There exist cruel wars, fighting and sadness in the world today, so it’s not only necessary, but also essential to have a good sense of humor just to help us go through difficult times in our lives. Putting a smile on someone’s face when you know they are feeling depressed, as the saying goes, makes me feel good and warms my heart.

How would you feel if you could not joke around with your wife, husband, child, co-worker neighbor, close friend, or even just someone that you are standing in line with at your corner store? I am always saying things that make others smile or laugh, even if I don’t know the person I’m joking around with. My Grandma always found humor in everything she did, even if it was the hardest job anyone could imagine. This not only relieves stress in any situation, but also is a common manner to speak to others that are around you.

I know of a few people that don’t have a funny bone in their bodies, as they say. Everyone around them could be rolling on the floor after hearing a great joke and they would sit there without the slightest smile on their face. They don’t get the joke that makes others laugh. I am busting a gut while they just sit there, looking at me as if I were from outer space. How can people not get a really funny joke?

Laughing is essential to keep your stress levels under control. Without humor we would find ourselves with a lot of psychological problems, or on a lot of medications to keep us from going crazy. There is too much sadness in this present world. It drives people crazy. We all need to find a way to avoid the sadness and bring a little light into our lives. Therefore, I believe our best medicine is to get together and tell some jokes and have some fun laughing together.

1.According to the author, humor is useful in the aspect that ____________.

A．it can pick up people’s spirits

B．it can help people get on well with others

C．it can help get rid of the cruelty in the world

D．it makes people more confident

2.The author answers the question in the second paragraph with ___________.

A．facts and descriptions                    B．evidence and argument

C．examples and conclusion                 D．stories and persuasion

3.The underlined phrase “busting a gut” in the 3rd paragraph can be replaced  by        .

A．keeping silent                          B．speaking loud

C．laughing hard                          D．explaining carefully

4.In writing the passage, the author mainly intends to __________.

A．talk about his own understanding of humor

B．encourage people to be humorous in daily life

C．introduce a practical way to get through daily life

D．convince people of the power of being optimistic about life

5.What is the author’s attitude towards the present world?

A．Indifferent        B．Positive           C．Satisfied          D．Critical

One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw Kyle from my class walking home from school. It looked like he was carrying all of his books. I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd (a foolish person)." I had quite a weekend planned, so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.

As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running towards him. They knocked all his books out of his arms and tripped(绊倒) him so he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the glass about ten feet from him. He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes. So, I jogged over to him and as he crawled around looking for his glasses, I saw a tear in his eye.

As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks. They really should go to hell." He looked at me and said, "Hey, thanks!" There was a big smile on his face. It was one of those smiles that showed real thankfulness. I asked him where he lived. As it turned out, he lived near me.

Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends. I teased him all the time about being a nerd. He had to prepare a speech for graduation. As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began. "Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years. I am here to tell you a story."

I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met. He had planned to kill himself over the weekend. He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn't have to do it later and was carrying his stuff home. He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile. "Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable."

I heard the gasp(倒吸气) go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment. I saw his Mom and Dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile. Not until that moment did I realize its depth.

1.Why did Kyle carry all his books home?

A. Because it was Friday.

B. Because he was a nerd.

C. Because he wanted to kill himself.

D. Because he liked doing things for his mother.

2.Which of the statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A. The bunch of kids attacked Kyle to have his glasses and books.

B. The author planned to study all weekend after he met Kyle.

C. The author was a freshman when Kyle gave the speech.

D. Kyle felt grateful to the author for his help.

3.What can we infer from the passage?

A. When Kyle couldn't find the glass, he turned to the author for help.

B. The author teased Kyle a lot about being a nerd.

C. The author didn't expect Kyle to tell the story.

D. Kyle thanked his parents first for saving his life.

4.What does the underlined "them" in the 2nd paragraph refer to?

A. The kids.       B. Kyle's books.         C. Kyle's glasses.        D. Kyle's arms.

Adrian’s “Amazing Race” started early when his parents realized that he, as a baby, couldn’t hear a thing, not even loud noises. In a special school for the hearing-impaired，he learned sign language and got to mix with other disabled children. However, the sight of all the disabled children communicating with one another upset his mother. She wanted him to lead a normal life. So after speaking to an advisor, she sent him to private classes where he learned to read lips and pronounce words.

    Later on, Adrian’s parents decided to send him to a regular school. But the headmaster tried to prevent them from doing so, saying regular school couldn’t take care of a special needs student. His parents were determined to take the risk and push him hard to go through his work every day because they wanted to prove that, given the opportunity, he could do anything. Adrian made the grade and got accepted. It was a big challenge. The pace （节奏）was faster so he had to sit at the front of the class and really pay attention to the teacher, which wasn’t always easy. But he stuck to it and did a lot of extra work after school. 

