Listen carefully, working people, we would like to tell you something that could save your precious time and money! Best of all, it is free!
It’s “no”.
What do you ask? We’ll say it again: “No”.
Sweet and simple “no”.
Say “no” at your office and see how quickly that pile of work on your desk disappears.
“Saying ‘no’ to others means you are saying ‘yes’ to yourself, ” said Leslie Charles, a professional speaker from East Lansing, Michigan.
“Time is precious. People are spending money buying time. And yet we are willing to give up our time because we can’t say ‘no’.”
Susie Watson, a famous writer, said people who always say “yes” need to say “no” without guilt(内疚)or fear of punishment. “I would rather have someone give me a loving ‘no’ than an obligated(强制的) ‘yes’, ” she said.
Susie Watson says she feels “no” obligation to give an explanation when she says “no” either socially or professionally. Does she feel guilty about it? “Not at all, ” said Watson, who is director of advertising and public relations at Timex Corp in Middlebury, Conneticut. “Most people are afraid of saying ‘no’… My advice is to say ‘yes’ only if you don’t mean ‘no’.”
Watson said “no” is the most effective weapon against wasting time. “Every year there are more demands on your time… Other people are happy to use up your time, ” Watson said. Time saving appears to be “no’s” greatest friend.
“No” can be your new friend, a powerful tool to take back your life. “No” may even take you further in the business world than “yes”.
“No” is power and strength. “No” now seems completely correct. “Saying ‘no’ isn’t easy. But finally it’s greatly liberating,” Charles said. But, he added, a “no” project needs to be worked on every day because it is hard to change long-term habit.
But, he also warns: “Don’t go to extremes. Don’t find yourself saying ‘no’ to everything. In return you should learn to hear ‘no’.” The sentence “Saying ‘yes’ to yourself” means _______.
| A．you can have more time to play with others |
| B．you needn’t care about other’s feeling if you are happy |
| C．you are selfish and treat others rudely |
| D．you can deal with your business as you have planned |
When you say “no” to others you should say it in a _______.
| A．secret way | B．polite way |
| C．proud way | D．guilty way |
In Watson’s opinion, people can save much time on condition that _______.
| A．they say “no” at a suitable time |
| B．they say “no” as much as possible |
| C．they are afraid of saying “no” |
| D．they make others angry at them |
If a person says “no” to everything, the result he or she receive may be that he or she _______.
| A．enjoys a wonderful life | B．makes a lot of money |
| C．faces difficulty in life | D．forgets to say “yes” in the end |
Samuel Osmond is a 19-year-old law student from Cornwall, England. He never studied the piano. However, he can play very difficult musical pieces by musicians such as Chopin and Beethoven just a few minutes after he hears them. He learns a piece of music by listening to it in parts. Then he thinks about the notes in his head. Two years ago, he played his first piece Moonlight Sonata(奏鸣曲)by Beethoven. He surprised everyone around him.
Amazed that he remembered this long and difficult piece of music and played it perfectly, his teachers say Samuel is unbelievable. They say his ability is very rare, but Samuel doesn’t even realize that what he can do is special. Samuel wanted to become a lawyer as it was the wish of his parents, but music teachers told him he should study music instead. Now, he studies law and music.
Samuel can’t understand why everyone is so surprised. “I grew up with music. My mother played the piano and my father played the guitar. About two years ago, I suddenly decided to start playing the piano, without being able to read music and without having any lessons. It comes easily to me ---I hear the notes and can bear them in mind---each and every note,” says Samuel.
Recently, Samuel performed a piece during a special event at his college. The piece had more than a thousand notes. The audience was impressed by his amazing performance. He is now learning a piece that is so difficult that many professional pianists can’t play it. Samuel says confidently,” It’s all about super memory---I guess I have that gift.”
However, Samuel’s ability to remember things doesn’t stop with music. His family says that even when he was a young boy, Samuel heard someone read a story, and then he could retell the story word for word.
Samuel is still only a teenager. He doesn’t know what he wants to do in the future. For now, he is just happy to play beautiful music and continue his studies.What is special about Samuel Osmond?
| A．He has a gift for writing music. |
| B．He can write down the note he hears. |
| C．He is a top student at the law school. |
| D．He can play the musical piece he hears. |
What can we learn from Paragraph 2?
| A．Samuel chose law against the wish of his parents. |
| B．Samuel planned to be a lawyer rather than a musician. |
| C．Samuel thinks of himself as a man of great musical ability. |
| D．Samuel studies law and music on the advice of his teachers. |
Everyone around Samuel was surprised because he _________.
| A．received a good early education in music |
| B．played the guitar and the piano perfectly |
| C．could play the piano without reading music |
| D．could play the guitar better than his father |
What can we infer about Samuel in Paragraph 4?
| A．He became famous during a special event at his college. |
| B．He is proud of his ability to remember things accurately. |
| C．He plays the piano better than many professional pianists. |
| D．He impressed the audience by playing all the musical pieces. |
Which of the following is the best title of the passage?
| A．The Qualities of a Musician |
| B．The Story of a Musical Talent |
| C．The Importance of Early Education |
| D．The Relationship between Memory and Music. |
People without homes have always been present in America. In the past，they were called hobos，bums，or drifters. It was not until the early 1980s that these people received a new name，when activists named them the homeless.
