I’m Sorry, I Won’t Apologize
Almost daily，news reports include accounts of public figures or heads of companies being forced to say they're sorry. In a recent case，Marge Schott，managing partner of the Cincinnati Reds，at first did not want to apologize for her remark that Hitler "was good at the beginning but he just went too far. "Under pressure，she finally said that she regretted her remarks "offended many people". Predictably — and especially given her history with such comments — many were not satisfied with this response and successfully lobbied for her resignation.
This particular use of "I'm sorry" has a familiar ring. The other day my husband said to me，"I'm sorry I hurt your feelings." I knew he was really trying. He has learned，through our years together，that apologies are important to me. But he was grinning，because he also knew that "I'm sorry I hurt your feelings" left open the possibility — indeed，strongly suggested — that he regretted not what he did but my emotional reaction. It sometimes seems that he thinks the earth will open up and swallow him if he admits fault.
It may appear that insisting someone admit fault is like wanting him to humiliate himself. But I don't see it that way，since it's no big deal for me to say I made a mistake and apologize. The problem is that it becomes a big deal when he won't.
This turns out to be similar to the Japanese view. Following a fender bender，according to a Times article，the Japanese typically get out of their cars and bow，each claiming responsibility. In contrast，Americans are instructed by their insurance companies to avoid admitting fault. When an American living in Japan did just that — even though he knew he was to blame — the Japanese driver "was so incensed by the American's failure to show contrition that he took the highly unusual step of suing him."
The Japanese driver and I are not the only ones who are offended when someone obviously at fault doesn't just fess up and apologize. A woman who lives in the country told me of a similar reaction. One day she gave her husband something to mail when he went into town. She stressed that it was essential the letter be mailed that day，and he assured her it would. But the next day，when they left the house together，she found her unmailed letter in the car. He said，"Oh，I forgot to mail your letter." She was furious— not because he had forgotten，but because he didn't apologize.What was Marge Schott forced to do？
| A．To make a prediction of the future. |
| B．To say "Hitler was good at the beginning." |
| C．To say "Im sorry." |
| D．To count figures. |
The author felt _____ .
| A．her husband regretted the choice he had made |
| B．her husband regretted what he did |
| C．her husband regretted her emotional response |
| D．her husband regretted the dirty words he had used |
According to the author，when one makes a mistake，he should _____ .
| A．admit it and apologize |
| B．avoid admitting it |
| C．wxplain it away |
| D．make every effort to maintain his face |
According to the passage，what would Japanese drivers usually do after a car accident？
| A．They would admit their own faults. |
| B．They would blame each other. |
| C．They would avoid admitting faults |
| D．They would sue each other. |
What does the underlined word “furious” in the last paragraph mean?
| A．Angry |
| B．Surprised |
| C．Crazy |
| D．Mad |
Play is the basic business of childhood, and in recent years research has shown the great importance of play in the development of a human being. From earliest infancy (婴儿), every child needs opportunity and right materials for play, and the main tools of play are toys. The main function of toys is to suggest, encourage and play. To succeed in this, they must be good toys, which children will play with often, and will come back again and again. Therefore, it is important to choose suitable toys for different stages of a child’s development.
In recent years research on infant development has shown that the standard a child is likely to reach, within the range of his inherited abilities, is largely determined in the first three years of his life. So a baby’s ability to benefit from the right play materials should not be underestimated. A baby who is encouraged, talked to and shown things and played with, has the best chance of growing up successfully.
In the next stage, from three to five years old, curiosity knows no bounds. Every type of suitable toys should be made available to the child, for trying out, experimenting and learning, for discovering his own particular ability: Bricks and jigsaws and construction toys; painting, scribbling and making things; sand and water play; toys for imaginative and pretending play—the first social games for learning to play and get on with others.
But at the third stage of play development—from five to seven or eight years old— the child is at school. But for a few more years play is still the best way of learning, at home or at school. It is easier to see which type of toys the child most enjoys.
Until the age of seven or eight, play and work mean much the same to a child. But once reading has been mastered, then books become the main source of learning. Toys are still interesting and valuable, which lead up to new hobbies, but their significance has changed — to a child of nine or ten years old, toys and games mean, as to adults, relaxation and fun.
49. According to the first passage we know that as a child grows up, ______.
A. he should be allowed to choose his own toys
B. he should be given the same toys
C. he should be given fewer and fewer toys
D. he should be given different toys
50. According to the passage, the abilities a child has inherited from his parents ______.
A. determine his character
B. will not change after the age of three
C. partly determined the standard he is likely to reach
D. to a large extent determine the choice of toys
51. We learn from the passage that a child has boundless curiosity ______.
A. when he is two B. when he is around four
C. when he is six D. when he is eight
52. The passage is mainly about _______.
A. the role of play in a child’s development
B. the importance of schooling
C. the importance of pre-school education
D. the choice of toys for youngster
TYPING
This course is for those who want to learn to type, as well as those who want to improve their typing. The course is not common. You are tested in the first class and begin practicing at one of eight different skill levels. This allows you to learn at your own speed. Each program lasts 20 hours. Bring your own paper.
