I had an experience some years ago, which taught me something about the ways in which people make a bad situation worse by blaming themselves. One January, I had to hold two funerals on successive days for two elderly women in my community. Both had died “full of years”, as the Bible would say. Their homes happened to be near each other, so I paid condolence(吊唁) calls on the two families on the same afternoon.

At the first home, the son of the deceased（亡故的）woman said to me, “If only I sent my mother to Florida and gotten her out of this cold and snow, she would be alive today. It’s my fault that she died. ”At the second home, the son of the other deceased woman said, “If only I hadn’t insisted on my mother’s going to Florida, she would be alive today. That long airplane ride, the sudden change of climate, was more than she could take. It’s my fault that she’s dead.”

You see that any time there is a death, the survivors will feel guilty. Because the course of action they took turned out bad, they believe that the opposite course keeping Mother at home, putting off the operation would have turned out better. After all, how could it have turned out any worse?

There seem to be two elements involved in our willingness to feel guilty. The first is our pressing need to believe that the world makes sense, that there is a cause for every effect and a reason for everything that happens. That leads us to find patterns and connections both where they really exist and where they exist only in our minds.

The second element is the view that we are the cause of what happens, especially the bad things that happen. It seems to be a short step from believing that every event has a cause to believing that every disaster is our fault. The roots of this feeling may lie in our childhood.

A baby comes to think that the world exists to meet his needs, and that he makes everything happen in it. He wakes up in the morning and summons the rest of the world to his tasks. He cries, and someone comes to attend to him. When he is hungry, people feed him, and when he is wet, people change him. Very often, we do not completely outgrow that childish view that our wishes cause things to happen.

The author had to conduct the two women’s funerals probably because____.

A. he was minister of the local church       B. he wanted to comfort the two families 

C. he was an official from the community    D. he had great pity for the deceased   

People feel guilty for the death of their loved ones because ____.

A. they couldn’t find a better way to express their sorrow.

B. they had neglected the natural course of events

C. they believed that they were responsible

D. they didn’t know things often turn in the opposite direction

According to the passage, the underlined part in paragraph 4 probably means that _____

A. everything in the world is predetermined

B. there’s an explanation for everything in the world

C. the world can be interpreted in different ways

D. we have to be sensible in order to understand the world

What’s the idea of the message?

A. Life and death is an unsolved mystery

B. Never feel guilty all the time because not every disaster is our fault

C. Every story should have a happy ending

D. In general, the survivors will feel guilty about the people who passed away

Sometimes we rarely make eye contact or make small talk with the people who are just beside or around you, so we act sometimes as if they don’t exist.

Here is an example. At nine most mornings the same scene is repeated in office buildings around the world. An employee walks into the elevator with his boss and apart from a mumbled “good morning” the junior is lost for other words. “That’s an opportunity missed”, says experts, who believe that such an obviously dull 30 – second conversation can be invaluable for those who want to climb the career ladder.

“Small talk can help build relationship on which you can build,” says Dusseldorf communication advisor Thorsten Knobble, whose company customizes curriculum vitae(个人简历) and job references.

As a matter of fact, the importance of small talk goes far beyond the relationship to one’s boss. People who fail the art of speaking a lot without actually saying anything find it harder to cultivate relationships in the workplace, believes Levy, director of the senior management association.

“Small talk is an essential part of networking,” he says.

Virtually every conversation begins and ends with small talk, according to Wolf Lasko, who has written a book on the topic and its bearing on career prospects.

Not everyone is good at small talk. It takes skill to pick the right moment and the right topic with which to start a conversation. There are plenty of topics although some are not suitable for informal chat. “Anything to do with sex is taboo,” cautions Knobble. “Care is needed with politics, religion, money, health or personal feelings or lives.” Safe topics include weather, holidays, movies, jobs, sports or past experiences.

Which of the following might be the best title for the text?

    A. Small Talk Difficult to Start    B. Small Talk and Safe Topics

    C. Small Talk Easy Or Not   D. Small Talk Essential to Your Career 

Small talk can do all the following except that _________.

    A. it can be an important part of the Internet

    B. it can make you successful in your career

    C. it can help you get along with the people you work with

    D. it can be an opportunity to start your relationship with your boss

Which of the following is True according to the passage?

    A. Try to avoid the embarrassing time of meeting your boss.

    B. Small talk takes place every morning at nine in office buildings.

    C. All the people can start a conversation with the right topic at the right moment.

    D. Everyone is not skilled at small talk.

What word do you think can replace the underlined word “taboo”?

    A. allowed         B. attracted          C. forbidden        D. discussed

Health experts have discovered that adding low-calorie vegetable soup to the start of a meal can actually help to lose weight.

Because you feel full sooner, you eat less of your main course.

The soup regime（养生法）was tested by researchers at Pennsylvania State University, led by Dr Barbara Rolls.

They found that when people ate a first course of soup before lunch they reduced their total calorie intake by 20 per cent, compared with those who did not begin the meal with soup.

But those who favor creamy soups should be careful．Researchers stressed the soup must be low-calorie and based on stock（菜汤）, not cream.

