I needed to get some money so, after Christmas, I took a job in the clothes department at Graham’s for the first fortnight of the January sale. I can’t say that I enjoyed it, but it was an experience I’ll never forget.
I could never understand why there were so many things in the sales; where did they all come from? Now I know the secret! Firstly, there is the special winter stock (货物) and the stock that people buy all the year round; some of these things are slightly reduced. Secondly, there are the summer clothes they couldn’t sell last year; these are heavily reduced to clear them. Thirdly, there are cheap clothes bought in specially for the sales; these are put out at high prices ten days before the sale begins and then are reduced by 60% in the sale. Clever! Lastly, they buy in “seconds? (clothes not in perfect condition) for the sale and they are sold very cheaply.
When I arrived half an hour before opening on the first day of the sale, there was already a queue around three sides of the building. This made me very nervous.
When the big moment arrived to open the doors, the security guards, looking less confident than usual, came up to them, keys in hand. The moment they had unlocked the doors, they hid behind the doors for protection as the noisy crowd charged in. I couldn’t believe my eyes; this wasn’t shopping, it was a battlefield! One poor lady couldn’t keep her feet and was knocked over by people pushing from behind.
Clothes were flying in all directions as people searched for the sizes, colours and styles they wanted. Quarrels broke out. Mothers were using their small children to crawl(爬行) through people’s legs and get hold of things they couldn’t get near themselves.
Within minutes I had half a dozen people pushing clothes under my nose, each wanting to be the first served. Where had the famous English Queue gone? The whole day continued like that, but I kept my temper(脾气)! I was taking money hand over fist and began to realize why, twice a year, Graham’s were happy to turn their expensive store into a battlefield like this.
In the sale fever, people were spending money like water without thinking whether they needed what they were buying. As long as it was a bargain it was OK.
You won’t believe this but as soon as I got home I crashed out for four hours. Then I had dinner and went back to bed, fearing the sound of the alarm which would tell me to get ready for the second day of the sale.
1. What kind of clothes is likely to be sold 5% cheaper?
| A．Last summer’s clothes. | B．Clothes not in perfect condition. |
| C．Clothes bought in specially for the sales. | D．Clothes for winter. |
| A．The customers gave up the queuing for which the English are famous. |
| B．The customers kept their temper while looking for clothes they wanted. |
| C．Small children enjoyed crawling through people’s legs. |
| D．The security guards were fearless of the crowd. |
| A．There were too many clothes and they wanted to clear them in the sales. |
| B．They were eager to show that they were clever at doing business. |
| C．They could take the chance to raise the prices of all their clothes. |
| D．They wanted to make more money by having sales. |
| A．chatted with her friends | B．slept soundly |
| C．broke down | D．dined out |
| A．The Best Bargain. | B．Hunting for a job. |
| C．Sale Fever. | D．A Pleasant Fortnight. |
Every man wants his son to be somewhat of a clone, not in features but in footsteps. As he grows you also age, and your ambitions become more unachievable. You begin to realize that your boy, in your footsteps, could probably accomplish what you hoped for. But footsteps can be muddied and they can go off in different directions.
My son Jody has hated school since day one in kindergarten. Science projects waited until the last moment. Book reports weren’t written until the final threat.
I’ve been a newspaperman all my adult life. My daughter is a university graduate working toward her master’s degree in English. But Jody? When he entered the tenth grade he became a “vo-tech” student(技校学生). They’re called “motorheads” by the rest of the student body.
When a secretary in my office first called him “motorhead”, I was shocked. “Hey, he’s a good kid,” I wanted to say. “And smart, really.”
I learned later that motorheads are, indeed, different. They usually have dirty hands and wear dirty work clothes. And they don’t often make school honor rolls(光荣榜).
But being the parent of a motorhead is itself an experience in education. We who labor in clean shirts in offices don’t have the abilities that motorheads have. I began to learn this when I had my car crashed. The cost to repair it was estimated at $800. “Hey, I can fix it,” said Jody. I doubted it , but let him go ahead, for I had nothing to lose.
