1 . I was recently told by someone that I am a people-pleaser, a person who works hard on satisfying other people. However, this person wasn't saying it in a nice way. So what's wrong with that? What's wrong with making sure others are happy with me? Moreover, what exactly are the negative results of being a people-pleaser?

People-pleasers bum their fingers because of their "others-focused" mindset, which puts them at a disadvantage. When others are not happy, people-pleasers cannot think of anything else, nor can they enjoy the moment, because they are often disturbed with the fact that there is someone on the planet who is not satisfied with them at the moment.

People-pleasers often make promises they can't keep—they write checks they can't cash. This is the situation I found myself in recently. I made a promise to someone that I would do something for him. But it was a bit unrealistic and would take more efforts than I was willing to put in. As a result, that promise was empty. The act of making the promise made them happy, and that, in turn, made me feel satisfied.

Now that we've got an idea of the negative aspects of people-pleasers_, what can we do to get rid of those aspects? Where can we start? The biggest challenge people-pleasers must overcome is to get used to saying "no". I find that it is a struggle, indeed. However, if I want to change my ways, then I must learn to overcome that discomfort

Are you a people-pleaser too? Don't worry. It doesn't make you a bad person, or a dishonest person. But it can sometimes leave you open to unneeded anxiety or be cheated by truly selfish people who only wish to take advantage of your kindness. Keep the good intentions and the good-heartedness in your heart. Just work on how you express your real feelings and hold on to your position through your actions.

1. What does the underlined phrase 'burn their fingers” in Paragraph 2 mean?

A．Hurt their fingers.

B．Suffer some losses.

C．Get slightly burned.

D．Feel angry with people.

2. What is typical of a people-pleaser?

A．Breaking his word.	B．Behaving selfishly.
C．Saying no to others.	D．Cashing his checks.

3. What is the author's purpose in writing the last two paragraphs?

A．To instruct people to express true feelings.

B．To stop people-pleasers from being cheated.

C．To sum up negative aspects of pleasing others.

D．To put forward suggestions for people-pleasers.

2 . The Happy Man

The happy man lives objectively, and has free love and wide interests, through which he secures his happiness. To be the receivers of love is a vital cause of happiness, but the man who demands love is not the man to whom it is given.     1     But it is useless to attempt to give love as a calculation, for it is not sincere and is not felt.

What then can a man do who is unhappy because he is enclosed in self? If he is to get out of the vicious (恶性的) circle of unhappiness, it must be by true interests. But before that, he should analyze his trouble first.     2     If fear is his trouble, let him practice exercises designed to give courage.

Admit to himself every day at least one painful truth.     3     Exercises of this sort will enable him to admit facts and will free him from the fear to a large extent.

    4     Do not say to yourself in advance, “I should be happy if I could become interested in stamp-collecting,” and thus set to work to collect stamps, for it may well happen that you will altogether fail to find stamp-collecting interesting. You may be pretty sure that true objective interests will grow up as soon as you have learnt not to be self-centered.

All unhappiness depends upon lack of integration (融合). There is disintegration within the self,consciously and unconsciously or between the self and society.     5     Such a man feels himself a citizen of the universe, enjoying what it affords, untroubled by the death because he feels not separate from those who will come after him.

A．There is much he can do about it.

B．The man who receives love is the man who gives it.

C．The interests will arise when you overcome being self-centered.

D．The happy life is to an extraordinary extent the same as the good life.

E．Teach himself life is worth even not having great virtue or intelligence.

F．Self-denying leaves a man self-absorbed and aware of his own sacrifice.

G．Neither divided against the self nor the world, the happy man never fails to unite.

3 . Do you remember the last time you got excited over a pair of shoes? Sure, you might have appreciated them, but did you jump for joy and act like they were the greatest thing you’d ever seen? You may not think that shoes are something worth going crazy over, but this woman would disagree. After all, she went wild when she put a pair on for the first time in her life.

It’s amazing how often we take advantage of things in life. When we’re used to something, we don’t always appreciate how lucky we are to have it. While we’re here complaining that our WiFi isn’t fast enough and our videos keep buffering, there are people in Africa who don’t even get to eat three meals a day. While most people work hard for the things they own, it’s important to stop and think of what others don’t have every now and again.

