Some people make you feel comfortable when they are around. You spend an hour with them and feel as if you have known them half your life. These people have something in common. And once we know what it is, we can try to do it ourselves.
How is it done? Here are several skills that good talkers have. If you follow the skills, they’ll help you put people at their ease, and make friends with them quickly.
First of all, good talkers ask questions. Almost anyone, no matter how shy he is, will answer a question. One well-known businesswoman says, “At business lunches, I always ask people what they did that morning. It’s a common question, but it will get things going.” From there you can move on to other matters--sometimes to really personal questions. And how he answers will let you know how far you can go.
In addition, once good talkers have asked questions, they listen to the answers. This point seems clear, but it isn’t. Your questions should have a point and help to tell what sort of person you are talking to. And to find out, you really have to listen carefully and attentively.
Real listening at least means some things. First it means not to change the subject of conversation. If someone sticks to one topic, you can take it as a fact that he’s really interested in it. Real listening also means not just listening to words, but to tones of voice. If the voice sounds dull, then, it’s time for you to change the subject.
Last but not least, good talkers know well how to deal with the occasion of parting. If you’re saying good-bye, you may give him a firm handshake and say, “I’ve really enjoyed meeting you.” If you want to see that person again, don’t keep it a secret. Let people know what you feel, and they may walk away feeling as if they’ve known you half their life. Which of the following is NOT the reason why good talkers ask questions?
| A．To get the conversation going smoothly. |
| B．To continue the conversation with other matters. |
| C．To make more new friends. |
| D．To know how far the conversation can go. |
How many skills does the author give us to be good talkers?
| A．Three. | B．Four. | C．Five. | D．Six. |
In general, good talkers are persons who __________.
| A．can keep the conversation interesting |
| B．never talk too much or too little |
| C．always keep the conversation a secret |
| D．can change the topic of the conversation properly |
If you are willing to meet someone again, __________.
| A．you’d better let him know it |
| B．you’d better shake his hand firmly |
| C．you’d better keep it a secret |
| D．you’d better understand him further |
If there is one thing I’m quite sure about, it is that in a hundred years from now we still be reading newspapers. Not those newspapers are a necessity. Even now some people get most of the news from the television or have the radio switched on in the background or in the car. Many buy a paper only on Saturday or Sunday. But for most people a newspaper has become a habit passed down from generation to generation.
The basic British character won’t change, and one of the characteristics of the British is that we don’t much like talking to each other when we get up. So what better way is there to keep yourself thinking in the morning than to wrap yourself in a newspaper?
Over the past couple of centuries, human beings have developed a close relationship with the newspaper. It has become as natural as breathing or enjoying the sun. And it is not just the British who love newspapers. On suburban trains in Calcutta, for instance, just one person in the whole car will buy a newspaper and read aloud the best bits to his fellow passengers, much to everybody’s enjoyment.
The nature of what is news may change. What essentially (本质上) makes news is what affects our lives and the big political stories, the coverage of the wars, earthquakes and other disasters, will continue much the same. I think there will be more coverage of scientific research, though. It’s already happening in areas that may directly affect our lives, like genetic engineering. In the future I think there will be more coverage of scientific explanations of why we feel as we do, whether it’s love or depression. We develop a better understanding of how the brain operates and what our feelings really are.
It’s quite possible that in the next century newspaper will be transmitted electronically from the national equivalents of Fleet Street (伦敦的舰队街，以报馆集中而著称) and printed out in our own homes. In fact, I’m pretty sure that that is how it will happen in future. You’ll be probably selecting from a menu, making up your own bespoke newspaper by picking out the things you want to read and say. You might even have an intelligent screening device (装置) to do the job for you.
