1 . What do you do when you can’t figure out how to finish a difficult task at work or when you’re lost in an unfamiliar place? In life, when you get into trouble，there are many solutions. For example，you could invest more time and effort by trying different methods over and over again or looking up the answers online.

But there is one thing most people know to avoid for sure：asking for advice.It is inconsiderate— we don’t want to bother others. After all，they have their own problems to solve. Also, they may not have the answer we need, anyway. These reasons may or may not be true. But we are pretty sure that people will think less of us. So, good reasons or no, we don’t ask.

However, our research suggests that the instinct(直觉) to not seek advice is wrong. Fears about appearing to be having no ability to do things by asking for advice — though extremely common — are totally misplaced. Here’s why. when you ask for advice, people do not think less of you；instead, they actually think you’ re smarter. By asking someone to share his or her personal wisdom, advice seekers can gain a deep understanding of something. In their minds, advisors actually think“I’m brilliant, so this guy is smart to ask for my advice.”

This finding is important, because seeking advice encourages information exchange, learning and meaningful connection between us and our friends and colleagues.In addition，there is another side benefit. asking for advice allows us to make a surprisingly positive impression on our mentors(导师).

Asking for advice is an effective way not only when we are facing a difficult task. The study shows that when facing conflict，asking your friends for advice makes you be able to look at it from more than one angle(角度)，thus leading to quicker and more likely solutions to the conflict.

1. According to the text，people usually________ when they get into trouble.

A．call their friends for help

B．turn to their computer first

C．ask for advice from others

D．solve the problem by themselves

2. People don’t like to ask for advice because                 .
①they don’t want to bother others
②they don’t think others’ advice can help
③they believe others will think less of them
④they are afraid of showing they are unable to do something

A．①②③	B．①③④
C．②③④	D．①②③④

3. What can you learn from the third paragraph?

A．Asking for advice often is wrong.

B．Asking others for advice will make a good impression.

C．People who don’t ask for advice are smarter.

D．Advice seekers can get everything they want from others.

4. What is the author’s attitude toward asking for advice?

A．Positive.	B．Negative.
C．Cautious.	D．Objective.

2 . Alibaba started taking the lead in China， simply enough， by connecting big Chinese manufacturers（制造商） with big buyers across the world． Its business-to-business site， Alibaba． com allowed business to buy almost everything． Alibaba’s advantage wasn’t hard to identify: size． Alibaba is just big， even by Chinese standards． Its marketplaces attract 231 million active buyers，8 million sellers，11．3 billion orders a year—and _______________It encourages people to use its markets—not charging small sellers a percentage of the sale．
If you want a quick look into the influence of Alibaba on daily Chinese life，take my experience．I moved to Beijing almost a year ago and quickly got tired of visiting small stores across the crowded，polluted city of 20 million people in search of new electronics，bathroom furnishings，and anything else my wife wanted． “You’re looking for what exactly？ Why not try it？ ” my Chinese teacher asked me one day．With that，my wonderful new relationship with Alibaba began．
Alibaba’s original business-to-business model now is secondary to consumer buying．Chinese retail（零售）buying makes up 80% of Alibaba’s profit，and leading that group is Taobao，with 800 million items for sale and the most unbelievable selection of things you’ll ever find． TMall．com is Alibaba’s other big site，where you can find brand name goods from Nike and Unilever near the lowest prices．
What I have a hard time explaining to friends and family back in the U．S．is how China has gone beyond traditional shopping—big-box retailers especially —in favor of online purchases on Taobao and a few other sites．In smaller towns than Beijing，where big retailers have not yet traveled，shopping online is shopping，and shopping is Taobao．
I have a list of some of my recent purchases on Taobao for a sense of how extensive the marketplace is．Almost everything arrived a day or two after ordering with free shipping．I’m not even a big buyer，because I need friends to help me search the Chinese-language site．When I was searching my purchase history on my Chinese teacher’s iPad，which helps me buy goods，I looked through with great difficulty about 10 of her purchases for every one of mine．
1. Alibaba’s advantage mainly lies in ___________．

A．its big size

B．its business-to-business service

C．its not charging small sellers

D．its low price

2. What can we learn from the underlined sentence in the passage？

A．Alibaba is of middle size among all the online sites

B．Alibaba will continue to develop．

C．Alibaba stands out as the best online site．

D．Alibaba acts as a bridge between the buyers and sellers．

3. What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 2 refer to？

A．a new store

B．Alibaba

C．a business

D．a foreign website

4. What can be inferred from the passage？

A．The author’s Chinese teacher is also an online purchase lover．

B．Taobao has no obvious advantage over other similar online sites．

C．Alibaba’s business-to-business service earns more money than retail now．

D．TMall．com provides more profit than Taobao．

5. What is the passage mainly about？

A．Shopping online is TaoBao．

B．The influence of shopping online goes beyond traditional shopping．

C．Alibaba greatly influences people’s daily purchase in China．

D．How the author purchases online in China．