1 . You may not realize it, but you are doing much more than just studying when you are at school. School is also the place where you learn to get on well with people. But this is not always easy. What can you do if you just don't like one of your classmates?
If you discover that you have problems getting on with your classmates or friends, the most important thing to learn is tolerance. Tolerance is the ability to realize and respect the differences in others. We cannot change the way that other people do, so it is important to learn to live happily with them.
Tolerance will make everyone get on better with each other. Getting to know someone may help you understand why he does things differently. Something different does not exactly mean that it is bad. Tolerance teaches us to keep a temperate and open mind.
You need to remember an old saying, “Treat others how you want to be treated.” If you tolerate something, it does not mean that you have to like it. No one is asking you to change who you are or what you believe in. Tolerance just means that you should respect the differences in others and not try to make them change.
It is important to practice tolerance, because it will make everyone's life easier. Learn to accept people for their different abilities and interests. The world is very different, and practicing tolerance in your own school and city can help make a difference.
1. This passage is trying to tell us ________.| A．what's important for a student |
| B．what students should do at school |
| C．how to treat people different from us |
| D．how to get others to do things in the right way |
| A．it's easier for someone to hate others |
| B．getting along with others is not difficult |
| C．most students are getting on well with each other |
| D．students are learning other things besides studying |
| A．Accept people as they are. |
| B．Believe you are always right. |
| C．Expect everybody to be the same. |
| D．Change yourself to please other people. |
| A．tolerance can only be learnt at school |
| B．living with people of the same interests is easier |
| C．practicing tolerance at school can help make a better world |
| D．people in different countries have different interests and abilities |
2 . Being a leader in any environment earns you trust among peers and helps you get things done, whatever the task is. Let us show you how to develop leadership skills.
Assess yourself.
Address areas of improvement. Be open to testing new ideas and trying new ways of doing things, especially if it seems your old ways of doing things don’t work.
Be a good problem-solver.
Encourage others. Building leadership skills requires knowing how to work well with people. Staying in the know about what goes on in your community is important, but responding to that information with enthusiasm is equally critical.
| A．Accept responsibility. |
| B．Be open to the opinions of others. |
| C．Building leadership skills requires plenty of self-awareness. |
| D．Unexpected challenges will arise often and at lightning speed. |
| E．Let go of the need to stick to your plan and be flexible instead. |
| F．Recognizing the past can't be changed helps you make wiser choices in the future. |
| G．So be a source of positivity and support others in working toward their own goals. |
3 . We’ve all been there: in a lift, in line at the bank or on an airplane, surrounded by people who are, like us, deeply focused on their smartphones or, worse, struggling with the uncomfortable silence.
What’s the problem? It’s possible that we all don’t have enough conversational ability. It’s more likely that none of us start a conversation because it’s embarrassing and challenging, or we think it’s annoying and unnecessary. But the next time you find yourself among strangers, consider that small talk is worth the trouble. Experts say it’s a valuable social practice that leads to big benefits.
It is easy to consider small talk as unimportant, but we can’t forget that deep relationships wouldn’t even exist if there weren’t casual conversations. Small talk is the grease (润滑剂) for social communication, says Bernardo Carducci, director of the Shyness Research Institute at Indiana University Southeast. “Almost every great love story and each big business deal begins with small talk,” he explains. “The secret to successful small talk is learning how to connect with others, not just communicate with them.”
In a 2014 study, Elizabeth Dunn, professor of psychology at UBC, invited people to a coffee shop. One group was asked to interact (互动) with its waiter; the other, to speak only when necessary. The results showed that those who chatted with their server reported significantly higher positive feelings and a better coffee shop experience. “It’s not that talking to the waiter is better than talking to your husband,” says Dunn. “But interactions with peripheral (边缘的) members of our social network is important for our happiness and health.”
Dunn believes that people who reach out to strangers feel a greater sense of belonging, a link with others. Carducci believes developing such a sense of belonging starts with small talk. “Small talk is the basis of good manners,” he says.
1. What phenomenon is described in the first paragraph?| A．Addiction to smartphones. |
| B．Impatience with slow service. |
| C．Improper behaviors in public places. |
| D．Absence of communication between strangers. |
| A．Keeping in touch with other people. |
| B．Showing good manners. |
| C．Making business deals |
| D．Focusing on a topic |
| A．It improves family relationships. |
| B．It makes people feel good. |
| C．It raises people’s confidence |
| D．It matters as much as a formal talk. |
| A．Strengths of Small Talk |
| B．Ways of Making Small Talk |
| C．Conversation Counts |
| D．Uncomfortable Silence |
4 . We all know how important personal interaction is in family and friends. It is also crucial at work. It is the foundation on which happiness and successful results are built.
