When someone gives you advice, listen without judgment, try to find value in what you’re hearing, and say: “Thank you”. This wise advice is easy to understand yet hard to practice. I’ll give you an example from my life when I totally blew it in term of practicing what I teach.
In my work I travel constantly. I always put off going to the airport until the last second. My wife, Lyda, was sitting next to me in the front seat. I was racing along and not paying much attention. Lyda cried out: “Look out! There is a red light up ahead.”
Being a trained behavioral science professional—who teaches others the value of encouraging advice—I naturally screamed at her: “I know there is a red light up ahead! Don’t you think I can see?” When we arrived at the airport, Lyda didn’t speak to me. I wondered why she seemed mad at me.
During the flight to New York, I did a cost-benefit analysis. I asked myself: “What was the cost of just listening when Lyda called out the warning? Zero.” I then reasoned: “What was the potential benefit? What could have been saved?” Several potential benefits came to mind, including her life, my life, and the lives of other people.
I landed in New York feeling ashamed of myself. I immediately called Lyda and told her my cost-benefit story. I convinced her: “The next time you help me with my driving, I am just going to say, ‘Thank you!’”
A few months passed, and I had long forgotten the incident. Again, I was racing off to the airport, when Lyda cried out: “Look out for the red right!” I was embarrassed, and then shouted: “Thank you!”
I’m a long way from perfect, but I’m getting better. My suggestion is that you get in the habit of asking the important people in your life how you can do things better. And be ready for an answer. Some people may tell you things like “Look out for the red light.” When this happens, remember that there is possibly some potential benefit. Then just say: “Thank you.”
60.What do we know about the author?
A. He is expert at behavioral science.             
B. He is gifted in cost-benefit analysis.
C. He seldom takes his wife’s advice.              
D. He often runs the red traffic light.
61.The underlined part “blew it ” in Paragraph 1 probably means “_______”.
A. became annoyed with the adviser                B. forgot the practical method
C. failed to say “Thank you”                                D. lost personal judgment
62.It can be inferred from the passage that people _________.
A. tend to be defensive when given advice    
B. intend to follow others’ suggestions
C. had better study behavioral science
D. should give their opinions patiently
63The purpose of the passage is to advise people to ________.
A. do a cost-benefit analysis in daily life
B. treasure others’ suggestions
C. learn from the author’s experiences
D. discover potential benefits

       When someone gives you advice, listen without judgment, try to find value in what you’re hearing, and say “Thank you”．This wise advice is easy to understand yet hard to practice．I’ll give you an example from my life when I totally blew it in terms of practicing what I teach．

       In my work I travel constantly．I always put off going to the airport until the last second．My wife, Lynda, was sitting next to me in the front seat．I was racing along and not paying much attention．Lynda cried out, “Look out! There is a red light up ahead．”

       Being a trained behavioral science professional --- who teaches others the value of encouraging advice --- I naturally screamed at her, “I know there is a red light up ahead! Don’t you think I can see?” When we arrived at the airport, Lynda didn’t speak to me．I wondered why she seemed mad at me．

       During the flight to New York, I did a cost-benefit analysis．I asked myself, “What was the cost of just listening when Lynda called out the warning? Zero．” I then reasoned, “What was the potential benefit? What could have been saved?” Several potential benefits came to mind, including her life, my life, and the lives of other people．

I landed in New York feeling ashamed of myself．I immediately called Lynda and told her my cost-benefit story．I convinced her, “The next time you help me with my driving, I am just going to say, ‘Thank you．’”

       A few months passed, and I had long forgotten the incident．Again, I was racing off to the airport, when Lynda cried out, “Look out for the red light!” I was embarrassed, and then shouted, “Thank you!”

       I’m a long way from perfect, but I’m getting better．My suggestion is that you get in the habit of asking the important people in your life how you can do things better．And be ready for an answer．Some people may tell you things like “Look out for the red light．” When this happens, remember that there is possibly some potential benefit．Then just say, “Thank you．”

What do we know about the author?

       A．He is expert at behavioral science．      B．He is gifted in cost-benefit analysis．

       C．He seldom takes his wife’s advice．      D．He often runs the red traffic light．

The underlined part “blew it” in Paragraph 1 probably means “__________”．

       A．lost personal judgment    B．forgot the practical method

       C．became annoyed with the adviser    D．failed to say “Thank you”

It can be inferred from the passage that people __________．

       A．should give their opinions patiently       B．tend to be defensive when given advice

       C．had better study behavioral science D．intend to follow others’ suggestions

The purpose of the passage is to advise people to __________．

       A．do a cost-benefit analysis in daily life   B．discover potential benefits

       C．learn from the author’s experiences       D．treasure others’ suggestions

     When I was an official of a school in Paio Alto，California, Polly Tyner, the president of our board，wrote a letter that was printed in the Palo Alto Times．Polly’s son，Jim，had great difficulty in school, He was classified as the educationally handicapped and required a great deal of patience on the part of his parents and teachers．But Jim was a happy kid with a great smile that lit up the room．His parents knew his difficulties，but they always tried to help him see his strengths so that he could walk with pride．Shortly after Jim finished high school，he was killed in a motorcycle accldent, After his death，his mother gave this letter to the newspaper．

“Today we buried our 20-year-old son．He was killed in a motorcycle accident on Friday night．How I wish I had known that the last time I had talked to him would be the last time．If I had only known that，I would have said to him，‘Jim，I love you and I’m always so proud of yon．’I would have taken the time to count the many blessings he had brought to the lives of the people who loved him．I would have taken the time to appreciate his beautiful smile，his laughter, and his genuine love to other people．

“When I put all the good things on the scale and try to balance them with all the irritating (恼人的) things such as the radio that was always too loud，the haircut that wasn’t to our liking, the dirty socks under the bed，etc．，I find that the irritations really don’t amount to much．

      “I won’t get another chance to tell my son all that I would have wanted him to hear, but，other parents, do have a chance．Tell your young people what you would want them to hear as if it may be your last conversation．The last time I talked to Jim was the morning of the day when he died．He called me to say,‘Hi, Mom! I just called to say I love you．You have to go to work now．Bye．’That day, he gave me something to treasure forever．”

      If there is any purpose at all for Jim’s death, maybe it is to make others appreciate life more and to tell people，especially family members，that they should take the time to let each other know just how much they care．You may never have another chance．Do it today! 

