①Have you ever wondered what goes through your mind when you choose where to sit in a new classroom? Or in a waiting room full of strangers? Or on a bus? Researchers have found out some interesting facts.

②Girls sit by girls and boys sit by boys. Adults sit together and young people choose another young person to sit near. But it goes further than this. We even choose to sit near someone who looks like us. People with glasses are more likely to sit near other people with glasses. People with long hair sit closer to other people with long hair.

③We seem to believe that people with similar habits or hobbies will share similar experiences and we are more likely to be accepted by people like ourselves, or even, we think we may be safer with people who look like us. Sometimes that’s true but it’s a pity if we always stay with the same people, the same group. The danger in always staying in our comfort zone (舒适区)is that we just recycle the same opinions, the same tastes and the same ideas. We lose the chance to learn something new, find out interesting things, hear funny stories and discover differences.

④When we always stay with the same people, how can we break down the barriers which prevent us from getting to know people with different ideas? And how can we avoid the ignorance(无知)? If you want to live in a society that opens to changes, new things and different opinions, be the cat among the pigeons(鸽子).

⑤Move out of your comfort zone. Go and sit next to someone different. And don’t just sit there in silence. Say hello. Ask a question. Start a conversation. That’s how we make friends. That’s how we learn about people. That’s how we open our minds to new ideas. That’s how we live an exciting life.

1. From the passage, we know that people prefer sitting by someone who .

A. is like themselves B. has a sense of humor

C. is open-minded D. lives an exciting life

2. People like staying in their comfort zone because they may .

A. remain comfortable and special

B. find out more interesting things

C. be accepted easily and feel safe

D. discover differences among themselves

3.The sentence “Unsurprisingly, we prefer to sit closer to people like ourselves.” should be put at the beginning of __________.

A. Paragraph 1 B. Paragraph 2

C. Paragraph 3 D. Paragraph 4

4.What does the underlined word“barriers” mean in Paragraph 4?

A. 联系 B. 隔阂 C. 纽带 D. 熟悉

5.What is the purpose of the passage?

A. To tell us not to talk with strangers.

B. To introduce ways to learn about the world.

C. To explain how people communicate with foreigners.

D. To encourage us to get along with different people.

Mr. Lee was in bed and was trying to go to sleep when he heard the bell ring. He turned on the light and looked at his clock. It was twelve o'clock. "Who can it be at this time of night?" He thought. He decided to go and find out. So he got of bed, put on his dressing gown and went to the door. When he opened the door, there was nobody there. "That is very strange." Then he went back to his bedroom, took off his dressing gown, got back into bed, turned off the light and tried to go to sleep.

A few minutes later he heard the bell again. Mr. Lee jumped out of bed very quickly and rushed to the door. He opened it, but again he found no one there. He closed the door and tried not to feel angry. Then he saw a piece of paper on the floor. He picked it up. There were some words on it: "It is now after midnight, so it is April Fool's Day. April Fool to you!"

"Oh, it was the English boy next door!" Mr. Lee exclaimed (惊叫) and almost smiled. He went back to bed and felt asleep at once. The bell did not ring again.

1. Mr. Lee went to bed _______.

A. before twelve o'clock

B. after twelve o'clock

C. as soon as the bell rang

D. when he saw the boy

2.Why did he rush to the door when he heard the bell ring the second time?

A. He wanted to open the door for the visitor

B. He wanted to find out who the visitor was.

C. He was afraid of the ring

D. He was waiting for someone.

3.Mr. Lee found ______on the floor at last.

A. a letter B. a stamp

C. a book D. a piece of paper

4. Mr. Lee thought the English boy _________.

A. was a bad boy

B. was friendly with him

C. shouldn't ring the bell at midnight

D. did a dangerous thing

5. From this passage, we learn that people can _______ on April Fool's Day.

A. say "Hello" to each other

B. dance and sing at night

C. play jokes on each other

D. send presents to children

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