An “apple polisher” is one who gives gifts to win friendship or special treatment. It is not exactly a bribe(贿赂), but is close to it.
All sorts of people are apple polishers, including politicians and people in high offices—just about everybody. Oliver Cromwell, the great English leader, offered many gifts to win the support of George Fox and his party, but failed.
There are other phrases meaning the same thing as “apple-polishing”—“soft-soaping” or “buttering-up”. A gift is just one way to “soft-soap” somebody, or to “butter him up”. Another that is just as effective is flattery, giving someone high praise—telling him how good he looks, or how well he speaks, or how talented and wise he is.
Endless are the ways of flattery. Who does not love to hear it? Only an unusual man can resist the thrill of being told how wonderful he is. In truth, flattery is good medicine for most of us, who get so little of it.
We need it to be more sure of ourselves. It cannot hurt unless we get carried away by it. But if we just lap it up for its food value and nourishment, as a cat laps up milk, then we can still remain true to ourselves.
Sometimes, however, flattery will get you nothing from one who has had too much of it. A good example is the famous 12th century legend of King Canute of Denmark and England. The king got tired of listening to endless sickening flattery of his courtiers(朝臣). They overpraised him to the skies, as a man of limitless might.
He decided to teach them a lesson. He took them to the seashore and sat down. Then he ordered the waves to stop coming in. The tide was too busy to listen to him. The king was satisfied. This might show his followers how weak his power was and how empty their flattery.
【小题1】Which of the following activities has nothing to do with “apple-polishing”?

A．A boy tells his girlfriend how pretty she looks.

B．An employee tells her boss how good he is at management.

C．A knight is said to be of limitless power by his followers.

D．A teacher praises her students for their talent and wisdom.

【小题2】What does the writer want to prove with Cromwell’s example?

A．Everybody can be an apple-polisher.

B．Cromwell was not a good apple-polisher.

C．George Fox and his party were not apple-polishers.

D．There are people who don’t like being apple-polished.

【小题3】Which of the following statements about flattery is true according to the author?

A．Too much flattery can carry us away.

B．Flattery is too empty to do people any good.

C．Flattery can get you nothing but excessive(过度的) pride.

D．Flattery is one of the ways to apple-polish people.

【小题4】Why did King Canute of Denmark and England take his followers to the seashore?

A．Because he was sick of his normal life.

B．Because he disliked being overpraised any more.

C．Because he wanted them to realize how wise he was.

D．Because he wanted them to see how weak he was as a king.

【小题5】Who does the author think that flattery can do good to ?

A．Those who are politicians or in high offices.

B．Those who lack confidence.

C．Those who are really excellent.

D．Those who think highly of themselves.

I usually doubt about any research that concludes that people are either happier or unhappier or more or less certain of themselves than they were 50 years ago.While any of these statements might be true, they are practically impossible to prove scientifically. Still, 1 was struck by a report which concluded that today’s children are significantly more anxious than children in the 1950s. In fact, the analysis showed, normal children between 9 and 17 have a higher level of anxiety today than children who were treated for mental illness 50 years ago.
Why are America’s kids so stressed? The report cites two main causes: increasing physical isolation (孤独) brought on by high divorce rates and less involvement in community, and a growing perception that the world is a more dangerous place.
Given that we can’t turn the clock back, adults can still do plenty to help the next generation to cope.
At the top of the list,nurturing (培育) is a better appreciation of the limits of individualism. No child is an island. Strengthening social ties helps build communities and protect individuals against stress.
To help kids build stronger connections with others, you can pull the plug on TVs and computers. Your family will thank you later.They will then have more time for face-to-face relationships, and they will get more sleep.
Limit the amount of virtual (虚拟的) violence your children are exposed to. It’s not just video games and movies; children see a lot of murder and crime on the local news.
Keep your expectations for your children reasonable. Many highly successful people never attended Harvard or Yale.
Make exercise part of your daily routine. It will help you deal with your own anxieties and provide a good model for your kids. Sometimes anxiety is unavoidable,but it doesn’t have to ruin your life.
【小题1】What does the author thinks of the conclusion that people in America are unhappier than 50 years ago?