Who was Jim?

      A．A school boy．                                      

B．The writer

      C．The president of a school board．                      

D．An official of a school．

What’s the meaning of the underlined phrase“the educationally handicapped”?

      A．The communication difficulty．              

B．The physical problems．

      C．The psychological problems．                        

D．The learning difficulty．

According to the writer, which of the following about Jim is TRUE?

      A．He was always sad about his school marks．

      B．His parents always scolded him about his bad school marks．

      C．His study needed more attention from his parents and teachers．

      D．He was kilied in a car accident

What did PoIly think of Jim?

      A．He was a lovely boy with a beautiful smile who always loved others．

      B．He was physically sick but always happy

      C．He was an irritating boy with some bad habits．

      D．He seldom expressed his love to his parents．

The purpose of Polly’s letter is to     ．

      A．memorize her son

      B．teach parents to appreciate their chtidren

      C．teach children how to be good boys

      D．give some advice on how to deal with children’s problems

Dear Cary,

I’m writing because I’ve understood you’ve struggled with alcoholism(酗酒)．I’ve been fighting mine ever since I went through 9-11．After that，I’ve been more or less useless professionally –I’m a lawyer–and have had to resign from my job because I was discovered passed-out drunk in front of my computer. I’ve taken some medicine and it has helped somewhat. I can manage about a month without drinking，but after that I end up having a crazy stage where nothing matters except drinking．After a week or so of heavy drinking，I start having nightmares of people jumping. After that，it’s a week of not being able to get out of bed.

   I was supposed to travel to a conference but didn’t make it because I got so drunk at the airport that I fell down on my face and spent the rest of the day in the emergency room. I have been hiding from my family since then．Fortunately they won’t be expecting me to come back for a week or so. Otherwise, they would notice the bump on my forehead and two black eyes．

I don’t really know what I’m asking you．Cary, I need a way out that doesn’t involve causing pain to my family．I’m taking medicine，but I still have these attacks every few months．If there’s alcohol in the house，I can’t stay away from it．It seems that this will never end. I’m afraid of what will happen if something bad happens，like a family member dying, or getting fired again．

  Thanks for reading．

  Yours T

1.The underlined sentence shows us all the following EXCEPT____________．

A．that the author is a lawyer by profession

B．that the author is a lawyer and he seldom gets drunk

C．the reason why the author had to resign

D．that the author was once discovered drunk as a fish

2.The author writes to Cary in order to____________．

A．offer advice                                                       B．tell a story

C．avoid nightmares                                               D．ask for help

3.What is the author worried about?

A．Losing his job                                                     B．Missing the conference

C．Bring pain to his family                                     D．Giving up drinking

4.What do we learn from the passage?

A．T’s family members don’t want to see him because of his alcoholism．

B．Getting drunk once prevented T from attending a conference．

C．T will have nightmares when he stops drinking．

D．T never attempted to give up his alcoholism．

5.We know from the passage that Cary____________．

A．likes to talk about the details of his life．

B．is an expert on treating alcoholism

C．is probably a recovered alcoholic

D．never suffered from alcoholism

When I was an official of a school in Palo Alto, California, Polly Tyner, the president of our board, wrote a letter that was printed in the Palo Alto Times. Polly’s son, Jim, had great difficulty in school. He was classified as the educationally handicapped and required a great deal of patience on the part of his parents and teachers. But Jim was a happy kid with a great smile that lit up the room. His parents knew his difficulties, but they always tried to help him see his strengths so that he could walk with pride. Shortly after Jim finished high school, he was killed in a motorcycle accident. After his death, his mother submitted this letter to the newspaper.

“Today we buried our 20-year-old son. He was killed in a motorcycle accident on Friday night. How I wish I had known that the last time I had talked to him would be the last time. If I had only known that, I would have said to him, ‘Jim, I love you and I’m always so proud of you.’ I would have taken the time to count the many blessings he had brought to the lives of the people who loved him. I would have taken the time to appreciate his beautiful smile, his laughter, and his genuine love to other people.

“When I put all the good things on the scale and try to balance them with all the irritating (恼人的) things such as the radio that was always too loud, the haircut that wasn’t to our liking, the dirty socks under the bed, etc., I find that the irritations really don’t amount to much.

“I won’t get another chance to tell my son all that I would have wanted him to hear, but, other parents, do have a chance. Tell your young people what you would want them to hear as if it may be your last conversation. The last time I talked to Jim was the morning of the day when he died. He called me to say, ‘Hi, Mom! I just called to say I love you. You have to go to work now. Bye.’ That day, he gave me something to treasure forever. ”

If there is any purpose at all for Jim’s death, maybe it is to make others appreciate life more and to tell people, especially family members, that they should take the time to let each other know just how much they care. You may never have another chance. Do it today!

1.What’s the meaning of the underlined phrase “the educationally handicapped”?

2.According to the writer, which of the following about Jim is TRUE？

3.What did Polly think of Jim?

4.The purpose of Polly’s letter is to _______.               .