The other day I heard a few local musicians talking:
"I hate all the pianos in this town and I hate that rubbish they play on the radio. They cannot even understand rhythm (韵律)."
"Nobody wants to pay musicians anything. I’m sick of all the people who want you to play without paying you."
One younger musician said, "There are several clubs who want me to play for a few nights a month, and I’m trying to find other places to play. I’m also planning to join in several summer festivals this year."
I really liked what the younger musician said so I made friends with him.
Attitudes are important. Whether they’re positive (积极的) or negative (消极的), they’re all rubbing off on you. If you’re around people who are always complaining or blaming (责备) others, it is possible that you will start doing the same as well. If you spend lots of time with people who don’t support (支持) your dreams, it is time to take a look at the people you call "friends".
There is an easy exercise you can try. Make a list of the people who you often stay with, and simply stop spending time with the negative ones on your list. Set a new standard for yourself and don’t become friends with people who fall below that standard.
Of course, this exercise is entirely different from making friends only for the good of oneself. We really should try to help and spend time with those who are working towards a goal or dream.The musicians’ conversation at the beginning is there to show that ______.
| A．musicians’ living conditions are not good |
| B．people in that town have poor taste in music |
| C．young people are more likely to succeed |
| D．different people have different attitudes |
The underlined part "they’re all rubbing off on you" in Paragraph 6 means ______.
| A．they’ll push you ahead |
| B．they’ll help you realize your dreams |
| C．they’ll keep you from moving on |
| D．they’ll have an influence (影响) on you |
Why did the author want to make friends with the younger musician?
| A．He is more active than the others. |
| B．He can earn more than the others. |
| C．His attitude is more positive than the others. |
| D．He has more things to do than the others. |
We can get the following information from the passage EXCEPT ______.
| A．the younger musician is a positive person and would be a good friend |
| B．one should avoid (避免) making friends with people who have lots of difficulties |
| C．the exercise can help you keep close to really helpful Friends |
| D．one will start complaining if one spends too much time with negative people |
Traffic jam and cities, it seems, go hand in hand. Everyone complains about being stuck in traffic; but, like the weather, no one seems to do anything about it. In particular, traffic engineers, transportation planners, and public officials responsible for transportation systems in large cities are frequently criticized for failing to solve traffic jam.
But is traffic jam a sign of failure? Long queues at restaurants or theater box offices are seen as signs of success. Should transportation systems be viewed any differently? I think we should recognize that traffic jam is an unpreventable by-product of successful cities, and view the “traffic problem” in a different light.
Cities exist because they promote social interactions and economic transactions.
Traffic jam occurs where there are lots of people but limited spaces. Culturally and economically successful cities have the worst traffic problems, while decaying cities don’t have much traffic. New York and Los Angeles are America’s most crowded cities. But if you want access to major brokerage houses (经纪行), you will find them easier to reach in crowded New York than in any other large cities. And if your firm needs access to post-production film editors or satellite-guidance engineers, you will reach them more quickly through the crowded freeways of LA than through less crowded roads elsewhere.
Despite traffic jam, a larger number and wider variety of social interactions and economic transactions can be made perfect in large, crowded cities than elsewhere. Seen in this light, traffic jam is an unfortunate consequence of prosperity, not a cause of economic decline and urban decay.
So while we can consider traffic jam as increasing costs on the areas of big cities, the costs of inaccessibility (交通不便) in uncrowded places are almost certainly greater.
There is no doubt that traffic jam brings the terrible economic and environmental damage in places like Bangkok, Jakarta, and Lagos. But mobility is far higher and traffic jam levels are far lower here in the US, even in our most crowded cities. That’s why, for now, we don’t see people and capital streaming out of San Francisco and Chicago, heading for cities like California, and Illinois. We can conclude from the first paragraph that_______.
| A．traffic jam and weather are the two factors preventing the development of the big city |
| B．traffic jam seems to be very difficult to deal with |
| C．if traffic engineers try their best, traffic jam can be solved |
| D．public officials are always criticized for misusing their power |
According to the passage, what’s the author’s opinion towards traffic jam？_____
| A．In cities, traffic jam is unavoidable. |
| B．Traffic jam is both a sign of failure and a sign of success. |
| C．Traffic jam is the consequence of successful cities. |
| D．For a successful city, traffic jam is not unpreventable. |
By saying “decaying” (in Para. 4), the writer probably means_______.
