In every school there is a “top” crowd that sets the pace, while the others follow their lead. Let’s say the top crowd decides that it is smart to wear bright red sweaters. Pretty soon everybody is wearing a bright red sweater. 

There is nothing wrong with that, except the fact that on some people bright red sweater is extremely unbecoming. The situation can even become dangerous, if the top crowd decides that it is smart to drink or to drive cars at seventy miles an hour. Then the people who follow the lead are endangering their lives. They are like the sheep being led to the butcher. 

Now, chances are that you have come across situations like these more than once in your life; chances are that one time or another you probably did something you knew to be wrong. You may have excused yourself by saying, “Gee, the crowd does it.” Well, let the crowd do it, but don’t do it yourself. Learn to say, “No.”

Develop your own standards and your own judgment. If you know the crowd is planning something you disagree to, have the courage to bow out mannerly. You’ll have the satisfaction of standing on your own two feet. 

Which is the best title for this passage? 

A. Follow the Lead.      B. Top Crowd.      C. Being Yourself.   D. Bright Red. 

The author doesn’t think it good wearing red sweaters if ________. 

A. the crowd does it                           B. you can’t afford them

C. you don’t look good in red              D. the situation isn’t safe

According to the passage, people who follow the crowd ________. 

A. sometimes do things against their better judgment

B. make mistakes blindly

C. are willing to put their lives in danger 

D. will in the end become pace-setters

In every school there is a “top” crowd that sets the pace, while the others follow their lead. Let’s say the top crowd decides that it is smart to wear bright red sweaters. Pretty soon everybody is wearing a bright red sweater. 

There is nothing wrong with that, except the fact that on some people bright red sweater is extremely unbecoming. The situation can even become dangerous, if the top crowd decides that it is smart to drink or to drive cars at seventy miles an hour. Then the people who follow the lead are endangering their lives. They are like the sheep being led to the butcher. 

Now, chances are that you have come across situations like these more than once in your life; chances are that one time or another you probably did something you knew to be wrong. You may have excused yourself by saying, “Gee, the crowd does it.” Well, let the crowd do it, but don’t do it yourself. Learn to say, “No.”

Develop your own standards and your own judgment. If you know the crowd is planning something you disagree to, have the courage to bow out mannerly. You’ll have the satisfaction of standing on your own two feet. 

1. Which is the best title for this passage? 

A. Follow the Lead.      B. Top Crowd.      C. Being Yourself.   D. Bright Red. 

2. The author doesn’t think it good wearing red sweaters if ________. 

A. the crowd does it                           B. you can’t afford them

C. you don’t look good in red              D. the situation isn’t safe

3. According to the passage, people who follow the crowd ________. 

A. sometimes do things against their better judgment

B. make mistakes blindly

C. are willing to put their lives in danger 

D. will in the end become pace-setters

At the age of12, I had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out my shortcomings(缺点). Week by week her list grew: I was very thin, I wasn’t a good student, I talked too much, I was too proud, and so on. I tried to hear all this as long as I could. At last, I became very angry. I ran to my father with tears in my eyes.                                                                 

He listened to me quietly, then he asked. “Are the things she says true or not? Janet, didn’t you ever wonder what you’re really like ? Well, you now have that girl’s opinion. Go and make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true. Pay no attention to the other things she said.”                                                                         

I did as he told me. To my great surprise, I discovered that about half the things were true. Some of them I couldn’t change (like being very thin), but a good number I could—and suddenly I wanted to change. For the first time I go to fairly clear picture of myself.            

I brought the list back to Daddy. He refused to take it.“ That’s just for you,” he said.“ You know better than anyone else the truth about yourself. But you have to learn to listen, not just close your ears in anger and feeling hurt. When something said about you is true, you’ll find it will be of help to you. Our world is full of people who think they know your duty. Don’t shut your ears.  Listen to them all, but hear the truth and do what you know is the right thing to do.”                   

Daddy’s advice has returned to me at many important moments. In my life, I’ve never had a better piece of advice.                                                          

What did the father do after he had heard his daughter’s complaint?

A. He told her to write down all that her“ enemy” had said about her and pay attention only to the things that were true.                                                                      

B. He told her not to pay any attention to what her “enemy” had said.                   

C. He criticized (批评) her and told her to overcome her shortcomings.                 

D. He refused to take the list and have a look at it.                                   

What does “Week by week her list grew” mean?                                   

A .I was having more and more shortcomings as time went on.                        

B. She had made a list of my shortcomings and she kept on adding new ones to it so that it was growing longer and longer.   

C. Week by week she discovered more shortcomings of mine and pointed them out to me.       D. Week by week, my shortcomings grew more serious.                         

Why did her father listen to her quietly?                                          

A. Because he wasn’t quite sure which girl was telling the truth.                       

B. Because he had been so angry with his daughter’s shortcomings that he wanted to show this by keeping silent for a while.                                                

C. Because he knew that his daughter would not listen to him at that moment.            

D. Because he believed that what her daughter’s “enemy” said was mostly true. 

Which do you think would be the best title for this passage?                          