My son ,with other motorheads,fixed the car. They got parts(零件）from ajunkyard, and ability from vo-tech classes. The lost was $25 instead of $80.
Since that first repair job, a broken air-conditioner, a non-functioning washer and a non-toasting toaster have been fixed. Neighbors and co-workers trust their car repairs to him.
These kids are happiest when doing repairs. They joke and laugh and are living in their own relaxed world. And their minds are bright despite their dirty hands and clothes.
I have learned a lot from my motorhead: publishers need printers, engineers need mechanics, and architects need builders. Most important, I have learned that fathers don’t need clones in footsteps or anywhere else.
My son may never make the school honor roll. But he made mine.
1. What used to be the author’s hope for his son?
| A．To avoid becoming his clone. |
| B．To resemble him in appearance. |
| C．To develop in a different direction. |
| D．To reach the author’s unachieved goals. |
| A．His daughter does better in school. |
| B．His daughter has got a master’s degree. |
| C．His son tried hard to finish homework. |
| D．His son couldn’t write his book reports. |
| A．His son had the ability to fix it. |
| B．it would save him much time. |
| C．it wouldn’t cause him any more loss |
| D．other motorheads would come to help. |
| A．tidy and hardworking | B．cheerful and smart |
| C．lazy but bright | D．relaxed but rude |
| A．It is unwise to expect your child to follow your path. |
| B．It is important for one to make the honor roll. |
| C．Architects play a more important role than builders. |
| D．Motorheads have greater ability than office workers. |
This Christmas I was debating what to give my father. My dad is a hard person to buy for because he never wants anything. I pulled out my phone to read a text message from my mom saying that we were leaving for Christmas shopping for him when I came across a message on my phone that I had locked. The message was from my father. My eyes fell on a photo of a flower taken in Wyoming. and underneath a poem by William Blake. The flower, a lone dandelion standing against the bright blue sky, inspired me. My dad had been reciting those words to me since I was a kid. That may even be the reason why I love writing. I decided that those words would be my gift to my father.
I called back. I told my mom to go without me and that I already created my gift. I sent the photo of the cream-colored flower to my computer and typed the poem on top of it. As I was arranging the details another poem came to mind. The poem was written by Edgar Allan Poe; my dad recited it as much as he did the other. I typed that out as well and searched online for a background to the words of it. The poem was focused around dreaming, and after searching I found the perfect picture. The image was painted with blues and greens and purples, twisting together to create the theme and wonder of a dream. As I watched both poems passing through the printer, the white paper coloring with words that shaped my childhood. I felt that this was a gift that my father would truly appreciate.
Christmas soon arrived. The minute I saw the look on my dad's face as he unwrapped those swirling black letters carefully placed in a cheap frame, I knew I had given the perfect gift.
1. The idea for a special gift began to form when the author was______.
| A．doing shopping | B．having a debate |
| C．reading a message | D．leaving for Wyoming |
| A．a photo of a flower | B．a story about a kid |
| C．a call from the mother | D．a text about Christmas |
| A．the father | B．the author |
| C．William Blake | D．Edgar Allan Poe |
| A．searching for the poems online |
| B．drawing the background by hand |
| C．painting the letters in three colors |
| D．matching the words with pictures |
| A．To show how to design images for gifts. |
| B．To suggest making gifts from one's heart. |
| C．To explain how computers help create gifts. |
| D．To describe the gifts the author has received |
Here's an example to show how honorable actions create happiness.
Say a store clerk fails to charge us for an item. If we keep silent, and profit from the clerk's mistake, we would drive home with a sense of sneaky excitement. Later we might tell our family or friends about our good fortune. On the other hand, if we tell the clerk about the uncharged item, the clerk would be grateful and thank us for our honesty. We would leave the store with a quiet sense of honor that we might never share with another soul.
Then, what is it to do with our sense of happiness?
