1 . Zoe Chambers was a successful PR (Public Relations) consultant (顾问) and life was going well—she had a great job, a beautiful flat and a busy social life in London. Then one evening in June last year, she received a text message telling her she was out of work. The first two weeks were the most difficult to live through.” she said. “After everything I’d done for the company, they dismissed me by text!I was So angry and I just didn’t feel like looking for another job. I hated everything about the city and my life.”

Then, Zoe received an invitation from an old school friend, Kathy, to come and stay. Kathy and her husband, Huw, had just bought a farm in north-west Wales. Zoe jumped at the chance to spend a weekend away from London, and now, ten months later, she is still on the farm.

“The moment I arrived at Kathy’s farm, I loved it and I knew I wanted to stay.” said Zoe. “ Everything about

my past life suddenly seemed meaningless.”

Zoe has been working on the farm since October of last year and says she has no regrets. “It’s a hard life, physically very tiring. ” she says. “In London I was stressed and often mentally exhausted. But this is a good, healthy tiredness. Here, all I need to put me in a good mood is a hot bath and one of Kathy’s wonderful dinners. ”

Zoe says she has never felt bored on the farm. Every day brings a new experience. Kathy has been teaching her how to ride a horse and she has learnt to drive a tractor. Since Christmas, she has been helping with the lambing-—watching a lamb being born is unbelievable, she says, “It’s one of the most moving experiences I’ve ever had. I could never go back to city life now. ”

1. When working as a PR consultant in London, Zoe thought she lived a        life.

A．satisfying

B．tough

C．meaningless

D．boring

2. The most important reason why Zoe went to visit Kathy’s farm is that          .

A．Zoe lost her job as a PR consultant

B．Kathy persuaded her to do so

C．Zoe got tired of the city life

D．Zoe loved Wales mare than London

3. How does Zoe feel about the country life according to the passage?

A．Tiresome and troublesome.

B．Romantic and peaceful

C．Mentally exhausting but healthy

D．Physically tiring but rewarding.

4. Which of the following is closest to the main idea of the passage?

A．A friend in need is a friend indeed.

B．Where there is a will, there is a way.

C．A misfortune may turn out a blessing.

D．Kill two birds with one stone.

2 . We can make mistakes at any age. Some mistakes we make are about money. But most mistakes are about people. Did Jerry really care when I broke up with Helen? When I got that great job, did Jim really feel good about it, as a friend? Or did he envy my luck? And Paul - why didn’t pick up that he was friendly just because I had a car? When we look back, doubts like these can make us feel bad. But when we look back, it’s too late.
Why do we go wrong about our friends - or our enemies? Sometimes what people say hides their real meaning. And if we don’t really listen, we miss the feeling behind the words. Suppose someone tells you, “You’re a lucky dog.” That’s being friendly. But lucky dog? There’s a bit of envy in those words. Maybe he doesn’t see it himself. But bringing in the dog bit puts you down a little. What he may be saying is that he doesn’t think you deserve your luck.
Just think of all the things you have to be thankful for is another noise that says one thing and means another. It could mean that the speaker is trying to get you to see your problem as part of your life as a whole. But is he? Wrapped up in this phrase is the thought that your problem isn’t important. It’s telling you to think of all the starving people in the world when you haven’t got a date for Saturday night.
How can you tell the real meaning behind someone’s words? One way is to take a good look at the person talking. Do his words fit the way he looks? Does what he says agree with the tone of voice? His posture? The look in his eyes? Stop and think. The minute you spend thinking about the real meaning of what people to you may save another mistake.
1. This passage is mainly about ____________.

A．how to interpret what people say

B．what to do when you listen to others talking

C．how to avoid mistakes when you communicate with people

D．why we go wrong with people sometimes

2. According to the author, the reason why we go wrong about our friends is that ____________.

A．we fail to listen carefully when they talk

B．people tend to be annoyed when we check what they say

C．people usually state one thing but mean another

D．we tend to doubt what our friends say

3. The underlined word “it” in the second paragraph refers to ____________.

A．being friendly	B．a bit of envy
C．lucky dog	D．your luck

3 . It's generally believed that people act the way they do because of their personalities and attitudes .They recycle their garbage because the care about the environment .They pay $5 for a caramel brulée latte because they like expensive coffee drinks.

It's undeniable that behavior comes from our inner dispositions (性情), but in many instances we also draw inferences about who we are, as suggested by the social psychologist Daryl Bem , by observing our own behavior .We can be strangers to ourselves .If we knew our own minds, why would we need to guess what our preferences are from our behavior? If our minds were an open book, we would know exactly how much we care about the environment or like lattes .Actually , we often need to look to our behavior to figure out who we are.

Moreover, we don't just use our behavior to learn about our particular types of character—we infer characters that weren't there before .Our behavior is often shaped by little pressures around us, which we fail to recognize .Maybe we recycle because our wives and neighbors would disapprove if we didn't .Maybe we buy lattes in order to impress the people around us .We should not mistakenly believe that we always behave as a result of some inner disposition.

