“Have a nice day” may be a pleasant gesture or a meaningless expression. When my friend Maxie says “Have a nice day” with a smile, I know she sincerely cares about what happens to me. I feel loved and secure since another person cares about me and wishes me well. 
“Have a nice day. Next!” The version of the expression is spoken by a salesgirl at supermarket who is rushing me and my groceries out the door. The words came out in the same tone ( 腔调 ) with a fixed procedure. They are spoken at me, not to me. Obviously, the concern for my day and everyone else’s is the management’s attempt to increase business.
The expression is one of those behaviors that help people get along with each other. Sometimes it indicates the end of a meeting. As soon as you hear it, you know the meeting at an end. Sometimes the expression saves us when we don’t know what to say. “Oh, you just had a tooth out? I’m terribly sorry, but have a nice day”.
The expression can be pleasant. If a stranger says “Have a nice day” to you, you may find it heart-warming because someone you don’t know has tried to be nice to you.
Although the use of the expression is insincere, meaningless social custom at times, there is nothing wrong with the sentence except that it is a little uninteresting. The salesgirl, the waitress, the teacher, and the countless others who speak it without thinking may not really care about my day. But in a strange and comfortable way, it’s nice to know they care enough to pretend they care when they really don’t care all that much. While the expression may not often be sincere, it is always spoken. The point is that people say it all the time when they like.
【小题1】How does the author understand Maxie’s words?  

A．Maxie shows her anxiety to the author.

B．Maxie really wishes the author a good day.

C．Maxie encourages the author to stay happy.

D．Maxie really worries about the author’s security.

【小题2】What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 mean?

A．The salesgirl is rude.

B．The salesgirl is bored.

C．The salesgirl cares about me.

D．The salesgirl says the words as nothing special.

【小题3】According to the last paragraph, people say“Have a nice day”_______.

A．sincerely

B．as thanks

C．as a habit

D．encouragingly

【小题4】What is the best title of the passage?

A．Have a Nice Day—a Social Custom

B．Have a Nice Day—a Pleasant Gesture

C．Have a Nice Day—a Heart-warming Greeting

D．Have a Nice Day—a Polite Ending of a Conversation

Last year, I met a little boy to whom my heart went out. He would talk to me every single day, and always seemed to have a smile on his face. His problem was that he stuttered (口吃) extremely badly when he tried to talk. It was really hard to understand what he was saying, although he loved to tell big tales!
One morning, I was talking to the teachers who ran the school store. The boy stopped by and said hello to all of us. Afterwards they told me that the boy would stop every day to ask if they would be there the next day. But of course, he never had money to buy anything.
I decided that I would get him a little something just as a surprise. So I picked out a pencil, a rubber, and a small notebook for just $1.00. I cannot describe the look on his face when I gave him the three little things. Then, without a stutter, he loudly said, "Thank you so much!" and just kept repeating, "Thank you! Thank you!" He gave me a big hug before going off to class.
I was touched to see someone appreciate something that much. As he walked off, he was showing his new stuff to other kids walking to class. I have to say that I have never spent a dollar that would mean so much to me.
【小题1】Why did the boy never buy anything from the store?

A．Because he couldn’t make himself understood.

B．Because the teachers were unwilling to sell him anything.

C．Because he couldn’t afford anything.

D．Because he could never decide what to buy.

【小题2】What do we learn from the third paragraph?

A．Actually the boy had no stutter at all.

B．The boy was too excited to stutter at the moment.

C．What the author had bought helped the boy speak normally.

D．The author wanted to find out whether the boy really had a stutter.

【小题3】Which would be the best title for the passage?

A．A Stuttering Boy

B．Kindness Can Do Wonders

C．One Dollar Can Buy Anything

D．The Best Dollar I Have Spent

【小题4】What is the boy’s attitude to his life?

A．active

B．passive

C．disappointed

D．fearful

Research shows that much of our predisposition （倾向） towards determination, sociability and self - control and sense of purpose is in our genes．In fact, our DNA plays a bigger role in influencing these traits （ characteristics）than our upbringing （儿童期的教养）and the company we keep．Taken together, these aspects of personality can make the difference between success and failure, say the Edinburgh University researchers．        

They questioned more than 800 pairs of twins about their attitudes to life to tease apart the influences of nature and nurture．Comparing identical twins, who share all their DNA and their up bringing, with non-identical twins, who have a shared background but are no more genetically alike than other brothers and sisters, is a technique often used by researchers to quantify the influence of genetics．

The results, published in the Journal of Personality, showed that genes play a much bigger role than lifestyle, with self-control particularly etched （铭刻） into our DNA．                   

Our genes a222so largely determine how determined and persistent we are．This is important in terms of success, as someone who refuses to give up is more likely to achieve their dreams than someone who throws in the towel at the first hiccough．

Researcher Professor Timothy Bates said, "Ever since the ancient Greeks, people Lave de hated the nature of a good life and the nature of a virtuous life．Why do some people seem to manage their lives, have good relationships and cooperate to achieve their goals while others do not? Previously,  the role of family and the environment around the home often controlled people' s ideas about what affected psychological well-being．However, this work emphasizes a much more powerful influence from genetics．"

However, those who haven' t been dealt a helpful hand of genes shouldn' t he too depressed．The professor says a sense of purpose is the key and advises those who are eager for success to focus their thoughts on making a difference．

1.What does the result of the research indicate?

