I would like to tell you a story about my uncle Theo. He is my oldest uncle, a tall, thin, grey-haired man whose thoughts are always on learning and nothing else. He is quiet, gentle and absent-minded and with about as much sense as a child where money is concerned. Well, he applied a post in Camford University. It was a very good post and there were hundreds of candidates who applied for it, and about fifteen, including Theo, were asked to be interviewed.
Camford is a very small town; there is only one hotel in it, and it was so full that they had to put many of the candidates two in a room. Theo was one of these, and the man who shared the room with him was a self-confident fellow called Adams, about twenty years younger than Theo, with a loud voice, and a laugh that you could hear all over the hotel. But he was a clever fellow all the same and had a good post in Iscaiot College, Narkover. Well, the Dean, who was the head of the department of the University, and the committee interviewed all the candidates; and as a result of this interview, the number of the candidates was reduced to two, Uncle Theo and Adams. The committee couldn’t decide which of the two to take, so they decided to make their final choice after each of the candidates had given a public lecture in the college lecture-hall. The subject they had to speak on was “The Civilization of the Ancient Summerians”; and the lecture had to be given in three days’ time.
Well, for these three days Uncle Theo never left his room. He worked day and night at that lecture, writing it out and memorizing it, almost without eating or sleeping. Adams didn’t seem to do any preparation at all. You could hear his voice and his laughter where he had a crowd of people around him. He came to his room late at night, asked Uncle Theo how he was getting on with his lecture, and then told him how he had spent the evening playing bridge, or at the music hall. He ate like a horse and slept like a log; and Uncle Theo sat up working at his lecture.
The day of the lecture arrived. They all went into the lecture hall and Theo and Adams took their seats on the platform. And then, Theo discovered, to his horror,  that typewritten copy of his speech had disappeared! The Dean said they would call on the candidates on the alphabetical order, Adams first; and the despair in his heart, Theo watched Adams calmly take the stolen speech out of pocket and read it to the professors who were gathered to hear it. And how well he read it! Even Uncle Theo had to admit he couldn’t have read it nearly so eloquently himself, and when Adams finished there was a great burst of applause. Adams bowed and smiled, and sat down.
Now, it was Theo’s turn. But what could he do? He had put everything he knew into the lecture. His mind was too much upset to put the same thoughts in another way. With a burning face he could only repeat, word for word, in a low, dull voice, the lecture that Adams had spoken so eloquently. There was hardly any applause when he sat down.
The Dean and the committee went out to decide who the successful candidate was, but everyone was sure what their decision would be. Adams leaned across to Theo and patted him on the back and said, smilingly, “Hard luck, old fellow, but after all, only one of us could win”
Then the Dean and the committee came back, “Gentlemen”, the Dean said, “the candidate we have chosen is Mr. Hobdell.” Uncle Theo had won! The audience were completely taken by surprise, and the Dean continued, “ I think I ought to tell you how we arrived at the decision. We were all filled with admiration at the learning and eloquence of Mr. Adams. I was greatly impressed. But, you will remember, Mr. Adams read his lecture to us. When Mr. Hobdell’s turn came, he repeated that speech, word by word from memory, though, of course, he couldn’t have seen a line of it before. Now a fine memory is absolutely necessary for this post; and what a memory Mr. Hobdell must have! This is why we decided that Mr. Hobdell was exactly the man we wanted! ”
As they walked out of the room, the Dean came up to Uncle Theo, who was so confused but so happy that he hardly knew whether he was standing on his head or heels; and as he shook Theo’s hand he said, “Congratulations, Mr. Hobdell! But, my fellow, when you are on our staff, you must be more careful and not leave valuable papers lying about!”
【小题1】. Which of the followings best describes Uncle Theo?

A．The applicants had to sit for an examination.

B．There was much competition for the post.

C．The post requires a lot of teaching experience.

D．The post offered quite high salary.

A．he had a better memory than Adams.
B．he was more experienced than Adams.	C．the committee knew he was exactly the man they wanted.
D．the committee knew Adams had copied Theo’s speech.

A. self-confidence    B. refers         C. frequently      D. despite        E. consider

F. normally          G. bored        H. alter          I. reshapes       J. qualified

Many people today are obsessed with their appearance. Although they are perfectly healthy, they constantly worry that their nose is a bit too big, or that their ears stick too far out. Cosmetic surgery (整容）is a possible solution to this problem. Cosmetic surgery means a surgeon ___1.___ a part of your body that works ___2.___, but which makes you unhappy. It is different from plastic surgery, which ___3.___ to the work surgeons do to repair body parts damaged by disease or accidents. Different kinds of people get cosmetic surgery. Some may have low ___4.___. They may be depressed, or struggling to find a satisfactory job. People with such problems believe cosmetic surgery will not just make them look better, but also make them feel better inside. Other people may be insecure about one part of their body, or just ___5.___ with how they look.