That’s what Laura Grier did one day. The woman was in Bwindi National Park, Uganda, when she felt obliged to stop and help someone by the side of the road. The person in question was standing around without any shoes on, and the sight convinced Grier to give up her own footwear. She had more shoes at home, while this woman had never even worn a pair before.

Laura’s generosity was definitely appreciated by the stranger who treated her benefactor to a celebratory dance. The woman couldn’t keep the smile from her face as she went wild in her brand new shoes. Grier was thrilled that her good deed had made the stranger so happy, and she cheered on the Ugandan woman as she danced in the street.

The next time you buy a pair of shoes, remember how lucky you are to have them.

1. Why did Laura Grier give her shoes to the woman?

A．To show her generosity.	B．To get permission to pass by.
C．To offer her help.	D．To reward her dance for her.

2. How did Laura Grier feel at the woman’s reaction?

A．Nervous.

B．Excited.

C．Thankful.

D．Lucky.

3. What does the story teach us?

A．Never expect too much of life.	B．Try to know more about Africa.
C．Don’t admire what others have.	D．Appreciate what we already have.

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A．One Woman Overjoyed by Her First Pair of Shoes

B．One Lady Forced to Offer Her Pair of Footwear

C．Ugandan Woman Dances to Welcome Her Guest

D．Grier Greatly Thrilled at Beautiful African Dance

4 . I once taught in a small private school. Each morning at nine o'clock all the students, ranging in age from three to seven years old, gathered in the Great Room for a warm-up in preparation for the day.

One morning the headmistress made an announcement to all the children gathered,“Today we begin a great experiment of the mind.” She held up two ivy(常春藤) plants, each potted in an identical container. She continued, “Do they look the same?”

All the children nodded. So did I, for, in this way, I was also a child.

“We will give the plants the same amount of light, the same amount of water, but not the same amount of attention,” She said. “Together we are going to see what will happen when we put one plant in the kitchen away from our attention and the other plant right here in this room. Each day for the next month, we shall sing to our plant in the Great Room and tell it how much we love it, and how beautiful it is. We will use our good minds to think good thoughts about it.”

Four weeks later my eyes were as wide and disbelieving as the children’s. The kitchen plant was leggy and sick-looking, and it hadn’t grown at all. But the Great Room plant, which had been sung to and surrounded by positive thoughts and words, had increased threefold in size with dark leaves that were filled with energy.

In order to prove the experiment, the kitchen ivy was brought to the Great Room to join the other ivy. Within three weeks, the second plant had caught up with the first ivy. Within four weeks, they could not be distinguished, one from the other.

I took this lesson to heart and made it my own.

1. Why did the headmistress do the experiment?

A．She wanted to teach me a lesson.

B．She expected the students to learn to grow plants.

C．She meant to prove the impact of good minds on growth.

D．She intended to show students how to save a sick-looking plant.

2. What happened to the ivy in the kitchen at last?

A．It stopped growing and died.

B．It was leggy and sick with dark leaves.

C．It looked almost the same as the other one.

D．It grew better than the one in the Great Room.

3. What can be a suitable title for the passage?

A．Life Means Growth

B．Things Grow with Love

C．Equality Makes a Difference

D．Positive Thoughts Really Count

5 . Everybody has been rejected .Being rejected often makes you disappointed , depressed and angry .     1    

1. Realize it’s inevitable

Let’s face it .Not everyone is going to think you are as indispensable and wonderful as your mom does .The expression , “Get used to rejection “ may be trite and overused , but it certainly is true .

2 See rejection as an opportunity to learn

    2    Even if you were rejected unfairly , there is always something positive you can take away from the experience .

3.If you deserved to be rejected , then own it .

Sometimes , believe it or not , we all deserve to be turned down for something .Take responsibility for any foolish decisions you made , or behavior in which you engaged .     3    

4. Be compassionate toward others who face rejection

Once your heart’s been broken by that rejection email , you can empathize with others who are going through the same thing . Be there for them .And someday you may have to write that rejection email .     4    

5. Take the high road

Avoid the temptation to blast the person or organization that just turned you down ,especially on social media .You can never take that tweet or Face book status down .It’s there forever . If you must speak to the experience of rejection publicly , then let your words reflect grace and dignity .

