When someone gives you advice, listen without judgment, try to find value in what you’re hearing, and say “Thank you”．This wise advice is easy to understand yet hard to practice．I’ll give you an example from my life when I totally blew it in terms of practicing what I teach．
In my work I travel constantly．I always put off going to the airport until the last second．My wife, Lynda, was sitting next to me in the front seat．I was racing along and not paying much attention．Lynda cried out, “Look out! There is a red light up ahead．”
Being a trained behavioral science professional --- who teaches others the value of encouraging advice --- I naturally screamed at her, “I know there is a red light up ahead! Don’t you think I can see?” When we arrived at the airport, Lynda didn’t speak to me．I wondered why she seemed mad at me．
During the flight to New York, I did a cost-benefit analysis．I asked myself, “What was the cost of just listening when Lynda called out the warning? Zero．” I then reasoned, “What was the potential benefit? What could have been saved?” Several potential benefits came to mind, including her life, my life, and the lives of other people．
I landed in New York feeling ashamed of myself．I immediately called Lynda and told her my cost-benefit story．I convinced her, “The next time you help me with my driving, I am just going to say, ‘Thank you．’”
A few months passed, and I had long forgotten the incident．Again, I was racing off to the airport, when Lynda cried out, “Look out for the red light!” I was embarrassed, and then shouted, “Thank you!”
I’m a long way from perfect, but I’m getting better．My suggestion is that you get in the habit of asking the important people in your life how you can do things better．And be ready for an answer．Some people may tell you things like “Look out for the red light．” When this happens, remember that there is possibly some potential benefit．Then just say, “Thank you．”What do we know about the author?
| A．He is expert at behavioral science． |
| B．He is gifted in cost-benefit analysis． |
| C．He always takes his wife’s advice． |
| D．He often runs the red traffic light． |
The underlined part “blew it” in Paragraph 1 probably means “__________”．
| A．lost personal judgment | B．forgot the practical method |
| C．became annoyed with the adviser | D．failed to say “Thank you” |
It can be inferred from the passage that people __________．
| A．should give their opinions patiently |
| B．tend to be defensive when given advice |
| C．had better study behavioral science |
| D．intend to follow others’ suggestions |
The purpose of the passage is to advise people to __________．
| A．do a cost-benefit analysis in daily life |
| B．discover potential benefits |
| C．learn from the author’s experiences |
| D．treasure others’ suggestions |
One evening last summer, when I asked my 14 year old son, Ray, for help with dinner, his response shocked me．"What’s a colander(漏勺)? " he asked．
I could only blame myself．In the family, nobody else’s hands went in the sauce except my own．But that night, as I explained with a touch of panic that a colander is the thing with holes in it, I wondered what else I hadn’t prepared Ray for．
As parents, while we focus on our sons’ confidence and character, we perhaps don’t always consider that we are also raising someone’s future roommates, boyfriends, husbands, or fathers．I wanted to know that I’d raised a boy who would never ask the woman in his life, "What’s for dinner?" So I came up with a plan: I would offer Ray a private home economics course．I was delighted to find that he didn’t say no．For two hours, three days a week, Ray was all mine．One day, as his tomato sauce reduced on the stove, he washed and seasoned a chicken for roasting．Then he rolled out the piecrust (馅饼皮) and filled it with apples, all while listening to my explanation on the importance of preheating an oven．
I knew that he would rather have been shooting hoops in the driveway than learning to mend socks with his mother—he tried to beg off sewing lessons, even though I insisted that one day, someone would find the sight of him fixing his own shirt very attractive— but it couldn’t be denied that he was learning, and more than just housekeeping．"I appreciate what you do as a mom," he told me one day．Ray now understands the finer points of cooking, and more importantly, he realizes there’s nothing masculine (男子气概的) about being helpless．
Now, not only can he make his own dinner, but also he can make a big meal for his family．That’s what I call a man．I’m glad that I prepared so great a present for my future daughter in law．
Why was the author shocked at her son’s response?
| A．Because he was not well behaved． |
| B．Because he refused to help with dinner． |
| C．Because he didn’t know the common kitchen tools． |
| D．Because he was very curious about kitchen tools． |
In the author’s opinion, some parents pay little attention to _______．
| A．building up children’s confidence |
| B．telling kids what is right and wrong |
| C．preparing children for their future life |
| D．making children live a hard life |
After learning to do housework, Ray _______．
| A．fell in love with sewing |
| B．did other work in the house |
| C．began to be more hardworking |
| D．acknowledged his mother’s efforts |
We can infer from the text that Ray _______．
| A．made great progress in cooking． |
| B．always thought housework interesting． |
| C．preferred sewing to cooking． |
| D．was unwilling to learn cooking at first． |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．Useful education for boys |
| B．The importance of housework |
| C．Boys should be involved in housework． |
| D．Cooking and sewing make boys masculine． |
D
“Beauty is only skin deep." This expression means that beauty is only a temporary surface quality. Some beauty products can cause lasting damage that goes far below the surface of the skin.
