Life gets noisier every day and very few people can be free from noise of some sort or another. It doesn’t matter where you live—in the middle of a modern city, or a faraway village—the chances that you will be disturbed by jet aeroplanes, transistor radios, oil-powered engines, etc. are almost everywhere .We seem to be getting used to noise, too. Some people feel quite lonely without background music while they are working.

Scientific tests have shown that total silence can be very frightening experience for human beings. However ,some people enjoy listening to pop music which is very loud, and this can do harm to their eardrums(耳鼓).The noise level in some disco is far above the usual safety level for heavy industrial areas.

One recent report about noise and concentration suggested that although a lot of people say that any noise disturbs their concentration, what really affects their ability to concentrate is a change in the level of noise. It goes on to say that a background noise, which doesn’t change too much (music, for example) may even help people to concentrate.

1.The best title for this passage is _______________.

A. Noisy Life                         B. Background Noise

C. Disturbed Concentration              D. Changeable Noise

2. “Background music” in the passage means _______________.

A. music played in the concert        B. a kind of noise coming into your ears

C. music helps people to concentrate      D. music played while people are working

3. Some people may have their hearing hurt _______________.

A. while they are in completely silence   B. while they are dancing violently

C. while they are listening to pop music      D. while they are listening to soft music

4. Scientists have discovered that what prevents people from concentrating is _____.

A. any kind of noise                B. great changes in level of noise

C. background noise                 D. various background music

5. What may even let people concentrate?

A. Changeable noise.   B. Fairly stable noise.  C. Loud noise.  D. Some discos.

DU Lala is the hottest career coach in the country. The fictional character in the acclaimed novel Du La La’s Promotion shows others how to take the high road to success in a multinational company. But does her story describe a real or distorted picture of work life? The answer is as complicated as office life itself.
Over one million copies of the book have been sold since its release in 2007. Go Lala Go!, a movie adaptation of the novel set to hit cinemas next weekend, has stirred up even more interest in the story. The film stars Xu Jinglei and Stanley Huang, but fans seem to be more excited about seeing the story unfold on the big screen.
According to a recent sina.com survey, 45 percent of the 6,810 netizens polled said they have drawn career pointers from the novel. Other office novels, such as In and Out of the Loop, Win and Lose and Drowning and Floating, seem to have been received with similar interest.
“These books show me the life of white collars, and they teach me career rules and jargon that are not offered in class,” said Zhang Shanshan, a 22-year-old senior at Beijing Forestry University. Zhang says the competition, humor and office gossip in the book intrigued her. “I can’t wait to embark on my own career,” she said.
The popularity of office novels does not surprise Chen Ning, a senior career consultant at Zhaopin.com. “Novels about office fights and struggles satisfy the psychological demands of an ordinary office worker,” Chen said. “The leading characters face great pressure, fierce competition and an uncertain future. This is what really happens in many readers’ daily life.”
Li Ke, the author of Du Lala’s Promotion, has been stressing the significance of her fiction. “I want to provide real and useful common sense, knowledge and experience to office workers,” Li told the Qianjiang Evening News last year.
Recent graduates say they have found the basic work principles highlighted in the novel to be instructive. “If these books had been published five years earlier, I might have avoided some problems,” said Xu Jun, an HR manager at Guangqi Honda Automobile Company. “They often discuss basic office principles, which are relevant for staff working under the middle management level. They also help readers to see the importance of basic problem solving and organizational skills.”
But some veteran employees warn that the novels are not always realistic. They say this is especially true of the characters. “The protagonists appear to be unbeatable,” said Hou Zhendong, an HR manager at General Electric. “Du Lala’s team leader quit in an irresponsible way; her boss is inept; and the staff around her is either stupid or overly-sophisticated. Du stands out in emergencies and makes all the right decisions. The truth is, real-life colleagues are not that polarized（截然对立）,” Hou said. “You seldom get to negotiate your salary with a big boss. And, most of the time, you make wrong decisions far more than you make correct ones.”
The career principles in the books are also of limited use. “Most of the stories happen in Fortune 500 companies with a long history. Their cultures are well-established, and their rules are scientific,” Hou said. “But if you work for a small foreign company, or a local enterprise, some principles are useless.”
Liu Rui, a project manager at IBM, suggests fans of these books focus on the little bits of wisdom they provide. “The novels give rookies（新手） some inspiration,” he said. “They emphasize the importance of observation, practice and self-examination. These tips are precious and universally true.”
【小题1】Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