In the first case, where we don't tell the clerk, a couple of things would happen. Deep down inside we would know ourselves as a type of thief. In the process, we would lose some peace of mind and self-respect. We would also demonstrate that we cannot lie trusted, since we advertise our dishonor by telling our family and friends. We damage our own reputations by telling others. In contrast, bringing the error to the clerk's attention causes different things to happen. Immediately the clerk knows us to be honorable. Upon leaving the store, we feel honorable and our self-respect is increased. Whenever we take honorable action we gain the deep internal rewards of goodness and a sense of nobility.
There is a beautiful positive cycle that is created by living a life of honorable actions. Honorable thoughts lead to honorable actions. Honorable actions lead us to a happier existence. And it's easy to think and act honorably again when we're happy. While the positive cycle can be difficult to start, once it's started, it's easy to continue. Keeping on doing good deeds brings us peace of mind, which is important for our happiness.
1. According to the passage, the positive action in the example contributes to our
| A．self-respect | B．financial rewards | C．advertising ability | D．friendly relationship |
| A．lying | B．stealing | C．cheating | D．advertising |
| A．telling the truth to the clerk | B．offering advice to the clerk |
| C．asking the clerk to be more attentive | D．reminding the clerk of the charged item |
| A．We'll be very excited. | B．We'll feel unfortunate. |
| C．We'll have a sense of honor. | D．We'll feel sorry for the clerk. |
| A．How to Live Truthfully | B．Importance of Peacefulness |
| C．Ways of Gaining Self-respect | D．Happiness through Honorable Actions |
5 . Each of us struggles for self-respect and self-worth to some degree. I spent much time trying to achieve perfection in every aspect of my life.
I was a happy kid with a lot of friends and a Supportive family. But growing up was really
During my childhood, I was constantly involved in something that included people’s viewing my achievements or my
After I graduated from high school, my
In the beginning, I felt great—attractive and successful, almost superhuman. I even thought that I was better than everyone else. What I didn’t see was that I was slowly
People around me began to
Sadly, I took my physical
Then I cut down my
But my poor
And most important, a sense of what was true about myself got back on track with reality. I realized that, with my
| A．natural | B．easy | C．hard | D．possible |
| A．natures | B．backgrounds | C．scores | D．failures |
| A．problem | B．desire | C．way | D．promise |
| A．controlling | B．checking | C．collecting | D．balancing |
| A．killing | B．forgetting | C．asking | D．questioning |
| A．help | B．accept | C．reject | D．notice |
| A．perfection | B．devotion | C．destination | D．attention |
| A．strength | B．exercise | C．appearance | D．examination |
| A．believing | B．realizing | C．pretending | D．declaring |
| A．expense | B．movement | C．food | D．travel |
| A．pleasant | B．difficult | C．typical | D．different |
| A．memory | B．nutrition | C．knowledge | D．taste |
| A．weight | B．hope | C．sleep | D．job |
| A．relax | B．walk | C．cry | D．talk |
| A．breathe | B．resist | C．wake | D．remember |
| A．scared | B．annoyed | C．discouraged | D．disappointed |
| A．bed | B．hospital | C．school | D．office |
| A．glory | B．discovery | C．recovery | D．victory |
| A．skill | B．decision | C．experience | D．deal |
| A．whole | B．face | C．mind | D．outside |
6 . It seems like people today are more easily offended than ever before.
If smoking in an elevator or talking in a movie theater were normal in the past, they are considered to be rude today. We used to be obliged to answer whatever questions a family elder directed our way, but now when a prying (爱打听的) relative asks about our test grades or dream university --- information that we’d rather keep to ourselves --- we feel offended, even if they mean well.
The boundary between “politeness” and “rudeness” has changed over the years, especially among young people.
But this change doesn’t just go one way --- things that used to be considered rude may also go across to the other side of the boundary. For example, to stand up for themselves, some youths may try to make statements by using phone cases printed with phrases like “Leave me alone” or “None of your business”. In their eyes, this is more like being independent than being rude.
“These phenomena involve rejecting previously moral order to ignore insults, recognize the good intentions of those who accidentally give offense, and be charitable (体谅的) toward those with whom we disagree,” wrote Time. “They suggest a new morality.”