    5    

If you give up on that book idea ,business venture , grad school idea , or whatever , then your experience of being rejected was a waste . Never let a devastating , cry-your-eyes -out , come -from -nowhere experience of being rejected go to waste .

A．Don’t give up .

B．Actually , we can learn a lot from rejection .

C．Rejection can hurt a person easily .

D．Don’t let yourself move on until you can verbalize to yourself at least three lessons from the experience of rejection .

E．If you are rejected , you should think about the reason why others reject .

F．When you do , remember how it feels to be on the receiving end .

G．Then ,do yourself a favor : don’t repeat the error .

6 . One day a little boy decided to dig a hole behind his house after watching a science program. As he was working, a group of older boys stopped by to watch. "What are you doing?" asked one of the older boys. "I want to dig a deep hole all the way through the earth!" the boy answered excitedly. The older boys began to laugh at him telling him that it was impossible to do it. After a while, they left without saying any more words.

The little boy kept on digging and digging. Suddenly a few small colorful stones caught his eyes. He picked them up and put them into a glass box patiently. Then he went on digging. The box was full soon. Then he talked to himself quietly and proudly, "Maybe I can't finish digging all the way through the earth, but look at what I have found in the process of digging!"

Not all dreams will come true. Maybe your job will not end up with a success. But maybe you can proudly say, "Yes, but look what I've found along the way! There are so many wonderful things that have come into my life because I tried to do something!" So that's why there is a famous saying that the process is more important than the results.

1. What did the boy do after watching a science program?

A．He bought a glass box.	B．He started to dig a hole.
C．He played with some visitors	D．He went on watching the program.

2. What did the older boys think of the little boy?

A．He was silly.	B．He was strict.
C．He was strong-minded.	D．He was energetic.

3. When did the boy find the stones?

A．Before he met the older boys.

B．When he wanted to give up digging.

C．After the older boys laughed at him.

D．As soon as he began to dig the hole.

4. The boy thought the colorful stones were________.

A．wonderful	B．useless
C．cheap	D．awful

5. Which is the best title for the passage?

A．Enjoying the process	B．How to achieve goals
C．A journey through the earth	D．Digging a hole

7 . Where is the future going?

Our work habits have changed a lot over the past thirty years. While our parents may have expected to stay in one job, with one company, for their whole life, we are faced with the possibility of changing jobs and even careers several times. Our understanding of education, work and society is different from that of earlier generations.     1         Many of today's jobs will either disappear or change in the next ten years or so.

People in the future will still need food, of course, but the way we produce food will not be the same.     2     The good news for small farmers is that there will also be opportunities for mew kinds of farming, for example farms that grow organic food and environmentally friendly food.

What about people who work with computers? Well, things will change for them, too. More advanced computer programs and new technologies will remove the need for computer operators who perform simple actions. Modern search engines can do many of the things that yesterday's computer operators did. Word processing and simple information handling can be done automatically.     3    

A rapidly changing job market also creates new challenges for students, teachers and parents.     4     And it is becoming more difficult for parents to understand the kind of world their children are entering. Schools and teachers are also facing difficulties as they try to adapt to the new needs of their students, and the students themselves have to try to deal with all the changes and many questions.

    5     There are no easy answers, but we can try to turn challenges into opportunities. As the job market changes, new areas of growth appear. If we become good learners, and if we work together with our parents, friends and teachers, we can find ways to create a future where there is room for all of us to do what we are good at and enjoy.

A．What life will be like in the future is difficult to predict.

B．Not only the way we work and view the job has changed.

C．It is hard to imagine where all these advanced technologies will lead us.

D．For people with these skills, there will be new jobs as database managers.

E．Where is the future going and what can we do to find a place for ourselves in it?

F．Small farms that use old methods will be replaced by large farms with high efficiency.

G．The difference in values, skills, education and desires between two generations is growing.