I think people have got it wrong when they talk about the competition between the different media. They actually have a relationship, feeding off each other. It was once predicted that television would kill off newspapers, which hasn’t happened. What is read on the printed page is more enduring (持久的) than pictures on a flickering screen or sound lost in the sky. And as for the Internet, it’s never really satisfying to read something just on a screen. The author of the passage is most probably from _______________.
| A．Russia | B．India | C．Britain | D．America |
According to the passage, the future of newspapers ____________.
| A．will be mainly connected with scientific research |
| B．will report more important political activities |
| C．will directly cover more on scientific research |
| D．will build a bridge between different people |
The underlined part “bespoke newspaper” of the passage probably refers to _____________.
| A．a newspaper which dares to report the truth |
| B．a newspaper edited to one’s own interest |
| C．a newspaper edited and published for the public |
| D．a newspaper which only covers the life of family members |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．It was centuries ago that newspapers came into being . |
| B．Televisions have taken the place of newspapers . |
| C．The Internet will gradually take the place of newspapers. |
| D．The nature of news may remain the same over generations. |
Have you ever picked a job based on the fact that you were good at it but later found it made you feel very uncomfortable over time? When you select your career, there's a whole lot more to it than assessing your skills and matching them with a particular position. If you ignore your personality, it will hurt you long-term regardless of your skills or the job's pay. There are several areas of your personality that you need to consider to help you find a good job. Here are a few of those main areas;
1) Do you prefer working alone or with other people?
There are isolating（使孤立）jobs that will drive an outgoing person crazy and also interactive jobs that will make a shy person uneasy. Most people are not extremes in either direction but do have a tendency that they prefer. There are also positions that are sometimes a combination of the two, which may be best for someone in the middle who adapts easily to either situation.
2) How do you handle change?
Most jobs these days have some elements of change to them, but some are more than others. If you need stability in your life, you may need a job where the changes don't happen so often. Other people would be bored of the same daily routine.
3) Do you enjoy working with computers？
I do see this as a kind of personality characteristic. There are people who are happy to spend more than 40 hours a week on a computer, while there are others who need a lot of human interaction throughout the day. Again, these are extremes and you'll likely find a lot of positions somewhere in the middle as well.
4) What type of work environment do you enjoy？
This can range from being in a large building with a lot of people you won't know immediately to a smaller setting where you'll get to know almost all the people there fairly quickly.
5) How do you like to get paid?
Some people are motivated by the pay they get, while others feel too stressed to be like that. The variety of payment designs in the sales industry is a typical example for this.
Anyway, these are a great starting point for you. I've seen it over and over again with people that they make more money over time when they do something they love. It may take you a little longer, but making a move to do what you have a passion for can change the course of your life for the better.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Isolating jobs usually drive people mad. |
| B．Interactive jobs make people shy easily. |
| C．Extreme people tend to work with others. |
| D．Almost everyone has a tendency in jobs. |
What does the underlined sentence in paragraph one mean?
A. Before you select your job, you should assess your skills and match them with your position
B. There are more important things than assessing skills and match them with the position when you select job.
C. Nothing is important than assessing skills and match them with the position when you select job.
D You should ignore your skills when you select job.What is the missing word about a job search in the following chart?
| A．Design. | B．Changes. | C．Cooperation. | D．Hobbies. |
What is the best title for this passage?
| A．Lifestyles and Job Pay | B．Jobs and Environment |
| C．Job Skills and Abilities | D．Personalities and Jobs |
In the United States, when one becomes rich, he wants people to know it. And even if he does not become very rich, he wants people to think that he is. That is what “keeping up with the Joneses” is about. It is the story of someone who tried to look as rich as his neighbors.
The expression was first used in 1913 by a young American called Arthur Momand. He told this story about himself. He began earning $ 125 a week at the age of 23. That was a lot of money in those days. He got married and moved with his wife to a very wealthy neighborhood outside New York City. When he saw that rich people rode horses, Momand went horseback riding every day. When he saw that rich people had servants, Momand and his wife also hired a servant and gave big parties for their new neighbors.
It was like a race, but one could never finish his race because one was always trying to keep up. The race ended for Momand and his wife when they could no longer pay for their new way of life. They moved back to an apartment in New York City.
Momand looked around him and noticed that many people do things just to keep up with rich lifestyle of their neighbors. He saw the funny side of it and started to write a series of short stories. He called it “Keeping up with the Joneses” because “Jones” is a very common name in the United States. “Keeping up with the Joneses” came to mean keeping up with rich lifestyle of the people around you. Momand’s series appeared in different newspapers across the country for over 28 years.
