Have you ever been afraid to talk back when you were treated unfairly? Have you ever bought something just because the shop assistant asked you to buy it? Have you ever been afraid to ask someone for an appointment?

    Many people are afraid to assert themselves （坚持主见）. Dr. Alberti, author of Stand Up and Speak Out, thinks it’s because their self-respect （自尊心） is low. “Our whole system （体制） of society is designed to make people less confident,” says Alberti. “There’s always a person who knows more and better around us—a parent, a teacher or a boss. These people often chip away at （削弱） our self-image （自我形象）.”

    To help people assert themselves, Alberti and other scientists offer AT courses where people learn that they have a right （权利） to do so. They learn to speak out and feel good doing so. They learn to be more active without hurting other people.

    In one way, learning to speak out is to get over fear. A group taking an AT course will help the shy person lose fear. And AT even encourages the need to share （分享） so that even the shy person wants to tell others how he feels.

    Whether you speak out depends on your self-image. If someone you face is more “important” than you, you may be afraid to do so. But, why should you? AT says once you can learn to speak out, you will gradually feel good about yourself.

1．The author asks some questions in the first paragraph in order to     .

A．find out the answers

B．make a survey

C．ask for some advice

D．introduce the topic

2．The underlined phrase “talk back” in the first paragraph means     .

A．criticizing somebody

B．answering to show disagreement

C．talking behind somebody’s back

D．fighting with somebody

3．One thing that AT does NOT do is     .

A．help people to get over fear

B．remind people of their right to assert themselves

C．teach people to assert themselves without respecting others

D．help people to feel good about themselves

4．What’s the author’s attitude towards AT courses?

A．肯定的          B．否定的         C．冷漠的       D．怀疑的

5．The most suitable title for this passage would probably be     .

A．The AT courses

B．Speak out for yourself

C．The sadness of shy people

D．The importance of self-respect

“Mr. Mott often forgets important meetings. The robot will go after him all the time. It listens to everything he says. It sees everything he does. At night, it watches him sleep. It knows everything about Mr. Mott…”
It sounds like a wonderful idea, doesn’t it? But I’m afraid that Mr. Mott will not get on well with the robot, because everyone has something he doesn’t want others know. It is privacy. Just imagine that there is a video camera around you all day. How do you feel? When you are taking an exam, a teacher sits in front of you and watches you all the time. How do you feel?
Mr. Mott doesn’t lose all his memory. At least he remembers that he always forgets. So why can’t he do something for this HIMSELF? He can keep a notebook with him, like most people do. In the notebook he can write down the things he should do, the persons he should meet and the places he should go. Isn’t the notebook much cheaper and safer than the robot?
【小题1】“It” in the first paragraph(段落) refers to______________.

“Mr. Mott often forgets important meetings. The robot will go after him all the time. It listens to everything he says. It sees everything he does. At night, it watches him sleep. It knows everything about Mr. Mott…”

It sounds like a wonderful idea, doesn’t it? But I’m afraid that Mr. Mott will not get on well with the robot, because everyone has something he doesn’t want others know. It is privacy. Just imagine that there is a video camera around you all day. How do you feel? When you are taking an exam, a teacher sits in front of you and watches you all the time. How do you feel?

Mr. Mott doesn’t lose all his memory. At least he remembers that he always forgets. So why can’t he do something for this HIMSELF? He can keep a notebook with him, like most people do. In the notebook he can write down the things he should do, the persons he should meet and the places he should go. Isn’t the notebook much cheaper and safer than the robot?

1.“It” in the first paragraph(段落) refers to______________.

2.Why does the writer think Mr. Mott will not always get on well with the robot?

3.The underlined word “privacy” means _______________in Chinese.

4.Mr. Mott is_____________.

5.From this passage we know that the writer__________________.

Linda and David have traveled by air from London to Sydney, Australia． Linda has promised（答应）her mother that she will ring her to let her know that they have arrived safely． This is something she had done ever since she was a child． David thinks it is not a good idea to ring so far, to spend too much ,and to say so little．

"If there were an accident．" He says, “they’d know soon enough ． Bad news travels fast．”

But Linda has promised that she would ring ． "However," she says, "it doesn’t cost much when you just think that it′s the other side of the world．It’s only six pence per second (每秒六便士)。"

　"If you′re on that telephone for less than one minute, I’ll eat my hat, David says," And one minute’s nearly four pounds(英镑)．"

　"That‘s no more than you’d pay for a new hat," Linda answers．

　She has asked the man at the hotel (旅馆) desk to get her the number ． The telephone rings．Linda picks it up．

　"Hello, Mum ．Is that you ?" She says．

　"Six pence per second ," David reminds(提醒) her．

　“Hello, love．” It is Mrs Lee, Linda’s mother, speaking from London． "I can hear you very clearly just like you are in the next room ．It′s a better line than when you called me from your office． Do you remember? I shouted at that time ,and still you couldn’t hear me sometimes．"

　"Yes ,Mum ．"Linda puts in．． "I just wanted to ring to ……．"

　"I remember how you rang when you went to Betty‘s house to eat , when you were a little girl．And then when you …" Mrs Lee is a great talker

　"Nearly four pounds．" says David．

　Linda tries to tell her mother that it is time to say goodbye．

　"Yes, all right, "says Mrs Lee ," But you will write, won′t you, as you did when you were at work …"

Once again, Mrs Lee talks about the pass．and there is no stopping her．

“Four pounds fifty,”says David．

　At last, Linda cuts her mother short, promises to write, and rings off．

"There! That wasn′t long, was it ?"
　　" Four pounds, ninety pence．" David answers． " And you didn’t even say that we′ve arrived．"

1．Linda is telephoning home to ________．

A．tell her mother some bad news

B．say that she and David have arrived safely

C．report an accident to her mother

D．say that she and David have left London

2．Linda does not think it expensive to ring , because _____．

A．it only costs four pounds and ninety pence

B．it is even more expensive to buy a new hat

C．she had telephoned home since she was a child

D．she will speak from one side of the word to the other

3．David says, “Nearly four pounds , ”because ______．

A．he wants to remind Linda of the cost of the cost of the call

B．he wants to buy himself a new hat

C．Linda has not told her mother they have arrived

D．he wants Mrs Lee to know how much the call costs

4．Mrs Lee goes on talking for so long because _______．

A．she likes to hear all about the past ．

B．she likes talking

C．Linda had not told her that she has arrived

D．she is going to pay for the telephone call

5．Linda tries to stop her mother by ________．

A．telling her how much the call is costing

B．writing a letter as she has promised to do

C．telling her that they have arrived safely

D．promising to write, and ringing off