Years ago, a cigarette commercial asked if you were smoking more, but enjoying it less. That describes the way many of us live today. We are doing more, but enjoying it less. And when that doesn’t work, we compound the problem. In our frantic search for satisfaction, we try stuffing still more into our days, never realizing that we are taking the wrong approach.
The truth is simple; so simple it is hard to believe. Satisfaction lies with less, not with more. Yet, we pursue the myth that this thing, or that activity, will somehow provide the satisfaction we so desperately seek.
Arthur Lindman, in his devastating book, “The Harried Leisure Class,” described the futility of pursuing more. His research focused on what people did with their leisure time. He found that as income rose, people bought more things to occupy their leisure time. But, ironically, the more things they bought, the less they valued any one of them. Carried to an extreme, he predicted massive boredom in the midst of tremendous variety. That was more than twenty years ago, and his prediction seems more accurate every year.
Lindman, of course, is not the first to discover this. The writer of Ecclesiastes expressed the same thought thousands of years ago. It is better, he wrote, to have less, but enjoy it more.
If you would like to enjoy life more, I challenge you to experiment with me. How could you simplify your life? What could you drop? What could you do without? What could you stop pursuing? What few things could you concentrate on?
The more I learn, the more I realize that fullness of life does not depend on things. The more I give up, the more I seem to gain. But words will never convince you. You must try it for yourself.
1．Arthur Lindman predicted twenty years ago that ______.
A. more things brought more value B. the more people had, the less they valued them
C. people didn’t like to pursue more D. massive boredom came from less variety
2．What does the article suggest to make our life happier?
A. To enjoy more things. B. To buy more things.
C. To sell things we do not need. D. To get rid of useless things.
3．The passage is probably written to ___________.
A. introduce Arthur Lindman and his book B. tell the readers what is satisfaction
C. introduce how to simplify people’s life D. persuade people to simplify their life
One hundred new
bookstalls that will sell newspapers as well as books have been making their debut on city streets since Saturday morning.
The newsstands are part of the city’s efforts to improve the appearance of streets and neighborhoods. The news-stands’ design, featuring large glass window, will help the customers to see what is on sale at a glance.
An electrical screen on the newsstands will announce immediately the arrival of the latest papers. The newsstands will also help collect utility fees. There will be 1,000 newsstands by the end of the year. The newly formed Oriental Books and Papers Service Co. Ltd will manage the stalls. According to sources from the company, over 80 percent of the people hired to operate the stands will be recruited from laid-off workers. This means the project will help ease the city’s unemployment pressure, sources said.
All recruited will undergo a training pr
ogramme and be clad in green uniform. Municipal Vice-part Secretary Gong Xueping said the installation of the 100 stands was just the first step towards the objective of setting up 1,000 stands in the city by the end of the year.
He said the creation of the stalls would be of particular significance to the enhancement of the city’s spiritual civilization. He also made some suggestions regarding the location, design, and construction of the new stands, and the renovation of the existing newsstands.
57. One hundred new bookstalls are set up to _______ .
A. classify the bookstores
B. beautify the streets and neighborhood
C. enrich people’s minds with knowledge
D. increase people’s purchasing power
58.The newsstands are made of large glass windows to ______ .
A. beautify the streets
B. differ from other shops
C. let the customers browse through what they want
D. reduce the expenses of the construction
59.Which sentence is not true?
The newsstands also help gather together other public service charges
The newsstands will make known the arrival of the current issue of paper.
These kinds of newsstands will widely set up.
The newsstands just sell newspapers and magazines.
60.What is the other purpose of building these newsstands? Give the laid—off workers a chance
to _______.
A. make a living B. take up hobbies
C. ease their pressure D. enrich their minds
Pat Brown went to her bank to ask for an ATM card. It looks like a credit card. A few weeks later, the bank posted her a card and a four number personal identification number (PIN) .Her PIN is 1234。
As Pat was getting ready for bed one night, she remembered that she had only＄2 in her bag. The next day she had to pay＄10 for a lunch for a co-worker. She didn’t want to get up early to go to the bank. So she went to the bank that night. She used her ATM card to withdraw (take out) ＄50 from her checking account.
These are the steps she followed to withdraw money. First, she put her card in the lower slot on the right side of the machine. She made sure her card was facing the right way. Second, the computer screen (window) said,“Please enter (put in) your PIN.”Pat pressed the numbers 1,2,3,4. Next the screed said,“Please select the type of transaction you want by pressing the correct keys.”Pat pressed the bottom key for withdrawing money.
Then the screen said, “From which account?” The choices it gave were “Checking”, “Saving”, and “Money market”. Pat pushed the key for “Checking”.Next, the screen said,“Please select (choose) amount of transaction.”Pat pushed the number“5”and then“0”three times, until the screed read,“50.00.”The screen then read,“Please wait.”In less than a minute, it read,“Please lift (rise) the lid and take your money.”
Pat lifted the lid marked “Withdraw”. She counted her $50 to make sure the ATM hadn’t made a mistake. Then she waited for her withdrawal slip to come out of the slot at the upper right corner of the machine. Pat checked the slip to make sure it was correct. Then her ATM card was returned through the card slot. She put it in her bag and walked away. If Pat had made a mistake at any point by pressing the wrong button (number), she could have pressed “Cancel”and started over again.
