Nowhere else in the world _____ more friendly people than in China.

A. you will find                                          B. you can find

C. can you find         D. you may have found

“Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity,” said the American talk show host Oprah Winfrey. I’ve never watched her show, but when a self-made billionaire gives life advice it’s probably worth listening to.
Her point is that blind luck is very rare. You may have to be lucky to find a good job these days but that does not mean you should sit at home waiting for the opportunity to come to you. If you’re a Chinese, you may already be familiar with the tale of a farmer waiting by a tree stump(树桩) for a rabbit to run out and break its neck.
A book by the UK psychologist Richard Wiseman, called The Luck Factor, argues we can all make ourselves luckier. It’s not about going to a temple to burn some incense(香) hopes that the gods will give you good fortune; it’s practical advice you can follow each day.
Wiseman conducted an experiment as part of his studies. First he divided volunteers into two groups; those who said they were lucky in life and those who said they were not. He gave everyone a newspaper and asked them to look through it to count how many photographs it had inside. On average, the unlucky people took about two minutes to count the photographs while the lucky people took just seconds. Why? On the second page of the newspaper, a command, “Stop counting. There are 43 photographs in this newspaper,” was written in big letters. The unlucky people mostly did not spot the message.
It’s easy to compare this situation to a young person looking for jobs in a local paper. They might search so hard for one type of position that they miss an even better opportunity. People who are “lucky”, in fact, keep an open mind and don’t go through the same routine every day.
I first came to China in 2002 when it was considered a rather strange thing to do. Like many foreigners, my plan was to teach English for one year. Seven years later, and still here, I’ve had many great opportunities such as writing for newspapers and magazines. I did not dream these would have been possible. I’ve also never been sick, had an accident, got into a fight or had problems with the police. Coincidence? After reading about Professor Wiseman’s studies I think not.
As Wiseman advises, I usually trust my own judgment. Your friends and parents may give you advice based on rational thinking, but it’s important to consider how you feel about each choice you make. Your feeling acts as a warning for a potential problem.
Finally, try to turn bad luck into good. Even if you do fall down and break a leg, the time spent at home can be used wisely to study English.
【小题1】Which of the following proverbs most agrees with the writer’s point?

A．Make the best of a bad job.

B．Rome was not built in a day.

C．All is not gold that glitters.

D．A good heart conquers ill fortune.

【小题2】What do you know about Oprah Winfrey?

A．She became famous through her family background.

B．She is a British talk show host.

C．She became successful by her own effort.

D．She was very lucky and seldom suffered setbacks in her life.

【小题3】The writer quoted the Chinese tale of a farmer in order to show __________.

A．man can conquer nature

B．luck is in your own hand

C．bad luck can turn into good

D．you should not sit at home waiting for the opportunity to come to you

“You know, these cups bring to mind a tea quote(说法) I heard.” Mary’s aunt said.

She poured tea. There were four of them and there were four totally different cups on the table.

They took their tea cups.

“What quote?” Mary asked.

“Well, maybe I should rather say it is a story,” aunt said, “I heard that there was a wise teacher who took all his students for tea. They were surprised that all the cups on the table were different. Each of them took a cup and started drinking their tea, each looking at the cups of others. The teacher let them do that for a while and then said,‘ Do you notice your behavior? You are all looking at each other’s tea cup and I can see some of you with the broken ones are even envious(羡慕的) of the finer cups of others. Is this not so?’ ”

The students agreed, amused by their own behavior.

“You may have wondered why you all had different cups, but I put them here on purpose. You see they represent (代表) life itself. Life is like that tea and the cups are like the physical circumstances(状况) of your life. You all got the same thing in your cups — tea. And yet you can not truly enjoy it in your envy of another’s cup. It’s just the same with life. You forget to enjoy your own life when you concentrate on envying the circumstances of someone else’s life.

So now, close your eyes, and taste your own tea. Really taste it. And tell me — did it matter from which cup it came from?”

Aunt finished telling her short tea story and they all sat in silence for a while, tasting their tea. A sleepy fly buzzed(嗡嗡作响) past, a bird sang in the tree. And it really did not matter one bit from which tea cup they drank.

1. When the students found they had different tea cups, they_____________.

A．were satisfied with their own cup

B．were angry about the broken cups they had been given

C．asked the teacher to get new cups for them

D．were curious about the difference between the cups

2.From the text, we know that _____________.

A．the teacher prepared different tea cups for each student

B．the teacher should have given the students the same cups

C．the teacher made the tea cups different by mistake.

D．each student took their time to choose a cup they liked

3. According to the passage, by comparing the cups to the physical circumstances of people’s life, the teacher meant that people_______.