    The efforts made by Adrian and his parents paid off. Adrian graduated with good grades and got into a top high school. He also achieved a lot in life outside school. He developed a love for the outdoors and went to Nepal to climb mountains. He even entered the World Yacht Race 05/06--- being the first hearing-impaired Asian to do so.

    But none of these achievements would have been possible without one of the most important lessons from his mother.” “If you believe in yourself and work hard, you can achieve great results.” She often said.

1. How did Adrian communicate with other children in the special school?

A. By speaking.                   B. By using sign language

C. By reading lips                  D. By making loud noises

2. Adrian’s parents decided to send him to a regular school because___________.

A. they wanted him to live a normal life    

B. they wanted to prove the headmaster wrong

C. he wouldn’t mix with other disabled children

D. he wasn’t taken good care of in the special school

3. How did Adrian finally succeed in his study?

A. He did a lot of outdoor activities.        

B. He was pushed hard to study every day.

C. He attended private classes after school.   

D. He worked very hard both in and after class

4. Why is Adrian’s life described as an “Amazing Race”?

A. He did very well in his study                 

B. He succeeded in entering a regular school

C. He reached his goals in spite of his disability  

D. He took part in the World Yacht Race 05/06

There are two basic ways to see growth: one as a product, the other as a process．People have generally viewed personal growth as an external（外部的） result or product that can easily be identified and measured．The worker who gets a promotion, the student whose grades improve, the foreigner who learns a new language--- all these are examples of people who have measurable results to show for their efforts．

By contrast, the process of personal growth is much more difficult to determine, since by definition it is a journey and not the specific signposts or landmarks along the way．The process is not the road itself, but rather the attitudes and feelings people have, their caution or courage, as they go through new experiences and unexpected obstacles．In this process, the journey never really ends; there are always new ways to experience the world, new ideas to try, new challenges to accept．

In order to grow, to travel new roads, people need to have a willingness to take risks, to be faced with the unknown, and to accept the possibility that they may “fail” at first．How we see ourselves as we try a new way of being is essential to our ability to grow．

These feelings of insecurity and self – doubt are both unavoidable and necessary if we are to change and grow．If we do not face and overcome these internal fears and doubts, if we protect ourselves too much, then we cease to grow．We become trapped inside a shell of our own making．

1.A person is generally believed to achieve personal growth when______．．

A．he has given up his smoking habit

B．he has made great efforts in his work

C．he is interested in making anything new

D．he has tried to determine where he is on his journey

2.In the author’s eyes, one who views personal growth as a process would______．

A．judge his ability to grow from his own achievements

B．succeed in climbing up the social ladder

C．face difficulties and take up challenges

D．aim high and reach his goal each time

3.When the author says “a new way of being” （para．3）, he is referring to _____．

A．a new way of taking risks

B．a new approach to experiencing the world

C．a new system of adapting to change

D．a new method of finding ourselves

4.For personal growth, the author may not support __________．     ．

A．curiosity and more chances

B．being quick in self – adaptation

C．open – minded to new experiences

D．avoidance of internal fears and doubts

From bankers to factory staff, employees in the west face the bleak prospect (暗淡的前景) of losing their jobs as a global recession (衰退) starts to bite. For colleagues in the East the pain is more likely to come through a pay cut.

Human resource experts say cultural differences explain why Asian firms try harder to keep jobs in difficult times, which will stop unemployment and may help keep Asian economies afloat at a time of slowing exports.

The East Asian attitude may also make it easier for firms to recover quickly from the economic downturn since they will not need to rehire or train new staff, leaving some experts predicting Western shift to Eastern flexibility.

“In the Confucian (儒家的) attitude, the right thing to do is to share the burden. There is the sense of collective responsibility whereas (然而) in the West, it’s more about the individual survival,” said Michael Benotlel, associated professor of organizational behavior at Singapore Management University.

Steven Pang, Asian Regional Director for Aquent, a headhunting firm, said in many East Asian companies there was a responsibility “ to take care of the members of the family and go through the pain together” even if that meant causing losses.

US firms from General Motors to Goldman Sachs plan to lay off workers by the thousand. But at the Asian units of Western multinationals, job cuts will probably be less severe.

Japan’s jobless rate was 4 percent in September, up from 3.8 percent in January, while Hong Kong’s was flat at 3.4 percent. But US unemployment is expected to have jumped to 6.3 percent last month from below 5 percent in January.

Experts say that while there are noticeable differences in labor practices in East and West, the gap will narrow as more firms become more multinational and competition forces firms to adopt the best practices of rivals (对手) from abroad.

(Note: Answer the questions or complete the statements in NO MORE THAN TEN WORDS.)

1.What caused the different practices of Asian and Western firms facing the global recession?

2.Why is it easier for the East Asian firms to recover quickly from the economic downturn?

3.Firms in the west would lay off workers when facing a bleak prospect because of ______.

4.______ will make the differences in East and West less noticeable.