1 . We’ve all heard it before: to be successful, get out of bed early. After all, Apple CEO Tim Cook gets up at 3:45 am, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne at 3:30 am and Richard Branson at 5:45 am- - -and, as we know, “The early bird catches the worm.” Indeed, it may be true that those who get up early have a jump start on the day before others are even out of bed.
But just because some successful people wake up early, does that mean it’s a trait most of them share? And if the idea of having exercised, planned your day, eaten breakfast, visualized and done one task before 8 am. makes you want to roll over and hit snooze until next Saturday, are you really doomed to a less successful life?
For about half of us, this isn’t really an issue. It’s estimated that some 50% of the population isn’t really morning- oriented or evening oriented, but somewhere in the middle. Roughly one in four of us, though, tend more toward bright-eyed early risers, and another one in four are night owls. For them, the effect can go beyond falling asleep in front of the TV at10 pm or being regularly late for work.
Numerous studies have found that morning people are more self-directed and agreeable. And compared to night owls, they are less likely to be depressed, drink or smoke.
Although morning types may achieve more academically, night owls tend to perform better on measures of memory, processing speed and cognitive ability, even when they have to perform those tasks in the morning. Night-time people are also more open and more creative. And one study shows that night owls are as healthy and wise as morning types- and a little bit wealthier.
Still think the morning people sound more like CEO material? Don’t set your alarm for 5 am just, yet, as it turns out, overhauling (大修) your sleep times may not have much effect.
“If people are left to their naturally preferred times, they feel much better. They say that they are much more productive. The mental capacity they have is much broader,” says Oxford University biologist Katharina Wulf. On the other hand, she says, pushing people too far out of their natural preference can be harmful. When they wake early, for example, night owls are still producing melatonin (褪黑激素 ). “Then, you disrupt it and push the body to be in the daytime mode. That can have lots of negative, physiological consequences,” Wulff says like a different sensitivity to insulin and glucose (葡萄糖) which can cause weight gain.
1. What can we know from the 4th and 5th paragraphs?| A．Neither night owls no morning persons perform better than the middle ones. |
| B．To beat night-time people, ask them to do maths calculation in the morning. |
| C．Night owls tend to sacrifice their health for their wealth. |
| D．Morning types are more conservative but more optimistic. |
| A．Don’t fall asleep in front of the TV. |
| B．Better not overhaul your sleep times. |
| C．Stop sting your alarm for 5 am. |
| D．Avoid being-regularly late for work. |
| A．raising the problem→analysing the problem→solving the problem. |
| B．presenting author’s viewpoint → providing supporting proofs→making a conclusion. |
| C．leading in the topic→challenging a viewpoint → discussing about the topic. |
| D．introducing a viewpoint -raising the question→presenting author’s viewpoint. |
| A．To argue against the view that the early bird catches the worm. |
| B．To compare the differences between early risers and night owls. |
| C．To advise people to get up neither too early nor too late. |
| D．To explain why some people are more successful. |
2 . The future belongs to the flexible mind. This is the argument behind best-selling author Leonard Mlodinow’s new book, Elastic.
Do we need to develop a flexible mind?
Times and surroundings we live in demand a flexible style of thinking. In politics, we now have to cope with more scandals in a single year than we used to encounter in a lifetime. Meanwhile, the speed and processing power of computers makes it difficult for us to navigate a landscape in which the number of websites has been doubling every two to three years.
Logical thought is an analysis that can be described by an algorithm (算术) of the kind that computers follow. Elastic thought cannot. Logical thought is solved to help us face the everyday challenges of life while elastic thought helps us succeed when circumstances change.
One can also cultivate flexible thinking by adjusting one’s external conditions.
Studies show that sitting in a darkened room, or closing our eyes, can widen our perspective. Low ceilings, narrow corridors, and windowless offices have the opposite effect. Being able to think without any kind of time pressure is also important when striving for novel ideas.
