If you are in charge of a project, the key to success is getting everyone to want to help you. As a director, I point, I suggest. I gently push the actors in the direction I want them to go. In the 1986 movie, “Nothing in Common”, Jackie Gleason’s character, Max Basner, gets fired from his job as a clothing salesman. The scene, shot on a boat, shows Max’s despair about being out of work. I was looking for some gesture that would allow Max to show his feelings.

Jackie had far more experience at everything than I did, and at first I was frightened. What could I possibly tell “The Great One” about acting? Out of rear I decided to direct by suggestion, and sat down with Gleason to talk about the scene. “So Max is sad, right?” I said.

Gleason nodded.

“And he’s probably still carrying his pens with name on them—the ones he used to hand out to his customers, right?”

Gleason nodded.

“So what would you want to do with the pens after you were fired?”

He was silent for a moment. “Why don’t I throw them overboard?”

I stood up and turned toward the crew. “Hey, everybody, Jackie has a wonderful idea. Let’s shoot it.”

After filming the scene, Gleason called me over and said with a smile. “Garry, what kind of wonderful idea am I going to have tomorrow?”

You and your team can discover the answers to problems together. When there are no prizes or gold stars for who gets the solution first, you’ll all benefit when everything turns out right.

1. The author tells us that to succeed in a project you are in charge of you should______.

A. make everyone work for you

B. get everyone willing to help final say

C. let people know you have the final say

D. keep seeding out orders to them

2. It can be inferred that_______.

A. Jackie Gleason is the director of the film “Nothing in Common”

B. Jackie Gleason is very angry when he is fired from his job

C. Max, a character in a film, is in very low spirits when he loses his job

D. Jackie Gleason is the writer of the film “Nothing in Common”

3. “The Great One” in Paragraph 2 refers to______.

A. Gleason　　　　　　 B. the director himself

C. Max　　　　　　    D. Max’s boss

4. Why did Gleason call the director over and smile at him? Because Gleason________.

A. thought his wonderful idea was accepted by the latter

B. succeeded in hitting upon a wonderful idea

C. was confident about his work the next day

D. appreciated the director’s skill

5. The most suitable title for the passage is “_______”.

A. Directing a Film

B. The Key to Success

C. A Wonderful Experience

D. Working with Film

When several different people look at the same person, it is not unusual for each of them to see different things: when you alone observe one behavior or one person at two different times, you may see different things. The following are but some of the factors that lead to these varying perceptions（感知）.

Each person's perceptions of others are formed by his or her own cultural conditionお, education, and personal experience.

1. Sometimes perceptions differ because of what we choose to observe and how we deal with what we’ve observed. It is not necessarily true that a person's perceptions is based on observations of a particular person. Your observation may be totally controlled by what others have told you about this person; or you may focus primarily on the situation or role relationship. Most people do not use the same yardstick（标准）to measure their parents, their friends and strangers.

2. Sometimes we see only what we want to see what may be opposite お（对应面）to others because of our own needs, desires, or temporary （临时的）emotional states. This is a process known as selective perception. Selective perception is obviously more difficult when contradictory（矛盾的）information is particularly obvious, but it can be done. We can ignore the stimulus—"He's basically a good boy, so what I saw was not shoplifting. "We can reduce the importance of the contradictory information—" All kids get into mischief. Taking a book from the bookstore isn't such a big deal. "We can change the meaning of the contradictory information—"It wasn't shoplifting because heお was going to pay for it later. ”

1. The first factor given by the author that affects our perception is______. 

A. the abilities of one’s auditory（听的）and visual sensors

B. cultural background and personal experience

C. experiences one learns from others

D. critical measures taken by other people

2. while observing a particular person，_______.

A. one is likely to take all aspects（sides）into consideration

B. one pays more attention to his or her advantages

C. children often differ from grown-ups in perception

D. one tends to choose certain cues（提示）to look for

3. Observation of the same person by two people at the same time may differ because　　  . 

A. their yardsticks are not the same

B. either of them may be slow to catch information

C. the time for observation is not long enough

D. each of them uses different 1anguage to express his or her impressions

4. The underlined word “ignore” in Paragraph 4 means to_______.

A. understanding something

B. try to do something

C. pay no attention to something

D. know something better

5. The worst thing in selective perception is that_______.

A. perceived information runs against your desire

B. facts can be totally ignored and distorted（扭曲）

C. importance of contradictory information can be overrated（估计过高）

D. the same information may not be dealt with in the same way

How would you like an easy way to earn 2 500 dollars? All you have to do is to sit around and wait for your meals. There’s catch, however. You have to stay in a chicken cage with a stranger for a whole week. There are no books or television or radio for amusement. You can’t leave until the week is up. And a camera will be recording your every move.

