You’ve probably heard of the expression “A leopard can’t change its spots.” This, of course, is true of leopards. But isn’t it true of people? Can people change themselves? Are we humans just creatures of habits? Do we not have any control over our actions and habits?
One guy said, “Bad habits are like a comfortable bed. They’re easy to get into, but hard to get out of.” Someone else said, “The chains of habits are too small to feel until they’re too strong to break.” So breaking the mould of our bad habits takes effort.
Habits are like the roads we take through our life every day. The problem is that not every road takes us where we need to go. Actually, our routes through life often become our ruts (惯例) in life. We end up stuck in them and find it hard to dig ourselves out. That’s why we must change our bad habits as soon as possible before they become our second nature. You see, our habits become our character and our character becomes our life. As one wise person said, “First we make our habits, and then our habits make us.”
But we humans don’t like to change. So we come up with excuses, like “I can’t be different; that’s just the way I am.” And the good excuse is “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” But that’s just it: we’re not dogs or animals. In fact, we’re the only creatures who have the freedom and power to change and choose the kind of person we want to become.
We can learn from Paragraph 2 that .
| A．getting rid of bad habits is very hard |
| B．people can’t find their bad habits themselves |
| C．entering bad habits is hard |
| D．people don’t have the courage to change their bad habits |
What’s mainly talked about in Paragraph 3?
| A．What bad habits are. |
| B．How bad habits are formed. |
| C．How to change our bad habits. |
| D．Why we should change our bad habits. |
The author’s attitude towards changing one’s bad habits is .
| A．doubtful | B．optimistic |
| C．negative | D．indifferent |
Canadian experts have found that so – called self – help books may actually do more harm than good to people who really need help．Researchers say that individuals （个人） with low respect felt much worse after repeating positive statements about themselves．
In their study, psychologists Joanne Wood and John Lee sought to determine how positive thinking affected people with different levels of self – confidence．They questioned dozens of people both made and female, analyzed their self – worth and optimism by means of the standard psychological methods and then asked them to write down their thoughts and feelings．The scoring system ranged from 0 to 35．
During the experiment, the researchers asked a total of 68 participants to repeat the self-help book phrase, “I am a lovable person．” After that they measured the participants’ moods and their feelings about themselves．The results revealed that the participants in the low self – respect group who repeated the mantra （颂歌）, were feeling much worse afterwards, when compared to other participants in low self – respect group who did not repeat the phrase．Those with low self – respect who repeated the phrase scored an average of 10 points．Their counterparts （对比者） with equally low self – respect who were not asked to repeat the statement, were able to score a little higher average of 17 points．
However, individuals with high self – respect reported feeling better after repeating the positive self – statement – but only slightly．They scored an average of 31 points, compared with an average of 25 for those with equally high self – respect who did not repeat the phrase．
Professor Wood urged those who promote self – help books, magazines and television shows to stop telling people that simply repeating a positive mantra could change one’s life．First, people start following this idea and feel like they are not alone．They are told that all they have to do is just to read that book and then to repeat these positive statements in a hope that things will be better, and when it does not work for them and they realize that nothing gets better, then it is really frustration to people．
Researchers concluded: “Repeating positive self – statements may benefit certain people such as individuals with high self – respect but discourage the very people who need confidence the most．”The experts tried to find out, when repeating positive self – statements, ．
| A．the different influences on people with different levels of self - confidence |
| B．whether males or females will get more benefit from self – help books |
| C．which group of people self – help books will do the greatest harm to |
| D．who will get the least benefit from self – help book |
How many points did the low self – respect participants get after repeating the self – help book phrase?
