1. It is concluded in the research that high selfesteem________.

A. is not important at all
B. has taken on a different meaning
C. may not be the key to success
D. does not help you do better at school

2. According to the research, people with high selfesteem________.

A. have better relationship with people of their own age
B. are more likely to become violent and wicked
C. tend to be proud and do not care much about others
D. often feel depressed and can't focus on their work

3. The advice in the last paragraph is mainly for people________.

A. with high selfesteem  
B. with low selfesteem
C. who are still at school  
D. who are good at everything

1. What can be the best title for the text?

A. Should the young show respect for the old?
B. Young people deserve more understanding
C. Who should be blamed, the young or the old?
D. A debate between the young and the old

2. The author's attitude towards young people not giving up seats to the old is________.

A. unreasonable  
B. unacceptable
C. understandable  
D. unusual

3. According to the passage, the underlined phrase "mend their ways" is closest in meaning to "________".

A. give way to the old  
B. stop behaving badly
C. respect the old  
D. take on more responsibilities

4. Which of the following will the author agree with?

A. It is the old rather than the young who are to blame for their misunderstanding.
B. It is time that the society lightened the burden on the shoulder of the young.
C. It is time to change China's onechild family planning policy.
D. The old and the young need mutual understanding.

5. How is the passage mainly developed?

A. By reasoning.
B. By comparing.
C. By listing examples.
D. By following the natural time order.

     Children become more generous as they get older, learning the principles of equality by the age of
eight.That may not be too surprising to anyone who has kids.
     Humans are born with a sense of fairness that most other animals seem not to share, but it's not been
clear exactly when this concept starts to develop.
     Dr.Alva Zhao and her colleagues conducted a series of tests to measure just how much children care
about equality at different ages.In three different versions of a game, children were asked to choose
between two ways of sharing a number of sweets with themselves and an unfamiliar partner.They could
choose, for example, between one for me and one for you, or just having one for themselves.
     At the age of three, children were "almost completely selfish", says Zhao.
     They refused to give sweets away even if it made no difference to themselves.But by the age of eight,
children generally preferred the fair option, sharing a prize equally rather than keeping it all to themselves.
     Several other factors influenced how fair the children were.The team found that children without
brothers or sisters were 28% more likely to share than children with brothers or sisters.On the other
hand, the youngest children in a family were 17% less willing to share than children who had only younger brother or sister.
     In addition, if children knew that their partner was from the same playgroup or school, they were more concerned about being fair.This suggests that being nice to people you know is something that develops a
sense of equality.

1. The main idea of the first paragraph is________.

A. parents know clearly when their kids are more willing to share
B. the kids' willingness of sharing is learned from their family
C. the older the kids are, the more selfish they will become
D. kids become more generous when they reach a certain age

2. The tests conducted by Dr.Alva Zhao and her colleagues were aimed at________.

A. how kids develop a quality of fairness in games
B. children's awareness of equality at different ages
C. the reasons why children care about equality
D. children's attitudes towards other partners

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

A. Children under three know little about being fair.
B. Children above eight years old become less selfish.
C. Children with brothers or sisters tend to be more generous.
D. The youngest child in a family tends to be less generous.

4. We can learn that children care more about equality while with________.

A. unknown people  
B. nice people
C. familiar people
D. fair people

     In this age of Internet chat,   videogames and reality television,   there is no shortage of mindless
activities to keep a child occupied. Yet,   despite the competition,   my 8yearold daughter Rebecca
wants to spend her leisure time writing short stories. She wants to enter one of her stories into a writing
contest,   a competition she won last year.
     As a writer I know about winning contests,   and about losing them. I know what it is like to work
hard on a story only to receive a rejection slip from the publisher. I also know the pressure of trying to
live up to a reputation created by previous victories. What if she doesn't win the contest again? That's
the strange thing about being a parent. So many of our own past scars and dashed hopes can surface.
     A revelation (啟示) came last week when I asked her,   "Don't you want to win again?" "No,  " she
replied,   "I just want to tell the story of an angel going to first grade."
     I had just spent weeks correcting her stories as she spontaneously (自發(fā)地) told them. Telling
myself that I was merely an experienced writer guiding the young writer across the hall,   I offered
suggestions for characters,   conflicts and endings for her tales. The story about a fearful angel starting
first grade was quickly "guided" by me into the tale of a little girl with a wild imagination taking her first
music lesson. I had turned her contest into my contest without even realizing it.
     Staying back and giving kids space to grow is not as easy as it looks. Because I know very little
about farm animals who use tools or angels who go to first grade,   I had to accept the fact that I was
coopting(借用) my daughter's experience.
     While stepping back was difficult for me,   it was certainly a good first step that I will quickly follow
with more steps,   putting myself far enough away to give her room but close enough to help if asked.
All the while I will be reminding myself that children need room to experiment,   grow and find their
own voices.