Two people actually took the job. The idea came from Rob Thompson, a video artist. He wanted to make a film about the way animals are treated. His goal was to raise people’s awareness of the living conditions of animals that are raised for food. He decided to pay $ 5000 out of his own savings to two people who were willing to lie like chicken for a week.

To Rob’s surprise, quite a few people answered his advertisement. He had interviews and selected Eric, a 24-year-old restaurant worker, and Pam, a 27-year-old chemist. The plan was for them to spend seven days together in a chicken cage that was six feet long and three feet wide. A camera would record their experience, which would take place in an art museum.

The week was long and difficult. They slept on a hard wooden floor. They couldn’t stand up without banging（重击）their heads. They ate vegetarian mash（土豆泥）and drank water from a garden hosepipe（水龙头软管）. Their only privacy was a toilet surrounded by a curtain. There were no sinks, mirrors, or toothbrushes in the cage. Their only inspiration was the two framed checks that hung on the wall outside the cage. Visitors who came here were warned, “Do not food the humans.”

Finally it was over, Pam and Eric emerged from their cage. They had survived the week, and they each had a $ 2 500 check in their hands. When Rob Thompson opened the cage, Eric came out, changed into clean clothes, and ate a chocolate bar right away. “It’s great to be able to stand up,” he said. Pam just changed her clothes and left. After a week of visitors and reporters watching her, she didn’t want to talk to anyone.

1. What kind of person is Rob Thompson?

A. He is curious about people’s personal life.

B. He is kind-hearted to animals.

C. He hates people around.

D. He likes to help poor people.

2. The underlined word “catch” probably means________.

A. unsolved problem　　　　　　 B. surprising wonder

C. unbelievable danger　　　　   D. hidden difficulty

3. What made it most difficult for the two to stay in the cage?

A. They didn’t know each other.

B. They couldn’t lie down to sleep in the cage.

C. They didn’t have meat to eat.

D. They had to do almost everything under others’ eyes.

4. Rob offered the money because he wanted________.

A. to see if there were any people who would like to live in a cage

B. to show the public how bitter animals’ life could be

C. to make more money by publishing the recorded video tapes

D. to improve housing conditions of working people like Eric

5. Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?

A. Easy Way to Earn $ 2 500.

B. Do Not Feed the Humans.

C. Living Like a Chicken.

D. Getting Along Well Anyway.

After the violent earthquake that shook Los Angeles in 1994, earthquake scientists had good news to report: The damage and death toll（死亡人数）could have been much worse.

More than 60 people died in this earthquake. By comparison, an earthquake of similar intensity（强度）that shook America in 1988 claimed 25 000 victims.

Injuries and deaths were relatively less in Los Angeles because the quake occurred at 4:31 a.m. on a holiday, when traffic was light on the city’s highways. In addition, changes made to the construction codes in Los Angeles during the last 20 years have strengthened the city’s buildings and highways, making them more resistant to quakes（抗震）.

Despite the good news, civil engineers aren’t resting on their successes. Pinned to their drawing boards are blueprints（蓝图）for improved quake-resistant buildings. The new designs should offer even greater security to cities where earthquakes often take place.

In the past, making structures quake-resistant meant firm yet flexible materials, such as steel and wood, which bend without breaking. Later, people tried to lift a building off its foundation, and insert rubber and steel between the building and its foundation to reduce the impact of ground vibrations. The most recent designs give buildings brains as well as concrete and steel supports. Called smart buildings, the structures respond like living organisms to an earthquake’s vibrations. When the ground shakes and the building tips forward, the computer would force the building to shift in the opposite direction.

The mew smart structures could be very expensive to build. However, they would save many lives and would be less likely to be damaged during earthquakes.

1. One reason why the loss of lives in the Log Angeles earthquake was comparatively low is that_______.

A. new computers had been installed in the buildings

B. it occurred in the residential areas rather than on the highways

C. large numbers of Los Angeles residents had gone for a holiday

D. improvements had been made in the construction of buildings and highways

2. The function of the computer mentioned in the passage is to_______.

A. counterbalance（起平衡作用）an earthquake’s action on the building

B. predict（预测）the coming of an earthquake with accuracy

C. help strengthen the foundation of the building

D. measure the impact of an earthquake’s vibrations

3. The smart buildings discussed in the passage________.

A. would cause serious financial problems

B. would be worthwhile though expensive

C. would reduce the complexity of architectural design

D. can reduce the ground vibrations caused by earthquakes

4. It can be inferred from the passage that in minimizing（使……最小）the damage caused by earthquakes, attention should be focused on_______.

