1 . When you are waiting in front of a theater or at the train terminals, you will realize how important punctuality is. Punctuality is really a virtue, especially in a busy city.     1     .

Punctuality is the main constituent of good character.     2     On the other hand, a person who is always late shows his selfishness and thoughtlessness and he is not worthy to be friends with.

Some people often say that they cannot always be punctual since traffic is so heavy these days.     3     As everybody knows, we might meet an unexpected jam on the roads, so we should leave a bit earlier for the appointment to ensure that we would not be late.

    4    . When they finally arrive, they keep on saying sorry to their friends and then explain. The excuse is not always traffic jam. Sometimes they complain that they have met a friend on the road or have helped a blind man to cross the road. Some also like to blame their watches, the clocks at home or in the office. To such people, we cannot help but say sorry that we have come too early.

Yet after all, such smart fellows will soon find that gradually their friends become fewer and fewer. Perhaps at that time, they would realize how important punctuality is.

    5    . So when we are young, we should try to be punctual every time and never be late, for it is much more easily acquired in youth than when we are older.

A．To be or not to be punctual is a habit.

B．It is polite to be punctual when you are invited to a party.

C．Some people always have a lot of excuses for coming late.

D．I think traffic jam cannot be an excuse for being late.

E．Here, I will tell you how to be a punctual person step by step.

F．Perhaps if everybody were punctual, there would be less suffering and sorrow.

G．A person who is always on time for his appointment shows real consideration for others.

2 . A study of violinists found that merely good players practised as much as better players, leaving other factors such as quality of education, learning skills and perhaps natural talent to account for the difference.

This finding challenges the 10, 000-hour rule promoted in Malcolm Gladwell’s 1993 study of violinists and pianists. Gladwell states that enough practice will make an expert of anyone. “The idea has been popular and entrenched in our culture for years. It’s not an idiom but an overstatement,” said Brooke Macnamara, the lead author. “When it comes to human skill, a complex combination of environmental factors and genetic factors explains the performance differences across people.”

Macnamara and her colleagues set out to repeat part of the 1993 study to see whether they reached the same conclusion. They interviewed three groups of 13 violinists regarded as best, good, or less accomplished about their practice habits, before having them complete daily diaries of their activities over a week. While the less skillful violinists reached an average of about 6,000 hours of practice by the age of 20, there was little to separate the good from the best, with each reaching an average of about 11,000 hours. In all, the number of hours spent practising accounted for about a quarter of the skill difference across the three groups.

Macnamara believes practice is less of a driver. “Once you get to the highly skilled groups, practice stops accounting for the difference. Everyone has practised a lot and other factors are at play in determining who goes on to a higher level,” she said. “The factors depend on the skill being learned: in chess it could be intelligence or working memory; in sport it may be how efficiently a person uses oxygen. To complicate matters further, one factor can drive another. Children who enjoy playing the violin, for example, may be happy to practise because they do not see it as a trouble.”

The authors of the 1993 study are unimpressed. Macnamara said it was important for people to understand the limits of practice, though. “Practice makes you better than you were yesterday, most of the time,” she said. “But it might not make you better than your neighhour or the other kid in your violin class.”

1. What does the underlined word “entrenched” in paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Rooted.

B．Advanced.

C．Changed.

D．Unconfirmed.

2. What can we learn about Macnamara’s study?

A．It convinced Malcolm Gladwell.	B．It involved violinists and pianists.
C．Its process was similar to the 1993 study.	D．Its result is consistent with the 1993 study.

3. What does Macnamara find about highly skilled people?

A．Practicing for 11,000 hours is their main driver.

B．They enjoy keeping diaries about their progress.

C．Environmental factors have little relation to their success.

D．More practice makes little difference to their further progress.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．What makes an expert?	B．Does practice make perfect?
C．The early bird catches the worm	D．Enthusiasm is the key to success