Confucius said, “In a group of three people, there is always something I can learn. Choose to follow the strengths of others, and use their shortcomings to reflect upon ourselves.”

    As you can see from what Confucius said, everyone that we come across can teach us something useful. As long as we reflect on the lessons learnt from and by other people, we can continuously improve ourselves. But take note that when you reflect on these lessons, you apply some wisdom to each lesson because each situation is unique although they share some common principles.

    We can learn a lot from everyone. We always tend to think that we can only learn from those who are higher in status or have more knowledge than us, but that is not really the case. We learn from those who are lower in status than us as well, because the experience and knowledge of each person is very different.

    The best thing about this type of learning, reflecting other people’s strengths and shortcomings onto ourselves, is that we do not pay for the mistakes that are made. The only cost to us is the time that is needed to learn about and reflect on these lessons from other people’s lives.

    As we all know, some mistakes can be ones which people cannot afford to make, for instance, a broken friendship or a financial loss. Thus constantly using other people’s strengths and shortcomings to reflect upon ourselves makes us realize the costs of these mistakes and reduces the possibility that we will make similar mistakes.

What can we do now to learn from others? By keeping our eyes and ears open. Be observant and able to realize what strengths and shortcomings other people have. A lot of people in this world like to complain about their lives. Listen to them and make you own assessment and from your own assessment, reflect upon your life and make improvements where necessary.

1.According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

A. Confucius thought we should learn from strengths of others.

B. Only from those who have more knowledge than us can we learn.

C. It is by reflecting on the lessons learnt by others that we can improve ourselves.

D. Reflecting upon other people’s strengths and shortcomings can help us make fewer mistakes.

2.The underlined part “this type of learning” in the fourth paragraph probably refers to_______.

A. learning from other people’s mistakes

B. learning from others’ experiences

C. finding what strengths and shortcomings other people have

D. reflecting others’ strengths and shortcomings onto ourselves

3.From the fifth paragraph, we learn that _______.

A. sometimes we can afford the costs of a broken friendship

B. our reflection will necessarily reduce our mistakes

C. some reflection will help to improve ourselves

D. reflection will stop us from making any mistakes in life

4.The passage is probably taken from __________.

A. a magazine about life                             B. a book about travel

C. an advertisement                      D. a research report

5.What does this passage mainly talk about?

A. How to improve oneself.

B. How to use the shortcomings of others to reflect upon ourselves.

C. How to reduce the mistakes in one’s life.

D. How to learn from other people’s strengths and shortcomings.

A new study has found that it may be possible to train people to be more intelligent, increasing the brainpower they had at birth．
Until now，it has been widely assumed that the kind of mental ability that allows us to solve new problems without having any relevant previous experience—what psychologists call fluid intelligence—is innate and cannot be taught（though people can raise their grades on tests of it by practicing）．
But in the new study，researchers describe a method for improving this skill，along with experiments to prove it works．
The key, researchers found, was carefully structured training in working memory—the kind that allows memorization of a telephone number just long enough to dial it．This type of memory is closely related to fluid intelligence，so the researchers reasoned that improving it might lead to improvements in fluid intelligence．
First they measured fluid intelligence of volunteers using standard tests．Then they trained each in a complicated memory task—the child’s card game，in which they had to recall a card they saw and heard．During the course, they needed to ignore irrelevant items, monitor ongoing performance，manage two tasks at the same time and connect related items to one another in space and time．
The four groups experienced a half-hour of training daily for 8, 12, 17 and 19 days, respectively．To make sure they were not just improving their test-taking skills，the researchers compared them with control groups that took the tests without the training．
The results, published Monday in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences，were striking．Improvement in the trained groups was a lot greater．Moreover，the longer they trained, the higher their scores were．All performers，from the weakest to the strongest，showed significant improvement．
“Our results show you can increase your intelligence with proper training．” said Dr Jaeggi, a co-author of the paper．“No one knows how long the gains will last after training stops,” he added, “and the experiment’s design did not allow the researchers to determine whether more training would continue to produce further gains．”
【小题1】.The researchers thought the key to improving the intelligence was ______________．

This type of computer is of great help and I’ll buy it _______

1. A.
   however may it cost
2. B.
   no matter how much it cost
3. C.
   however much it is cost
4. D.
   however much it may cost

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从21—30各题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

Wouldn't it be great if we didn't have to remember passwords (密码) ever again？If we could just sit in front of our computers and be   21    logged in (登录? Crave mentions how NECSoft BiodeLogon system uses face recognition technology to log you on to Windows, rather than using a  22  All you need is a webcam and your pretty face to   23   your PC. No more 24   , confusing passwords to remember or change every few months.

After doing a little research, I found this type of  25   already available to consumers via a relatively   26   application called FaceCode. The  27 requires the use of a webcam to recog- nize and log PC users into their systems. You can add as many  28  as you want, provided they each have a Windows account. If the system   29   to recognize your  30  , you can recall the Windows user name and password by using a hot-key combination.

A. automatically B. personally        C. correctly           D. occasionally

A. face            B. password           C. software            D. system

A. access             B. connect             C. recognize          D. remember

A. simple            B. complicated       C. special                     D. useful

A. computer     B. technology        C. password           D. application

A. independent    B. infrequent         C. inexpensive              D. instant

A. account          B. consumer          C. designer            D. software

A. users              B. passwords          C. systems             D. computers

A. begins            B. tries                  C. fails                  D. stops

A. account         B. name                C. password           D. face

Ever wondered why some businesses fail and others seem to go from strength to strength（越来越兴旺发达）? One of the major reasons for success or failure in any business is the choice of location. The ABS can be of great help in choosing the most likely place to set up your business. Whether it’s simple or a complex business.
Case study one
A Sydney doctor specializing pediatrics(小儿科) was hoping to set up a practice outside the metropolitan area, probably on the northern coast of New South Wales. He was unsure of the best place in this region and came to the ABS for help. The ABS was able to put together a report containing details of the proportion of the children in particular areas, along with information on regions with the highest birth rates. This enabled the doctor to work out where future demand for his services would be.
Case study two
A suburban retailer（零售商）in Perth owned a shoe store which stocked a wide range of shoes for men, women and children. There had been an increase in the number of similar shoe stores in the suburban shopping center and the owner wanted to assess the possibility of switching to selling imported shoes and handbags for women only. In order to ensure whether there was a market for these products, the retailer needed to obtain details of income by age, sex, and occupation for all the women in the city of Perth. Using information from the 1996 Census(普查)of Population and Housing, the ABS was able to provide this type of information in a detailed report. With the information, the retailer was able to believe that there were enough professional working women in the area with middle to high incomes, which makes his business possible.
1. What information did the Sydney doctor get from the ABS about the northern coast of New South Wales?
A. The number of medical practices there.
B. The detailed information about the children.
C. Its present and future economic situations.
D. The ideal place to start a practice there.
2. The retailer wanted to switch to selling imported shoes and handbags for women because________.
A. there were more and more working women
B. he wanted to enlarge the original store
C. there were more and more shoe stores
D. imported products were popular
3. What does the ABS do for its customers?
A. Doing research work in the fields.
B. Suggesting the most potential market.
C. Providing considerable amounts of data.
D. Predicting the possible consumer goods.
4. This passage is most probably a(n) _____________.
A. handout for management           B. income report
C. advertisement                   D. plan for a project