And this fresh morality is introduced by a new group of people. According to The Economist, young people, or millennials (千禧一代), are “the best-educated generation ever”, which is why they tend to be more conscious about their privacy and personal space. They are also freer than previous generations, more eager to explore the world and refuse to be tied down by elders’ rules.
But there are, of course, people who think that millennials have gone too far to defend their own needs. An earlier Time article called millennials the “Me Me Me Generation”, saying that they are self-involved, less grateful and less tolerant of people.
But Lauren Martin, a lifestyle writer in the US, and a millennial herself, has a theory.
“Our generation is an anomaly (与众不同的事物),” she wrote on Elite Daily. “We refuse to do things their way, so they call us entitled. We refuse to sit in cubicles (办公室隔间), so they call us spoiled. We refuse to follow their plans, so they call us stubborn. What they are slowly realizing, however, is we’re not lazy, stubborn or entitled. We just refuse to accept things as they’re given to us.”
1. What is the article mainly about?| A．Why people today are more easily offended. |
| B．The definition of “politeness” and “rudeness”. |
| C．The morality of millennials and some views on it. |
| D．Key characteristics of the millennial generation. |
| A．A prying relative always makes people feel offended. |
| B．Many young people can’t tell politeness from rudeness. |
| C．Young people today are more independent than ever. |
| D．Traditional morality has been rejected by some. |
a. are more curious about the outside world.
b. are less thankful and understanding.
c. are more concerned about their privacy.
d. are more likely to challenge elders’ rules.
e. enjoy more freedom and are self-involved
| A．a, b, c | B．a, c, d | C．b, d, e | D．c, d, e |
| A．They are too stubborn to listen to others. |
| B．They cannot get along well with others. |
| C．They have their own ways of viewing things. |
| D．They should adjust their way to defend their own needs. |
| A．Arrogant. | B．Lazy. | C．Conscious. | D．Independent. |
7 . My mother spent her childhood with her father on their farm in the US. She learned how to mend fences, plow fields, and make cheese. And she learned farm life doesn't offer
My grandpa spent his later years living on a corner of the
Since that time, the farm has
"I am a 'road scholar', learning in an experiential way," Mom told me. "I feel I was
Mom's latest project, the Farm Day Grief Camp, was
"I'm an adult woman who lost my
"Each camper wrote one thing they wished they could
Mom's vision
| A．good | B．real | C．different | D．instant |
| A．run out | B．come back | C．go by | D．pay off |
| A．farm | B．school | C．town | D．country |
| A．imagined | B．avoided | C．enjoyed | D．missed |
| A．developed | B．divided | C．looked | D．bumped |
| A．unable | B．confused | C．gifted | D．annoyed |
| A．happy | B．curious | C．determined | D．hurt |
| A．course | B．program | C．game | D．product |
| A．born | B．ready | C．found | D．grown |
| A．illness | B．trouble | C．loss | D．failure |
| A．mom | B．dad | C．husband | D．child |
| A．better | B．worse | C．easier | D．stranger |
| A．learning | B．thinking | C．relaxing | D．grieving |
| A．Trainings | B．Activities | C．Methods | D．Rules |
| A．share | B．agree | C．play | D．provide |
| A．painting | B．balloon | C．door | D．book |
| A．reliable | B．upset | C．cautious | D．welcome |
| A．protects | B．challenges | C．inspires | D．questions |
| A．abandoned | B．changed | C．preserved | D．recognized |
| A．worried | B．proud | C．thankful | D．surprised |
8 . The concept of a “born leader” seems so fanciful that it belongs on the cover of a bad business book. But it turns out that born leaders are real, and researchers have discovered a key factor, which isn’t genes, parents, or peers, but birth order.