Course fee: $ 125 Materials: $25
Two hours each evening for two weeks. New classes begin every two weeks.
This course is taught by a number of qualified business education teachers who have successfully taught typing courses before.
UNDERSTANDING COMPUTERS
This twelve-hour course is for people who do not know very much about computers, but who need to learn about them. You will learn what computers are, what they can and can’t do and how to use them.
Course fee: $75 Equipment fee: $ 10
Jan. 4, 7, 11, 14, 18, Wed. & Sat. 9—11:30 a.m.
Joseph Saunders is Professor of Computer Science at New Urban University. He has over twenty years of experience in the computer field.
STOP SMOKING
Do you want to stop smoking? Have you already tried to stop and failed? Now is the time to stop smoking using the latest methods. You can stop smoking, and this twelve-hour course will help you do it.
Course fee: $30
Jan. 2, 9, 16, 23 Mon. 2—5 p. m.
Dr John Good is a practicing psychologist who had helped hundreds of people stop smoking.
45. If you choose the UNDERSTANDING COMPUTERS course, you will have classes _______.
A. from Monday to Sunday B. from Monday to Friday
C. on Wednesday and Saturday D. on Saturday and Sunday
46. Mr. Black works every morning and evening, but he wants to take part in one of the three courses. The most probable course he will attend is ______.
A. typing B. understanding computers
C. stop smoking D. any of the courses
47. If you want to learn computer and at the same time you want to improve your typing, you will pay _______.
A. $ 75 B. $ 15 C. $ 115 D. $ 235
48. The typical difference of “Typing” from the other two is that ______.
A. people with different skill levels may learn at different speeds
B. you will take a test after the course
C. you will pay the fee before practicing
D. you will pay less money
第二部分：阅读理解（第一节20小题，第二节５小题；每小题２分，满分50分）
第一节：阅读下面的短文，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。
“Can I see my baby?” asked the happy new mother. The bundle （婴儿包）was placed in her arms and when she moved the fold of cloth to look upon his tiny face, she gasped—the baby had been born without ears. Time, however, proved that the baby’s hearing was perfect except his appearance.
One day when he rushed home from school and threw himself into his mother’s arms, he cried out bitterly, “A boy, a big boy … called me — a f-…freak.” She sighed, knowing that his life was to be endless of heartbreaks.
He grew up, handsome for his misfortune. A favorite with his fellow students, he might have been class president, but for that. He developed a gift for literature and music.
The boy’s father had a talk with the family doctor. Could nothing be done? “I believe we could graft（移植）on a pair of outer ears, if they could be donated,” the doctor decided. So the search began for a person who would make such a sacrifice for a young man. Two years went by. Then, “You’re going to the hospital, son. Mother and I have someone who will donate the ears you need. But it’s a secret.” said the father.
The operation was a brilliant success. His talents blossomed into genius. School and college became a series of successes. Later he married and entered the diplomatic service. “But I must know!” he urged his father. “Who gave so much for me? I could never do enough for him.” “I do not believe you could,” said the father, “but the agreement was that you are not to know … not yet.” The years kept the secret, but the day did come … one of the darkest days that ever pass through a son. He stood with his father over his mother’s casket（棺材）. Slowly and tenderly, the father stretched forth a hand and raised the thick, reddish-brown hair to let out the secret.
41. The story is mainly about _______.
A. how a boy had new ears through an operation
B. what a devoted parent privately did for the child
C. how a disabled boy turned into a useful person
D. why a donator made a sacrifice to a bright boy
42. The underlined word “freak” in Paragraph 2 is the closest in meaning to “_______”.
A. slow-acting person B. good-looking child
C. badly-behaved student D. strangely-shaped creature
43. What can be inferred from the passage?
A. The agreement was between the donator and the family.
B. The boy was so popular that he was made class president.
C. Finally the boy came to know who the donator was.
D. The mother donated her ears to her son after she died.
44. What moral lesson can we draw from this reading?
A. Real love lies in what is done unknown rather than what is done known.
B. It is up to parents to help their children heart and soul.
C. True beauty lies only in the heart not in appearance.
D. It is a virtue（美德）for young generations to learn to be grateful.
Habits are a funny thing. We reach for them mindlessly, setting our brains on auto-pilot and relaxing into the unconscious comfort of familiar routine.“Not choice, but habit rules the unreflecting creatures,”William Wordsworth said in the 19th century. In the ever-changing 21st century, even the word“habit”carries a negative meaning.
