Are morning people born or made? In my case it was definitely made.In my early 20s, I rarely went to bed before midnight, and I would almost always get up late the next morning.

But after a while I couldn’t ignore the high relationship between success and rising early.On those rare occasions where I did get up early, I noticed that my productivity was almost always higher.So I set out to become a habitual early riser.But whenever my alarm went off, my first thought was always to stop that noise and go back to sleep.Eventually some sleep research showed me that I was using the wrong strategy.

The most common wrong strategy is this: You assume that if you’re going to get up earlier, you’d better go to bed earlier.It sounds very reasonable, but will usually fail.

There are two main schools(流派) of thought on sleep patterns.One is that you should go to bed and get up at the same time every day.The second school says you should go to bed when you’re tired and get up when you naturally wake up.However, I have found both of them are wrong if you care about productivity.If you sleep at set hours, you’ll sometimes go to bed when you aren’t sleepy enough.You’re wasting time lying in bed awake and not being asleep.

If your sleep is based on what your body tells you, you’ll probably be sleeping more than you need.Also, your mornings may be less predictable if you’re getting up at different times.

The solution for me has been to combine both methods.I go to bed when I’m sleepy and get up with an alarm clock at a fixed time.So I always get up at the same time (in my case 5 am), but I go to bed at different times every night — sometimes at 9:30pm, and other times at midnight.Most of the time I go to bed between 10-11 pm.

 However, going to bed only when I’m sleepy, and getting up at a fixed time every morning is my way.If you want to become an early riser, you can try your own.

According to the passage, the underlined phrase refers to ____.

      A.people who stay up until the next morning.

      B.people who get up early in the morning.

      C.people who feel sleepy in the morning.

      D.people whose productivity is the highest in the morning.

Why did the author want to become a habitual early riser?

      A.Because he / she wanted to form the habit of going to bed early and getting up early.

      B.Because he / she had found that his / her productivity was higher when he / she got up early.

      C.Because he / she wanted to see which of the two main schools of thought on sleep patterns was right.

      D.Because he / she was told the high relationship between success and rising early.

The author experienced all the following EXCEPT ____.

      A.going to bed after midnight.        

       B.getting up early occasionally.

      C.pressing off the alarm to go on sleeping.

      D.asking scholars for advice on sleeping habits.

The passage is mainly about ____。

      A.how to become an early riser.       

       B.how to have good sleep.

       C.wrong strategies for getting up early.

       D.main schools of thought on sleep patterns.

Our interpersonal skills have a great effect on success in our daily lives. This appears not only in the workplace where we can make more money or enjoy our job more, but also shows itself in marriage, raising a family and the ability to reach goals in almost every area of life. Interpersonal skills come into play when our flight is cancelled and we need to make other arrangements. They come into play when a marriage is threatened by financial challenges or infidelity(不忠).

Our communication skills even matter when we are in traffic and we need to make a decision about how to respond to other drivers. Communicating with others becomes inseparable from having a good day, or a bad day not only in how we begin communication, but in how we react to the communications of others who are having a difficult time.

It can make a difference in saving a marriage or getting a divorce, celebrating a rise or getting fired, and even having your eggs cooked as the way you like at the local restaurant. Many wise men and women have stressed the importance of dealing with others in a skillful manner.

Getting feedback(反馈意见) from others can be of great value in improving our interpersonal communication skills. Often, however, others are not skilled at giving feedback. When we get negative results, they rarely include the details we need in order to improve our interpersonal skills.

Since life improves so much with greater communication skills, getting feedback and an opportunity to improve would be not only life-saving for pilots, but labor-saving for the rest of us. Contact Alice Aspen March for a free consultation today and see how you might improve your communication skills, or learn more about The Attention Factor.

1.Which of the following can greatly influence our success in our daily life according to the passage?

A. The education we receive.            B. The skills of making a decision.

C. The nationality of our friends.         D. Our interpersonal skills.

2.What does the underlined word “They” refer to in the last sentence of Paragraph 1?