| A．An average of 10 points． | B．An average of 17 points． |
| C．An average of 31 points． | D．An average of 25 points． |
So – called self – help books do some good to ．
| A．people lacking confidence |
| B．people with high self - respect |
| C．people with problems to settle urgently |
| D．people repeating positive self – statements |
Sydney – A shark savaged a schoolboy’s leg while he was surfing with his father at a beach in Sydney on February 23．it was the third shark attack along the coast of Australia’s largest city in a month．
The 15 – year – old boy and his father were in the water off Avalon, on Sydney’s northern beaches, around dawn when he was attacked．The city’s beaches are packed with locals and tourists during the summer months．
“The father heard a scream and turned to see his son trashing （扭动） about in the water,” police said．“Fortunately, the shark swam away and the boy was helped to shore by his father．”
Lifesaving Club spokesman Nick Miller: “It got him around the top of his left leg and the father came and dragged him out of water．” He said the boy was bleeding heavily when he was brought to shore．“There was a lot of pain, as you can imagine”．The teenager was airlifted to hospital for treatment for leg injuries．
Police said the bites “cut through to the bone”, but the boy did not appear to have sustained any fractures （骨折）．He was in a stable condition now．
Several beaches were closed after the attack．Water police and lifeguards were searching for the shark, while police hoped to identify its species by the shape of the bite marks．But they said it was too early to say what type of shark attacked the boy．“I don’t even know if he saw it,” Miller said．
Many shark species live in the waters off Sydney’s beaches, but attacks on humans are still relatively rare．However, there were two attacks on successive days earlier this month, one on a navy diver in Sydney harbor, not far from the famous Opera House, and the other on a surfer at the city’s world – famous Bondi beach．
Fishermen say shark numbers are on the rise．There is a ban on commercial fishing in the harbor, which has increased fish stocks．Marine experts also claim environmental protection has created a cleaner environment, attracting sharks closer to shore as they chase fish．Many shark species, including the Great White – the man – eater made famous in Steven Spielberg’s Jaws – are protected in Australian waters．The report mainly tells us ．
| A．shark attacks on humans are on the rise |
| B．sharks attacked humans three times in one month |
| C．a boy was attacked by a shark at a Sydney beach |
| D．shark numbers are increasing in the waters off Sydney’s beaches |
The underlined word “savaged” in the first paragraph probably means “ ”．
| A．attracted | B．dragged | C．bit | D．packed |
What do we know about the city of Sydney from the passage?
| A．It is one of the largest cities in Australia． |
| B．Sydney harbor is not far from the famous Opera House． |
| C．There are many locals and tourists on its coast all year round． |
| D．There are few shark species in the waters off Sydney’s beaches． |
About the injury of the boy we know that ．
| A．he was losing much blood when he was dragged out |
| B．he was very nervous when he was sent to hospital |
| C．he may be in danger of losing his leg |
| D．he was injured in the right leg |
Watch out, Yahoo．There’s search engine out there with super speed and accuracy．It’s really cool．
Google is the Web’s largest search engine．In just two years it has gained a reputation for surprising speed and accuracy, delivering exactly what you’re looking for in a second．The site now does this 40 million times a day – a number achieved without spending a penny on a TV or newspaper ad．
Google doesn’t need them．In the past six months alone, the site has won a Webby （the online version of the Oscar） for technical excellence, set a new record for search engines by indexing a billion Web pages．
Yahoo still has 10 times the audience, but Google consistently ranks first in customer satisfaction: 97% of users find what they’re looking for most or all the time．“You see people smile when they use it, like they’ve found something no one else knows about,” says Danny Sullivan, editor of an online newsletter．
No one is smiling more than Larry Page, 27, and Sergey Brin, 26, who seem certain to become billionaires when the company goes public, probable sometime next year．They make a great comedy duo．When they first met as Ph． D．students, the pair say, they found each other horrible – “I still find him horrible,” adds Brin – but were driven together by a computer – science project aimed at coming up with better ways of searching the Web．
The idea behind Google is that traditional search engines are stupid．They think relevance is based on repetition; if you type in a request for Tiger Woods, say, you’ll get websites listed according to how many times those words appear．Not only is this no guarantee of quality, but it’s also open to abuse．If you own a Tiger fan site and want to lead more people to it, simply type his name thousands of times in the site’s source code．The first paragraph serves to ．
| A．compare two websites | B．bring out the topic |
| C．put blame on Yahoo | D．give the background of the topic |
What does the underlined word “then” in the third paragraph refer to?
| A．40 million times． | B．Achievements． |
| C．TV and newspaper ads． | D．Web pages． |
Which of the following wins greater customer satisfaction?