A. the increasing use of rubber and steel in capital construction

B. the development of flexible building materials

C. the reduction of the impact of ground vibrations

D. early forecasts of earthquakes

5. The author’s main purpose in writing the passage is to_________.

A. compare the consequences of the earthquakes that occurred in the U.S

B. encourage civil engineers to make more extensive use of computers

C. outline the history of the development of quake-resistant building materials

D. report new developments in constructing quake-resistant buildings

My father was a foreman of a sugar-cane plantation in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. My first job was to drive the oxen that ploughed the cane field. I would walk behind an ox, guiding him with a broomstick. For $ 1 a day, I worked eight hours straight, with no food breaks.

It was very tedious work, but it prepared me for life and taught me many lasting lessons. Because the plantation owners were always watching us, I had to be on time every day and work as hard as I could. I’ve never been late for any job since. I also learned about being respectful and faithful to the people I work for. More importantly, I earned my pay; it never entered my mind to say I was sick just because I didn’t want to work.

I was only six years old, but I was doing a man’s job. Our family needed every dollar we could make because my father never earned more than $ 18 a week. Our home was a three-room wood shack with a dirty floor and no toilet. Nothing made me prouder than bringing home money to help my mother, father, two brothers and three sisters. This gave me self-esteem（自尊心）, one of the most important things a person can have.

When I was seven, I got work at a golf course near our house. My job was to stand down the fairway and spot the balls as they landed, so the golfers could find them. Losing a ball meant you were fired, so I never missed one. Some nights I would lie in bed and dream of making thousands of dollars by playing golf and being able to buy a bicycle.

The more I dreamed, the more I thought. Why not? I made my first golf club out of guava limb（番石榴树枝）and a piece of pipe. Then I hammered an empty tin can into the shape of a ball. And finally I dug two small holes in the ground and hit the ball back and forth. I practiced with the same devotion and intensity. I learned working in the field now I was driving golf balls with a club, not oxen with a broomstick.

1. The writer’s first job was_________.

A. to stand down the fairway at a golf course

B. to watch over the sugar-cane plantation

C. to drive the oxen that ploughed the cane fields

D. to spot the balls as they landed, so the golfers could find them

2. The word “tedious” in Paragraph 2 most probably means “_______”.

A. difficult　　　　    B. boring

C. interesting　　　　  D. unusual

3. The writer learned that________ from his first job.

A. he should work for those who he liked most

B. he should work longer than what he was expected

C. he should never fail to say hello to his owner

D. he should be respectful and faithful to the people he worked for

4. ________ gave the writer self-esteem.

A. Having a family of eight people

B. Owning his own golf course

C. Bringing money back home to help the family

D. Helping his father with the work on the plantation

5. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A. He wanted to be a successful golfer.

B. He wanted to run a golf course near his house.

C. He was satisfied with the job he got on the plantation.

D. He wanted to make money by guiding oxen with a broomstick.

California is a land of variety and contrast (对比). Almost every type of physical land feature, sort of arctic ice fields and tropical jungles can be found within its borders. Sharply contrasting types of land are often very close to one another.

People 1iving in Bakersfield, for instance, can visit the Pacific Ocean and the coastal plain, the fertile San Joaquin Valley, the arid Mojave Desert, and the high Sierra Nevada, all within an area of about 100 miles. In other areas it is possible to go snow skiing in the morning and surfing in the evening of the same day, without having to travel long distances.

Contrast abounds in California. The highest point in the United States (outside A1aska) is in California, and so is the lowest point (including Alaska) Mount Whitney, l4 494 feet above sea 1evel, which is separated from Death Valley, 282 feet below sea level, by a distance of only 100 miles. The two areas have a difference in an altitude of almost three miles.

California has deep, clear mountain lakes like Lake Tahoe, the deepest in the country, but it also has shallow, salty desert lakes. It has Lake Tulainyo, l2 020 feet above sea level, and the lowest lake in the country, the Salton Sea, 236 feet below sea level. Some of its lakes, like Owens Lake in Death Valley, are not lakes at all: they are dried up lake beds.

In addition to mountains, lakes, valleys, deserts, and plateaus, California has its Pacific coastline, stretching longer than the coastlines of Oregon and Washington combined.