SECTION B

Directions: Read the following passage. Answer the questions according to the in­formation given in the passage and the required words limit. Write your answers on your answer sheet.

Fast food and too much TV time should not take all the blame for the weight problems. A group of researchers say that a number of aspects of modern living from lack of sleep to environmental chemicals and to living with air conditioning ——may be closely related to the weight problems of many people.

Lack of sleep is one of factors. Research in animals and humans suggest that a lack of sleep over a long time can increase appetite. Studies also show that many adults and children are sleeping less than they used to. In recent decades, adults have gone from sleeping for all average of nine hours to about seven hours.

There is also evidence that industrial chemicals may increase body fat. These chemicals, which are used in products, change hormonal activity when they get into the body. Studies suggest that people have been getting more and more of these chemicals through the food chain in recent decades.

Another factor that may be making people overweight is air conditioning . The body burns calories when forced to eat less in hot and wet weather, but air conditioning makes it unnecessary for the body to make any adjustment.

Researchers also list other possible risk factors for overweight , including more older mothers, whose children may become overweight more easily; a number of medicines which can lead to weight gain ; and fewer people who smoke, since people often gain weight when they stop smoking because nicotine can make people eat less.

No one is suggesting that people should stop working and sleep more, or keep smoking. When it comes to any person's weight, what really matters is how much they eat and how much of the food they use every day. That means diet and exercise are still the key.

81. Why does lack of sleep will result in weight problem?  (no more than 5 words)

_______________________________________________________

82. How long do adults averagely sleep nowadays?  (no more than 2 words)

_______________________________________________________

83. How do the industrial chemicals affecting our weight come into our body?

( no more than 4 words)

________________________________________________________

84. What’s the main idea of this passage?  (no more than 18 words)

________________________________________________________

Do you know what really troubles me? For some reason, words with silent letters have always bothered me. For example, consider these words: know, design, island, school, wrist, naughty, and salmon. All of these words have at least one letter that is not typically pronounced, and these words are just a very small part of words with silent letters in them.

   Some words are even worse, consider this word: colonel. Not only are some letters not pronounced, but letters that are not even there are pronounced.

   Even foreign languages, especially French, are guilty of this needless complexity and confusion. I know there must be some main historical reasons why the words are spelled and pronounced the way they are, but that does not mean bad traditions must continue to survive. Especially if they are no longer logical.

   Unfortunately, there is very little that anyone can do for it, because there’s no group of people who can change or have the right to change the English language for everyone. However, the only thing we can do is make changes in the way we talk and write in hopes that it catches on. For example, I pronounce the letter “l” in salmon on purpose to make people annoyed and to sound more different or complicated. I even pronounce colonel the correct or French way.

   I can only hope these two minor changes to the English language make sense to you, and you will help to keep up these minor changes forever in your everyday life.

We can learn from the passage ________.

   A. colonel is pronounced   

B. salmon is pronounced

   C. all the words with silent letters come from French

   D. linguists will solve the problem of dumb letters

Which of the following is the main reason for silent letters?

   A. French language.   B. Historical reasons.  C. Some linguists  D. Bad traditions.

The underlined phrase “catches on” probably means “________”.

   A. becomes popular   B. gets across   C. follows the fashion  D. doesn’t fall behind

Which of the following is the best title for this passage?

   A. Troubles in everyday life            B. Traps in English words

   C. Words with silent letters            D. Necessary changes of languages

What really ______ is not failure itself, but the attitude we have towards it.