The other day I heard a few local musicians talking:

“I hate all the terrible pianos in this town. I hate that rubbish they play on the radio. They can’t even understand a bit of music.”

“I’m never playing in that club again. Too many drunks and nobody listens to us.”

But, one younger musician said, “There are a few clubs that book my band a few nights a month, and I’m trying to find other places to play. I’m also looking to book a few summer festivals this year.”

I’ve heard that you are the average of the five people whom you spend the most time with, or to put it another way, you are who your friends are.

Attitudes are important. Whether they’re positive or negative, they’re rubbing off on you. If you’re around people who complain about lack of work and about other musicians, or blame (责怪) others, and you play the role of victim (受害者), chances are you will start to as well. So it’s time to take a look at the people you call “friends”.

This is an easy exercise: Make a list of the people who you hang out with, and simply stop spending time with the negative people on your list. Set a new standard (标准) for yourself and don’t become friends with people who fall below that standard.

Keep successful people around you and your own chances for success will be much better. Ask them how they do it. Ask if they will help you get the work you’re looking for, or maybe give you some advice to help you on your career path.

1.Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?

A．A friend in need is a friend indeed

B．How to make friendship last for ever

C．You are who your friends are

D．Friends are the most important in one’s success

2.The underlined sentence “they’re rubbing off on you” in Paragraph 6 means ______.

A．they’ll push you ahead                  B．they’ll influence you

C．they’ll cover your shortcomings           D．they’ll help you achieve your goal

3.The musicians’ words at the beginning are written mainly to show ______.

A．the musicians’ living conditions are quite poor

B．people have poor taste in music

C．people have different attitudes towards the same thing

D．young people have greater chances of succeeding

4.By taking the exercise mentioned in Paragraph 7, you can ______.

A．improve a lot in making more friends

B．come to the right way of making friends

C．develop a better relationship with your friends

D．arrange the time with your friends properly

The number of smokers in England is about 8 million. According to the Department of Health, smoking is the biggest cause of early death in the country. Smokers in England have been asked to give up smoking for 28 days this month, in an action backed by Cancer Research UK and the British Heart Foundation.
Research shows people who manage not to light up for this length of time are 5 times more likely to kick the habit. Public health experts say campaigns that include a combination of hard-hitting ads and supportive messages work best.
Quitting smoking can be difficult. However, people are much more likely to succeed if other people are doing the same than if they try to do it alone and go cold turkey. Robert West, Director of Tobacco Studies at University College London, points out how pressure from people around can prevent a smoker going on smoking. “We are social animals,” he said.
The action has met some doubts among readers of the BBC News Online website. Some compared it to asking people to stop eating as a way of fighting overweight. Others doubt the action’s effectiveness. “Its weakness is that it fails to explain why a person smokes, and the reasons are as many as the number of smokers”, says someone who signed as BluesBerry.
Another reader, Cazz, has decided to give it some credit. He says:“ Campaigns like this won’t necessarily inspire the majority of smokers to quit, but may encourage those thinking about quitting to set a date and try. Surely it’s worth a shot. ”

1. 1.

   What does the text mainly talk about?

   1. A.
      A new action to quit smoking
   2. B.
      A way of fighting overweight
   3. C.
      A country with the most smokers
   4. D.
      The biggest cause of early death
2. 2.

   The underlined phrase “go cold turkey” in the third paragraph means “_______”

   1. A.
      buy a cold turkey
   2. B.
      eat too much food
   3. C.
      stop a bad habit
   4. D.
      get much support
3. 3.

   Why is it easier to stop smoking when other people are doing the same?

   1. A.
      Because people usually respect each other
   2. B.
      Because they’re faced with the same pressure
   3. C.
      Because people are influenced by each other
   4. D.
      Because they keep the same animals as pets
4. 4.

   What’s Cazz’ s attitude in the last paragraph?

   1. A.
      Distant．
   2. B.
      Doubtful．
   3. C.
      Surprised．
   4. D.
      Approving

You’ve done much of the work, and please leave ______ to us.

27．The worker coming from the rural area spent twenty minutes painting on end of the stick red and_________white．

27．The worker coming from the rural area spent twenty minutes painting on end of the stick red and_________white．

       A．another     B．others       C．the other   D．Other