A study found a correlation (相关性) of 0.92 between employee happiness and their relationships with colleagues. The correlation between their happiness and relationships to directors was only 0.74.Since you may spend more time with coworkers than with your directors, personal interaction in a group, especially a new one, deserves much attention. Whenever people involve in a new company or organization, they need to get to know each other to be comfortable in working together. This does not mean just memorizing names, and team icebreakers are the way to begin.
To everyone, except the most eager and outgoing few, icebreakers are a necessary evil. They are supposed to make awkwardness disappear, but forced icebreakers often make events even more tense. However, the benefits of icebreakers far outweigh(超过) any negatives. They can take care of introductions in a much more fun way than just simply going around the room and stating what's on your business card. When done right, icebreakers can quickly build a sense of community, set the tone for the upcoming session and share participants’ expectations of the days ahead. It helps participants to get involved, understand each other more and enable better cooperation and networking. Last but not least, it is a practical way to cheer the group up and have everyone focused and ready to go.
The best icebreakers should be tailored for a particular situation: icebreakers for a private company often have a different design from a non-profit organization and finding the right one for your purpose can help them be successful.
1. What can be inferred from Paragraph 2?| A．Happiness is affected more by those closer to us. |
| B．Directors should care more about workers’ happiness. |
| C．Memorizing colleagues’ names is of great importance. |
| D．Finding the coworkers you are comfortable with is hard. |
| A．Something that is needed though people may not like it |
| B．Something that must be involved in the new companies. |
| C．Something that creates a strange atmosphere among people. |
| D．Something that does great harm to companies in the long run. |
| A．Objective. | B．Opposed. |
| C．Favorable. | D．Doubtful. |
| A．The characteristics of icebreakers. |
| B．The general introduction of icebreakers. |
| C．The common application of icebreakers. |
| D．The methods to choose proper icebreakers. |
5 . Handwritten thank-you letters are such a simple way of making other people feel good, it is strange that so few people write them anymore. At work, a thank-you letter to employees is unbelievably effective. It costs little and has no side effects. The effort involved in writing letters very low. The pleasure on receiving them is very high.
Doug Conant, manager of Campbell’s Soup Company since 2001, knows the power of thank you letters. He said that every day he works with an assistant, searching the company for people deserving thanks.
In these days of such busy schedules and people running all over the place and trying to get ahead, sometimes we forget the simplest things in life are the most powerful and rewarding. You need to think to yourself about a time someone sent you a thank-you and how much it meant to you.
| A．He then writes them a thank-you letter. |
| B．Why are thank-you letters so important? |
| C．You may ask what side effects exactly mean. |
| D．This makes them an excellent way to reward and motivate staff. |
| E．But if these letters are so inspiring, why don’t more managers write them? |
| F．Always remember to “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you!” |
| G．Since no one ever writes them thank-you letters they don’t write any themselves. |
6 . Recently my friend invited me to her residential hall, which is an African-American themed hall. They have lots of meetings and outings there. So I thought it would be fun. On this particular day they were having a pancake breakfast, just a time to mix. I was excited to be there, too.
I walked in at a time when the mini-party was at its peak. I found my friend; excitedly, we hugged and she led me to a seat in the back. We sat there for some time. I sensed some sort of discrimination. I wondered, were we just isolating ourselves or were we facing discrimination?
My friend’s breakfast came in first, and it was a plate full of colors. My mouth watered. I have always liked rainbow dishes: they make me hungry. She let me pick pancakes and fruit; we ate and only then began to talk.
The black American contemporary music was extremely loud. Some boys and girls were beating the tables and some guys on the stage were dancing in what looked like a kind of competition.
We talked about various subjects: hair, boys, shoes and books. And then we got to it. “What do African Americans think of Africans?”
We argued. I told her I thought African Americans were haughty. Why did they sideline us? When we met in a narrow passage and our eyes met, they quickly looked aside before we greeted. Why? Weren’t we all black? I mean, wasn’t this exactly the reason why there was an African-American themed house to begin with?
Did they look down upon us because they grew up in America and we in Sub-Saharan Africa? Oh yes, I felt this was it! They believed that we were HIV-positive and that the giraffes were right behind our huts.