People never seem to get tired of keeping up with the Joneses. And there are “Joneses” in every city of the world. But one must get tired of trying to keep up with the Joneses because no matter what one does, Mr. Jones always seems to be ahead.Some people want to keep up with the Joneses because they ________.
| A．want to be as rich as their neighbors |
| B．want others to know or to think that they are rich |
| C．don’t want others to know they are rich |
| D．want to be happy |
It can be inferred from the story that rich people like to ________.
| A．live outside New York City | B．live in New York city |
| C．live in apartments | D．have many neighbors |
Arthur Momand used the name “Jones” in his series of short stories because “Jones” is _____.
| A．an important name | B．a popular name in the United States |
| C．his neighbor’s name | D．not a good name |
Amy returned to her small apartment at midnight, exhausted. Pushing the key into the lock, she quietly opened the door so as not to wake her younger brothers. She stepped into the front room and froze. The apartment was a mess: plates of half-eaten food were scattered in front of the TV; toys littered the floor; clothes, shoes and homework were strewn everywhere. Amy’s eyes welled with tears. This is just way too much for me, she thought. Her worst fears began to race through her mind. Would the court（法院）tell her she couldn’t care for her family anymore? Would the kids go through the bitterness once more of being split up and sent away? She was so young, almost a child herself, and yet Amy knew everything depended on her. At that moment, she wondered if she would ever find the strength to see it through
Amy had been born dead. Doctors fought and saved this smaller twin of a drug-taking mother, and she’d had to fight for everything in life ever since. From earliest childhood, Amy took care of her younger brothers. Jan, their mother, only added to the family disorder and confusion. Sometimes they lived in apartments, sometimes in shelters.
One afternoon Amy was called to the high school, where a social worker was waiting for her. “We know your mother has been staying with you,” the social worker said. “We’re going to have to put you guys in foster （收养)）care.” “No! Don’t split us up!” the girl cried out. “Can’t you just leave it the way it is?” The social worker shook his head. Amy’s voice then rose like the howl of a lioness protecting her babies: “Why can’t I take them? I take care of them all the time anyway.” The social worker hesitated, and then said, “Maybe. Once you’re 18, you could apply to become their relative caretaker. Then you’d be their foster mother until we find a home where all of you can be together.” “I’ll do it,” Amy said.
One month later, Amy was named guardian（监护人）of her brothers for a six-month trial period. It was a remarkable victory for an 18-year-old girl. Her brothers didn’t make her task any easier in the months ahead. However，Amy’s efforts were rewarded when the court allowed her to continue as guardian. Amy’s relief at remaining the kids’ guardian was at risk of being taken away by the pressure she always felt to measure up. Social workers still looked regularly over her shoulder and asked the boys shameful questions: “Does she feed you? Does she ever try to harm you?” Then one day a visiting social worker came over. “We’d like to get the boys out of foster care and adopted into homes,” she said. Sensing that the family was about to be split apart yet again, Amy replied, “Fine, then. Call it adoption if you want, but they’re not going anywhere.” To her surprise, the social worker took her remark seriously. She explained that if Amy were to adopt the boys, they would become like any other family.
That night at dinner Amy told the boys about the idea. “Cool!” Joey said. He threw a piece of corn at Adam. His brother flicked it back, and pretty soon corn was flying. Amy rolled her eyes. They didn’t have far to go to be like any other family. As the proceedings（程序）ended, Amy thanked everyone. “No,” the judge responded, “thank you. You saved three kids. Not many family members would do what you’re doing, especially for this many children. I’m very proud of you.”
On a lazy spring day, in a modest suburban neighborhood, Amy stood in front of a neatly kept one-story house. She watched her brothers playing basketball, and heard the playful bark of their dog, Tahoe. The young lady had made good on her promise: they had rented a home, a real home, and the boys had gotten their dog. Amy continues to raise her family alone, but has begun taking courses in business management at a nearby community college. Eventually, she hopes to become a child psychologist.Which of the following best describes Amy?
| A．Crazy and tough. | B．Firm and stubborn. |
| C．Enthusiastic and generous. | D．Abnormal and aggressive. |
What was bothering Amy most in the passage?
| A．The mess in her apartment. |
| B．Her family being split up again. |
| C．Working hard to support the family. |
| D．Her young age to take care of her brothers. |
From the Paragraph 3, we can learn that __________.
| A．The social worker gave in to Amy. |
| B．The social worker tried to adopt Amy’s brothers. |
| C．Amy tried to apply for the guardian of the brothers. |
| D．Amy had no idea how to face her family being split up. |
By saying “They didn’t have far to go to be like any other family”, the writer means________.
| A．they will live in the same area as other families. |
| B．they made a deep impression on the neighborhood. |
| C．Amy is able to take good care of the family. |
| D．Amy and her brothers would be already just like a family. |
The best title for this text would be___________.
| A．Standing On Two Feet | B．Growing Up Alone |
| C．A Lifelong Fight | D．A Teen Hero |
As anyone who has tried to lose weight knows, realistic goal-setting generally produces the best results. That’s partly because most people who set realistic goals actually work more efficiently, and put more effort, to achieve those goals.
