She has worked at the bank for many years，nine ______.

1. A.
   generally speaking
2. B.
   believe it or not
3. C.
   to be exact
4. D.
   to be honest

Like many of my generation, I have a weakness for hero worship. At some point, however, we all begin to question our heroes and our need for them. This leads us to ask: What is a hero?

　　Despite immense differences in cultures, heroes around the world generally share a number of characteristics that instruct and inspire people.

　　A hero does something worth talking about. A hero has a story of adventure to tell and a community who will listen. But a hero goes beyond mere fame.

　　Heroes serve powers or principles larger than themselves. Like high-voltage(电压) transformers, heroes take the energy of higher powers and step it down so that it can be used by ordinary people.

　　The hero lives a life worthy of imitation. Those who imitate a genuine hero experience life with new depth, enthusiasm, and meaning. A sure test for would-be heroes is what or whom do they serve? What are they willing to live and die for? If the answer or evidence suggests they serve only their own fame, they may be famous persons but not heroes. Madonna and Michael Jackson are famous, but who would claim that their fans find life more abundant?

　　Heroes are catalysts (催化剂) for change. They have a vision from the mountaintop. They have the skill and the charm to move the masses. They create new possibilities. Without Gandhi, India might still be part of the British Empire. Without Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr., we might still have segregated(隔离的) buses, restaurants, and parks. It may be possible for large-scale change to occur without leaders with magnetic personalities, but the pace of change would be slow, the vision uncertain, and the committee meetings endless.

1. Although heroes may come from different cultures, they _______.

　　A. generally possess certain inspiring characteristics

　　B. probably share some weaknesses of ordinary people

　　C. are often influenced by previous generations

　　D. all unknowingly attract a large number of fans

2. According to the passage, heroes are compared to high-voltage transformers in that ____.

　　A. they have a vision from the mountaintop

　　B. they have warm feelings and emotions

　　C. they can serve as concrete(具体的) examples of noble principles

　　D. they can make people feel stronger and more confident

3. Madonna and Michael Jackson are not considered heroes because ________.

　　A. they are popular only among certain groups of people

　　B. their performances do not improve their fans morally

　　C. their primary concern is their own financial interests

　　D. they are not clear about the principles they should follow

4. Gandhi and Martin Luther King are typical examples of outstanding leaders who ___.

　　A. are good at demonstrating their charming characters

　　B. can move the masses with the skill and the charm

　　C. are capable of meeting all challenges and hardships

　　D. can provide an answer to the problems of their people

5. The author concludes that historical changes would ______.

　　A. be delayed without leaders with inspiring personal qualities

　　B. not happen without heroes making the necessary sacrifices

　　C. take place if there were heroes to lead the people

　　D. produce leaders with attractive personalities

My father was in the navy, which meant that my mother was married to both my father and the sea. As was often the       , we had to pack our belongings into boxes and      those we had grown to love. We would arrive at our new home and find ourselves once again standing at the pier (码头)       good-bye to my father as his ship pulled him away from us. My mother would turn my brother and me around before the ship was out of      , wipe our tears, and take us back home to start the process of      in the new environment again.

Throughout the years of changing      , schools and friends, there remained one constant in my childhood — my mother. For both my      and me, she was the cook, maid and teacher. She played these roles while      some type of part-time job. Leaving a       career is just one of the sacrifices which my mother made for my family as we moved around the world with our father every three years or so.      she had to deal with only a small budget, my mother,      , managed to make each house the very home that is safe and      .

This probably sounds like a depressing way to live,        with two small children:  “single”

parenthood, short-term friendships, and the inability to      her career or establish a home. But it was not for my mother. She turned this      into adventure for us all! Each relocation (变换位置) was a chance to      another part of the world. My mother greeted each new culture, climate and neighborhood. Each new house was a      to rearrange furniture, make curtains and      pictures. Every part-time job was an opportunity to learn something new and work with interesting people.

No matter how difficult the life was, she was always having a      attitude. She always had strength in the face of struggle and change. My mother was so      all those years during my childhood — she was my island in a sea of change. She is my hero.

1.A. situation              B. condition                  C. case                D. matter

2.A. leave out       B. leave behind       C. leave off      D. leave for

3.A. speaking       B. staring             C. waving         D. talking

4.A. range            B. shape           C. sight         D. control

5.A. adapting           B. suiting            C. matching        D. fitting

6.A. names           B. jobs             C. addresses        D. directions

7.A. father            B. classmates       C. brother           D. relatives

8.A. performing       B. seeking            C. waiting        D. applying

9.A. terrible            B. promising        C. hopeless          D. negative

10.A. Once             B. While           C. When         D. Unless

11.A. somewhere       B. anyhow           C. somewhat      D. somehow

12.A. romantic           B. comfortable         C. mysterious     D. wealthy

13.A. generally          B. actually            C. especially      D. unfairly

14.A. desert            B. develop            C. affect         D. limit

15.A. lifestyle            B. value            C. journey          D. opportunity

16.A. acquire         B. explore             C. occupy           D. realize

17.A. load              B. sadness             C. result          D. challenge

18.A. hang             B. draw              C. took           D. sold

19.A. changeable       B. cautious            C. positive          D. negative

20.A. experienced      B. brave            C. ordinary          D. annoyed

Staying positive through the cold season could be your best defense against getting ill, new study findings suggest.

