Creativity(创造力) is the key to a brighter future, say education and business experts. Here is how schools and parents can encourage this important skill in children.

　 Creativity is not something one is just born with, nor is it necessarily an indicator(标志) of high intelligence(智力). Just because a person is highly intelligent does not mean that he uses it creatively. Creativity is the matter of using his resources to produce new ideas that are good for something.

　 It is important to let children choose. From an early age, children should be allowed to make decisions and understand their results. Even if it's choosing food for lunch, making decision helps thinking skills. As children grow older, parents should let their children decide how to use their time or spend their money, but not help them too much if they make the wrong decision. The child may have a hard time, but that is all right. This is because the most important characteristic of creative people is a very strong desire to find a way out of trouble.

1.Creativity is something ______.

A. that people are born with

B. that depends on intelligence

C. that is a way of using what one has learnt to work out new problems

D. that is not important

2. What should the parents do when their children decide how to spend their money?

A. Try to help them as much as possible.

B. Take no notice of whatever they do.

C. Help them if their decision is wrong, but not too much.

D. Leave them as they are.

3.What is the proper title of the passage?

  A. The Problems in Education     B. Let Children Choose

  C. Children Need Creativity       D. A Brighter Future

People who speak or perform before the public sometimes may suffer from “Stage Fright. ” Stage fright makes a person nervous. In the worst case(情况) it can make one's mind go back and forget what one ought to say,  or to act. Actors, musicians, dancers, lawyers, even radio show hosts(节目主持人) have suffered from stage fright at one time or another.

Diana Nichols is an expert in helping people free from stage fright at a medical centre in New York City. She helps actors learn to control themselves. Miss Nichols says some people have always been afraid to perform before the audience. Others, she says, develop stage fright after a fearful experience.

She offers them ways to control the fear. One way is to smile before going onto the stage. Taking two deep breaths also helps. Deep breathing helps you get control of your body.

Miss Nichols persuades her patients to tell themselves that their speech or performance does not have to the perfect. It's all right to make a mistake. She tells them they should not be too cautions(谨慎的) while they are performing. It is important that they should continue to perform while she is helping them. After each performance, they discuss what happened and find out what advice helped and what did not. As they perform more and more, they will fear less and less as much as 50%. Miss Nichols says the aim is only to reduce stage fright, not to eliminate it completely. This is because a little stage fright makes a person more cautious, and improves the performance.

1 One who is suffering stage fright may        .

A. forget one's part before the audience

B. smile all the time on the stage

C. make a speech fast than ever

D. be cautious to improve his performance

2 The underlined word “eliminate” in the last paragraph means        .

A. keep          B. reduce           C. change          D. get rid of

3 The wrong way to overcome stage fright is        .

A. to smile before going to the stage.

B. to take two deep breaths to calm oneself

C. to pay less attention to one's mistakes in performance

D. to perform less and to watch more

4 Which of the following statements is right?

A. We can get rid of stage fright completely.

B. A little stage fright can make actors perform better.

C. We can reduce stage fright as much as one third.

D. A little stage fright leads to complete failure.

— Guess what? One bullet struck my car,          missing me yesterday!
— Lucky you ! Come back to our motherland as soon as possible!

In the United States, when one becomes rich, he wants people to know it. And even if he does not become very rich, he wants people to think that he is. That is what “keeping up with the Joneses” is about. It is the story of someone who tried to look as rich as his neighbors.
The expression was first used in 1913 by a young American called Arthur Momand. He told this story about himself. He began earning $ 125 a week at the age of 23. That was a lot of money in those days. He got married and moved with his wife to a very wealthy neighborhood outside New York City. When he saw that rich people rode horses, Momand went horseback riding every day. When he saw that rich people had servants, Momand and his wife also hired a servant and gave big parties for their new neighbors.
It was like a race, but one could never finish his race because one was always trying to keep up. The race ended for Momand and his wife when they could no longer pay for their new way of life. They moved back to an apartment in New York City.
Momand looked around him and noticed that many people do things just to keep up with rich lifestyle of their neighbors. He saw the funny side of it and started to write a series of short stories. He called it “Keeping up with the Joneses” because “Jones” is a very common name in the United States. “Keeping up with the Joneses” came to mean keeping up with rich lifestyle of the people around you. Momand’s series appeared in different newspapers across the country for over 28 years.
People never seem to get tired of keeping up with the Joneses. And there are “Joneses” in every city of the world. But one must get tired of trying to keep up with the Joneses because no matter what one does, Mr. Jones always seems to be ahead.
【小题1】Some people want to keep up with the Joneses because they ________.

In the United States, when one becomes rich, he wants people to know it. And even if he does not become very rich, he wants people to think that he is. That is what ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ is about, It is the story of someone who tried to look as rich as his neighbours.

    The expression was first used in 1913 by a young American called Arthur Momand. He told this story about himself. He began earning $ 125 a week at the age of 23. That was a lot of money in those days. He got married and moved with his wife to a very wealthy neighbourhood outside New York City. When he saw that rich people rode horses, Momand went horseback riding every day. When he saw that rich people had servants. Momand and his wife also hired a servant and gave big parties for their new neighbours.

    It was like a race, but one could never finish this race because one was always trying to keep up. The race ended for Momand and his wife when they could no longer pay for their new way of life. They moved back to an apartment(公寓房间) in New York City.

    Momand looked around him and noticed that many people do things just to keep up with rich life--style of their neighbours. He saw the funny side of it and started to write a series (系列) of short stories, He called it ‘Keeping up with the Joneses’ because ‘Jones’ is a very common name in the United States.’ Keeping up with the Joneses’ came to mean keeping up with rich lifestyle of the people around you. Momand’s series appeared in different newspapers across the country for over 28 years.

    People never seem to get tired of keeping up with the Joneses. And there are ‘Jonses’ in every city of the world. But one must get tired of trying to keep up with the Joneses because no matter what one does, Mr. Jones always seems to be ahead.

1.Some people want to keep up with the Joneses because they ______.

   A. want to be as rich as their neighbours

   B. want others to know or to think that they are rich

   C. don’t want others to know they are rich

   D. want to be happy

2.It can be inferred from the story that rich people like to ________.   A. live outside New York City         B. live in New York City

   C. live in apartments                 D. have many neighbours

3. The underlined word neighbourhood in the second paragraph means ________.

   A. a person who lives near another      B. people living in an area

   C. an area near the place referred to     D. an area in another town or city

4.According to the writer, it is ________to keep up with the Joneses.

   A. correct       B. interesting         C. impossible       D. good