Another way we can try is to pay special attention to one of our strongly held beliefs, take it seriously and recall times in the past that we were wrong about something, even though we’d been confident of being right. In fact, more generally, introducing a little disagreement to our intellectual interactions may also be helpful.
| A．The way we use and access them is also subject to frequent “disastrous changes”. |
| B．It examines the ever-increasing changes we find ourselves living through, and the ways of thinking best suited to them. |
| C．Flexible thinking comes naturally to all humans, but it may be blocked by our ability to tune out “crazy” idea. |
| D．In what way is it hard to think “flexibly”? |
| E．It is where our new ideas come from. |
| F．Just as important, interruptions are deadly. |
| G．How can we learn to be more flexible in our own thinking? |
The Power of Silence
Once a farmer lost his precious watch while working in his bar. It may have appeared as an ordinary watch to others, but held a deep sentimental value for it.
After searching high and low among the hay for a long time, the old farmer got exhausted. The tired farmer did not want to give up the search for his watch and requested a group of children playing outside the bar to help. He promised an attractive reward for the person who can find his beloved watch.
After hearing about the reward, the children hurried inside the barn and went through and round the entire stack of hay to find the watch. After a long time looking for a watch in the hay, some of the children got tired and gave up. The number of children looking for the watch slowly decreased and only a few tired children were left. The farmer gave up all his hope to find the watch and called off the search.
Just when the farmer was closing the door, a little boy came up to him and requested the farmer to give him another chance. The farmer did not want to miss any chance of finding the watch so let the little boy in the barn.
After a little while the little boy came out with the watch in his hand. The farmer was happily surprised and asked how the boy succeeded in getting the watch while everyone including him had failed.
The boy replied “just sat there tried listening to the ticking of the watch. In silence, it was much easier to listen to it and direct the search in the direction of the sound.”
The farmer was delighted to get the watch and rewarded the little boy as promised.
A peaceful mind can think better than a worked-up mind. Once in a while, allow a few minutes of silence to your mind. Sometimes all you need to do is relax and listen.
1. Why did the farmer request the children to help search for the watch?2. How did the boy find the watch?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
The farmer did not want to disappoint the boy, so he let the little boy in the barn search for the watch.
4. In addition to helping us think better, what do you think are some other benefits of having a peaceful mind? (about 40 words)
4 . When I re-entered the full-time workforce a few years ago after a decade of lonely self-employment, there was one thing I was looking forward to the most: the opportunity to have work friends once again. It wasn’t until I entered the corporate world that I realized, for me at least, being friends with colleagues didn’t emerge as a thing on the list at all. This is surprising when you consider the current common emphasis by scholars and trainers and managers on the importance of cultivating close interpersonal relationships at work. So much research has been done to explore the way in which collegial ties can help overcome a range of work place-issues affecting productivity and the quality of work output such as team-based conflict, jealousy, undermining, anger, and more.
Perhaps my expectations of lunches, watercooler’ gossip and caring, deep and meaningful conversations were a legacy of the last time I was in that kind of office environment-Whereas now, as I near the end of my fourth decade, I realize work can be fully functional and entirely fulfilling without needing to be best mates with the people sitting next to you or form a close bond with them.
In an academic analysis just published in the profoundly-respected Journal of Management, researchers have looked-at the concept of “indifferent relationships ”. It’s a simple term that illustrates the fact that relationships at work can reasonably be not close, not important, not sensible and even, dare I say it, disposable or replaceable.
Indifferent relationships are neither positive nor negative. The limited research conducted thus far indicates they’ re especially dominant among those who value independence over cooperation, and harmony over conflict. Indifference is also the preferred option among those who are socially lazy. Maintaining relationships over the long term takes effort. For some of us, too much effort, actually.
As noted above, indifferent relationships may not always be the most helpful approach in resolving some of the issues that pop up at work. But there are nonetheless several proven benefits. One of those is efficiency. Less time chatting and socializing means more time working and yielding (产出).