1. Which of the following is the lowest point in the United States?

A. Lake Tulainyo.　　　　    B. Mojave Desert.

C. Death Valley.　　　　　　  D. The Salton Sea.

2. Where is the highest point in the United States located?

A. Lake Tahoe.　　　　    B. Sierra Nevada.

C. Mount Whitney.　　　　 D. Alaska.

3. How far away is Death Valley from Mount Whitney?

A. About 3 miles.　　　　    B. Only 100 miles.

C. 282 feet.　　　　　　    D. 14 494 feet.

4. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage as being within an area of about 100 miles of Bakersfield?

A. The Pacific Ocean.　　　　 B. San Joaquin Valley.

C. Mojave Desert.　　　　    D. Oregon and Washington.

5. Which statement best demonstrates（表明）that California is a land of variety and contrast?

A. The highest lake in California is Lake Tulainyo.

B. It is possible to go surfing and snow skiing in some parts of California without having to travel long distances.

C. Sierra Nevada, San Joaquin Valley, Mojave Desert and the Pacific Ocean all lie within a radius of about 100 miles.

D. Owens Lake, in Death Valley, is not really a lake at all.

Sandeen Mukerji was on his first visit to Thailand but would leave the “Land of Smiles” with a frown and an empty pocket.

A stone’s throw from the Grand Palace in Bangkok, the 26-year-old Canadian ran into a monk in a robe. The monk told him that the attraction he was hoping to visit had been closed.

The monk then introduced Mukerji to a jewellery store instead. On the way there, three different people told him that it was the last day of a once-a-year, tax-free jewellery promotion to encourage tourism.

They said that tourists can make a lot of money by buying gems（宝石）in Thailand and selling them once at home.

Two hours later, Mukerji had spent US $ 1 250 on a set of almost worthless jewellery.

“The whole process took me by surprise. They take advantage of your greed,” he said.

In fact, Mukerji is just one of a huge number of tourists who are cheated by the promise of making a fortune. The scam（诡计）brings Thailand more than US $ 10 million each year.

Although tourist police stations have displayed posters to warn of the scam, many fresh-faced tourists still fall prey to the trick.

The police say they receive 5～10 complaints a day. Many more may not realize they have been cheated until they go back home.

That authorities say that the jewellery scam is harmful to Thailand’s image（形象）, but getting rid of the cheats is hard.

Sanit Miphan, head of the police, said the scam has been running for about 15 years but not one jewellery shop owner has been arrested.

The shops usually open for two weeks and then close. They reopen and register under a new name. What’s more, overcharging（要价过高）itself is not breaking the law.

Yet, to keep the tourism business alive, the police said they would take action against any shop receiving more than 10 complaints.

1. Sandeep Mukerji was cheated probably because of all the following except that_________.

A. he was young

B. he believed that the monk wouldn’t cheat others

C. he had more or less the wish to try his fortune

D. the cheat scam was too skillful to be found out

2. How many people at least together cheated Sandeen Mukerji?

A. Two.　　　　 B. Three.

C. Four.　　　　 D. Five.

3. Suppose everyone who was cheated lost as much as Mukerji did, how many visitors to Bankok would be cheated each year?

A. About 6 000.　　　　    B. About 8 000.

C. About 10 000.　　　　   D. More than 10 000.

4. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. Thai tourist police are carrying out their task very efficiently.

B. The management of Thai tourist market is very strict.

C. Any shop receiving complaints will be punished as seriously as possible.

D. It is hard for the police to crack down the cheats efficiently partly because many cheats’ deeds seem not to break the law.

5. The underline phrase “take advantage of” probably means________.

A. find out　　   　　 B. look through

C. make use of　　　　 D. are fond of

Most people have heard of Shakespeare and probably know something of the plays that he wrote. However, not everybody knows much about the life of this remarkable man, except perhaps that he was born in the market town of Stratford-upon-Avon and that he married a woman called Anne Hathaway. We know nothing of his school life. We do not know, for example, how long it lasted, but we presume（推测）that he attended the local grammar school, where the principal subject taught was Latin.

Nothing certain is known of what he did between the time he left school and his departure（出发）for London. According to a local legend, he was beaten and even put in prison for stealing rabbits and deer from the estate of neighboring landowner, Sir Thomas Lucy. It is said that because of this he was forced to run away from his native place. A different legend says that he was apprenticed（做学徒）to a Stratford butcher, but did not like the life and for this reason decided to leave Stratford.

Whatever caused him to leave the town of his birth, the world can be grateful that he did so. What is certain is that he set his foot on the road to fame when he arrived in London. It is said that at first he was without money or friends there, but that he earned a little by taking care of the horses of the gentleman who attended the plays at the theatre. They stopped and spoke to him. They found his conversations so brilliant（有才气的）that finally he was invited to join their company.