First-born children are 30 percent more likely to be CEOs or politicians, according to a new paper by several economists, Sandra E. Black at the University of Texas-Austin, and Bjorn Ockert and Erik Gronqvist at Sweden’s Institute for Evaluation of Labor Market and Education Policy. The paper, which only looked at boys, found that first-borns stay in school longer, make more money, have a higher IQ, and even spend more time on homework than on television,
The idea that birth order might shape personality goes back at least to the 1920s, when Alfred Adler theorized that first-born children develop a “taste for power” at a young age, since they can dominate their younger siblings. He went on to say young children are spoiled and become dependent on their parents (the “baby of the family” effect), while middle children, being often in a war for their parents’ attention, are status-conscious and naturally competitive.
Obtaining personality from birth may strike you. But Adler’s hypotheses (假说) have held up in numerous studies. In a 2013 paper, “Strategic Parenting, Birth Order and School Performance,” V. Joseph Hotz, a professor of economics at Duke University, and Juan Pantano, a professor of economics at Washington University in St. Louis, used American data to show that school performance declines with birth order.
The researchers chalked their findings up to what they called the “reputational model of strategic parenting.” Put simply, parents invest a lot of time in establishing rules for their first child, building a reputation for toughness that they hope will pass down to later children. As a result, first-borns are doubly blessed — having too much of their parents’ attention, and then entrusted to act as the rules enforcer of the family, which helps them build intelligence, discipline, and leadership qualities. In the survey, parents report that they consider their older children more successful, and they are less likely to discipline their later-born children for improper behaviors, such as acting up or not doing homework.
This new study relies on Swedish data, and it comes to a similar conclusion. First-borns aren’t just healthier or smarter, but also they score higher on “emotional stability, persistence, social outgoingness, willingness to assume responsibility and ability to take the initiative.” Its researchers ruled out genetic factors; in fact, they uncovered evidence that later-born children might be healthier than first-borns.
Instead, the differences among siblings had everything to do with family dynamics in the children’s early years. First, having more children means parents can spend less time on each child, and as the parental investment declines, so may IQ.
Second, the most important effect, the researchers said, might not be the “strategic parenting” but something more like “strategic brothering.” As siblings compete for their parents’ love (or ice cream, or toys), they occupy certain positions---older siblings demonstrate their competence and power, while younger siblings develop more creative strategies to get attention. This effect seems particularly strong among later-born boys with older brothers. Younger brothers are much more likely to enter “creative” occupations — like architect, writer, actor, singer, or photographer — if they have older brothers, rather than older sisters. In other words, among young brothers, specialization within the family forecasts specialization in the workforce.
There is a considerable implication in this idea that family dynamics during childhood can shape adult personality. Young children are highly sensitive to their environment, in ways that often have lasting effects.
1. First-born children are more likely to be CEOs or politicians because _____.| A．they are born to have leadership qualities |
| B．teachers and parents invest more time in educating them |
| C．later-born children need them to set good examples |
| D．they have a lot of practice in bossing around their younger siblings |
| A．His research was based on American data. |
| B．His hypotheses were applied in many studies. |
| C．He held the idea that first-born children should be independent. |
| D．He thought that children’s personality was affected by birth order. |
| A．has a lower IQ and EQ |
| B．is badly treated by school teachers |
| C．receives less attention from his parents |
| D．is spoiled too much by other family members |
| A．Swedish data on boys. |
| B．Controlled experiments on children. |
| C．Differences between first-born and later-borns. |
| D．The observation of children’s development across Sweden. |
| A．feel disappointed at their parents’ attitude to them |
| B．are always in a process of self-discovery |
| C．may be more trustworthy and creative |
| D．might be physically strong |
| A．parents should create a good family environment for their children |
| B．children should be given equal attention by their parents |
| C．girls’ development is seldom affected by birth order |
| D．boys should be forbidden to order others around |
9 . Rather than rolling your eyes when it’s your turn to bow your head and give thanks, try being grateful. The result just might be good for you, from improving your feeling to your relationships. If you don’t want to voice your gratitude, writing a letter may work, according to various studies by Steve Toepfer of Kent State University and his colleagues.
Toepfer and his colleagues had 219 students with an average age of 25 fill out questionnaires（问卷）to measure their happiness. They returned to the lab to fill out the survey three more times, with each visit about a week apart. Some of the students wrote a letter of gratitude each time they returned to the lab, while the control group didn’t write about being thankful.
