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“Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity,” said the American talk show host Oprah Winfrey. I’ve never watched her show, but when a self-made billionaire gives life advice it’s probably worth listening to.
Her point is that blind luck is very rare. You may have to be lucky to find a good job these days but that does not mean you should sit at home waiting for the opportunity to come to you. If you’re a Chinese, you may already be familiar with the tale of a farmer waiting by a tree stump(树桩) for a rabbit to run out and break its neck.
A book by the UK psychologist Richard Wiseman, called The Luck Factor, argues we can all make ourselves luckier. It’s not about going to a temple to burn some incense(香) hopes that the gods will give you good fortune; it’s practical advice you can follow each day.
Wiseman conducted an experiment as part of his studies. First he divided volunteers into two groups; those who said they were lucky in life and those who said they were not. He gave everyone a newspaper and asked them to look through it to count how many photographs it had inside. On average, the unlucky people took about two minutes to count the photographs while the lucky people took just seconds. Why? On the second page of the newspaper, a command, “Stop counting. There are 43 photographs in this newspaper,” was written in big letters. The unlucky people mostly did not spot the message.
It’s easy to compare this situation to a young person looking for jobs in a local paper. They might search so hard for one type of position that they miss an even better opportunity. People who are “lucky”, in fact, keep an open mind and don’t go through the same routine every day.
I first came to China in 2002 when it was considered a rather strange thing to do. Like many foreigners, my plan was to teach English for one year. Seven years later, and still here, I’ve had many great opportunities such as writing for newspapers and magazines. I did not dream these would have been possible. I’ve also never been sick, had an accident, got into a fight or had problems with the police. Coincidence? After reading about Professor Wiseman’s studies I think not.
As Wiseman advises, I usually trust my own judgment. Your friends and parents may give you advice based on rational thinking, but it’s important to consider how you feel about each choice you make. Your feeling acts as a warning for a potential problem.
Finally, try to turn bad luck into good. Even if you do fall down and break a leg, the time spent at home can be used wisely to study English.
【小题1】Which of the following proverbs most agrees with the writer’s point?
A.Make the best of a bad job. |
B.Rome was not built in a day. |
C.All is not gold that glitters. |
D.A good heart conquers ill fortune. |
A.She became famous through her family background. |
B.She was very lucky and seldom suffered setbacks in her life. |
C.She is a British talk show host. |
D.She became successful by her own effort. |
A.luck is in your own hand |
B.bad luck can turn into good |
C.you should not sit at home waiting for the opportunity to come to you |
D.man can conquer nature |
The lady insisted that the young man ____her wallet and____to the police station at once.
A. had stolen; be sent B. should steal; sent
C. has stolen; sending D. steal; had been sent
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Mr. Brown had a nice shop in the main street of a small town. He sold jewelry, watches and the like. All went well some years, and then his shop was broken into twice in one month at night, and a lot of jewelry was stolen each time. Three weeks had passed, yet the police had not done much to catch the thief. So Mr. Brown decided to try to do something about it himself. He bought a good camera and fixed it up in his shop and put some cheap jewelry in front of it for the thief so that it could take a photo of anyone who stole the jewelry. A few nights later the thief did come again. But he did not touch any of the cheap jewelry that Mr. Brown had put out for him. He took the camera, which was worth 15,000 pounds.
1. The jewelry the thief had stolen was ________
A. very valuable. B. worth little money.
C. quite cheap. D. of no use to the thief.
2. How did the thief know about jewelry?
A. He knew a little about jewelry.
B. He knew a lot about it.
C. The poor one knew nothing about jewelry.
D. He knew little about it.
3. Why did Mr. Brown buy a camera and put it in the shop?
A. Because the camera was not so expensive as the jewelry or the watches in the shop.
B. Because he knew that the thief was interested in a cheap camera.
C. Because he thought that a good camera could help him find out who the thief was.
D. Because the policemen told him to do so.
4. What did Mr. Brown lose during the two months?
A. 15,000 pound notes.
B. A camera and 15,000 pounds.
C. Lots of jewelry and a good camera.
D. A lot of jewelry, a camera and 15,000 pound notes.
When an emergency situation occurs, observers are more likely to take action if there are few or no other witnesses.This phenomenon is referred to as the bystander effect.
