 years of age have become used to routine, and the majority of real productive workers set aside regular hours for the more important areas of their work. The “tough-minded” school doesn’t fully accept the idea that good work can only be done naturally, under the influence of inspiration.

Those who believe that they need only work and study as the fit takes them have a mistaken belief either in their own talent or in the value of “freedom”. In fact, freedom from control and discipline（纪律）leads to unhappiness rather than to “self-expression” or “personality development”. Our society insists on regular habits, timekeeping and punctuality (准时), and whether we like it or not, if we mean to make our way in society, we have to meet its demands.

The most widespread problem in applying oneself to study is ______.

    A．changing from one subject to another

    B．the failure to keep to a set timetable of work

    C．the unwillingness to follow a systematic plan

    D．working on a subject only when one feels like it

Which of the following is true?

    A．Many students are not interested in using self-controlled timetable.

    B．Many students don’t like being told to study to a fixed timetable.

    C．Most people of over 25 years of age don’t work to a set timetable.

    D．Tough-minded people agree that good job is done naturally

The underlined part “as the fit takes them” in paragraph 4 probably means ______.

    A．when they have the energy   

    B．when they are in the mood

    C．when they feel fit      

    D．when they find conditions are suitable

A suitable title for the passage might be ______.

    A．Attitudes to Study   B．A study Plan

    C．The Difficulties in Studying D．Study and Self-discipline

Tell a story and tell it well,and you may open wide the eyes of a child,open up lines of communication in a business,or even open people’s mind to another culture or race.
People in many places are digging up the old folk stories and the messages in them.For example,most American storytellers get their tales from a wide variety of sources,cultures,and times.They regard storytelling not only as a useful tool in child education,but also as a meaningful activity that helps adults understand themselves as well as those whose culture may be very different from their own.
“Most local stories are based on a larger theme,”American storyteller Opalanga Pugh says,“Cinderella(灰姑娘),or the central idea of a good child protected by her goodness,appears in various forms in almost every culture of the world.”
Working with students in schools,Pugh helps them understand their own cultures and the general messages of the stories.She works with prisoners too,helping them know who they are by telling stories that her listeners can write,direct,and act in their own lives.If they don’t like the story they are living,they can rewrite the story.Pugh also works to help open up lines of communication between managers and workers.“For every advance in business,”she says,“there is a greater need for communication.”Storytelling can have a great effect on either side of the manager-worker relationship,she says.
Pugh spent several years in Nigeria,where she learned how closely storytelling was linked to the everyday life of the people there.The benefits of storytelling are found everywhere,she says.
“I learned how people used stories to spread their culture,”she says.“What I do is to focus on the value of stories that people can translate into their own daily world of affairs.We are all storytellers.We all have a story to tell.We tell everybody’s story.”
【小题1】What do we learn about American storytellers from Paragraph 2?