—They haven’t paid for their tickets, have they?

    —_______. They didn’t pay any money.

 A. Yes, they have               B. No, they haven’t   

C. Yes, they haven’t              D. No, they have.

William James, the great psychologist (心理学家), said that most men are “old fogies (守旧者) at twenty-five”. He was right. Most men at twenty-five are satisfied with their jobs. They have closed their minds to all new ideas; they have stopped to grow.
The minute a man stops to grow –no matter what his years –that minute he begins to be old. On the other hand, the really great man never grows old. Goethe passed away at eighty-three, and finished his Faust only a few years earlier; Gladstone took up a new language when he was seventy. Laplace, the astronomer, was still at work when death caught up with him at seventy-eight. He died crying, “What we know is nothing; what we do not know is immense (extremely large).”
And there you have the real answer to the question, “When is a man old?”
Laplace at seventy-eight died young. He was still unsatisfied, still sure that he had a lot to learn.
As long as a man can keep himself in that attitude of mind, as long as he can look back on every year and say, “I grew”, he is still young.
The minute he ceases (stops) to grow, the minute he says to himself, “I know all that I need to know,” –that day youth stops. He may be twenty-five or seventy-five; it makes no difference. On that day he begins to be old.
【小题1】According to William James, _______.

A person may have an idea about himself that will prevent him from doing good work..

He may have the idea that he is not capable of it. It is easy to get such an idea even though there is no justification for it. A child may think he is stupid because he does not understand how to take the most of his mental faculties, or he may accept another person s mistaken estimate of his ability. Older people may be handicapped by the mistaken belief that they are incapable of learning anything new because of their age.

A person who believes that he is incapable will not make a real effort, because he feels that it would be useless. He won’t go at a job with the confidence necessary for success, and he won’t work hardest, even though he may think he is doing so. He is therefore likely to fail, and the failure will strengthen his belief in his incompetence.

Alfred Adler, a famous psychiatrist（精神病医生）, had an experience which illustrates this. When he was a small boy he got off to a poor start in arithmetic. His teacher got the idea that he had no ability in arithmetic, and told his parents what she thought in order that they would not expect too much of him. In this way, they too developed the idea, "Isn’t it too bad that Alfred can’t do arithmetic?" He accepted their mistaken estimate of his ability, felt that it was useless to try, and was very poor at arithmetic, just as they expected.

One day he became very angry at the teacher and other students because they laughed when he said he saw how to do a problem which none of the other students had been able to solve.

Adler succeeded in solving a problem. This gave him confidence. He rejected the idea that he couldn’t do arithmetic and was determined to show them that he could. His anger and his new found confidence stimulated him to be at arithmetic problems with a new spirit. He now worked with interest, determination, and purpose, and he soon became extraordinarily good at arithmetic. He not only proved that he could do arithmetic, but he learned early in life from his own experience that , if a person goes at a job with determination and purpose, he may astonish himself as well as others by his ability.

This experience made him realize that many people have more ability than they think they have. And that lack of success is as often the result of lack of knowledge of how to apply one’s ability, lack of confidence, and lack of determination as it is the result of lack of ability.

The underlined word “justification” most probably means ________.

       A. reason                             B. rightness                  C. need                 D. demand

What is the main idea of this passage?

       A. The basic principles in doing math problems.

       B. Our idea about ourselves may have a negative influence on our work.

       C. Our ideas do not always have and influence on us.

       D. All actions are caused by impulse.

What does Alfred Adler’s story tell us?

       A. Many people have more ability than they think they have.

       B. Anybody can become a mathematician, if he has determination.

       C. Arithmetic is actually very easy.

       D. Most teachers are wrong when they evaluator their students.

Why did he become angry one day?

       A. Because the teacher and other students laughed at him.

       B. Because they challenged him to do a difficult arithmetic problem.

       C. Because he couldn’t solve the arithmetic problem.

       D. Because he was very poor at arithmetic.

What idea did Alfred’s teacher have?

       A. He was slow in arithmetic.      

B. He should work harder.

       C. He should be transferred to a special school.

       D. He should not tell his parents that he was slow.

William James, the great psychologist (心理学家), said that most men are “old fogies (守旧者) at twenty-five”. He was right. Most men at twenty-five are satisfied with their jobs. They have closed their minds to all new ideas; they have stopped to grow.

The minute a man stops to grow –no matter what his years –that minute he begins to be old. On the other hand, the really great man never grows old. Goethe passed away at eighty-three, and finished his Faust only a few years earlier; Gladstone took up a new language when he was seventy. Laplace, the astronomer, was still at work when death caught up with him at seventy-eight. He died crying, “What we know is nothing; what we do not know is immense (extremely large).”

And there you have the real answer to the question, “When is a man old?”

Laplace at seventy-eight died young. He was still unsatisfied, still sure that he had a lot to learn.

As long as a man can keep himself in that attitude of mind, as long as he can look back on every year and say, “I grew”, he is still young.

The minute he ceases (stops) to grow, the minute he says to himself, “I know all that I need to know,” –that day youth stops. He may be twenty-five or seventy-five; it makes no difference. On that day he begins to be old.

According to William James, _______.

A. most people are not open to new ideas before 25.

B. few people continue to improve themselves after 25.

C. some people still try to make progress after 25.

D. all the people stop to make progress after 25.

The author mentions Goethe, Gladstone and Laplace to show that _____.

A. the great man stops to grow that minute he begins to be old.

B. the really great man never grows old.

C. the great man usually dies young.

D. the really great man never dies.

What do we know about Laplace?

A. He was a great writer.

B. He was not pleased with what he had learned.

C. He thought he was one of the greatest man.

D. He thought he was old when he was 25.

The author probably agrees with _______.

A. people should be pleased with what they have.

B. people should try to make a great difference.

C. people should cease to grow when they are 25.

D. people should not be satisfied with what they know.

Although credit cards are becoming a more acceptable part of the financial scene, they are still regarded with doubts by many as being a major part of the “live now pay later” syndrome（综合症）．Along with hire-purchase, rental and leasing schemes（租赁项目）, they provide encouragement to spend more money．Of course, it is only the hotheaded who give way to the temptation to live, temporarily at least, beyond their means, and such people would no doubt manage to do so even without credit cards．

Advertising campaigns have, however, promoted a growing realization of the advantages of these small pieces of plastic. They prevent need to carry large amounts of cash and are always useful in emergencies．

All the credit card organizations charge interest on a monthly basis which may work out as high as 25 per cent a year, yet sensible purchasing using a card can mean that you obtain up to seven weeks, interest-free credit．Using the card abroad, where items frequently take a long time to be included on your account, can extend this period even further．

It is worthwhile shopping around before deciding on a particular credit card. It is necessary to consider the amount of credit granted; interest rates, which may vary slightly; the number and range of outlets（经销店）, though most cards cover major garages, hotels, restaurants and department stores; and of course, what happens if your card is lost or stolen．A credit card thief may be sitting on a potential goldmine particularly if there is a delay in reporting the loss of the card．

However, if used wisely, a credit card can cost nothing, or at least help to tide you over a period of financial difficulty．

1.The hotheaded are people who ________．

2.The disadvantage of credit cards is ________．

3.Deciding on a particular credit, you do not have to consider ________．

4.The underlined words in the last paragraph probably means ________．