A. Family members

B. Interpersonal skills.

C. Husband and wife

D. Challenges of lack of money.

3.Why does the author mention “traffic” and “other drivers” in the second paragraph?

A. Just to call our attention

B. To tell us the importance of communication skills.

C. To lead us to think of a sad scene

D. To help us not to forget traffic is very important.

4.Which of the following is true?

A. Getting feedback from others can be valueless in improving our interpersonal skills.

B. Even if we have good communication skills, we will surely not be able to improve our life.

C. If we pay enough money, we can get some advice from Alice Aspen March.

D. Many wise people think communicating with others needs skills.

5.What’s the best title of the passage?

A. The Attention Factor

B. The Problems of Marriage

C. Interpersonal Skills

D. The Relationship Between Our Feelings and Traffic

 

A little boy asked his mother, “Why are you crying?” “Because I’m a woman,” she told him.

“I don’t understand,” he said. His mum just hugged him and said, “You  36 will.”

Later the little boy asked his father, “Why does my mother seem to cry for no reason?” “All women cry for no reason,”  37  so much could his dad say.

The little boy grew up and became a man, still  38  why women cry.  39  he gave a call to God, and when God got on the phone, he asked, “God, why do women cry so  40 ?”

God said, “When I made the woman she had to be  41 . I made her shoulders 42 enough to carry the weight of the world; yet, gentle enough to give  43 .”

“I made her  44 childbirth and the rejection that many times comes from her children. I gave her hardness that allows her to keep going when everyone else  45 , and to take care of her family in spite of sickness and fatigue (劳累) without  46 . I gave her the sensitivity to  47 her children under any and all circumstances,  48  her child has hurt her very badly. I gave her wisdom to carry her husband through his 49 . I gave her wisdom to know that a good husband never  50 his wife, but sometimes tests her strengths and her resolve to stand beside him  51 . And finally, I gave her a tear to shed. She can use it whenever it is needed.”

“You see, the beauty of a woman is not in the  52 she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she  53 her hair. The  54 of a woman must be seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart and the place where love  55 .”

1.                A.surely          B.never          C.probably D.seldom

 

2.                A.only           B.even           C.almost    D.hardly

 

3.                A.hoping         B.knowing        C.wondering    D.expecting

 

4.                A.Actually        B.Generally       C.Luckily   D.Finally

 

5.                A.easily          B.rarely          C.simply    D.excitedly

 

6.                A.clever          B.beautiful        C.special   D.ordinary

 

7.                A.thick           B.fat             C.wide     D.strong

 

8.                A.sympathy       B.comfort         C.kindness D.mercy

 

9.                A.stand          B.load            C.accept   D.burden

 

10.               A.gives in         B.gives away      C.gives up   D.gives out

 

11.               A.difficulty        B.danger         C.rest  D.complaining

 

12.               A.control         B.love           C.respect   D.satisfy

 

13.               A.even if         B.in case         C.so that    D.as though

 

14.               A.disagreements   B.misunderstandings    C.faults D.quarrels

 

15.               A.minds          B.helps          C.refuses    D.hurts

 

16.               A.nervously       B.tiredly          C.determinedly   D.unselfishly

 

17.               A.clothes         B.smile          C.hair D.glasses

 

18.               A.washes         B.dyes           C.cuts D.combs

 

19.               A.figure          B.intelligence     C.beauty    D.appearance

 

20.               A.hides          B.lives           C.stores     D.comes

 

 

Mrs. Amatuli was my teacher in the fourth grade. One day at lunch time,I was getting ready to eat my same old tuna fish(金枪鱼)sandwich and suddenly Mrs. Amatuli asked me if she could buy my sandwich from me. She explained that I could use the money to buy a hot lunch from the cafeteria.