| A．declining | B．developing |
| C．rich and successful | D．strong and healthy |
According to this article, which statement about “New York” and “Los Angeles” is true? _____
A. The traffic jam in the two cities has been worsened.
B. New York and Los Angeles are the most successful cities in the USA.
C. It is easier to reach major brokerage houses in the two cities than in other cities.
D. Despite the traffic jam in LA, you’ll find a satellite-guidance engineer more quickly there.What can we learn from the last paragraph? _______
| A．California is as crowded and successful as San Francisco. |
| B．The traffic jam in San Francisco has resulted in the capital becoming empty. |
| C．The traffic jam level in Jakarta is lower than that in the US. |
| D．Traffic jam has caused terrible bad effects in cities such as Bangkok and Lagos. |
It has been more than twenty years since pioneering British computer programmer, Sir Tim Berners Lee, created the World Wide Web. But could he have ever imagined how much the web would change our lives? And would he approve of how some British students are taking advantage of his invention?
Universities and exam boards around the UK are becoming increasingly concerned with the rising number of cases of plagiarism, many of which are facilitated (助长) by the Internet access.
In the UK most school and university students complete coursework throughout the academic year which contributes toward their final mark. In many cases coursework makes up the main part of the qualification. Since coursework is completed in the students’ own time it cannot be monitored by teachers in the same way as an exam.
Derec Stockley, director of examinations in the UK, explains, “Plagiarism affects coursework more than anything else, and in the cases that come to our attention, more and more are linked to the Internet.”
At a university level recent reports suggest that plagiarism has evolved from separate cases of individual cheating to systematic and even commercial operation. Students can now pay for bespoke essays to be written for them by experts.
It is estimated that the market in online plagiarism is now worth 200 million pounds a year. Every month more and more websites offering to write student’s essays for them appear on the Internet.
Barclay Littlewood, owner of Degree Essays UK employs 3,500 specialist writers and charges between 120 pounds and 4,000 pounds per essay. However, Mr. Littlewood refutes the accusation that he is helping students to cheat.What dose the underlined word “plagiarism” in Paragraph 2 mean in the passage?
| A．coursework | B．problems of the Internet |
| C．learning pressure | D．cheating |
Which of the following statements is mentioned by the author?
| A．With the help of online plagiarism, students can write more creative coursework. |
| B．There will be no problem if online plagiarism is a systematic and commercial operation. |
| C．The Internet seems to have contributed much to the problem of online plagiarism. |
| D．Teachers should lay more emphasis on exams than coursework. |
It can be inferred from the text that the author seems to _____ .
| A．blame Sir Tim Berners Lee for having created the World Wide Web |
| B．worry about the quality of students’ coursework influenced by the World Wide Web |
| C．be in favour of Littlewood’s defence against the accusation of him |
| D．have studied the problem of online plagiarism for nearly 20 years |
Who should be blamed for online plagiarism?
| A．Barclay Littlewood. | B．Sir Tim Berners Lee. |
| C．Derec Stockley. | D．Nobody. |
The paragraph following the passage will most probably be about_____ .
| A．the author’s opinions of Mr. Littlewood |
| B．different people’s opinions on plagiarism |
| C．how students use the website of Mr. Littlewood |
| D．Mr. Littlewood’s defence against those who accused him of his website |
Brave Frenchman Found Halfway Around the World (NEW YORK)A French tourist highly praised for rescuing a twoyearold girl in Manhattan said he didn’t think twice before diving into the freezing East River.
Tuesday’s DailyNews said 29yearold Julien Duret from France is the man who left the spot quickly after the rescue last Saturday.
He lifted the little girl out of the water after she fell off the bank at the South Street Seaport museum.He handed the girl to her father, David Anderson, who had dived in after him.
“I didn’t think at all，” Duret told the DailyNews.“It happened very fast.I reacted very fast.”
Duret, an engineer on vacation, was walking with his girlfriend along the pier (码头) when he saw something falling into the water.He thought it was a doll, but realized it was a child when he approached the river.In an instant, he took off his coat and jumped into the water.
When he reached the girl, she appeared lifeless, he said.Fortunately，when she was out of the water, she opened her eyes.
Anderson said his daughter slipped off the bank when he was adjusting his camera.An ambulance came later for her, said Duret, who was handed dry clothes from onlookers.Duret caught a taxi with his girlfriend shortly after.
The rescue happened on the day before he left for France.Duret said he didn’t realize his tale of heroism had greatly moved New York until he was leaving the city the next morning.