“The letter writers were instructed to write a letter of gratitude to anyone they wanted, however, the letter couldn’t be a‘thank you’note for a gift,” Toepfer said. “The participants had to write about something that was important to them.”
The results showed that their levels of happiness and life satisfaction improved after each letter they wrote. In addition, depressive symptoms decreased over time with the letter writing.
Gratitude doesn’t just cheer you up—it can improve your health and energy levels as well. A 2007 study conducted by researchers found that organ-transplant(器官移植) receivers who kept “gratitude journals” listing five things or people that they were grateful for each day scored better on measures of general health, and mental health than those who only made routine notes about their days.
A successful relationship may depend on your gratitude. Research reported in 2011 looking at more than 65 couples who were in satisfying relationships showed that each couple’s relationship quality corresponded with one partner’s feelings of gratitude. Researchers show that one partner expressed feelings of gratitude; both partners experienced a positive emotional response.
1. According to the passage, if you want to get along well with others, you’d better________.| A．write letters to them frequently |
| B．pay more attention to their feelings |
| C．show your thanks from time to time |
| D．take care of them when they are in need |
| A．is cold to others’ kindness |
| B．is not good at writing letters |
| C．is unwilling to express their feelings |
| D．is not allowed to write thank-you letters |
| A．nervous | B．careless |
| C．depressed | D．optimistic |
| A．it’s better to write a thank-you letter than to say gratitude with words |
| B．the results of different ways of showing gratitude are all the same |
| C．the good relationship of each couple is based on trust |
| D．gratitude is beneficial to health |
| A．Why you should be grateful |
| B．Ways of changing your feeling |
| C．How to show your gratitude to others |
| D．Thank-you letters’ role to human relations |
10 . Teamwork is all about working together to achieve a common goal or purpose. Is teamwork out of date? Why is it so hard to effectively conduct teamwork in those things?
One way we employ teamwork in everyday lives is by becoming a parent. It is a parent’s job to teach their children the fundamental skills and give them the knowledge they need to be successful in life. So why is teamwork disappearing in this aspect of our lives? Well in today’s society, we find that more and more parents are experiencing that the teamwork is a one-sided thing. According to a 2009 report from the US, there are 13.7 million single parents raising their children in the US and this amount could be due to the fact that parents are not stepping up and taking responsibility for their children or they don’t have the means to, so they leave one parent to do it by themselves. This is a saddening fact, but it reflects that effective teamwork is losing ground in the parenting aspect of our everyday lives.
Another place where teamwork affects us greatly is in our jobs. It doesn’t matter if you are a small or large company; if you have at least one employee and yourself, then teamwork will be present. I have noticed that with the current economic recession (衰退), people are racing to grab jobs but the quality of people’s work has gone down greatly. It just appears to me that people do not take pride in their work anymore. They want to get to work and work as fast as they can, just to receive the paycheck, but their quality standards fly right out the window. This type of behavior is where I think teamwork is losing its ground in the workforce. There are too many people who want to work independently and forget they are a part of a team.
As you can see, we run into the aspects of teamwork in just about everything we do. Do you believe teamwork is really losing ground in today’s society? I think it is. What’s your opinion?
1. Why does teamwork disappear in the parenting aspect of our daily lives?| A．Parents have no time to spare with their children. |
| B．Parents have no chance to teach their children about it. |
| C．Many children are often brought up by a single parent. |
| D．Many children are independent to deal with their matters. |
| A．workers don’t like to work together with others |
| B．workers’ sense is affected by economic recession |
| C．workers want to prove they are more capable |
| D．fewer workers are employed to save money |
| A．listing some data | B．making comparisons |
| C．asking some questions | D．analyzing some cases |
| A．Disappear. | B．Improve. |
| C．Increase. | D．Matter. |
| A．To show the importance of housework. |
| B．To introduce how teamwork works now. |
| C．To tell us the current economic recession. |
| D．To show his attitude towards teamwork. |