A．Surprising

B．Confusing

C．Illogical

D．Questionable

【小题2】What does the author mean by saying “ we can’t turn the clock back(Para. 3)?

A．It’s impossible to slow down the pace of the change.

B．The social reality children are facing cannot be changed.

C．Lessons learned from the past should not be forgotten.

D．It’s impossible to forget the past.

【小题3】According to an analysis, compared with normal children today, children 50 years ago __________.

A．were less isolated physically

B．were probably less self-centered

C．probably suffered less from anxiety

D．were considered less individualistic

【小题4】What is the first and most important thing parents should do to help their children?

A．To provide them with a safer environment.

B．To lower their expectations for them.

C．To get them more involved socially.

D．To set a good model for them to follow.

【小题5】What conclusion can be drawn from the passage?

A．Anxiety, though always unavoidable, can be coped with.

B．Children’s anxiety has been enormously exaggerated(夸大).

C．Children’s anxiety can be removed with more parental care.

D．Anxiety, if properly controlled, may help children become mature.

Let’s say you have a piece of wood, a nail, and a hammer. Pretend the wood is a person, and the nail is a mean rumor(谣言) about that person. If you hammer in the nail, you’re obviously hurting him or her. If you then pull out the nail, there’s still a hole in the wood, and the damage has been done.
There are many reasons why that nail of a rumor can be so harmful. Rumors are, quite simply, a form of bullying(欺侮). When a person or a group makes up a rumor about someone or decides to spread gossip, it’s usually to hurt someone, break up a friendship, or make someone less popular. It’s the same thing as teasing, only it’s done behind someone’s back instead of to his or her face.
When you spread a rumor about someone, you’re sending a signal that the person is outside of the group, and somehow less worthy of friendship than others. You’re making fun of that person or pointing out negative things about him or her. This can let others think that it’s okay to make the person feel bad, and make him or her an outsider.
We need to be able to trust our friends, and gossip and rumors can break this trust. If you tell a personal secret to a friend, and he turns around and tells it to someone else, you might feel like you will get burned if you ever get close to him again.
Letting a rumor influence your behavior is like letting someone else make a big decision for you. Let’s say you hear that the teacher plans to call a Snow Day tomorrow because a blizzard (暴风雪) is coming. Expecting a day off, you don’t do your homework. The next morning, the blizzard turns out to be nothing more than a drizzle(毛毛雨), and school isn’t off after all. You get zeroes on your work.
【小题1】To tell a rumor and a tease apart, you depend on ______.

A．whether it is done behind someone

B．whether it is painful or not

C．whether it is a kind of bullying

D．whether it is spread fast.

【小题2】If a rumor is spread about someone, others may_______.

A．point out his or her advantages

B．keep away from him or her

C．not feel he or she is an outsider

D．be hurt if getting close to him or her again.

【小题3】The purpose of this passage is to _______.

A．advise on how to deal with rumors

B．teach us how to judge a rumor

C．find out why rumors spread fast

D．explain why rumors hurt

As computers become all the more popular in China, Chinese people are increasingly depending on computer keyboards to input Chinese characters. But if they use the computer too much, they may end up forgetting the exact strokes（笔画）of each Chinese character when writing on paper. Experts suggest people, especially students, write by hand more.
Do you write by hand more or type more? In Beijing, students start using a computer as early as primary school. And computer dependence is more wide-spread among university students. Almost all their homework and essays are typed on a computer.
All the students interviewed say they usually use a computer.
It's faster and easier to correct if using a computer. And that's why computers are being applied more and more often to modern education. But when people are taking stock in computers increasingly, problems appear.
"When I'm writing with a pen, I find I often can't remember how to write a character, though I feel I’m familiar with it."
"I'm not in the mood to write when faced with a pen and paper."
Many students don't feel this is something to worry about. Now that it's more convenient and quick to write on a computer, why bother to handwrite?
Many educators think differently. Shi Liwei , the headmaster of a famous primary school in the capital said "Chinese characters enjoy both practical and aesthetic(审美的) value. But those characters typed with computer keyboards only have their practical value. All the artistic beauty of the characters is lost. And handwriting contains the writer's emotion(情绪). Through one's handwriting, people can get to know one's thinking and personality. Beautiful writing will give people a better first impression of them.”
To encourage students to handwrite more, many primary schools in Beijing have made writing classes compulsory(必修的)and in universities, some professors are asking students to turn in their homework and essays written by hand.
【小题1】Which of the following can best serve as the title of the passage?