“I don’t really think I’m a hero，”said Duret.“Anyone would do the same thing.”Why was Duret in New York?
| A．To meet his girlfriend. |
| B．To work as an engineer. |
| C．To spend his holiday. |
| D．To visit the Andersons. |
What did Duret do shortly after the ambulance came?
| A．He was interviewed by a newspaper. |
| B．He asked his girlfriend for his dry clothes. |
| C．He went to the hospital in the ambulance. |
| D．He disappeared from the spot quickly. |
．Who dived after Duret into the river to save the little girl?
| A．David Anderson. |
| B．A passerby. |
| C．His girlfriend. |
| D．A taxi driver. |
What is EQ? In the early 1990s, Dr. John Mayer, Ph.D., and Dr. Peter Salovey, Ph.D., introduced the term “emotional intelligence” in the Journal of Personality Assessment. They used this term to describe a person’s ability to understand his or her own emotions and the emotions of others and to act properly based on this understanding. Then in 1995, psychologist Daniel Goleman popularized this term with his book Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ.
EQ gives you a competitive advantage. Even at Bell Labs, where everyone is smart, studies find that the most respected and productive engineers are those with the special qualities of emotional intelligence quotient — it’s not necessary for them to have the highest IQ. Having a high IQ may make you an excellent expert or a legal scholar, but a highly developed emotional intelligence quotient will make you a candidate （候选人）for a leader or a brilliant lawyer. EQ can make it more likely that your marriage will be successful. Lack of EQ shows why people with high IQ can be such bad pilots of their personal lives.
The study shows that these men with high IQ also lack these emotional abilities: suffering from being criticized and misunderstood, shy and uncomfortable, emotionally stimulated（激励）. Compared with those men with high IQ, these men (with high EQ) are calm and friendly, who are loyal to people and careers, have lots of sympathy with and care for others, with a rich but suitable emotional life — they’re comfortable with themselves, others, and the human society they live in.
Is your intelligence the greatest predictor of what you’ll achieve in life? We have believed that IQ is the best measure of human potential for so many years. In the past 10 years, however, researchers have found that isn’t necessarily the case---that in fact, your EQ might be a greater predictor of success.
High IQ may help you the father of science fiction, but it won’t make you a respected person. High EQ can help you more.What can we learn from the second paragraph?
A In daily life and work, EQ is more important than IQ.
B High IQ will have a bad effect on people’s lives.
C It’s not necessary for people to have a high IQ.
D You’d better develop your intelligence well in order to be a leader.The underlined sentence “this isn’t necessarily the case” in Paragraph 4 means here that ____.
A your IQ is a greater predictor of success
B success is dependent on your IQ
C your EQ can predict your success better
D human potential is up to your IQFrom the text, it can be inferred that ____
A high IQ can help you work better and succeed more easily
B high EQ must make you succeed
C all the bosses have a higher EQ than their employees
D those with high IQ are hot valuedThe text is written mainly to advise ____.
A people should only pay attention to their EQ
B people should develop their EQ as well as their IQ
C those who want to act as leaders should develop their EQ
D people should not develop their IQ too much
The first newspapers were written by hand and put up on walls in public place. The earliest daily newspaper was started in Rome in 59 BC. In the 700’s the world’s first printed newspaper was published. Europe didn’t have a regularly published newspaper until 1609, when one was started in Germany.
The first regularly published newspaper in the English language was printed in Amsterdam in 1620. In 1621, an English newspaper was started in London and was published once a week. The first daily English newspaper was the Daily Courant (每日新闻). It came out in March 1702.
In 1690, Benjamin Harris printed the first American newspaper in Boston. But not long after it was first published, the government stopped the paper. In 1704, John Campbell started The Boston Newsletter (波斯顿新闻通讯), the first newspaper published in the American colonies. By 1760, the colonies had more than thirty daily newspapers. There are now about 1,800 daily papers in the United States.
Today, as a group, English language newspapers have the largest circulation (发行量) in the world. But the largest circulation for a newspaper is that of the Japanese newspaper Asahi Dhimbun (朝日新闻). It sells more than eleven million copies every day.The first daily newspaper came out in _____.
| A．59 BC | B．700’s | C．1609 | D．1620 |
The first regular published newspaper in Europe was printed in _____.
| A．England | B．Sweden | C．France | D．Germany |
The first printed newspaper in America came out in _____.
| A．Washington | B．Boston | C．New York | D．New Orleans |
Today there are about _____ daily newspaper printed in the United States.
| A．1621 | B．1704 | C．1760 | D．1800 |
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