A.  The Best Advice  I’ve  Ever Had  

B.  No an Enemy, but the Best Friend                                        

C.   My  Father          

D.  My  Childhood

In some countries where racial prejudice is acute, violence has so come to be taken for granted as a means of solving differences that it is not even questioned. There are countries where the white man imposes his rule by brute force; there are countries where the black man protests by setting fire to cities. Important people on both sides, who would in other respects appear to be reasonable men, get up and calmly argue in favor of violence—as if it were a legitimate solution, like any other. What is really frightening, what really fills you with despair, is the realization that when it comes to the crunch(关键时刻), we have made no actual progress at all. We may wear collars and ties instead of war－paint, but our instincts remain basically unchanged. The whole of the recorded history of the human race, that tedious documentation of violence, has taught us absolutely nothing. We have still not learned that violence never solves a problem but makes it even acute. The sheer horror, the bloodshed(流血), the suffering mean nothing. No solution ever comes to light the morning after when we dismally contemplate the smoking ruins and wonder what hit us.

The truly reasonable men who know where the solutions lie are finding it harder and harder to get a hearing. They are despised, mistrusted and even persecuted by their own kind because they advocate such apparently outrageous things as law enforcement(执行). If half the energy that goes into violent acts were put to good use, if our efforts were directed at cleaning up the slums and ghettos, at improving living－standards and providing education and employment for all, we would have gone a long way to arriving at a solution. Our strength is sapped by having to mop up the mess that violence leaves in its wake. In a well－directed effort, it would not be impossible to fulfill the ideals of a stable social programme. The benefits that can be derived from constructive solutions are everywhere apparent in the world around us. Genuine and lasting solutions are always possible, providing we work within the framework of the law.

5. Recorded history has taught us ________.

A. violence never solves anything                

B. nothing

C. the bloodshed means nothing                

D. everything

6. It can be inferred that truly reasonable men ________.

A. can't get a hearing                                 

B. are looked down upon

C. are persecuted       

D. have difficulty in advocating law enforcement

7. According to the passage, the best way to solve race prejudice is ________.

A. law enforcement        

B. knowledge         

C. nonviolence       

D. mopping up the violent mess

8. What is the author's attitude towards the violence?

A. Critical.           B. Supportive.

C. Neutral.             D. Sympathetic.

9. What is the BEST title for this passage?

A. Advocating Violence

B. Violence Can Do Nothing to Diminish Race Prejudice

C. Violence as a Legitimate Solution

D. Violence: The Instinct of Human Race

In a few states where racial prejudice is serious, violence has so come to be taken for granted as a means of solving differences, that it is not even questioned. There are states where the white man imposes his rule by force; there are states where the black man protests by setting fire to cities and by looting and pillaging. Important people on both sides, who would in other respects appear to be reasonable men, get up and calmly argue in favor of violence – as if it were a legitimate solution, like any other. What is really frightening, what really fills you with despair, is the realization that when it comes to the crunch, we have made no actual progress at all. We may wear collars and ties instead of war-paint, but our instincts remain basically unchanged. The whole of the recorded history of the human race, that tedious documentation of violence, has taught us absolutely nothing. We have still not learnt that violence never solves a problem but makes it more serious. The sheer horror, the bloodshed, the suffering mean nothing. No solution ever comes to light the morning after when we dismally contemplate the smoking ruins and wonder what hit us.
The truly reasonable men who know where the solutions lie are finding it harder and harder to get a hearing. They are despised, mistrusted and even persecuted by their own kind because they advocate such apparently outrageous things as law enforcement. If half the energy that goes into violent acts were put to good use, if our efforts were directed at cleaning up the shabby houses at improving living-standards and providing education and employment for all, we would have gone a long way to arriving at a solution. Our strength is weakened by having to mop up the mess that violence leaves in its wake. In a well-directed effort, it would not be impossible to fulfill the ideals of a stable social programme. The benefits that can be derived from constructive solutions are everywhere apparent in the world around us. Genuine and lasting solutions are always possible, providing we work within the framework of the law.
Before we can even begin to reflect on peaceful co-existence between the races, we must appreciate each other's problems. And to do this, we must learn about them: it is a simple exercise in communication, in exchanging information. "Talk, talk, talk," the advocates of violence say, "all you ever do is talk, and we are none the wiser." It's rather like the story of the famous lawyer who carefully explained his case to the judge. After listening to a lengthy argument the judge complained that after all this talk, he was none the wiser. "Possible, my lord," the lawyer replied, "none the wiser, but surely far better informed." Knowledge is the necessary prerequisite to wisdom: the knowledge that violence creates the evils it pretends to solve.
【小题1】  What is the best title for this passage?