The other is self-esteem. As human beings, we’re prepared to compare ourselves to each other in what is an anxiety-provoking phenomenon. Apparently, we look down on acquaintances more so than close friends. Since the former is most common among those more likely involved in indifferent relationships, their predominance can boost individuals’ sense of self-worth.
Ego aside, a third advantage is that the emotional neutrality of indifferent relationships has been found to enhance critical evaluation, to strengthen one’s focus on task resolution, and to gain greater access to valuable information. None of that might be as fun as after-work socializing but, hey, I’ll take it anyway
1. What did the author realize when he re-entered the corporate world?| A．Making hew mends with this workmates was not as easy as he had thought. |
| B．Cultivating positive interpersonal relationships helped him shake off lonely feelings. |
| C．Building close relationships with his colleagues was not as important as he had expected. |
| D．Working in the corporate world requires more interpersonal skills than self-employment. |
| A．They should be cultivated. |
| B．They are actual irrelevant. |
| C．They are vital to corporate culture. |
| D．They should be reasonably intimate. |
| A．They feel uncomfortable when engaging in social interactions. |
| B．They often find themselves in confrontation with their colleagues. |
| C．They lack basic communication skills in dealing with interpersonal issues. |
| D．They are unwilling to make efforts to maintain workplace relationships. |
| A．They provide fun at work. |
| B．They improve work efficiency. |
| C．They help resolve differences. |
| D．They help control emotions. |
The Battle at Lake Changjin tells the story of CPV (Chinese People’s Volunteers) soldiers fighting bravely in
6 . What makes a person a giver or a taker? The idea of “give vs. take” takes shape in all interactions (互动) and relationships of our lives. We’re either giving advice, making time for people, or we’re on the receiving end. We keep changing between the two based on different situations on a daily basis, if not an hourly one. According to Adam Grant, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, most people are matchers. They make careful observations on takers and make it a point for them to pay something back. They hate to see people who act so generously towards others not receive any rewards. Actually, most matchers will try hard to promote and support givers so that they can get the good they deserve.
Is there a gender factor (性别因素) that plays a part in this?
A study led by Hannah Riley Bowles, a professor at Harvard University, focused on this question. She asked 200 senior managers to sit down in pairs where one person would act as the boss and the other as an employee to discuss salary promotions. Male “employees” asked for an average salary of $146 k while the females asked for only $141 k. But why did they not bargain as hard as the men? Simply because they were more likely to be givers.
As a woman, I do enjoy the act of giving up my time, my knowledge, and my care and attention to others. I don’t expect anything in return, but I do tend to pull myself away when I feel like I’m being taken for granted (被认为理所当然). I also tend to get upset when I see a loved one’s continuous actions of kindness go unnoticed. So, it’s safe to say I’m 50% giver, 35% matcher and 15% taker.
I do know someone, however, who is 99% giver. They’re constantly devoting their time, sharing valuable insights(洞察力) and going out of their way for everyone who crosses their path. Although they’ve changed the lives of many people, they rarely see any of it returned. But the universe is slowly repaying them; they are now extremely successful, well known for what they do.
1. We can learn from the first paragraph that________.| A．most people think they are givers |
| B．people are not always givers or takers |
| C．an individual is born to be a giver or a taker |
| D．few differences exist between givers and takers |
| A．the role of giving and taking in jobs |
| B．the gender difference in giving and taking |
| C．the role of men and women in society |
| D．the salary difference between women and men |
| A．think acts of kindness should be valued |
| B．expect something in return for giving most of the time |
| C．take giving for granted |
| D．be a complete matcher |
| A．Giving is the shortest path to success. |
| B．Sharing is the greatest human quality. |
| C．No good deed goes undone. |
| D．Givers are worth respecting. |
7 . Mona Lisa, the mysterious woman in Leonardo da Vinci’s 16th century masterpiece, had just given birth to her second son when she sat for the painting, a French art expert said on Tuesday. The discovery was made by a team of Canadian scientists who used special infrared(红外线) and three-dimensional(三维的) technology to study the paint layers on the work, which now sits in the Louvre museum in Paris.
