Empathy
Last year, researchers from the University of Michigan reported that empathy, the ability to understand other people, among college students had dropped sharply over the past 10 years. __【小题1】__ Today, people spend more time alone and are less likely to join groups and clubs.
Jennifer Freed, a co-director of a teen program, has another explanation. Turn on the TV, and you’re showered with news and reality shows full of people fighting, competing, and generally treating one another with no respect. __【小题2】__
There are good reasons not to follow those bad examples. Humans are socially related by nature. __【小题3】_ Researchers have also found that empathetic teenagers are more likely to have high self-respect. Besides, empathy can be a cure for loneliness, sadness, anxiety, and fear.
Empathy is also an indication of a good leader. In fact, Freed says, many top companies report that empathy is one of the most important things they look for in new managers. __【小题4】__“Academics are important. But if you don’t have emotional (情感的) intelligence, you won’t be as successful in work or in your love life,” she says.
What’s the best way to up your EQ (情商)? For starters, let down your guard and really listen to others. __【小题5】__
To really develop empathy, you’d better volunteer at a nursing home or a hospital, join a club or a team that has a diverse membership, have a “sharing circle” with your family, or spend time caring for pets at an animal shelter. 

The Happiest Cities On Earth

If you’re looking for a cheery destination for your next vacation, consider these four spots and get ready to take notes on how to really live the good life.

Singapore

    With one of the highest population densities（密度）in the world and residents known for being workaholics, it’s hard to imagine the city-state of Singapore having one of the happiest populations on earth. And yet in a recent survey, 95% of them said they were either very happy or quite happy.

They give their city high marks for cleanliness and safety—subways are pristine (洁净的) and unfailingly arrive on time, and police are seen as helpful and good at their jobs. What’s more, they feel they can count on their neighbours—all 5.1 million of them.

Arhus, Denmark

The residents of Arhus cheerfully part with 68% of their income in taxes, knowing that in return they will be guaranteed free healthcare, free daycare, and a top-notch (第一流的) education for their children.

An energetic city of 300,000 with a lively cultural scene and a diverse number of religions represented, the sense of equality (the range in incomes is narrow), as well as easy access to the nearby sea and surrounding countryside, make Arhus seem more like a small town.

San Luis Obispo, CA

According to a 2008 Gallup-Healthways study, people who live in San Luis Obispo are more likely than residents of other U.S. cities to smile and experience joy and are less likely to experience pain or depression. About 64,000 of the 260,000 people in the greater metropolitan area (都市区), located halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, volunteer at over 11,000 non-profit organizations.

Few journeys to work are longer than 10 minutes (one reason its members rank in the upper third for job satisfaction), so “it’s easy to be involved,” resident Pierre Rademaker said. Business signs are unobtrusive (不显眼的) by law, fewer than 11% of residents smoke—the lower rate in the U.S.—there are lots of bike lanes, and the city’s plaza draws crowds of people for free concerts on summer Fridays. What’s not to love?

Monterrey, Mexico

The people of Monterrey don’t enjoy high household incomes or access to good healthcare. Instead, there’s a profound sense of gratitude for the new political freedom enjoyed since the oppressive Institutional Revolutionary Party lost power in 2000—the first time in nearly a century—as well as an emphasis on social life over work.

Another reason Monterrey residents may be so happy is their faith in God and family, and their ability to tough it out through bad times.

“We laugh at sickness, poverty and even death,” says Basanez, a political scientist who lives in Monterrey. “We even have a holiday to celebrate death. November 2, the Day of the Dead, is one of the biggest holidays of the year.”

1.According to the passage, what do the residents in the four cities have in common?

A. All the residents can make great fortunes by working hard.

B. The residents there are mostly educators. 

C. All the residents enjoy enough material wealth.

D. The majority of the residents are satisfied with their current life.

2.According to the passage, we can infer that _______.

A. the people of Singapore expect their neighbours to come to their help when necessary

B. the people of Monterrey even observe one’s death on a special day of a year

C. the residents of Arhus happily pay 68% of their income for their children’s education fee

D. the people who live in San Luis Obispo have job satisfaction because they can enjoy good working conditions

3.According to the passage which of the following statements is NOT TRUE?

A. The people of Monterrey didn’t enjoy political freedom until 2000.

B. The residents in Singapore feel happy because of its low population density.

C. The people of San Luis Obispo can enjoy free concerts in summer.

D. Arhus is handy to the seaside and countryside.

4.What can we learn from the underlined part “the sense of equality”?

A. The residents of Arhus have no racial discrimination.

B. Arhus is considered as a family sharing everything with each other.

C. There is no wide gap between the rich and the poor in Arhus.

D. The residents of Arhus can depend on their neighbours to help.

The Winter Palace was built between 1754 and 1762 for Empress Elizabeth, the daughter of Peter the Great. Unfortunately, Elizabeth died before the palace was completed and only Catherine the Great and her successors were able to enjoy the great interior (内部) of Elizabeth’s home. Many parts of the palace’s impressive interior have been remodeled since then, particularly after 1837, when a huge fire destroyed most of the building. Today the Winter Palace, together with four more buildings arranged side by side along the river embankment, houses the extensive collections of the Hermitage. The Hermitage Museum is the largest art gallery in Russia and is among the largest and most respected art museums in the world.