The bystander effect is also called the Genovese effect, which was named after Catherine Kitty Genovese, a.young woman who was murdered on March 13, 1964.Early in the morning, 28-year-old Genovese was returning home from work.As she approached her apartment entrance, she was attacked and stabbed(刺)by a man later identified as Winston Moseley.Despite Genovese]s repeated cries for help , none of the dozen or so people in the nearby apartment building who heard her cries called the police for help .The attach first began at 3:20 , but it was not until 3:50 that someone first contacted the police.
There are two major factors that contribute to the bystander effect.First, the presence of other people creates a diffusion(分散)of responsibility.Because there are other observers, individuals do not feel as much pressure to take action, since the responsibility to take action is thought to be shared among all of those present.
The second reason is the need to behave in correct and socially acceptable ways.When other observers fail to react, individuals often take this as a signal that a response is not needed or not appropriate.Other researchers have found that onlookers are less likely to take action if the situation, is ambiguous^ R^E^?).In the case of Kitty Genovese, many of the 38 witnessing reported that they believed that they were witnessing a " lovers' quarrel" , and did not realize that the young woman was actually being murdered.
【小题1】The passage seems to suggest that Genovese might not have been murdered if there had been_____.
A.no observer | B.fewer observers |
C.more observers . | D.younger observers |
A.while she was going out | B.in her apartment |
C.halfway home | D.in front of her apartment ? |
A.not doing anything to help | B.behaving in correct ways |
C.taking action | D.murdering |
A.were afraid of being attacked by the murderer |
B.thought someone else might come to her rescue. |
C.didn't get along well with her |
D.were sure it was murdering |
Sydney—A shark savaged a schoolboy's leg while he was surfing with his father at a beach in Sydney on February 23.It was the third shark attack along the coast of Australia's largest city in a month.
The 15-year-old boy and his father were in the water off Avalon,on Sydney's northern beaches,around dawn when he was attacked.The city's beaches are packed with locals and tourists during the summer months.
“The father heard a scream and turned to see his son thrashing(激烈扭动)about in the water,”the police said.“Fortunately,the shark swam away and the boy was helped to the shore by his father.”
Lifesaving Club spokesman Nick Miller said,“It got him around the top of his left leg and the father came and dragged him out of water.”He said the boy was bleeding heavily when he was brought to the shore.“There was a lot of pain,as you can imagine.”The teenager was airlifted to hospital for treatment for leg injuries.
Police said the bites “cut through to the bone”,but the boy did not appear to have sustained any fractures (骨折).He was in a stable condition now.
Several beaches were closed after the attack.Water police and lifeguards were searching for the shark,while the police hoped to identify its species by the shape of the bite marks.But they said it was too early to say what type of shark attacked the boy.“I don't even know if he saw it,”Miller said.
Many shark species live in the waters off Sydney's beaches,but attacks on humans are still relatively rare.However,there were two attacks on successive days earlier this month,one on a navy diver in Sydney harbor,not far from the famous Opera House,and the other on a surfer at the city's world-famous Bondi beach.
Fishermen say shark numbers are on the rise.There is a ban on commercial fishing in the harbor,which has increased fish stocks.Marine experts also claim environmental protection has created a cleaner environment,attracting sharks closer to the shore as they chase fish.Many shark species,including the Great White—the man-eaters made famous in Steven Spielberg's Jaws—are protected in Australian waters.
【小题1】The report mainly tells us ________.
A.shark attacks on humans are on the rise |
B.sharks attacked humans three times in one month |
C.a boy was attacked by a shark at a Sydney beach |
D.shark numbers are increasing in the waters off Sydney's beaches |
A.attracted | B.dragged | C.bit | D.packed |
B.Sydney harbor is not far from the famous Opera House.
C.There are many locals and tourists on its coast all the year round.
D.There are few shark species in the waters off Sydney's beaches.
【小题4】About the injury of the boy we know that ________.
A.he was losing much blood when he was dragged out |
B.he was very nervous when he was sent to hospital |
C.he may be in danger of losing his leg |
D.he was injured in the right leg |
A.environmental protection has created a cleaner environment |
B.a ban on commercial fishing has increased fish numbers |
C.many shark species are protected in Australian waters |
D.the film Jaws has made the Great White famous |