Whatever pressures there can be or inferences one can make, people become what they do, though it may not be in compliance (符合) with their true desires .Therefore , we should all bear in mind Kurt Vonnegut's advice: “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”

1. According to the passage, personalities and attitudes are commonly believed to___.

A．determine one's behavior

B．reflect one's taste

C．influence one's surroundings

D．result from one's habits

2. Which of the following would Daryl Bem most probably agree with?__

A．The return of a wallet can indicate one's honesty.

B．A kind person will offer his seat to the old.

C．One recycles plastics to protect the environment.

D．One buys latte out of true love of coffee.

3. What can be inferred from the underlined sentence in the passage?___

A．We fail to realize our inner dispositions.

B．We can be influenced by outside pressures.

C．Our behavior is the result of our true desires.

D．Our characters can shape our social relationships.

4. What does the author mainly discuss in the passage?___

A．Personalities and attitudes.

B．Preferences and habits.

C．Behavior and personalities.

D．Attitudes and preferences.

4 . After we meet people it is up to us to make them our friends. Let us stop a moment and consider what really makes a friend. The major qualities like faithfulness, devotion, friendly company, flash through our minds. But it is the large number of very small particular qualities that make up one’s whole character, such as cheerfulness, friendliness, and punctuality (守时). After all, “ to make a friend, be a friend” is not such a big and difficult order. There are particular favorable qualities, which attract others to us, and some elements which do have an effect on people in fundamental psychology(基础心理学) or not.
If you are in the presence of a shy person, talking and asking casual (随意的) questions may bring him out of his shell. Think of what would be most acceptable to the other person, for you to talk, or to listen. Either way the goal is to make yourself pleasant.
Always remember to listen, but listen intelligently. To have anyone “hang on our words” is the most unnoticeably clever way in the world to please somebody. For a few extremely happy seconds we are the center of attraction, but when it is our turn to be audience, let us remember how we felt as the actor, and let’s be genuinely (真正地) interested in what the other fellow is saying.
Other people will like us, if we like them. If you want friends, keep your mind and heart open to friendship. Be alive to the other person’s world.
1. This passage is mainly about ________.

A．the ways of talking to a shy person

B．some favorable qualities to be a psychologist

C．how to make yourself attractive to your listeners

D．how to make a friend and be a friend

2. The words “bring him out of his shell” in this passage most probably mean ________.

A．make him become active

B．make him feel more nervous

C．help him understand the question better

D．help him listen intelligently

3. According to the passage, an important way in making friends is to ________.

A．attract them	B．be attracted
C．listen attentively	D．talk widely

5 . Whether you’re eating at a fancy restaurant or dining in someone’s home, proper table manners are likely to help you make a good impression. According to a US expert, Emily Post, “All rules of table manners are made to avoid ugliness.”

While Henry Hitchings of the Los Angeles Times admits that good manners can reduce social conflict, he points out that mostly their purpose is protective — they turn our natural warrior^_ like selves into more elegant ones.

So where did table manners come from?

In medieval England, a writer named Petrus Alfonsi took the lead to urge people not to speak with their mouths full. And King David I of Scotland also proposed that any of his people who learned to eat more neatly be given a tax deduction (减除).

Disappointingly, that idea never caught on. It was during the Renaissance, when there were real technical developments, opinions of correct behavior changed for good. “None of these was more significant than the introduction of the table fork,” wrote Hitchings. “Gradually, as forks became popular, they brought the new way of eating, making it possible, for instance, to consume berries without making one’s fingers dirty.”

Forks were introduced to Britain in 1608 and 25 years later, the first table fork reached America. Yet while most of the essentials (基本要素) are the same on both sides of the Atlantic, there are a few clear differences between what’s normal in the US and what holds true in the UK. For example, in the US, when food needs cutting with a knife, people generally cut a bite, then lay aside the knife and switch the fork to their right hand. Then they pick up one bite at a time. By contrast, Britons keep the fork in the left hand and don’t lay the knife down.

Though globalization has developed a new, simpler international standard of table manners, some people still stick with the American cut-and-switch method. The Los Angeles Times noted, “They are hanging on to a form of behavior that favors manners above efficiency.”

1. What does the story mainly talk about?

A．The importance of proper table manners.

B．The development of table manners in Western countries.

C．Some unwritten rules of table manners in the US and UK.

D．Differences between American and British table manners.

2. The underlined phrase “caught on” in the passage probably means ________.

A．worked in practice

B．became popular

C．drew attention

D．had a positive effect

3. Which of the following events influenced people’s table manners most according to the article?

A．The introduction of forks.

B．The tax deduction policy.

C．The rise of the Renaissance.

D．Petrus Alfonsi’s efforts in promoting table manners.

4. What can we conclude from the article?

A．British and American table manners are completely different from each other.

B．American people pay more attention to their table manners than British people do.

C．With globalization, the American cut-and-switch method has been abandoned in the US.

D．British people’s way of using a knife and fork may be more efficient than American people’s.