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

A．It is not so easy to measure personal growth．

B．To try and fail on the new road facing the unknown is unavoidable．

C．There are only two ways to see a person’s growth．

D．If you are too shy to take any risks in life, you cannot grow up．

58．For personal growth, the author is in favor of all the following EXCEPT _______．

A．being curious about more changes

B．being quick in self-adaptation

C．having an open mind to new experiences

D．staying away from failures and challenges

57．Which of the following can be viewed as the process of personal growing?

A．Our manager was always willing to accept new challenges．

B．Jane won the first prize in the speech competition．

C．Jerry picked up French during his stay in Paris．

D．Father’s salary rose from 5, 000 to 7,000．

56．In the author’s eye, one who views personal growth as a process would ______．

A．succeed in climbing up the social ladder

B．grow up from his own achievements

C．face difficulties and take up challenges

D．aim high and reach his goal each time

55. The passage is written in a(n)　　 tone.

A. subjective　　　 　　　 B. humorous　　　 C. doubtful　　　 D. objective(客观的)

E

There are two basic ways to see growth: one as a product, the other as a process. People have generally viewed personal growth as an external(外在的)result or a product that can easily be identified and measured．The worker who gets a rise, the student whose grades improve, the foreigner who learns a new language—all these examples of people who have measurable results to show for their efforts．

By contrast(对照), the process of personal growth is much more difficult to determine, since it is a journey and not the specific signposts or landmarks along the way．The process is not the road itself, but the attitudes, feelings people have , and their caution or courage, as they meet with new experiences and unexpected difficulties．In this process, the journey never really ends；there are always new ways to experience the world, new ideas to try, new challenges to accept．

In order to grow, to travel new roads, people need to have a willingness to take risks, to face the unknown, and to accept the possibility that they may “fail” at first．How we see ourselves as we try a new way of being is necessary for our ability to grow．Do we see ourselves as quick and curious? If so, we tend to take more chances and be more open to unfamiliar experiences．Do we think we’re shy and indecisive? Then our sense of fear can cause us to hesitate, to move slowly, and we think we are slow to adapt(适应)change or that we’re not smart enough to deal with a new challenge．Then we are likely to take a more passive role or not try at all．

These feelings of insecurity(不安全)and self-doubt are both unavoidable and necessary if we are to change and grow．If we protect ourselves too much, then we stop growing．We become trapped inside a shell of our own making．

54. Which of the following is WRONG?

A. Personality can change people’s impressions of how good-looking you are．

B. Positive personality may lead to more friends．

C. The judgment of attractiveness remains unchanged after two people have become close friends．

D. According to Lewandowski, the research reminds people to pay more attention to their personality．

53. What’s the CORRECT order of how cognitive processes modify judgments of attractiveness?

a. find a person having a positive personality

b. view him / her more physically attractive

c. want to make friends with him / her

d. want to be his / her romantic partner

A. a → b → c → d　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. a → c → d → b

C. a → c → b → d　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. a → d → c → d

52. What did participants do in the study?

A. They exhibited negative characters such as unfairness and rudeness．

B. They rated people’s attractiveness before and after knowing their personalities．

C. They tried to make friends with each other．

D. They tried to prove that positive characters make people more attractive．

50. By what means did Japan grab its large market share by the 1970s and the 1980s?

A. Its advertising was most successful.

B. Its products were cheaper in price and better in quality.

C. The US hardware industry was lagging behind. (来源：EnglishCN英语问答中心[e问e答])

D. Japan hired a lot of Indian software specialists.

51(来源：EnglishCN英语问答中心[e问e答])50.　What is the writer worrying about?

A. Many US software specialists are working for Japan. (来源：EnglishCN英语博客基地)

B. The quality problem has become a worldwide problem.

C. India and Japan are joining hands to compete with the US.

D. The US will no longer be the first software player in the world.

D

If you exhibit positive characteristics such as honesty and helpfulness, the chances are that you will be thought as a good-looking person, for a new study has found that the perception(认知)of physical attractiveness is influenced by a person’s personality．

The study, led by Gary W. Lewandowski, has found that people who exhibit negative characteristics, such as unfairness and rudeness, appear to be less physically attractive to observers．In the study, the participants viewed photographs of opposite-sex individuals and rated(评分)them for attractiveness before and after being provided with information about their personalities．

After personality information was received, participants also rated the probability of each individual’s becoming a friend and a dating partner．Information on personality was found to significantly change the probability, showing that cognitive(认知的)processes modify(修改)judgments of attractiveness．

“Thinking a person as having a desirable personality makes the person more suitable in general as a close relationship partner of any kind,” said Lewandowski．

The findings show that a positive personality leads to greater expectation of becoming friends, which leads to greater expectation of becoming romantic partners and, finally, to being viewed as more physically attractive．The findings remained consistent regardless of how “attractive” the individual was formerly thought to be or of the participants’ current relationship status．

“This research provides a positive outcome by reminding people that personality goes a long way toward determining your attractiveness; it can even change people’s impressions of how good looking you are,” said Lewandowski．