A．The Importance of Handwriting and Typing.

B．To Type or To Hand Write

C．Writing By Computer Will Replace Writing By Hand

D．Practical and Aesthetic Value of Chinese Characters.

【小题2】The students interviewed prefer to write using a computer mainly because______.

A．they are usually asked to e-mail their homework and Essays

B．they can correct the mistakes they make quickly and conveniently

C．they find it not easy to remember how to write a character

D．computers have become popular in China.

【小题3】Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE of the advantages of handwriting?

A．Handwriting contains the writer's emotion.

B．The writer’s thinking and personality are shown in his or her handwriting,

C．Handwriting can impress people well and build up one’s self-confidence

D．Chinese characters enjoy both practical and aesthetic value.

【小题4】The underlined expression “taking stock in”(Paragraph 4) probably means_____.

A．getting bored with	B．getting dependent on
C．becoming crazy about	D．getting curious about

【小题5】We can draw the conclusion from the passage that_______.

A．more and more students will give up writing on a computer

B．writing by hand will give way to typing by computer one day

C．more and more students will pay attention to handwriting

D．the typing article better expresses one’s emotion and quality

How could we possibly think that keeping animals in cages in unnatural environments---mostly for entertainment purposes --- is fair and respectful?
Zoo officials say they are concerned about animals. However, most zoos remain “collections” of interesting “things” rather than protective habitats. Zoos teach people that it is acceptable to keep animals bored, lonely and far from their natural homes.
Zoo claims to educate people and save endangered species, but visitors leaves zoos without having learned anything meaningful about the animals’ natural behaviour, intelligence, or beauty. Zoo keeps animals in small spaces or cages, and most signs only mention the species’ name, diet, and natural range. The animals’ normal behavior is seldom noticed because zoos don’t usually take care of the animals’ natural needs.
The animals are kept together in small spaces, with no privacy and little opportunity for mental and physical exercise. This results in unusual and self-destructive behavior called zoochosis. A worldwide study of zoos found that zoochosis common among animals kept in small spaces or cages. Another study showed that elephants spend 22 percent of their time making repeated head movements or biting cage bars and bears spend 30 percent of their time walking back and forth, a sign of unhappiness and pain.
Furthermore, most animals in zoos are not endangered. Captive breeding (圈养繁殖) of endangered big cats, Asian elephants, and another species has not resulted in their being sent back to the wild. Zoos talk a lot about their captive breeding programs because they do not want people to worry about a species dying out. In fact, baby animals also attract a lot of paying customers. Haven’t we seen enough competitions to name baby animals?
Actually, we still save endangered species only if we save their habitats and put an end to the reasons people kill them. Instead of supporting zoos, we should support groups that work to protect animals’ natural habitats.
【小题1】How would the author describe the animals’ life in Zoos?

A．Dangerous

B．Unhappy

C．Natural

D．Easy

【小题2】In the state of zoochosis, animals _______________.

A．remain in cages	B．behave strangely
C．attack other animals	D．enjoy moving around

【小题3】According to the passage what point of view does the author hold?

A．Zoos are not worth the public support.

B．Zoos fail in their attempt to save animals.

C．Zoos should treat animals as human beings.

D．Zoos use animals as a means of entertainment.

【小题4】The author tries to persuade readers to accept his argument mainly by________.

A．pointing out the faults in what zoos do

B．using evidence he has collected at zoos

C．exploring the way animals are protected

D．discussing the advantages of natural habitats

【小题5】Although he argues against zoos, the author would still agree that___________.