A．Our DNA is the only factor to decide our traits．

B．Our DNA plays a decisive role, in achieving success．

C．Education plays little part in the formation of our character．

D．Society has Little effect on us in our personality．

2.The underlined part in Paragraph 4 refers to someone who                ．

A．is born successful	B．determines to make a difference
C．makes great effort	D．admits defeat easily

3.Timothy Bates mentions the ancient Creeks in order to indicate that          ．

A．some people can live a good life because they can manage their lives

B．people haven't made it clear yet what is the key personality trait（持点,特征） to be a success

C．in ancient Greece the role of family and the environment was ignored

D．the relationship between personality and success has always been people's concern

4.According to the passage, the key personality trait is            ．

A．determination

B．kindness

C．politeness

D．sociability

5.What is the best title for the passage?

A．How do people work hard?	B．Why can some people succeed?
C．DNA determines success or failure	D．Several factors determine personality

 

In 2003, Bethany Hamilton,13, lost her left arm to a shark attack while surfing off Kauai, Hawaii. A new film ,Soul Surfer, is based on the story of how she overcame that to achieve her dream of becoming a professional athlete.
Growing up on the “garden isle” of Kauai, Hamilton spent every minute she could riding the waves. She was on the verge of (即将) becoming a top competitor in professional surfing. But while she was practicing at an isolated cove (小湾)，a four-meter-long tiger shark ripped off her left arm. Though her life was saved ,nobody could imagine she would ever get back on a surfboard again.
In a true test of her faith and by tremendous will power, Bethany did get back up on a surfboard only a month after the attack. Six months later, she was competing again. Bethany Hamilton won her first amateur surfing championship just two years after she lost her arm. She also established the “Friends of Bethany,” a non---profit foundation dedicated to supporting sharks attack victims.
It’s a story told in her autobiography, which is the basis for the film that stars teenager Anna Sophia Robb. “I knew Bethany’s story, of course, but I thought ‘What an incredible role’ ,”explains Robb. “I was so fascinated by all of the challenges. What would it be like to have your arm taken and what would go through your head and how would your faith be challenged?”
The filmmakers used special effects to digitally remove Robb’ s arm .However ,no tricks were necessary for the surfing scenes because Hamilton herself did the breathtaking wave riding .
Now 21, Hamilton says she hopes audiences find inspiration in the description of the sport she loves.
“Not a lot of people know that much about surfing, so I hope they’re educated about it,” Hamilton says. “And most of all if people are going through a hard time, they could be encouraged and find inspiration to push through those hard times and see that, in my case ,so much good has come out of it.”
【小题1】According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?.

A．Hamilton was severely injured when surfing.

B．Nobody thought Hamilton could overcome the troubles.

C．Rob did the breathtaking wave riding in the film Soul Surfer.

D．Hamilton established the “Friends of Bethany” to help shark attack victims.

【小题2】Which of the following can best take the place of the underlined word “tremendous” in the third paragraph?

A．Free.

B．Easy

C．Smart.

D．Strong.

【小题3】What can we learn from Anna Sophia Robb’s words?

A．She was absorbed in the story.

B．she wasn’t sure she could play the role well.

C．She wants to challenge her faith.

D．She doesn’t believe Bethany’s story.

【小题4】How does Hamilton hope people will be affected by her story?

A．she hopes more people will take up surfing.

B．she hopes people will be inspired and encouraged

C．She hopes more people will keep off the sharks.

D．She hopes people will donate something to her charity.

【小题5】What can we learn from the passage?

A．A lot of people are fond of surfing.

B．Good things will happen to the disabled in the end.

C．Faith and will power will help people go through hard times.

D．People can always overcome every difficulty in life.

How is it that siblings (兄弟姐妹) can turn out so differently? One answer is that in fact each sibling grows up in a different family. The firstborn is, for a while, an only child, and therefore has a completely different experience of the parents than those born later. The next child is, for a while, the youngest, until the situation is changed by a new arrival. The mother and father themselves are changing and growing up too. One sibling might live in a stable and close family in the first few years; another might be raised in a family crisis, with a disappointed mother or an angry father.
Sibling competition was identified as an important shaping force as early as in 1918. But more recently, researchers have found many ways in which brothers and sisters are a lasting force in each others’ lives. Dr. Annette Henderson says firstborn children pick up vocabulary more quickly than their siblings. The reason for this might be that the later children aren’t getting the same one-on-one time with parents. But that doesn’t mean that the younger children have problems with language development. Later-borns don’t enjoy that much talking time with parents, but instead they harvest lessons from bigger brothers and sisters, learning entire phrases and getting an understanding of social concepts such as the difference between “I” and “me”. 
A Cambridge University study of 140 children found that siblings created a rich world of play that helped them grow socially. Love-hate relationships were common among the children. Even those siblings who fought the most had just as much positive communication as the other sibling pairs.
One way children seek more attention from parents is by making themselves different from their siblings, particularly if they are close in age. Researchers have found that the first two children in a family are typically more different from each other than the second and third. Girls with brothers show their differences to a maximum degree by being more feminine than girls with sisters. A 2003 research paper studied adolescents from 185 families over two years, finding that those who changed to make themselves different from their siblings were successful in increasing the amount of warmth they gained from their parents.
【小题1】The underlined part “in a different family” (in Para. 1) means “_______”.

A．in a different family environment

B．in a different family tradition

C．in different family crises

D．in different families

【小题2】In terms of language development, later-borns ________.

A．get their parents’ individual guidance

B．learn a lot from their elder siblings

C．experience a lot of difficulties

D．pick up words more quickly

【小题3】What was found about fights among siblings?

A．Siblings hated fighting and loved playing.

B．Siblings in some families fought frequently.

C．Sibling fights led to bad sibling relationships.

D．Siblings learned to get on together from fights.

【小题4】The word “feminine” (in Para. 4) means “_______”.

A．having qualities of parents

B．having qualities of women

C．having defensive qualities

D．having extraordinary qualities