A．should try different ways of life

B．shouldn’t focus on envy others’ physical circumstances

C．can never change their physical circumstances

D．should work hard for a better life

4. In the passage the teacher’s message to the students was that _______.

A．life is hard and boring for everyone

B．it is strange to be envious of the lives of others

C．everyone should learn to enjoy his own life

D．people act differently in different circumstances

5. What can be the best title for the passage?

A．More than tea in a cup	B．The value of tea
C．Tea vs cup	D．Enjoying tea with a broken cup

 

If you are a recent social science graduate who has had to listen to jokes about unemployment from your computer major classmates, you may have had the last laugh. There are many advantages for the social science major because this high-tech "Information Age" demands people who are flexi??ble （灵活的） and who have good communication skills.

There are many social science majors in large companies who fill important positions. For example, a number of research studies found that social science majors had achieved greater managerial success than those who had technical training or pre-professional courses. Studies show that social science majors are most suited for change, which is the leading feature （特点） of the kind of high??speed, high-pressure, high-tech world we now live in.

Social science majors are not only experiencing success in their long-term company jobs, but they are also finding jobs more easily. A study showed that many companies had filled a large percentage of their entry-level positions with social science graduates. The study also showed that the most sought-after quality in a person who was looking for a job was communication skills, noted as "very important" by 92 percent of the companies. Social science majors have these skills, often without knowing how important they are. It is probably due to these skills that they have been offered a wide variety of positions.

Finally, although some social science majors may still find it more difficult than their technically trained classmates to land the first job, recent graduates report that they don’t regret their choice of study.

72. By saying that "you may have had the last laugh" in the first paragraph, the author means that you may have _______.

       A. shared the jokes with computer majors

       B. earned as much as computer majors

       C. found jobs more easily than computer majors

       D. stopped joking about computer majors

73. Compared with graduates of other subjects, social science graduates ______.

       A. are ready to change when situations change

       B. are better able to deal with difficulties

       C. are equally good at computer skills

       D. are likely to give others pressure

74. The underlined word "land" in the last paragraph probably means _______.

       A. keep for some time          B. successfully get

       C. immediately start             D. lose regretfully

75. According to the text, what has made it easy for social science graduates to find jobs?

       A. Willingness to take low-paid jobs.

       B. Readiness to gain high-tech knowledge.

       C. Skills in expressing themselves.

       D. Part-time work experience.

“Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity,” said the American talk show host Oprah Winfrey. I’ve never watched her show, but when a self-made billionaire gives life advice it’s probably worth listening to.
Her point is that blind luck is very rare. You may have to be lucky to find a good job these days but that does not mean you should sit at home waiting for the opportunity to come to you. If you’re a Chinese, you may already be familiar with the tale of a farmer waiting by a tree stump(树桩) for a rabbit to run out and break its neck.
A book by the UK psychologist Richard Wiseman, called The Luck Factor, argues we can all make ourselves luckier. It’s not about going to a temple to burn some incense(香) hopes that the gods will give you good fortune; it’s practical advice you can follow each day.
Wiseman conducted an experiment as part of his studies. First he divided volunteers into two groups; those who said they were lucky in life and those who said they were not. He gave everyone a newspaper and asked them to look through it to count how many photographs it had inside. On average, the unlucky people took about two minutes to count the photographs while the lucky people took just seconds. Why? On the second page of the newspaper, a command, “Stop counting. There are 43 photographs in this newspaper,” was written in big letters. The unlucky people mostly did not spot the message.
It’s easy to compare this situation to a young person looking for jobs in a local paper. They might search so hard for one type of position that they miss an even better opportunity. People who are “lucky”, in fact, keep an open mind and don’t go through the same routine every day.
I first came to China in 2002 when it was considered a rather strange thing to do. Like many foreigners, my plan was to teach English for one year. Seven years later, and still here, I’ve had many great opportunities such as writing for newspapers and magazines. I did not dream these would have been possible. I’ve also never been sick, had an accident, got into a fight or had problems with the police. Coincidence? After reading about Professor Wiseman’s studies I think not.
As Wiseman advises, I usually trust my own judgment. Your friends and parents may give you advice based on rational thinking, but it’s important to consider how you feel about each choice you make. Your feeling acts as a warning for a potential problem.
Finally, try to turn bad luck into good. Even if you do fall down and break a leg, the time spent at home can be used wisely to study English.
【小题1】Which of the following proverbs most agrees with the writer’s point?

A．Make the best of a bad job.

B．Rome was not built in a day.

C．All is not gold that glitters.

D．A good heart conquers ill fortune.

【小题2】What do you know about Oprah Winfrey?

A．She became famous through her family background.

B．She was very lucky and seldom suffered setbacks in her life.

C．She is a British talk show host.

D．She became successful by her own effort.

【小题3】 The writer quoted the Chinese tale of a farmer in order to show __________.

A．luck is in your own hand

B．bad luck can turn into good

C．you should not sit at home waiting for the opportunity to come to you

D．man can conquer nature