A．zoos have to keep animals in small spaces

B．most animals in zoos are endangered species

C．some endangered animals are reproduced in zoos

D．it’s acceptable to keep animals away from their habitats

Teenagers are under a lot of pressure to be thin. They resort to starving, vomiting and eating only diet foods to try and be thin. Television is a big influence on them. They watch shows like Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place and feel they need to look as thin as the actresses on these shows. Society is brainwashing young people into believing that being thin is important and necessary.
Diet commercials are constantly appearing on our television screens telling us that once we lose weight, we will be happy. While you’re standing at the grocery store you are surrounded by magazines claiming to have the newest and best diet. Each month another new diet appears claiming to be the diet to end all diets. If diets really worked, then why are there so many of them? The reason a new diet pops up each month, is that last’s month’s diets did not work. The truth of the matter is that DIETS DON’T WORK.
The diet and fashion industries are not totally to blame for society’s obsession with thinness. We are the ones keeping them in business. We buy into the idea that we can attain the “ideal” body image. We allow ourselves to believe the lies being thrown at us constantly. We are throwing away our hard earned money trying to live up to the standards that society has set for us. It’s unfortunate, but in today’s society, people have forgotten that it’s what’s inside a person that counts, not what’s on the outside. We need to start loving and accepting each other for who we are, not what we look like.
Once again, I would like to stress the fact that diets don’t work. Eating three healthy meals a day, a few snacks and doing moderate exercise, will allow your body to go to its natural set point. Next time you decide that you are going to start another diet because you feel you are too fat, stop, sign up for a self-esteem class instead. That would be money well spent.
【小题1】What are Beverly Hills 90210 and Meltrose Place ?

A．Fashion shows.	B．Two famous place in America.
C．Popular TV shows.	D．Two TV channels.

【小题2】According to the author, which of the following statements is NOT true ?

A．Our society is flooded with diet commercials.

B．The latest diet is necessarily better than all the previous ones.

C．People in North America become crazy over Dieting.

D．All diets are useless in fact

【小题3】Why are there so many diets popping up according to the second paragraph?

A．Because teenagers are under a lot of pressure to be thin.

B．Because there are more and more fat teenagers.

C．Because the diets have no effect.

D．Because teenagers are fascinated by the newest and best diet.

【小题4】We can infer from this passage that __________ .

A．if your diet doesn’t work, the only thing you can do is to accept your body image .

B．attending a self-esteem class will help you keep fit.

C．we shouldn’t pay attention to the size of our body.

D．what’s inside a person is much more important than his/her appearance.

【小题5】What’s the function of the last paragraph in the whole text ?

A．persuasion

B．summarization

C．argumentation

D．description

When you get in your car, you reach for it. When you're at work, you take a break to have a moment alone with it. When you get into a lift, you play with it.
Cigarette? Cup of coffee? No, it's the third most addictive thing in modem life, the cell phone. And experts say it is becoming more difficult for many people to curb their longing to hug it more tightly than most of their personal relationships.
The costs are becoming more and more evident, and I don't mean just the monthly bill. Dr.Chris Knippers, a counselor at the Betty ford Center in Southern California, reports that the overuse of cell phones has become a social problem not much different from other harmful addictions: a barrier to one-on -one personal contact, and an escape from reality. Sounds extreme, but we' ve all witnessed the evidence: The person at a restaurant who talks on the phone through an entire meal, ignoring his kids around the table; the woman who talks on the phone in the car, ignoring her husband; the teen who texts messages all the way home from school, avoiding contact with kids all around him. Jim Williams, an industrial sociologist based in Massachusetts, notes that cell - phone addiction is part of a set of symptoms in a widening gulf of personal separation. He points to a study by Duke University researchers that found one-quarter of Americans say they have no one to discuss their most important personal business with. Despite the growing use of phones, e - mail and instant messaging, in other words, Williams says studies show that we don't have as many friends as our parents. “Just as more information has led to less wisdom, more acquaintances via the Internet and cell phones have produced fewer friends,” he says.
If the cell phone has truly had these effects, it's because it has become very widespread. Consider that in 1987, there were only l million cell phones in use. Today, something like 300 million Americans carry them. They far outnumber wired phones in the United States.
【小题1】From the first two paragraphs, we can know                   ．

A．cell phones have become as addictive as cigarettes

B．cell phone addiction is good for building personal relationships

C．people are longing to have their own cell phones

D．cell phones are the same as cigarettes

【小题2】Cell phone addiction has caused the following effects EXCEPT            .