    The museum was founded in 1764 when Catherine the Great bought a collection of 255 paintings from the German city of Berlin. Today, the Hermitage boasts over 2.7 million exhibits and displays, a diverse range of art and artifacts (手工艺品) from all over the world and throughout history (from Ancient Egypt to the early 20th century Europe). The Hermitage’s collections include works by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian, a collection of Rembrandts and Rubens, many French Impressionist works by Renoir, Cezanne, Monet and Pissarro, and several works by Rodin. The collection is really worth a stop for all those interested in art and history. The experts say that if you were to spend a minute looking at each exhibit on show in the Hermitage, you would need 11 years before you’d seen them all. However, we suggest you choose a guided tour instead!

    Location: Dvortsovaia Naberezhnaia, 32-38.

    Open: 10:30 am to 5:30 pm, Sunday till 5 pm.

    Closed: Mondays. Ticket-office closes 1 hour before closing time.

According to the passage, the Winter Palace was built for ______.

A. Catherine the Great.      B. Empress Elizabeth

C. Peter the Great.           D. Empress Elizabeth’s successors

What’s the main reason why many parts of the palace’s impressive interior were remodeled?

A. Catherine the Great and her successors didn’t like the design.

B. Empress Elizabeth wanted to remodel the palace.

C. A huge fire destroyed most of the building in 1837.

D. The building became old itself.

According to the passage, which of the following is CORRECT?

A. The Winter Palace was built between 1753 and 1761.

B. The Hermitage’s collections don’t include works by Monet.       

C. The Hermitage Museum is the largest art gallery in Russia.

D. The Hermitage Museum was founded in 1764 when Empress Elizabeth bought a collection of 255 paintings from Berlin.

If you want to visit the museum, when can you go?

A. At 10:30 am on Monday.      B. At 10:00 am on Tuesday.

C. At 11:00 am on Sunday.       D. None of the above.

An idea that started in Seattle’s public library has spread throughout America and beyond. The concept is simple: help to build a sense of community in a city by getting everyone to read the same book at the same time.
In addition to encouraging reading as a pursuit (追求) to be enjoyed by all, the program allows strangers to communicate by discussing the book on the bus, as well as promoting reading as an experience to be shared in families and schools. The idea came from Seattle librarian Nancy Pearl who launched (发起）the "If All of Seattle Read the Same Book " project in 1998. Her original program used author visits, study guides and book discussion groups to bring people together with a book, but the idea has since expanded to many other American cities, and even to Hongkong.
In Chicago, the mayor(市长）appeared on television to announce the choice of To Kill a Mockingbird as the first book in the "One Book, One Chicago" program. As a result, reading clubs and neighbourhood groups sprang up around the city. Across the US, stories emerged of parents and children reading to each other at night and strangers chatting away on the bus about plot and character.
The only problem arose in New York , where local readers could not decide on one book to represent the huge and diverse population. This may show that the idea works best in medium-sized cities or large towns, where a greater sense of unity(一致）can be achieved .Or it may show that New Yorkers rather missed the point ,putting all their energy
And passion into the choice of the book rather than discussion about a book itself.
Ultimately, as Nancy points out, the level of success is not measured by how many people read a book, but by how many people are enriched by the process, or have enjoyed speaking to someone with whom they would not otherwise have shared a word.
【小题1】What is the purpose of the project launched by Nancy?

根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

Empathy

Last year, researchers from the University of Michigan reported that empathy, the ability to understand other people, among college students had dropped sharply over the past 10 years. __1.__ Today, people spend more time alone and are less likely to join groups and clubs.

Jennifer Freed, a co-director of a teen program, has another explanation. Turn on the TV, and you’re showered with news and reality shows full of people fighting, competing, and generally treating one another with no respect. __2.__

There are good reasons not to follow those bad examples. Humans are socially related by nature. __3.__ Researchers have also found that empathetic teenagers are more likely to have high self-respect. Besides, empathy can be a cure for loneliness, sadness, anxiety, and fear.

Empathy is also an indication of a good leader. In fact, Freed says, many top companies report that empathy is one of the most important things they look for in new managers. __4.__ “Academics are important. But if you don’t have emotional (情感的) intelligence, you won’t be as successful in work or in your love life,” she says.

What’s the best way to up your EQ (情商）? For starters, let down your guard and really listen to others. __5.__

To really develop empathy, you’d better volunteer at a nursing home or a hospital, join a club or a team that has a diverse membership, have a “sharing circle” with your family, or spend time caring for pets at an animal shelter.

A. Having relationships with other people is an important part of being human—and having empathy is decisive to those relationships.

B. Everyone is different, and levels of empathy differ from person to person.

C. That could be because so many people have replaced face time with screen time, the researchers said.

D. “One doesn’t develop empathy by having a lot of opinions and doing a lot of talking,” Freed says.

E. Humans learn by example—and most of the examples on it are anything but empathetic.

F. Empathy is a matter of learning how to understand someone else—both what they think and how they feel.

G. Good social skills—including empathy—are a kind of “emotional intelligence” that will help you succeed in many areas of life.