Bruno Mottin of the French Museums’ Center for Research and Restoration said that on very close examination of the painting it became clear that the Mona Lisa’s dress was covered in a thin transparent gauze veil.(透明面纱).
“This type of gauze dress was typical of the kind worn in early 16th century Italy by women who were pregnant or who had just given birth. This is something that had never been seen up to now because the painting was always judged to be dark and difficult to examine,” he told a news conference.
“We can now say that this painting by Leonardo da Vinci was painted in memory of the birth of the second son of Mona Lisa, which helps us to date it more precisely to around 1503.” The young woman with the ambiguous half smile has been identified as Lisa Gherardini, wife of Florentine merchant Francesco de Giocondo. She had five children.
“People always wrote that Mona Lisa had allowed her hair to hang freely over her shoulders. This greatly surprised historians because letting your hair hang freely during the Renaissance was typical of young girls and women of poor virtue(美德)” he said.
The team had hoped to discover more details about Leonardo’s painting techniques, which the artist used to create a hazy(朦胧的)effect. But scientist John Taylor said the team had been disappointed by the lack of brush stroke(笔触)detail on the painting.
1. According to the latest research, Mona Lisa was ________ .| A．a woman of poor virtue |
| B．da Vinci’s second wife |
| C．a woman who had just been pregnant |
| D．a woman who had just given birth to her second son |
| A．the research has been carried out in France |
| B．Mona Lisa was painted in 1503 at the latest |
| C．In da Vinci’s time women could only wear short hair |
| D．the most difficulty is to identify the paint layers |
| A．Mona Lisa, the Mysterious Woman. |
| B．Mona Lisa, a New Mother. |
| C．Great Discovery in Painting. |
| D．Leonardo’s Painting Technique. |
More than twenty-five years ago, Philadelphia started a program
The Scream was painted by Edvard Munch in 1893.
A few years ago, I started to notice big shifts in teens’ behavior. Around 2014, teens started to spend their time much differently from the generations before. These teens and young adults all have one thing in common: Their childhood or adolescence coincided with the rise of the smart phone. For this reason, I call them iGeneration.
What makes iGen different? Growing up with a smartphone has affected nearly every aspect of their lives. They spend so much time on the Internet, texting friends and on social media that they have less leisure time for everything else. Whether it’s going to parties, shopping at the mall, or watching movies, iGen teens are participating in these social activities at a significantly low rate.
Some parents might worry about their teens spending so much time on their phones because it differs from the way they spent their own adolescence. But it is not just different-in many ways, it’s actually worse. Spending less time with friends means less time to develop social skills. A 2016 study found that sixth graders who spent just five days at a camp without using screens ended the time better at reading emotions on others’ faces, suggesting that iGen’s screen-filled lives might cause their social skills to shrink.
In addition, in the annual Monitoring the Future survey, the percentage of iGen teens who read a non required book every day dropped from 60 percent in 1980 to only 16 percent in 2016. Perhaps as a result, average SAT critical reading scores have dropped 14 points since 2010.
iGen shows another break with the previous generations: Depression, anxiety, and loneliness have shot upward with happiness declining. The teen suicide rate increased by more than 50 percent, as did the number of teens with clinical-level depression.
Parents used to worry about their teens spending too much time with their friends-they were a distraction, a bad influence, a waste of time. But it might be just what iGen needs now.
1. How are iGen teens different from the generations before?2. What is another break with the previous generation does iGen show?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
Teen’s friends were regarded as a distraction, a bad influence, and a waste of time by most parents, so it’s not suggested that teens spend time with their friends.
4. Can you offer some suggestions for iGen teens? (about 40 words)