In an experiment that exposed healthy volunteers to a cold or flu virus, researchers found that people with a generally sunny character were less likely to fall ill. The findings, published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, build on evidence that a “positive emotional style” can help to protect us from suffering the common cold and other illnesses.

Researchers believe the reasons may be both objective — as in happiness improving immune function — and subjective — as in happy people being less troubled by a sore throat or runny nose. “People with a positive emotional style may have different immune responses to the virus,” explained lead study author Dr Sheldon Cohen of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. “And when they do get a cold, they may interpret their illness as being less severe.”

Cohen and his colleagues had found in a previous study that happier people seemed less likely to catch a cold, but some questions remained as to whether the emotional style itself had the effect.

For the new study, the researchers had 193 healthy adults complete standard measures of personality characteristics, self-felt health and emotional style. Those who had a tendency to be happy, energetic and easy-going were judged as having a positive emotional style, while those who were often unhappy, tense and aggressive had a negative style.

The researchers gave them nasal (鼻腔的) drops containing either a cold virus or a particular flu virus. Over the next six days, the volunteers reported on any aches, pains or sneezing they had, while the researchers collected objective data. Cohen and his colleagues found that based on objective measures of nasal troubles, happy people were less likely to develop a cold.

Which is the best title for the passage? ______

A. Stay Away from Being Negative

B. Positive or Negative？It’s Up to You.

C. Emotional Style and Flu.

D. Optimistic People Likely to Keep Diseases Away.

According to Dr Cohen’s research, the reason why some people are unlikely to catch a cold may be that ______.

A. their cheerful mood benefits the immune system

B. they have developed a certain way against flu virus

C. they are less likely to have a sore throat and runny nose

D. they have got a stronger self-confidence in their health

The research is done by ______.

A. getting volunteers in one emotional group and analyzing them

B. conducting a medical experiment on volunteers of different emotional styles

C. collecting and analyzing volunteers’ objective nasal production data

D. having volunteers answer questions on personality, health and emotions

If you have a chance to go to Finland, you will probably be surprised to find how “foolish” the Finnish people are.

Take the taxi drivers for example. Taxis in Finland are mostly high-class Benz with a fare of two US dollars a kilometer. You can go anywhere in one, tell the driver to drop you at any place, say that you have some business to attend to, and then walk off without paying your fare. The driver would not show the least sign of anxiety.

The dining rooms in all big hotels not only serve their guests, but also serve outside diners. Hotel guests have their meals free, so they naturally go to the free dining rooms to have their meals. The most they would do to show their good faith is to wave their registration card to the waiter. With such a loose check, you can easily use any old registration card to take a couple of friends to dine free of charge.

The Finnish workers are paid by the hour. They are very much on their own as soon as they have agreed with the boss on the rate. From then on they just say how many hours they have worked and they will be paid accordingly.

With so many loopholes(漏洞) in everyday life, surely Finland must be a heaven to those who love to take “petty advantages”. But the strange thing is, all the taxi passengers would always come back to pay their fare after they have attended to their business; not a single outsider has ever been found in the free hotel dining rooms. And workers always give an honest account of the exact hours they put in. As the Finns always act on good faith in everything they do, living in such a society has turned everyone into a real “gentleman”.

In a society of such high moral practice, what need is there for people to be on guard against others?

While taking a taxi in Finland, a passenger __________.

A. can go anywhere without having to pay the driver

B. only pays two US dollars for a taxi ride

      C. can never be turned down by the taxi driver wherever he wants to go

       D. needs to provide good faith demonstration before leaving without paying

We can know from the passage that in Finland __________.

      A. both hotel guests and outside diners are served food free of charge

      B. big hotels provide meals for all kinds of diners

      C. guests can enjoy free food once they stayed in the hotel

      D. big hotels are mostly poorly managed

Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A. Generally speaking, in Finland, workers can get more pay by working long hours.

       B. The workers and their bosses will make an agreement in advance about the pay.

      C. The workers are always honest with their working hours.

       D. The bosses are too busy to check the working hours of their employees.

It can be concluded that _________.

      A. Finnish people are really foolish in daily life

      B. Finland has been a good place for cheats

      C. the Finnish society is of very high moral level

      D. all the Finns are rich and therefore honest