My friend uttered, “No!” And then she continued：
“I also thought so at one point but after living with these guys, I got to a different conclusion altogether. These guys are not from Africa. They were not born there and may have never been there. We can’t expect them to naturally like us or bond. We are different. Skin color is the skin color.”
1. It can be inferred from Paragraph 2 that the author ________.| A．is an African American | B．is an American African |
| C．was late for the party | D．was crazy about parties |
| A．Delicious. | B．Just so-so. |
| C．A bit salty. | D．A little sweet. |
| A．kind-hearted | B．modest |
| C．fashionable | D．proud |
| A．They had a good time at the party. |
| B．They turned down the music for me. |
| C．Some of them broke the tables. |
| D．They had a competition at the party. |
| A．The author was brought up in Sub-Saharan Africa. |
| B．The friend had the same idea as the author before. |
| C．The African Americans are born in America. |
| D．The African Americans have nothing in common with Africans. |
7 . LIFE is AWKWARD．What should you do when your parents are embarrassing(使尴尬)you in front of your friends？Or what if you see what looks like a classmate stealing someone else's headphones？ In our social Q's column(专栏)，the teenager Harper Ediger and the adult Philip Galances give their best advice to kids looking for help navigating real﹣life situations，Now it's your turn：Do you have a question about an uncomfortable social situation at school，at home, on social media or among friends？Email it to us at Kidsqs@njpost.com and Harper and Philip may answer it in a future issue. Please include your age and hometown. Come on, we know you have one．
To give you some idea about how to ask questions , here are reader﹣submitted questions we've published in previous issues：
My mom signs me up for camps and activities without asking what I want to do. I only learn what I'm doing at the last minute. I don't like being told what to do, and I feel that I should be able to help plan my time. How can I have more of a say？
At my school, fourth graders need to learn different dances, then dress up for a fancy party where we ask partners to dance with us. This makes me nervous, and I'm not looking forward to it.How should I handle this situation？
My sister is home for college break, and lucky me, she's my roommate.As I'm 12 and she's almost 19, we both want our own space. I know she doesn't mean it personally,but she always complains that she doesn't have a home, which makes me feel as if I'm intruding in my own room．Do I tell her how l feel or let it go？
1. What should be included in your email to the social Q's column？| A．Name, age and social media | B．Age, school and hometown． |
| C．Age, hometown and questions． | D．Name, school and questions． |
| A．the ability to plan time | B．the chance to set up camps |
| C．the right to make decisions | D．the plan to enjoy activities |
| A．show kids ways of solving problems |
| B．give kids examples of what to write about |
| C．share Harper and Philip's advice with kids |
| D．offer kids a chance to complain about their lives |
| A．help kids deal with their troubles |
| B．train kids to write |
| C．have kids introduce themselves |
| D．advise kids to behave well |
8 . “Don’t tell anyone”. We hear these words when someone tells a secret to us. But it can be hard to keep a secret. We often tend to “spill the beans”, even if we regret it later.
According to Asim Shah, professor in the Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine, US, keeping a secret may well “become a burden”. This is because people often have an “obsessive and anxious urge to share it with someone”.
An earlier study, led by Anita E. Kelly, a scientist at the University of Notre Dame, US, suggested that keeping a secret could cause stress. People entrusted (受委托的) with secrets can suffer from depression, anxiety, and body aches, reported the Daily Mail.
But with secrets so often getting out, why do people share them at all?Shah explained that people often feel that it will help them keep a person as a friend. Another reason people share secrets is guilt over keeping it from someone close to them. A sense of distrust can develop when people who are close do not share it with each other. “Keeping or sharing secrets often puts people in a position of either gaining or losing the trust of someone,” according to Shah.
He added that talkative people could let secrets slip out (泄露). But this doesn’t mean that it is a good idea only to share secrets with quiet people. A quiet person may be someone who keeps everything inside. To tell such a person a secret may cause them stress, and make them talk about the secret.
Shah said that to judge whether to tell someone a secret, you’d better put yourself in their position. Think about how you would feel to be told that you mustn’t give the information away. Shah also recommended that if you accidentally give up someone’s secret you should come clean about it. Let the person know that their secret isn’t so secret anymore.