1. In the early life of Shakespeare, he_______.

A. attended a public school　　　　 B. lived in London

C. studied Latin　　　　　　　　  D. was put in prison

2. Why was he forced to leave his native place according to this passage?

A. Because he didn’t want to go to school.

B. Because he left for London to become famous.

C. Because he had stolen deer and was beaten.

D. No one knows for certain.

3. What is the reason why the world can be grateful?

A. He wrote many world-famous plays.

B. He was an actor.

C. He lived a hard life.

D. He liked to travel all over the world.

4. “In time, as he became a familiar figure…” “in time” means________.

A. on time　　　　　　    B. sometime

C. some time later　　　　  D. some time

5. The best title is_______.

A. The Early Life of Shakespeare

B. Shakespeare’s life in London

C. Shakespeare’s Role in Performance

D. Shakespeare’s Later Life

Shu Pulong has helped at least 1 000 people bitten（咬）by snakes. “I was seeing people with snake bites（伤口）that led me to this career.” He said.

In 1963, after his army service, Shu entered a medical school and later became a doctor of Chinese medicine. As part of his studies he had to work in the mountains. There he often heard of people who had their arms and legs out off after a snake bite in order to save their lives.

“I was greatly upset by the story of an old farmer I met. It was a very hot afternoon. The old man was pulling grass in his fields when he felt a pain in his left hand. He at once realized he had been bitten by a poisonous snake. In no time he wrapped a cloth tightly around his arm to stop the poison spreading to his heart. Rushing home he shouted ‘bring me the knife’. Minutes later the man lost his arm forever.”

“The sad story touched me so much that I decided to devote myself to helping people bitten by snakes,” Shu said.

1. The best headline（标题）for this newspaper article is__________.

A. Astonishing Medicine　　　　  B. Farmer Loses Are

C. Dangerous Bites　　　　　　  D. Snake Doctor

2. The farmer lost his arm because______.

A. the cloth was wrapped too tightly

B. he cut it off to save his life

C. Shu wasn’t there to help him

D. he was alone in the field

3. Shu decided to devote himself to snake medicine because______.

A. he wanted to save people’s arms and legs

B. he had studied it at a medical school

C. he had seen snakes biting people

D. his army service had finished

4. Why did Shu go into the mountains?

A. He wanted to study snake bites.

B. He wanted to help farmers.

C. He was being trained to be a doctor.

D. He was expected to serve in the army.

5. Which of the following words can take the place of the word career in the first paragraph?

A. conclusion　　　　    B. story

C. incident　　　　　　   D. job

Today only one person in five in the United States lives within 50 miles of his birthplace. Since the country was first settled, Americans have moved around a great deal, and are often far away from their parents. Because they have broken ties with their past at a young age, chosen their own occupations, established their own homes and developed their own lifestyles, few American children grow up closely surrounded by grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins as they do in Italy, Nigeria, or India, for example. This along with the fact that modern American families do not have servants has made the “baby-sitter” a vital part of the American scene. A “sitter” is someone who is hired to care for children for a specific length of time—usually relatively short—while the parents are out for an evening, going to a party or a course of study for example. Sometimes the baby-sitter is also hired for longer period, perhaps when the parents are away for a weekend. In such cases the “sitter” is likely to be a mature and motherly woman. For short periods, teen-agers, college students, nursing students, and others are commonly employed on an hourly basis.

From the point of view of convenience, the best sitters are often young people who live in your apartment building or close by in the neighbourhood. This gives you a chance to meet their parents and see what they are like. If an emergency occurs, young sitters can call upon their parents quickly for help; you do not have to take them far to see them home at night or pay expensive taxi fares. Another advantage is that young people living close by can usually fill in quite readily on short notice or for short periods of time.

In an apartment house you can ask the superintendent for permission to post a notice for a baby-sitter by the mailboxes. This is often the best way to find out if there is anyone in the building who is interested in baby-sitting. Retired people as well as students are often glad to earn a little money in this way and can be found by such a note.

1. A baby-sitter is a person who______.

A. helps to do housework

B. is a cleaning woman

C. looks after children while their parents are out

D. takes care of babies and cooks for the family

2. Who can be a baby-sitter?

A. Women.　　　　　　    B. Man.

C. College student.　　　　　　  D. All the above.

3. It is advised that when you are out for short periods, you may hire_______ to be baby-sitters.

A. motherly women　　　　　　　　 B. retired people

C. young people　　　　　　　　   D. mature women

4. The best title for the passage is_______.

A. American Families

B. Baby-Sitters

C. A Way of Earning Money for Young Students

D. A Best Way to Find Baby-Sitters