What’s far less understood by scientists, however, are the potentially harmful effects of goal-setting. Newspapers convey daily accounts of goal-setting widespread in industries and businesses up and down both Wall Street and Main Street, yet there has been surprisingly little research on how the long-advocated practice of setting goals may have contributed to the current economic crisis, and immoral behavior in general.
“Goals are widely used and promoted as having really beneficial effects. And yet, the same motivation that can push people to put more effort in a constructive way could also motivate people to be more likely to engage in immoral behaviors,” says Maurice Schweitzer, an associate professor at Penn’s Wharton School. His paper, titled “Goals Gone Wild: The Systematic Side Effects of Over-Praised Goal Setting,” appears in the February issue of the Academy of Management Perspectives.
“It turns out there’s no financial benefit to just having a goal---you just get a psychological benefit” Schweitzer says. “But in many cases, goals have financial rewards that make them more powerful.”
A major example Schweitzer and his colleagues give is the 2004 breakdown of energy-trading giant Enron( 德国安然公司), where managers used financial rewards to motivate salesmen to meet specific goals. The problem, Schweitzer says, is that the actual trades were not profitable.
Other studies have shown that burdening employees with unrealistic goals can force them to lie, cheat or steal. Such was the case in the early 1990s when Sears（西尔斯公司）placed a sales quota (销售限额) on its auto repair staff. It inspired employees to overcharge for work and to complete unnecessary repairs on a companywide basis.
Schweitzer admits his research runs counter to a very large body of literature that praises the many benefits of goal-setting. Advocates of the practice have argued with his team’s use of such evidence as news accounts to support his conclusion that goal-setting is widely over-praised.
In a rebuttal (反驳) paper, Dr. Edwin Locke writes: “Goal-setting is not going away. Organizations cannot grow without being focused on their desired end results any more than an individual can grow without goals to provide a sense of purpose.”
But Schweitzer argues the “evidence” linking goal-setting and harmful behavior should be studied to help draw attention to issues that deserve attention and further investigation. “Even a few negative effects could be so large that they outweigh many positive effects,” he says.
The debate is likely to get heated on in future papers, and the practice of setting goals no doubt will continue. For now, though, the lesson seems to be to put more thought into setting goals.
“Goal-setting does help motivate people. My idea would be to combine that with careful management, a strong organizational culture, and make sure the goals that you use are going to be constructive and not significantly harmful to the organization,” Schweitzer says.What does Maurice Schweitzer want to show by mentioning the example of Enron?
| A．Setting realistic goals can turn a failing business into success. |
| B．Businesses are likely to succeed without realistic goals. |
| C．Companies are certain to meet specific goals with financial rewards. |
| D．Goals with financial rewards have strong motivational power. |
How did Sears’ goal-setting affect its employees?
| A．They had to work more hours to increase their sales. |
| B．They competed with one another to attract more customers. |
| C．They turned to immoral practice to reach their goals. |
| D．They improved their customer service on a companywide basis. |
The underlined words “runs counter to” (Paragraph 7) can be replaced by ________.
| A．agrees with | B．goes against | C．fits in with | D．applies to |
What is Edwin Locke’s argument against Schweitzer?
| A．The practice of setting goals only helps people to develop. |
| B．Goal-setting is of no use motivating people to accomplish their tasks. |
| C．The positive effects of goal-setting outweigh its negative effects. |
| D．Studying goal-setting can contribute to successful business practices. |
According to the passage, the author tries to convey ___________.
| A．the goals that most people set are unrealistic. |
| B．all people can improve their work quality by setting goals. |
| C．setting goals can provide people with a sense of purpose. |
| D．people should not ignore the negative effects of goal-setting. |
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