All of the soups tested in the study were made from identical ingredients - chicken stock , broccoli（硬花甘蓝）, potato, cauliflower（菜花）and carrots.

They were mixed together to create four different textures and thickness from separate stock and vegetables through to pureed soup.

Scientists thought that thick soups with chunks of vegetables which required chewing might be more filling, but to their surprise they found all forms had the same effect.

The findings were presented to the Experimental Biology conference in Washington, DC, and the research was part-funded by the National Institutes of Health.

What’s the reason that adding low-calorie vegetable soup to the start of a meal can actually help to lose weight?

    A. You can take in large quantities of vegetables.

    B. You can absorb high calories from the soup.

    C. You can take in low calories from the soup.

    D. You can feel full soon after having the soup.

Which of the following can not be in the low-calorie soup?

    A. chicken stock    B. cauliflower  C. cream    D. carrots

What is the best title of this passage?

    A. Vegetable Soup Helps to Lose Weight．

    B. A Scientific Research is Carrying out.

    C. A Research Done at Pennsylvania State University

    D. Findings Carried out to the Experimental Biology.

The underlined word “favor” is the same in meaning with ______.

    A. hate B. enjoy    C. prefer   D. drink.

Last year my wife and I spent a most interesting month in Turkey. Before we left, we were reminded of the difficulties of driving in Turkey. We certainly did not find this to be the case and, except for a few places in faraway mountainous areas, the roads were wide, and well-paved (铺). We drove for 12 days along the Western Coast of Turkey and had no problems at all. We found the Turkish drivers very polite and well-educated. We also found that eating lunch in the smaller towns was difficult so we picnicked almost every day.

    The following day after our arrival was Turkey’s Children’s Day, started by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Ataturk loved children and he often said, “Children are a new beginning of tomorrow.” He even devoted the day 23rd of April to the children which today is celebrated as Children’s Day as well as the date when the Republic of Turkey was founded.

    On that day certain children are picked to take over the places of the government, and a lucky kid will be the president of Turkey for a whole day. He can decide what’s going to happen and whether or not he is going to have the president next to him. There are a very large number of possibilities of things he can do but some shops aren’t open because they are celebrating the day as well.

    All in all, it was a more enjoyable trip. I would recommend (推荐) a trip to Turkey to anyone with an adventurous spirit!

Before the author and his wife went on a trip to Turkey, they were told that ________.

A. it was difficult to travel in Turkey

B. it was not easy to drive in Turkey

C. the streets in Turkey were dangerous

D. there were many mountain roads

What do we know from the first paragraph?

A. Places in mountainous areas were difficult to reach.

B. It took the couple 12 days to drive to Turkey.

C. The Turkish drivers had good manners.

D. It was difficult to eat meals in Turkey.

The underlined word “He” in paragraph 3 refers to “________”.

A. everyone of us              B. the government

C. the president of Turkey    D. the lucky child

What can be inferred(推断) from the passage?

A. The couple had little difficulty making their way in Turkey.

B. Turkey doesn’t celebrate International Children’s Day.

C. The author joined in celebrating Turkey’s Children’s Day.

D. On Turkey’s Children’s Day, everyone had holidays.

Leaves are nature’s food factories. Plants take water from the ground through their roots. They take a gas called carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air. Plants use sunlight to turn water and CO2 into glucose（葡萄糖）.Glucose is a kind of sugar. Plants use glucose as food for energy to grow. The way plants turn water and CO2 into glucose is called photosynthesis (光合作用).That means “putting together with light .” A chemical called chlorophyll helps make photosynthesis happen. Chlorophyll is green. It gives plants their green colour. As summer ends and autumn comes, the days get shorter and shorter. This is how the trees “know” to begin getting ready for winter.

During winter, there is not enough light or water for photosynthesis .The trees will rest, and live on the food they have stored during the summer. They begin to close their food-making  factories. The green Chlorophyll disappears from the leaves. Then, we begin to see yellow and orange colours. A few of these colors stay in the leaves all the time. We just can’t see them in the summer, because they are covered up by the green Chlorophyll.

Red and purple colors we see in leaves are made mostly in the autumn. In some trees, like maples, glucose is stored in the leaves after photosynthesis stops. Sunlight and the cool nights of autumn turn this glucose into red. The brown color of trees like oaks is made from wastes left in the leaves.

The underlined word “chlorophyll” in the first Para means        in Chinese.

A  叶绿素           B 氧气          C 胡萝卜素      D 蛋白质

The way            is called photosynthesis.

A. plants get CO2 from the air         

B. plants take water from the ground

C. plants turn water and CO2 into glucose.

 D. Plants use glucose as food for energy to grow.

The gas called carbon dioxide is from the         

A  ground      B roots        C air      D sunlight

Which of the following is not true?

A. when autumn and winter come, the days get shorter and shorter.

B. During winter trees rest and live on the food they store during the summer.

C. During winter small amounts of yellow and orange colors are kept in the leaves all the time.

D. Trees begin to stop making food in summer.