In America，many people use sunlight and non-natural light to darken their skin. Health experts advise against what is called“tanning”because of its links to akin cancer. In the African country of Senegal（塞内加尔），some women take health risks trying to do just the opposite.
An average beauty supply shop in Dakar has many kinds of skin-lightening creams and soaps. The World Health Organization says that 25％of Senegalese women use skin-lightening production a usual basis. These products can contain chemicals，like mercury（汞），hydroquinone（对苯二酚），etc. These are dangerous ingredients that can cause cancer and possibly other physical damage to the akin. They can actually burn the eyes and skin.
Shop worker Adama Diagne advises her visitors to avoid the stronger products that promise fast results. She users a cream that is made from carrots，not the strong chemical，hydroquinone. She says that it is a personal choice and that no one pressures her. Some women want to be black every day，but for her，she likes to be a shade of brown.
Women in Senegal say they lighten their skin for the same reason that women all over the world make changes to their appearance. They say they want to look beautiful，to find a husband， to stand out in a crowd or simply to look great for a special event.
This thinking troubles Senegalese film-maker Khardiata Pouye Sall. So，she made“This Color That Bothers Me"，a film about the subject of skin lightening. She said，“I used the most shocking images so that women would see the dangers. It is hard to understand why a woman says that dark skin is not beautiful. It is in their heads. They want to please a man，to he loved or they want to please society，to succeed."
Ms. Sall says that the government needs to better control the marketing and the sale of skin-lightening products. But she adds that education is the best way to persuade people against using them.
The underlined part“the opposite" in Paragraph 2 means some Senegalese women ．
| A．use sunlight to darken their skin |
| B．try creams to prevent skin cancer |
| C．use products to lighten their skin |
| D．take health risks to become beautiful |
According to Adama Diagne，women shouldn't believe ·
| A．beauty is just a personal choice |
| B．a cream from carrots is healthier |
| C．it is beautiful to be black every day |
| D．a product can make you beautiful quickly |
We can infer that women in Senegal ．
| A．attract attention with shockingimages |
| B．don't consider dark skin to be beautiful |
| C．find it hard to understand the true beauty |
| D．put beauty in the first place in their heads |
What is Sall's attitude towards skin-lightening products?
| A．Unsupportive. | B．Casual. |
| C．Responsible. | D．Positive. |
C
The year of 2014 saw smart people always busy inventing useful things，which have helped to make the world better，smarter and a little more fun. Now，let's take a look at some of the inventions.
Super banana
Australian biogeneticist（生物遗传学家）James Dale
visited Uganda，a poor African country，in the early 2000s， where he found that 15％-30% of children under 5 were at the risk of going blind because they didn't get enough vitamin A. Dale also learned that people there love bananas. They eat 3 to 11 bananas a day. So hecame up with an idea to plant bananas containing added nutrition in order to improve Ugandans' health ．With the help of Bill Gates' foundation，Dale developed the“super banana，’·He added a gene to the fruit，making it rich in vitamin A.
Which of the following statements would James Dale agree with?
| A．Children in Uganda should eat fewer bananas. |
| B．Vitamin A is largely found in fruits like bananas. |
| C．Super bananas are definitely a safe biological product. |
| D．People's eating habits can be used to develop new food. |
What is the biggest advantage of the 94Fifty Basketball?
| A．The sensors hidden inside can help players run faster in a game. |
| B．It can help players to improve their shooting and ball-handling skills. |
| C．It allows players to connect to their smartphones while playing basketball. |
| D．The Bluetooth chip inside allows its users to listen to music while playing basketball. |
What can we learn about the hovercraft from the text?
| A．It enables its users to float off the ground freely. |
| B．It can work on many different kinds of surfaces. |
| C．It still needs to improve its power and efficiency. |
| D．It is an affordable means of transport for a family. |
What do the hovercraft and wireless electricity have in common according to the text?
| A．They create magnetic fields to produce power. |
| B．They apply technologies to many things in life. |
| C．They are technologies which can produce electricity. |
| D．They use wireless technology to improve their products. |
B
When I began planning to move to Auckland to study，my mother was a little worried about the uncertainty of living in a place that was so different from India，where we lived. She worried particularly about the lack of jobs，the cultural differences and the chance that I would face racism.