A．a barrier to personal contact	B．fewer friends
C．an escape from reality	D．a serious illness

【小题3】The underlined word "curb" in Paragraph 2 means “           ．”

A．ignore

B．control

C．develop

D．rescue

【小题4】The example of a woman talking on the phone in the car supports the idea that        .

A．women Use cell phones more often than men

B．talking on the phone while driving is dangerous

C．cell phones do not necessarily bring people together

D．cell phones make one - on - one personal contact easy

【小题5】Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A．Cell phones Are the New Cigarettes

B．Cell phones Are Harmful to the Society

C．The New Report about the Cell phone

D．The Disadvantages of the Cell phone

Some Chinese new - rich like eating shark fin soup because they think it shows their class. However, for the Chinese NBA idol Yao Ming, doing so is unacceptable as the practice has led to the overfishing of sharks.
When Yao and his wife Ye Li got married in 2007, they publicly announced that they would not allow shark fin soup to be served at their wedding banquet.
Actually, Yao had been saying no to shark fins since 2006, when he was appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador for wild life protection.
Now, the 226 - cm big guy is resorting to his personal influence to encourage more to say no to eating the soup and to raise awareness of protecting animals. “Sharks are friends of human beings. They are not our food,” Yao said.
Other celebrity athletes like Olympic champions. Li Ning and Kong Linghui are following on the heels of Yao, throwing themselves into serving the public as Goodwill Ambassadors for wild animal rescue. Recent reports about Yao’s retirement have saddened tens of thousands of basketball fans both at home and abroad. Yet Yao's influence goes far beyond the basketball courts.
Yao has engaged himself in charity and public welfare services for quite a while. When the devastating 8.0 －magnitude earthquake hit Wenchuan in southwest China in 2008 , Yao donated 2 million yuan. “When I was a little boy, my parents and teachers told me to help others and to be a good man,” Yao recalled. “But I could nor donate then because I had not much pocket money. After I moved to Houston, I got involved in quite a number of community service activities and I felt a strong sense of achievement when I got people together,”Yao said.
Like Yao, newly crowned French Open champion Li Na has showed her willingness to donate. Li gave 480,000 yuan of her prize money from the open, plus 20,000 yuan from her own pocket, to a local nursing home in her hometown. Another Chinese sports icon, hurdler Liu Xiang, has also been actively involved in charity for years.
【小题1】The reason why some Chinese new-rich like eating shark fin soup is that they think            ．

A．it is very delicious	B．it is very cheap and healthy
C．it is very popular in society	D．it can show their status

【小题2】Yao Ming is against eating shark fin soup because              ．

A．too many sharks are killed	B．he dislikes eating sharp fin
C．it is too expensive	D．sharks are dangerous animals

【小题3】Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE?

A．Li Na donated 500,000 yuan to a local nursing home in her hometown．

B．Yao Ming donated 2 million yuan after the earthquake of Wenchuan．

C．Yao Ming has encouraged more people to stop eating shark fin soup and protect animals．

D．Yao Ming was appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador for protecting wild life in 2007．

【小题4】What words can be used to describe Yao Ming according to the passage?

A．Rich and generous．	B．Influential and warmhearted．
C．Energetic and optimistic．	D．Popular and confident．

【小题5】From the passage , we can learn that               。

A．most athletes don't like eating shark fin soup

B．Yao Ming has been donating money to charity since he was a child

C．Yao Ming has an influence on not only the basketball courts but also charity and public welfare services

D．Yao Ming has taken part in many community service activities when he was in China

When you’re an employee of a company, no matter the size, it’s common to see co-workers promoted, or transferred to a different department. But there is another way to move around—by creating a new position for yourself. I did this several years ago, though I wasn’t actively looking for a different job.
In 2007, I was hired at the Transamerica Life Insurance Company, as a customer service representative in the distributions services department. I processed requests for distributions from our annuity(养老金)policy holders around the country. Someone might have forgotten to sign a form, for example, or might have omitted security information. To solve the problem, I’d mail the person a letter.
The company had been through several combinations, so in our department alone we had a collection of about 140 templates(模板) for letters related to distributions. The longer I worked with the letters, the more I saw how they could be improved. Some had overlapping information and could be combined. Some had incorrect grammar or needed updating. I also noticed that industry terminology(专业术语) wasn’t standard across all the versions.
When I told my department supervisor about this in 2008, she agreed that the letters needed revamping. She said I should stop what I’d been doing and start the new work. In a relatively short time, I was able to make numerous improvements and reduce the number of letters to 70. It was an informal job change until a managers’ meeting several months later.
At that meeting, a vice president who was unaware of my new work mentioned that the division’s entire stock of 1,700 letters should be reviewed. My manager told her that she knew the perfect person for the job—me. The position was still considered temporary when I took on the extra tasks, but I was able to show that the work had value, and I was officially promoted and given a raise in November 2009.
【小题1】According to Paragraph 1, which of the following statements is true?