1. What does underlined words “spill the beans” mean?| A．Cut up beans. | B．Burst into laughter. |
| C．Let out the secret. | D．Keep the words. |
| A．It can help promote friendships between people. | B．It can result in mental and physical problems. |
| C．It can result in a sense of distrust between friends. | D．It can harm relationships between friends. |
| A．It’s not a good idea to share your secrets with others. |
| B．It’s better to share your secrets with quiet people. |
| C．Quiet people suffer less stress from keeping secrets. |
| D．Talkative people are unlikely to keep secrets. |
| A．Buy the person a gift as an apology. |
| B．Stay away from the person. |
| C．Exchange a new secret with the person. |
| D．Tell the affected person what happened. |
9 . Many people confuse hard-working people with workaholics(工作狂). How could a person tell that he/she is a workaholic? A workaholic works long hours, at the expense of personal relationships and health. When not working, they’re thinking about work. Work influences their mood: when work is going well, they’re up; when work is going less well, they’re down.
Working, or simply being busy, can be a hard habit to break. When workaholics aren’t busy working—or doing something to promote their work—they feel anxious and guilty. They hang onto jobs for dear life and do everything they can to make sure they’re essential.
There is a link between health problems and workaholism. Just because work itself is a respectable pursuit(追求) doesn’t mean that an addiction to it is any less damaging than other sorts of addictions. A number of studies show that workaholism has been associated with a wide range of health problems, such as anxiety and heart disease.
Besides health problems, being a workaholic brings other negative effects as well. A study published in the American Journal of Family Therapy found that working too much negatively influenced an employee’s marriage. This isn’t surprising, since if you’re married to your work, it can be difficult to be married to anything, or anyone, else. There have also been studies looking at the influence of workaholic parents on their children and the news isn’t good. Adult children of workaholic fathers experienced more depression and anxiety and a weaker sense of self.
However, there are also many positive aspects to working hard and to an increasing devotion to career. Hard work can bring great rewards. For many, it’s how they develop feelings of self-worth and confidence and purpose. If you have a workaholic in your life, you might point out the things he or she is missing out on while at work, whether it’s a child’s soccer game, a good book, or a yoga class. Seek to understand why the person feels the need to work so much and support them in finding a solution.
1. What can we infer about workaholics?| A．They put work in the first place. |
| B．They usually have life outside work. |
| C．They often get pleasure from work. |
| D．They win respect from their workmates. |
| A．Bad influences of workaholism. |
| B．Reasons for being workaholics. |
| C．How people deal with their addictions. |
| D．How hard-working people differ from workaholics. |
| A．Force them to join family activities. |
| B．Reward them for their hard work. |
| C．Help them find self-worth and confidence. |
| D．Try to understand and support them. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Objective. | C．Negative. | D．Curious. |
10 . A day in the life of 18-year-old David Lanster is full of teenage activities: school, baseball practice, homework. And then he starts cooking. "Some nights I'm up until I am making pies, or even later if we're cooking beef," said the student at Ransom Everglades High School in Florida, US.
For the past year, Lanster and Kelly Moran, his classmate, have been hosting fancy dinner parties at Lanster's parents' home. Their meals have 17 courses and are all made by them. Their guests used to give them gifts to thank them, until the pair decided to do something nice for charity. "We got some really great Miami Heat tickets, a nice watch, and many kitchen machines," Lanster said. "But we wanted to make this something positive for people rather than us."
Lanster and Moran focused on Common Threads, a charity that helps to teach kids in poor neighbourhood to cook and make healthy eating choices. The young cooks ask their guests to give however much they want as payment for their meals. It all goes to Common Threads because Lanster's parents cover their food costs. After their last 12-person event, Lanster and Moran gave $1,600 to the charity. Now, they're taking their show out of the kitchen and on the road. Lanster and Moran have started to organise private dinner parties in a similar way: the host pays for the ingredients (食材), and the guests make a donation (捐赠) to a charity.
Outside the kitchen, the two are busy preparing their college applications. Neither is sure what they will do in the future, but they've promised their parents that they'll leave cooking alone until they finish high school.
1. Why does Lanster and Moran cook now?| A．To get gifts from guests. |
| B．To make healthier eating choices. |
| C．To become cooks. |
| D．To raise money for charity. |
| A．They will give up cooking forever. |
| B．They are sure about their future jobs. |
| C．They will stop cooking for college applications. |
| D．Their parents support cooking as a job. |
| A．Selfish and reliable. | B．Confident and careful. |
| C．Creative and helpful. | D．Outgoing and patient. |
| A．Helping by Cooking | B．Eat as You Wish |
| C．A Great Cook | D．Cooking for School Fees |