| A．Yahoo． | B．Google． | C．Page． | D．Brin． |
It can be inferred that Page and Brin ．
| A．work for Google | B．are Tiger fans |
| C．hated each other | D．work for Yahoo |
Speaking in his first National Day Rally speech on 15 August, Prime Minister Lee Hsien said Singapore’s education system was set for more reforms in the years ahead, particularly for the primary and secondary education．Read the summary of his thoughts on education below．
For a start, the Government is prepared to send and additional 3,000 teachers to Singapore schools, cut the courses of study even further and change the way the mother tongue, especially Chinese, is taught．But, for the changes to be successful, parents need to help．
Singapore has a devoted group of teachers and principals and quite a few of them are outstanding, but the Republic’s schools can be even better．To help the schools make a jump in quality, the Government plans that within the next 6 years, it will send 1,000 more teachers to primary schools, 1,400 to secondary schools and 550 more to junior colleges．Each school would decide how to use its extra teachers．Some may want to make classes smaller so students get more individual attentions while others may have new teachers assist more senior teachers, but the overall goal is to give teachers the time and space to come up with ways to bring out the best in their students．
More teachers must not mean more homework, however．In fact, the Prime Minister wants to see the courses cut down so that there is less pressure on the students．Good grades are important but they should not be the only goal students have．PM Lee is convinced that “we must teach less so that our children can learn more．”
Another change will be in the teaching of the mother tongue so that students can become more fluent．The key is to teach Chinese as a living language not just an academic subject like Latin．Therefore, the focus should be on speaking and reading the language．To do this, there must be an environment outside the classroom that is contributing to strengthening the Chinese lessons．The text is mainly about in Singapore．
| A．the education reform | B．adding more teachers |
| C．the mother tongue | D．ways of teaching |
The general goal of using extra teachers is to ．
| A．make classes smaller | B．assist more senior teachers |
| C．teach more | D．help teachers improve teaching quality |
PM Lee holds that the students should ．
| A．do more homework | B．give up higher grades |
| C．study more courses | D．be given more time to learn more |
The key to teaching Chinese well is to ．
| A．make it academic | B．have a creative environment |
| C．give more Chinese lessons | D．encourage speaking and reading a lot |
His platinum albums such as “You Make Me Happy and Sad,” “Flowery Heart,” “Music Brings Us Together” and “Emil & Friends” have brought him numerous awards in Singapore, and China’s Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Jonathan Lee represents the creative spirit of the past 20 years in Taiwan and many renowned singers like Sarah Chan (Chen Shuhua), Sandy Lam (Lin Yilian), Emil Chau (Zhou Huajian) and Karen Mok (Mo Wenwei) draw great inspiration from Lee's works.
Jasmine Leong is a Malaysian singer who is very popular on the Taiwan music scene. Focusing on lyrical songs, Leong's Beijing performance will also tap into rock & roll music.
To remember Henrik Ibsen, with pianist Wolfgang Plagge, violinist Annar Folles and soprano Gao Xia, the Norwegian Ibsen Trio will present the classic works of the celebrated playwright.
The mi
x of musical treats for children in Beijing includes various kinds of art forms, including Western classical music and Chinese traditional music, as well as puppet plays, crosstalk shows, and highlights of Chinese local operas such as Peking Operas and Kunqu Operas.
| A．Commemorative show: To mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, the founder of modern prose drama, a concert titled “Nora's Songs” will be given. Time: 7:30 pm, March 20 Place: Peking University Concert Hall Tel: 6275-2279, 6275-9637 |
| B．Feel the mood: Jonathan Lee will host his 2006 concert in Beijing. As the master of music in Taiwan, Lee is famous for his unique annotation of love, mood and life. Time: 7:30 pm, March 24, 25 Place: Capital Gymnasium, Baishiqiao Lu, Haidian District Tel: 6835-4020 |
| C．Chamber music: The chamber concert series of China Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra will greet audiences with a woodwind quintet, a string quartet plus Bach's piano concerto and suite. Time: 7:30 pm, March 25 Place: The Concert Hall of the Central Conservatory of Music, 43 Baojiajie, Xicheng District Tel: 6641-4759, 6642-5744 |
| D．Pop star: Singer and composer Emil Chau, one of the most admired music idols in China and Southeast Asia, will perform a solo concert in Beijing. Chau was born in Hong Kong and attended college in Taiwan. He has released more than 30 albums in Mandarin, Cantonese and English. |
Time: 7:30 pm, March 31
Place: Capital Gymnasium, Baishiqiao Lu, Haidian District
Tel: 6833-5552
E. Music for children: Some 50 colourful music-related performances will be staged until August 28 in an "Open the Door to Music" series of concerts, in a move to foster Chinese children's taste for art. The concert series will be held in several venues, sponsored by the Forbidden City Concert Hall and supported by the Beijing Municipal Culture Bureau.
Tickets: 10-100 yuan (US$1-12)
Time/date: 2 pm or 7:30 pm, July 20-August 28
Location: mainly in the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Zhongshan Park, some in Peking University Hall in Haidian District and in the China Puppet Art Theatre and Poly Theatre
Tel: 6506-5343, 6506-5345
F
. Beautiful timbre: Jasmine Leong will meet her Beijing fans next month. Singing with beautiful timbre, Leong will present a series of love stories to the audience. To highlight the theme of love, 200 sets of lover's tickets, valued at 1800 yuan will be presented.
Tickets: 180-980 yuan (US$22-121)
Time/date: 7:30 pm, September 9
Location: Workers' Gymnasium, Gongti Beilu, Chaoyang District
Tel: 6501-6655
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