So it seems contradictory to talk about habits in the same context as innovation (创新). But brain researchers have discovered that when we consciously develop new habits, we create parallel paths, and even entirely new brain cells, that can jump our trains of thought onto new, innovative tracks.
Rather than dismissing ourselves as unchangeable creatures of habit, we can instead direct our own change by consciously developing new habits. In fact, the more new things we try, the more creative we become.
But don’t bother trying to kill off old habits; once those ruts of procedure are worn into the brain, they’re there to stay. Instead, the new habits we deliberately press into ourselves create parallel pathways that can bypass those old roads.
“The first thing needed for innovation is attraction to wonder,”says Dawna Markova, author of The Open Mind.“But we are taught instead to‘decide’, just as our president calls himself‘the Decider’．”She adds, however, that“to decide is to kill off all possibilities but one. A good innovational thinker is always exploring the many other possibilities.”
“All of us work through problems in ways of which we’re unaware,”she says. Researchers in the late 1960s discovered that humans are born with the ability to approach challenges in four primary ways: analytically, procedurally, collaboratively (合作地) and innovatively. At the end of adolescence, however, the brain shuts down half of that ability, preserving only those ways of thought that have seemed most valuable during the first decade or so of life.
The current emphasis on standardized testing highlights analysis and procedure, meaning that few of us use our innovative and collaborative ways of thought.“This breaks the major rule in the American belief system—that anyone can do anything,”explains M. J. Ryan, author of the 2006 book This Year I Will…and Ms. Markova’s business partner.“That’s a lie that we have preserved, and it fosters commonness. Knowing what you’re good at and doing even more of it creates excellence.”This is where
developing new habits comes in.
67．Brain researchers have discovered that__________.
A．the forming 
of new habits can be guided
B．the development of habits can be predicted
C．the regulation of old habits can be transformed
D．the track of new habits can be created unconsciously
68．The underlined word“ruts”in Paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to __________
A．zones B．connections C．situations D．tracks
69．Which of the following statements most probably agrees with Dawna Markova’s view?
A．Decision makes no sense in choices.
B．Curiosity makes creative minds active.
C．Creative ideas are born of a relaxing mind.
D．Formation of innovation comes from fantastic ideas.
70．The purpose of the author writing this article is to persuade us____________.
A．to give up our traditional habits deliberately
B．to create and develop new habits consciously
C．to resist the application of standardized testing
D．to believe that old habits conflict with new habits
Apparently，we are safe neither at home nor in the business office．We use water in both places，but the research shows that chemicals added to our local water supply to kill harmful bacteria can have unwanted side effects．These chemicals can cause potential harm through drinkin
g and in seemingly harmless activities as cleaning one’s house．They are released(set free)from water by daily actions like water running out 
of tap，spraying from garden pipes，or splashing in dishwashers and washing machines．As the water is moving．these chemicals are released into the air and then breathed in. Once inside our bodies, they start to affect our health.
Does this mean we should stop bathing?
No, say the scientists, but we should put all pollution into perspective. Activities at home such as the burning of coal, cooking oil, or even candles release carbon monoxide and particulates such as cigarette ashes which have been proven as harmful to health as working or living near heavy traffic. New tugs, bedding, and even clothing give off that“new smell, ”which is a sure sign of chemicals. In the office, newly applied paint, newly purchased telephones and other telecommunications equipment, and computers release polluting chemicals, too. As offices and homes often have inadequate ventilation (通风), these chemicals can build up to become health problems. Their poisonous effects are only now being slowly recognized.
These facts suggest that, at a minimum, proper airing of newly purchased goods with an obvious chemical smell is a wise warning. Home and office windows should be opened during good weather. Even one’s car needs to be ventilated as well while in the garage.
We need further research to understand better other potential health dangers, too. For example, the effects of overcrowding of schools (carbon dioxide build-up ), the factory work environment ( an endless list of potentially dangerous substances ), and even home heating and cooling (the air conditioner may be our enemies, not our friends) have only recently started to come to light. Until we understand the effects of our new technological environment better, we can only hope that“there is no place like home.”
64．What is the main idea of the first paragraph?
A．The air we breathe in is harmful.
B．The water in everyday use is unsafe.
C．Chemicals are added to the drinking water.
D．Chemicals are released in the running water.
65．In Paragraph 2, the underlined sentence means that__________
A．bathing should be done with caution
B．homes and offices should be aired often
C．any pollution should be taken into consideration
D．we should prevent any pollution from doing harm to us
66．What is the purpose of the passage?
A．To call on us to guard our water.
B．To show us that no place is like home.
C．To make us aware of the pollution around us.
D．To argue that neither homes nor offices are safe.
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