The types of people who were homeless also changed in the 1980s. No longer were they primarily older men. They were younger，with an average age of 35. Their numbers consisted of women，children，adolescents and entire families. They were of many races and cultures. No longer were they only in the inner city. They lived in rural areas and in large and small cities. No longer were they invisible to the people with homes and jobs. The homeless of the 1980s lived in packing crates (装货箱) and doorways. They slept on sidewalks and in public parks. They begged money from passersby.
Counting the numbers of homeless people is difficult. However，in 1984 the Department of Housing and Urban Development estimated the homeless population at between 250,000 and 350,000. In 1990 the Census Bureau counted about 459,000 people in shelters，in cheap hotels，and on the streets. In 1995 the National Alliance to End Homelessness estimated that there were 750,000 homeless Americans.
The homeless of the 1980s also began to speak out for themselves. Some spoke to Congress and to government committees controlling funding for social programs. Street newspapers，such as Chicago’s Streetwise and Boston’s Spare Change，had stories，poems，and essays that expressed the homeless viewpoint. The visible and vocal presence of the homeless prompted help from volunteers and government agencies. But what is still needed is a solution to the plight of America’s homeless population.This passage is mainly about________.
| A．one homeless person’s story |
| B．the history of the homeless |
| C．the changes of the homeless in the late 20th century |
| D．a way to provide homes for the homeless |
How did the homeless speak out about their problems?
| A．By writing books. |
| B．By moving to rural areas. |
| C．By being elected to the government committees. |
| D．By expressing their viewpoints in street newspapers. |
Who is responsible to get the number of the homeless population according to the passage?
| A．Government agencies. |
| B．Street newspapers. |
| C．The homeless themselves. |
| D．The volunteers. |
The underlined word “plight” in the last paragraph means “______”.
| A．income | B．flight |
| C．difficulty | D．employment |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The homeless all lived in urban cities in America. |
| B．The name “the homeless” was given in the early 1980. |
| C．Not only the disabled belong to the homeless family. |
| D．There were about 800,000 homeless people in western countries. |
Around the world, honeybee groups are dying in huge numbers: About one-third of nests collapse each year. For bees and the plants they pollinate (授粉) — as well as for beekeepers, farmers, honey lovers and everyone else who appreciates this marvelous social insect — this is a catastrophe.
Honeybee collapse has been particularly worrying because there is no one cause, but rather a thousand little cuts. The main elements include the mixed impact of pesticides (杀虫剂) applied to fields, as well as pesticides applied directly into nets to control bugs, pests and diseases; nutritional shortages caused by vast acreages of single-crop fields that lack diverse flowering plants; and commercial beekeeping itself, which destroys groups by moving most bees around the country multiple times each year to pollinate crops.
The real issue, though, is not the volume of problems, but the interactions among them. Here we find a major lesson from the bees that we ignore at our risk: the concept of synergy (协同作用), where one plus one equals three, or four, or more. A typical honeybee colony contains remains from more than 120 pesticides. Alone, each represents a benign dose (良性剂量). But together they form a poisonous soup of chemicals whose interplay (相互作用) can greatly reduce the effectiveness of bees’ immune systems, making them easier to suffer from diseases.
Observing the death of honeybees should warn us that our own well-being might be similarly threatened, and the widespread collapse of so many groups presents a clear message: We must demand that our regulatory authorities require studies on how exposure to low dosages of combined chemicals may affect human health before approving compounds.
Bees also provide some clues to how we may build a more collaborative relationship with the services that ecosystems can provide. Bees could offer some of the pollination service needed for agriculture. People discovered that crop harvests, and thus profits, are maximized if some cropland are left uncultivated for bees. Meanwhile a variety of wild plants means a healthier, more diverse bee population, which will then move to the planted fields next door in larger and more active numbers.Which of the following is NOT the cause that leads to bees dying?
| A．Lack of nutrition from enough diverse flowering plants. |
| B．The pests and diseases of the bees. |
| C．The beekeepers’ destroying without intention |
| D．The pesticides applied to crops. |
By saying “one plus one equals three, or four, or more” in Paragraph 3, the author means that ____.
| A．bees united mean they are much more powerful |
| B．bees united mean they are much more poisonous |
| C．pesticides mixed mean they are much more poisonous. |
| D．pesticides mixed mean they are much more effective. |
The lesson people can learn from bees dying is that ____________.
