To err is human. To blame（责备） the other guy is even more human.

Common sense is not all that common.

Why tell the truth when you can come up with a good excuse?

These three popular misquotes（戏谑的引语）are meant to be jokes, and yet they tell us a lot about human nature. To err, or to make mistakes, is indeed a part of being human, but it seems that most people don’t want to accept the responsibility for the problem. Perhaps it is the natural thing to do. The original quote about human nature went like this: “To err is human, to forgive, divine（神圣的）.” This saying mirrors an ideal: People should be forgiving of others’ mistakes. Instead, we tend to do the opposite – find someone else to pass the blame on to. However, taking responsibility for something that went wrong is a mark of great maturity（成熟）.

Common sense is what we call clear thought. Having common sense means having a good general plan that will make things work well, and it also means staying with the plan. Common sense tells you that you take an umbrella out into a rainstorm, but you leave the umbrella home when you hear a weather forecast for sunshine. Common sense does not seem to be common for large companies, because there are so many things going on that one person cannot be in charge of everything. People say that in a large company, “the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing.”

And what is wrong with a society that thinks that making up a good excuse is like creating a work of art? One of the common problems with making excuses is that people, especially young people, get the idea that it’s okay not to be totally honest all the time. There is a corollary（直接推论）to that: if a good excuse is “good” even if it isn’t honest, then where is the place of the truth?

1.Which of the following is NOT based on common sense?

2.What can we infer from the last paragraph according to the writer?

3.What would be the best title for this passage?

Several years ago, a television reporter was talking to three of the most important people in America．One was a very rich banker, another owned one of the largest companies in the world, and the third owned many buildings in the center of New York．

    The reporter was talking to them about being important．

    “How do we know if someone is really important?”the reporter asked the banker．

    The banker thought for a few moments and then said,“I think anybody who is invited to the White House to meet the President of the United States is really important．”

    The reporter then turned to the owner of the very large company．“Do you agree with that?”she asked．

    The man shook his head,“No．I think the President invites a lot of people to the White House．You’d only be important if while you were visiting the President, there was a telephone call from the president of another country, and the President of the US said he was too busy to answer it．”

    The reporter turned to the third man．“Do you think so?”

    “No, I don’t,”he said．“I don’t think that makes the visitor important．That makes the

President important．”

    “Then what would make the visitor important?”the reporter and the other two men asked．

    “Oh, I think if the visitor to the White House was talking to the President and the phone rang, and the President picked up the receiver, listened and then said,‘It’s for you．’”

1.This story happened in_________．

    A．England         B．America         C．Japan         D．Australia

2.There are_________ in this passage．

    A．two men and two women               B．three men and one woman

    C．three women and one man              D．four women

3.The banker thought________．

    A．he was really important because he was a rich banker

    B．the visitor to the White House to meet the President of the U．S was really important

    C．the visitor who met the President of the US

    D．the reporter was really important

4.The owner of the very large company thought_________．

    A．she was really important because she owned one of the largest companies

    B．the banker was really important

    C．the owner of many buildings in the center of New York was really important

D．the visitor would be really important if while he was visiting the President．the President would not answer any telephone call

5.The owner of many buildings thought__________．

    A．he was really important because he owned many buildings in the center of New York

    B．the owner of the very large company was really important

    C．the visitor was really important if he was talking to the President and the President received a telephone call for the visitor

    D．the person who worked in the White House was really important

Several years ago， a television reporter was talking to three of the most important people in America. One was a very rich banker, another owned one of the largest companies in the world, and the third owned many buildings in the center of New York.

The reporter was talking to them about being important. “How do we know if someone is really important?” the reporter asked the banker. The banker thought for a few moments and then said,” I think anybody who is invited to the Whiter House to meet the President of the United States is really important. ”

The reporter then turned to the owner of the very large company. “Do you agree with that?” she asked. The man shook his head, “No. I think the President invites a lot of people to the White House. You’d only be important if while you were visiting the President, there was a telephone call from the president of another country, and the President of the US said he was too busy to answer it. ”

The reporter turned to the third man. “Do you think so?” “No, I don’t.” he said. “I don’t think that makes the visitor important. That makes the President important. ” “Then what would make the visitor important?” the reporter and the other two men asked.

    “Oh, I think if the visitor to the White House was talking to the President and the phone rang, and the President picked up the receiver, listened and then said, “It’s for you.”

1.There are _______ in this passage.

         A. two men and two women       B. three men and one woman

         C. three women and one man      D. four women

2.The banker thought _______.

         A. he was really important because he was a rich banker

         B. the visitor to the White House was really important

         C. the visitor who met the President of the United States

         D. the reporter was really important

3. The owner of many buildings thought _______.

         A. he was really important because he owned many buildings in the center of New York

         B. the owner of the very large company was really important

         C. the visitor was really important if he was talking to the President and the President received a telephone call for the visitor

         D. the person who worked in the White House was really important

Old age may not sound exciting. But recent findings offer good news for older people and for people worried about getting older. Researchers found that people become happier and experience less worry after they reach the age of 50. In fact, they say by the age of 85, people are happier with their life than they were when they were 18 years old.
The findings came from a survey of more than 340,000 adults in the United States. The Gallup Organization questioned them by telephone in 2008. At that time, the people were between the ages of 18 and 85. The researchers asked questions about emotions like happiness, sadness and worry. They also asked about mental or emotional stress.
Arthur Stone in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stony Brook University in New York led the study. His team found that levels of stress were highest among adults between the ages of 24 and 25. The findings showed that stress levels dropped sharply after people reached their fifties.
The study also showed that men and women have similar feeling patterns as they grow older. However, women at all ages reported more sadness, stress and worry than men.
Researchers say they do not know why happiness increases as people get older. One theory is that, as people grow older, they grow more thankful for what they have and have better control of their feelings. They so spend less time thinking about bad experiences.
Professor Stone says the emotional patterns could be linked to changes in how people see the world, or maybe even changes in brain chemistry.
The researchers also considered possible influences like having young children, being unemployed or being single. But they found that influences like these did not affect the levels of happiness and well-being related to age.
【小题1】According to the survey of the Gallup Organization people are most likely to become happier      .