There is no proof that cosmetic surgery can really make people happier, but ___6.___ this, many people still have very high expectations for it. They think that it will solve all their problems. It is important to remember that cosmetic surgery might ___7.___ a part of your body, but it can’t change your whole life.

Cosmetic surgery can also be risky. If you have existing health problems, like a weak heart or breathing problems, this kind of operation can sometimes make them worse. In addition, cosmetic surgery is a big industry, and not everyone involved in it is honest. Therefore, you need to choose the clinic for your surgery very carefully. You must be certain that the surgeon you choose is ___8.___ to give you cosmetic surgery.

The biggest question for someone thinking of having cosmetic surgery is the cost. The price can vary from a few hundred dollars to $10,000 or above. It depends on which part of your body you want to change. Rich stars may not __9.___ the cost very high, but most people cannot afford to pay. Perhaps it is cheaper—and better for your health—to learn to live with how you look.

How the iron of tomorrow (the first Self Clean Iron)can change your lifestyle today?

General Electric introduces the iron of tomorrow. The iron can clean itself, inside where irons get dirty. Because it cleans itself each and every time you empty it.

How? With a push of a magic blue button.

The magic blue button

The first thing you’ll notice that’s different about this iron is the blue button on the side. It’s marked “Self Clean”. Push this blue button, and you can wash out loose mineral deposits that remain and block up inside. Push this button, and you’ve made life a lot easier.

Less chance of brown spots

Sure, Self Cleaning Iron is going to cut down on brown spots. (Those ugly spots that happen on nice, cleanly pressed clothes.) Because a Self Cleaning Iron becomes clean each time you press that magic blue button.

Steams much longer

Common sense tells you that if you’ve an iron that blocks less often it has to stay younger for a long period of time. In other words, it steams much longer. That’s another joy of owning General Electric’s Self Cleaning Iron.

What does it mean to you

Today you are doing so much more than just running a house and running after the kids.

You’re working. You’re going to school. It’s all part of your lifestyle. The iron can change that lifestyle. By giving you less trouble before you iron. If we can make it easier for you to be a better wife, a better mother, a better housemaker, we want to. The new Self Cleaning Iron is another one of Home-Makers from General Electric.

Lifestyle.

We’re with yours.

GENERAL ELECTRIC

1.This passage is ______.

2.This iron can clean itself by ______.

3.According to the passage, what is most likely to attract the customers?

4.Self Cleaning Iron can help change your lifestyle because ______.

Pessimistic，anxious and depressed people may have a higher risk of dementia (痴呆)，US researchers reported on Thursday.

A study of a group of 3,500 people showed that those who scored high for pessimism on a standardized personality test had a 30 percent increased risk of developing dementia 30 to 40 years later.

Those scoring very high on both anxiety and pessimism scales had a 40 percent higher risk，the study showed.

“There appears to be a dose?response pattern.That is，the higher the scores，the higher the risk of dementia，”Dr Yonas Geda，a neuropsychiatrist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester，Minnesota who led the study，said in a statement.

Geda and his colleagues looked at the medical records of 3,500 men and women who lived near the clinic between 1962 and 1965.

They all took the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory，a standard personality and life experience test，Geda’s team told a meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in Miami.

In 2004，the team interviewed the participants or family members.

Those who scored higher for anxiety and pessimism on the test were more likely，as a group，to have developed dementia by 2004，including Alzheimer’s disease and vascular (血管的) dementia.

This did not mean a person who is pessimistic could assume he or she has a higher risk of developing dementia.

“One has to be cautious in interpreting a study like this，”Geda said.

“One cannot make a leap from group level data to the individual.Certainly the last thing you want to do is to say，‘Well，I am a pessimist；thus，I am doomed to develop dementia 20 or 30 years later，’because this may end up becoming a self?fulfilling prophecy (预言)．”

And there is NOT any specific way to prevent dementia，although many studies have shown that a healthy diet，exercise，keeping active in other ways，doing puzzles and other activities lower the risk.

1.What is the passage mainly about?

A．It is impossible for people to avoid dementia.

B．People who always have negative feelings may have a higher risk of getting dementia.

C．If we have a healthy diet，we would have no chance of getting dementia.

D．A person who is pessimistic has a higher risk of developing dementia.

2.According to the passage，which of the following is TRUE?

A．There are many ways to prevent dementia effectively.

B．A person who is pessimistic is sure to get dementia.

C．Those who lead a happy life will not get dementia when they are old.

D．Those who scored high for pessimism might have a higher risk of dementia.

3.Which of the following does NOT help reduce the risk of getting dementia according to the passage?

A．A healthy diet.? B．Proper exercises.

C．Doing puzzles.? D．Getting up early.

4.Which of the following words is not close to the meaning of the word “pessimistic”？

A．Cheerless.? B．Optimistic.

C．Unhappy.? D．Upset.