53. What did Pat do immediately after choosing the account?
A. Selected whether to withdraw, deposit, of transfer money.
B. Lifted the lid and removed her money.
C. Selected the amount of money she wanted to withdraw.
D. Got back her ATM card.
54. When did Pat enter her PIN?
A. Right after inserting her card. B. Right before selecting the account.
C. Right before selecting the amount of money. D. Right after selecting withdrawal.
55. When did Pat select the type of transaction?
A. Right after selecting which account she wanted.
B. Right before receiving her withdrawal slip.
C. Right before selecting the amount.
D. Right after recording her PIN.
56.What did Pat do when the screed said,“Please lift the lid …”?
A. Got out her card. B. Took her $50.
C. Selected the type of transaction she wanted. D. Picked up her withdrawal slip.
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50. Dr clean is _______.
A. an expert in cleaning everything B. a newly—invented machine
C. a can of cleaning powder D. a magic cloth for cleaning
51.According to the ads, where can you mail your letter to if you want something to kill ants?
A. D4545 Garden Spray B. Sunshine Company
C. Safe Environment Product D. The Dr Clean’s
52.According to the ads. How much do you have to pay for three shampoos and two canvas bags
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第二部分阅读理解(共25小题。第一节每小题2分，第二节每小题1分；满分45分)
第一节 阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Once Napoleon stayed in a small inn. The next morning he went to thank the inn keeper.“You have served me well, innkeeper,”said Napoleon.“I wish to reward you , tell me what you want.”“Sir, we want nothing,”said the inn keeper.“But will you tell us something? We have heard a story,”said 
the innkeeper.“Once during the war, the Russians took control of a farmhouse. You were sleeping in it. You hid yourself in a pile of hay while they were looking for you. Will you tell us how you felt when they were searching for you?”
The innkeeper looked at Napoleon's face. Napoleon looked very angry. Napoleon called two soldiers standing beside him. Then he pointed to the door. The soldiers took the innkeeper and his wife out into the yard. At the end of the yard was a wall. The innkeeper and his wife were led to the wall. The soldiers tied innkeeper's hands behind his back. Then his wife's hands were tied, too. Napoleon watched, saying nothing.“Please, please sir,”begged the innkeeper.“Don't kill us! We meant nothing!”The soldiers moved back. The innkeeper saw them raising their guns. Then Napoleon spoke,“Ready!”He called,“Aim!”The innkeeper's wife screamed.“Stop!”said Napoleon. He went to the innkeeper.“Now,”he said,“you know the answer to the question you asked me just now, don't you?”
41. According to the passage, we know that Napoleon__________.
A.was cruel to the innkeeper B.was kind to the innkeeper
C.was brave before the Russians D.was quite humorous while trying to answer the question
42. The innkeeper an
d his wife must have been__________.
A.frightened of Napoleon's arrival B.pleased with Napoleon's answer
C.glad about what Napoleon had done D.angry at what Napoleon had done
43. The two soldiers__________.
A.understood Napoleon well
B.didn't know why napoleon wanted to kill them
C.could do nothing but kill th
e husband and wife
D.were badly treated by the innkeeper
44. While the Russians were searching for him, Napoleon__________.
A.ordered his men to fight back B.was frightened to death
C.feared nothing D.regretted having hidden there
45. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A.Five persons are mentioned in this passage.
B.In fact, Napoleon didn't hide when the Russians were looking for him.
C.Napoleon was thankful to the innkeeper for his good service.
D.The husband and wife had thought they would be killed before Napoleon said“Stop”.
Sorry to say , our brains naturally start slowing down at the cruelly young age of 30 . It used to be thought that this couldn’t be helped , but new studies show that people of any age can train their brains to work faster . “ Your brain is a learning machine , ” says University of California scientist Dr . Michael Merzenich . Given the right tools , we can train our brains to act like they did when we were younger . All that’s required is the practice designed just for the purpose : a few exercises for the mind .
Merzenich has developed a computer-based training method to speed up the process in which the brain deals with information ( positscience. com ) . Since much of the data we receive comes through speech , the Brain Fitness Program works with language and hearing to better speed and accuracy .
Over the course of training , the program starts asking you to distinguish sounds ( between “ dog ”and “ bog ” , for example ) at an increasingly faster speed . It’s a bit like tennis instructor , says Merzenich , hitting balls at you faster and faster to keep you challenged (受到挑战) . You may start out slow, but before long you’re pretty quick .
The biggest finding in brain research in the last ten years is that the brain at any age is highly plastic. If you ask your brain to learn, it will learn . And it may even speed up while in the process.
To keep you brain young and plastic you can do one of a million new activities that challenge and excite you : playing table tennis or bridge, doing crossword puzzle , learning a language ….“ When it comes to preventing ageing, you really do ‘ use it or lose it ’ , ” says Barbara Sahakian , professor at Cambridge University .
67. Dr . Merzenich’s training method mainly depends on .
A. speech training B. computer languages
C. the activities on joins in D. the information being dealt with
68. By saying “ the brain at any age is highly plastic ”, the writer probably means the brain can be .
A. used B. mastered C. developed D. researched
69. What can we learn from the text?
A. Practice makes a quick mind.
B. Brain research started ten years ago .
C. Dr. Merzenich is a scientist in computer.
D. People believed nothing could stop the brain slowing down.
70. Which of the following agrees with the writer’s idea?
A. The training methods work better for the old.
B. People should use the brain to stop it from ageing.
C. The training of the brain should start at an early age.
D. It’s necessary to take part in as many activities as possible.
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