| A．medicine is as powerful as pesticide |
| B．our health might be threatened by pesticides |
| C．we should protect bees by reducing the usage of pesticides |
| D．medicine may be harmful to us when used together |
What is the last paragraph mainly about?
| A．Keeping a balance with nature is important |
| B．More plants mean more and healthier bees. |
| C．Bees are very important to agriculture. |
| D．Bees can bring in good higher profits to farmers |
There is a very instructive incident involving the life of Alexander, the great Greek king. Alexander, after conquering many kingdoms, was returning home. On the way, he fell ill and it took him to his death bed. With death staring him in his face, Alexander realized how his conquests, his great army, his sharp sword and all his wealth were of no consequence. So, he lay helplessly waiting to breathe his last. He called his generals and said, "I will depart from this world soon, I have three wishes, please carry them out without fail."
"My first desire is that," said Alexander, "My physicians alone must carry my coffin." After a pause, he continued, "Secondly, I desire that when my coffin is being carried to the grave, the path leading to the graveyard be strewn（撒满） with gold, silver and precious stones which I have collected." The king continued， "My third and last wish is that both my hands be kept hanging out of my coffin.” Alexander's favorite general kissed his hand and pressed them to his heart. "Oh King, we assure you that your wishes will all be fulfilled. But tell us why do you make such strange wishes?"
At this Alexander took a deep breath and said, “I would like the world to know of the three lessons I have just learnt. I want my physicians to carry my coffin because people should realize that no doctor can really cure any body. They are powerless and cannot save a person from the clutches of death. So let people not take life for granted.
The second wish of strewing gold, silver and other riches on the way to the graveyard is to tell people that not even a bit of gold will come with me. I spent all my life earning riches but cannot take anything with me. Let people realize that it is just a waste of time to chase wealth.
And about my third wish of having my hands hanging out of the coffin, I wish people to know that I came empty-handed into this world and empty-handed I go out of this world.” With these words, the king closed his eyes. Soon he let death conquer him and breathed his last.The first paragraph suggests that Alexander _________.
| A．was conquering many kingdoms. |
| B．realized that what he got in his life was nothing to him at all. |
| C．wanted to leave as he came empty-handed. |
| D．regarded his conquests, his great army, his sharp sword and all his wealth as the most important things. |
The underlined word “clutches” in paragraph 3 means “_______”.
| A．sentence | B．attention |
| C．control | D．shadow |
The author intends to ________.
| A．tell us the story of Alexander |
| B．introduce readers to the instructive lessons of Alexander |
| C．stress the powers of Alexander the Great |
| D．persuade people to realize what Alexander said |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．The Death of Alexander. |
| B．The Greed of Alexander |
| C．Three Wishes of Alexander |
| D．The Life of Alexander |
There are some strange driving laws in different countries.
| Countries |
Laws |
| Vietnam |
If you’re in Vietnam without a Vietnamese driver’s license, you risk a prison sentence of up to three years. |
| Russia |
In Moscow, if your car is dirty enough to draw dust art, you will be fined about 2,000 rubles (about US $55). Worse yet, it’s illegal to wash your car by hand in public places — forcing you to take it to one of the few car wash facilities. |
| Thailand |
Drivers —male or female — can’t drive shirtless, whether it’s a car, a bus, or a tuk-tuk cab. |
| France |
France requires its drivers to carry a portable breathalyzer(酒精测量仪) at all times when driving a car. The one-time breathalyzer cost around US$5, and if you don’t have one, you will be fined US$15. |
| Cyprus |
Raising your hands in the car can get you fined of US$35. The law states a driver can be fined if the person “is in an irregular position inside the car or raises his hand from the steering wheel unnecessarily. |
| Japan |
Politeness isn’t just the culture in Japan; it’s part of driving laws. Splashing a person by driving through a puddle(水坑) with your car will cost you over US$60. The country is also strict with its DUI(酒驾) laws — riding with or lending your car to a driver who gets caught drinking and driving can lead to a fine costing thousands of dollars. |
Where should you go to wash your car when you are in Moscow?
| A．The car wash facilities. |
| B．Any public place |
| C．Your home |
| D．The forest |
What can get you fined for in Cyprus?
| A．Forgetting to carry a portable breathalyzer. |
| B．Not having a Cyprus driver’s license. |
| C．Putting your hands above your head when you are driving. |
| D．Driving without a shirt. |
If you are fined thousands of dollars in Japan, you may have been ____.
| A．in an irregular position in your car |
| B．sitting in a car with a drunk driver |
| C．splashing a person with mud |
| D．impolite to other drivers |
This text can most likely be found in _______.
| A．a law document |
| B．a fashion magazine |
| C．an international newspaper |
| D．a column on interesting cultures |
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