I was thrilled. I never bought my lunch at the cafeteria. It was too expensive for my family,and I always carried my lunch and brought the bag back home to use again the next day. My sandwiches were either bologna(大香肠)or tuna fish. It rarely varied beyond that.

You can understand my delight when I had the opportunity to buy a hot lunch.

When we finished lunch that day. Mrs. Amatuli took me aside and said she wanted to explain why she had bought my sandwich. I really didn’t care why, but it gave me a few minutes of her precious attention so I was very quiet as she explained. You see,she was Catholic and she told me that Catholics didn’t eat red meat on Fridays—they ate fish on Fridays.

Oh,I couldn’t wait to get home and tell my mama that from now on 1 wanted tuna fish on Fridays. After my mama understood why,she gladly fixed tuna fish for me on Fridays. She even fixed it on brown bread because she knew Mrs. Amatuli liked brown bread. From then on. every Friday I could get in line with the rest of the kids for a hot lunch. I didn’t care how many of the kids complained about cafeteria food—it tasted divine to me!

I realize now that Mrs. Amatuli could have fixed herself a tuna sandwich of Friday. But she bought my sandwich because she saw a 1ittle girl who was thrilled over the simple act of having a hot lunch.

I will never forget her for her compassion and generosity and what I should do is to follow her example.

1.Mrs.Arnatuli bought the writer’s sand wish because_____________.

A.she was tired of cafeteria food

B.she hated getting in line with kids

C.she didn’t eat red meat on Friday

D.she wanted to show care to the writer

2.What can we learn about the cafeteria food?

A.It was terrific.                          B.It was terrible.

C.The writer enjoyed it.                    D.Most kids were fond of it.

3.The underlined word "divine" in Paragraph 5 means___________.

A.perfect           B.sweet            C.unpleasant        D.special

4.Which of the following can best show the theme of this text?

A.It is hard to please all.

B.Better to give than to receive.

C.Love makes the world go around.

D.The more you offer,the more you are rewarded.

 

It’s really true what people say about English politeness: it’s everywhere. When squeezing (挤过去) past someone in a narrow passage, people say “sorry”. When getting off a bus, English passengers say “thank you” rather than the driver. In Germany, people would never dream of doing these things. After all, squeezing past others is sometimes unavoidable, and the bus driver is only doing his job. I used to think the same way, without questioning it, until I started traveling to the British Isles, and here are some more polite ways of interacting (交往) with people in UK.

People thank each other everywhere in England, all the time. When people buy something in a shop, customer and shop assistant in most cases thank each other twice or more. In Germany, it would be exceptional to hear more than one thank you in such a conversation. British students thank their lecturers when leaving the room. English employers thank their employees for doing their jobs, as opposite to Germans, who would normally think that paying their workers money is already enough.

Another thing I observed during my stay was that English people rarely criticize (批评) others. Even when I was working and mistakes were pointed out to me, my employers emphasized several times but none of their explanations were intended as criticism. It has been my impression that by avoiding criticism, English people are making an effort to make others feel comfortable. This also is showed in other ways. British men still open doors for women, and British men are more likely to treat women to a meal than German men. However, I do need to point out here that this applies to English men a bit more than it would to Scottish men! Yes, the latter are a bit tightfisted.

1.What is the author’s attitude towards English politeness?

A.He thinks it is unnecessary.

B.He thinks little of it.

C.He appreciates it very much.

D.He thinks it goes too far.

2.What can be inferred from the passage?

A.German men never treat a woman to dinner.

B.The author think it’s unnecessary to say “thank you” to the bus driver.

C.In Germany, employers often say “thank you” to employees for their job.

D.Germans think it is unnecessary to thank workers because payment is enough.

3.We can learn from the last paragraph that Scottish men ______.

A.like to fight with each other

B.treat women in a polite way

C.are as generous as English men

D.are unwilling to spend money for women

4.The author develops the text through the method of ______.

A.making comparisons

B.telling stories

C.giving reasons

D.giving examples

 

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