A．The author admired those who got a promotion in his company.

B．It is no surprise to see people around us change their positions.

C．The author tried his best to get a promotion in his company

D．The author was eager to seek another job.

【小题2】Which of the following problems with the letters is NOT mentioned in the passage?

A．Some information was overlooked.

B．Some information needed to be united.

C．Some had grammatical mistakes.

D．Industry terminology didn’t meet the standard.

【小题3】The underlined word “revamping” in Paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to        .

A．repeating

B．rebuilding

C．improving

D．strengthening

【小题4】The author started to review the letters when        .

A．he was hired by the company

B．he was promoted

C．he was recommended at a managers’ meeting

D．his department supervisor agreed his idea

【小题5】Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A．Where there is will, there is a way.

B．Creating a position, and earning a promotion.

C．Don’t let the chance go, when it comes.

D．Ways to get a promotion.

Millions of Americans return from long-distance trips by air, but their luggage doesn’t always come home with them. Airline identification tags（标签） can come loose, and the bags go who-knows-where. And passengers leave all kinds of things on planes.
The airlines collect the items and, for 90 days, attempt to find their owners. They don’t keep them, since they’re not in the warehouse business. And by law, they cannot sell the bags, because the airlines might be tempted to deliberately misplace luggage.
So once insurance companies have paid for lost bags and their contents, and they no longer belong to passengers, a unique store in the little town of Scottsboro, Alabama, buys them. The “Unclaimed Baggage Center,” is so popular that the building, which is set up like a department store, is the number-one tourist attraction in all of Alabama. More than one million visitors stop in each year and take one of the store’s shopping carts on a hunt for treasures.
Each day, clerks bring out 7,000 new items, and veteran（老练的）shoppers rush to paw over them. You can find everything from precious jewels to hockey sticks, best-selling novels, leather jackets, tape recorders, surfboards, even half -used tubes of toothpaste.
The store’s own laundry washes or cleans all the clothes found in luggage, then sells them. The Unclaimed Baggage Center has found guns, illegal drugs and even a live rattlesnake.
The store has a little museum where some of its most unusual acquisitions（获得物） have been preserved. They include highland bagpipes, a burial mask from an Egyptian pharaoh's tomb, and a medieval suit of armor.
Statistics indicate that less than one-half of one percent of luggage checked on U.S. carriers is permanently lost and available to the store.
【小题1】Paragraph1 shows that many passengers lose their luggage because______.

A．they are forgetful

B．the owners of some luggage can’t be identified

C．they are in a hurry

D．there is no lost and foundoffice in many airports

【小题2】The reason why the airlines cannot sell the bags is that ______.

A．they have to find the owners

B．they have to keep the bags as long as possible

C．some bags are expensive

D．they are likely to make a profit on the bags on purpose

【小题3】The Unclaimed Baggage Center is very popular because______.

A．visitors may purchase something undervalued.

B．all thethings there are very cheap.

C．there's a large variety of goods.

D．visitors will enjoy some amusing activities there.

【小题4】What can we infer from the passage?

A．A little museum will keep all the precious unclaimed baggage.

B．The things in the Unclaimed Baggage Center are articles for daily use.

C．The percentage of passengers who lose their baggage for ever is small.

D．People are not allowed to buy the illegal things in the store.

【小题5】What is the main purpose of the passage?

A．To introduce an attractive place to tourists.

B．To remind passengers of taking care of their baggage.

C．To advise the airlines to find the owners of the unclaimed baggage.

D．To introduce how the unclaimed baggage in the airports is handled in America.