Despite these worries，I came to New Zealand in July 2009. I have found the place and people very nice and supportive. Soon after I arrived，I realized the importance of getting a job to supply my living expenses.
Determined to do this on my own ，I spent a whole day going from door to door asking for a job. However，I received little or no response. This became my routine every day after college for a few weeks.
One afternoon，I walked into a building to ask if there were any job opportunities. The people there were very surprised，and advised me not to continue my job search in that manner.
As I was about to leave，a clerk in the building，who had been listening to what the others had said, approached me and asked if I would wait outside. Fifteen minutes later，he returned. He asked me what my plans were and encouraged me to stay confident. He then offered to take me to the Royal Oak area to search for a job.
I was a little surprised，but had a good feeling about him，so I went along. Along the way， I realized that I had run out of copies of my resume（简历）．The man stopped at his business partner's office to make me 15 extra copies. He also gave me tips on dressing and speaking，and added that I should give him, a call if I ever needed anything. I handed out my resumes and went home feeling very satisfied. The following day，I received：call from。store in Royal Oak offering me a job.
It seems that the world always gives back to you when you need it. And this time，it was a complete stranger who turned out to be a real blessing.
What wasn't the author's mother worried about?
| A．People might look down on the author. |
| B．The author couldn't speak the local language. |
| C．The author wasn't familiar with local customs. |
| D．It might be difficult for the author to find a job. |
After staying in New Zealand for a short time, the author
| A．decided to go back to his own country |
| B．felt the local people were not very friendly |
| C．had to find a job to cover his living expenses |
| D．wanted to get a job that needed practical skills |
When the author went into a building to look for a job， ·
| A．a clerk gave him encouragement and advice |
| B．he was confident that he would find a good one |
| C．he found many college students like him already there |
| D．a clerk recommended him to the company he worked for |
What is the story mainly about?
| A．How a stranger offered the author a job. |
| B．How a stranger turned out to be a real blessing. |
| C．How the author adapted himself to a new situation. |
| D．How the author was helped to get a job by a stranger. |
A
In April 2014，the world's oldest known message in a bottle was discovered floating in the Baltic Sea. It had spent 101 years lost in the ocean！The message was finally sent to the author's granddaughter.
A German fisherman named Konrad Fischer found the brown bottle near Kiel，Germany. He said he nearly threw the bottle back into the water after pulling it out of a fishing net. Then he noticed something inside.
The bottle in good condition contained a Danish postcard with two German stamps，dated May 17，1913. Although dampness had made most of the writing illegible（字迹模糊的），the readable part of the message asked whoever found it to return it to an address in Berlin. It even contained two stamps to pay for postage.
From the address，researchers found that the postcard was written by a man named Richard Platz，who was 20 years old when he wrote the message. While he was hiking on the Baltic coast with a nature appreciation group，he threw the bottle into the sea. Then the researchers began a search for any living relatives of his. Sure enough，they were able to find his 62-year-old granddaughter，Angela Erdmann，who still lives in Berlin.
“It was almost unbelievable，”Erdmann said upon being presented with her grandfather's bottle and message.“That was a pretty moving moment. Tears rolled down my face."
Erdmann never knew her grandfather，who died in 1946，but says that the discovery of the bottle has made her want to learn more about him.
The bottle remained on display at the International Maritime Museum in Hamburg until May 1．After that，the researchers examined the postcard and tried to figure out the meaning of the rest of the message.
Previously，the oldest message found in a bottle spent nearly 98 years at sea and was discovered in April 2012，according to Guinness World Records.
When Konrad Fischer picked up the bottle from the sea， ．
| A．he thought it would bring him good luck |
| B．he noticed the postcard inside immediately |
| C．he decided to uncover the secret of the bottle |
| D．he wanted to throw it back into the sea at first |
Why did Richard Platz throw the bottle with the message into the sea?
| A．He expected his granddaughter could find the postcard. |
| B．He wished the finder would send the postcard to his home. |
| C．He believed his postcard would be kept secret at sea forever. |
| D．He thought he could make friends with the finder of the bottle. |
What can be the best title for this passage？
| A．The finding of a floating bottle at the sea |
| B．A one-century-old letter to a granddaughter |
| C．The world's oldest message in a floating bottle |
| D．The oldest Danish postcard in a floating bottle |
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