1. What do we learn from the first paragraph?

A. A lot of entertainments compete for children's time nowadays.
B. Rebecca is much too occupied to enjoy her leisure time.
C. Children do find lots of fun in many mindless activities.
D. Rebecca draws on a lot of online materials for her writing.

2. What did the author say about her own writing experience?

A. She did not quite live up to her reputation as a writer.
B. Her way to success was full of pains and frustrations.
C. She was constantly under pressure of writing more.
D. Most of her stories had been rejected by publishers.

3. The author took great pains to correct her daughter's stories because ______.

A. she wanted to help Rebecca realize her dreams of becoming a writer
B. she was afraid Rebecca's imagination might run wild while writing
C. she did not want to disappoint Rebecca who needed her help so much
D. she believed she had the knowledge and experience to offer guidance

4. What's the author's advice for parents?

A. Children should not be given every chance to voice their opinions.
B. Parents should keep an eye on the activities their kids engage in.
C. Children should be allowed freedom to grow through experience.
D. A writing career,   though attractive,   is not for every child to pursue.

     President Coolidge's statement, "The business of America is business," still points to an important truth
today-that business institutions have more prestige (威望)  in American society than any other kind of
organization, including the government. Why do business institutions possess this great prestige?
     One reason is that Americans view business as being more firmly based on the ideal of competition
than other institutions in society. Since competition is seen as the major source of progress and prosperity by most Americans, competitive business institutions are respected. Competition is not only good in itself,
it is the means by which other basic American values such as individual freedom, equality of opportunity,
and hard work are protected.
      Competition protects the freedom of the individual by ensuring that there is no monopoly(壟斷.  of
power. In contrast to one, all-powerful government, many businesses compete against each other for
profits.   Theoretically, if one business tries to take unfair advantage of its customers, it will lose to
competing business which treats its customers more fairly. Where many businesses compete for the
customers' dollar, they cannot afford to treat them like inferiors or slaves.
     A contrast is often made between business, which is competitive, and government, which is a
monopoly. Because business is competitive, many Americans believe that it is more supportive of
freedom than government, even though government leaders are elected by the people and business
leaders are not. Many Americans believe, then, that competition is as important, or even more important,
than democracy in preserving freedom.
     Competition in business is also believed to strengthen the ideal of equality of opportunity. Competition
is seen as an open and fair race where success goes to the swiftest person regardless of his or her social
class background. Competitive success is commonly seen as the American alternative to social rank
based on family background. Business is therefore viewed as and expression of the idea of equality of
opportunity rather than the aristocratic(貴族的) idea of inherited privilege.

1. The statement "The business of America is business" probably means"________".

A.  The business institutions in America are concerned with commerce
B.  Business problems are of great importance to the American government
C.  Business is of primary concern to Americans
D.  America is a great power in world business

2. Americans believe that they can realize their personal values only_____ .

A.  when given equality of opportunity      
B.  through doing business
C.  by protecting their individual freedom    
D.  by way of competition

3. Who can benefit from business competition?

A.  Honest businessmen.                    
B.  Both businessmen and their customers.
C.  People with ideals of equality and freedom  
D.  Both business institutions and government.

4. Government is believed to differ strikingly from business in that government is characterized by ____.

A. its absolute control of power          
B.  its function in preserving personal freedom
C.  its role in protecting basic American values    
D.  its democratic way of exercising leadership

5. It can be inferred from the passage that the author believes  _____  .

A.  Americans are more ambitious than people in other countries        
B.  in many countries success often depends on one's social status
C.  American businesses are more democratic than those in other countries
D.  businesses in other countries are not as competitive as those in America

     The appeal of advertising to buying motives can have both negative and positive effects. Consumers
may be convinced to buy a product of poor quality or high price because of an advertisement. For
example, some advertisers appealed to people's desire for better fuel economy for their cars by
advertising automotive products that improve gasoline mileage. Some of the products work.. Others are
worthless and a waste of consumers' money.
     Sometimes advertising is intentionally misleading. A few years ago a brand of bread was offered to
dieters (節(jié)食者.  with the message that there were fewer calories (熱量單位,大卡.  in every slice. It
turned out that the bread was not dietetic (適合于節(jié)食的. , but just regular bread. There were fewer
calories because it was sliced very thin, but there were the same number of calories in every loaf.
     On the positive side, emotional appeals may respond to a consumer's real concerns. Consider fire
insurance. Fire insurance may be sold by appealing to fear of loss. But fear of loss is the real reason for
fire insurance. The security of knowing that property is protected by insurance makes the purchase of
fire insurance a worthwhile investment for most people. If consumers consider the quality of the insurance
plans as the message in the ads, they will benefit from the advertising.
     Each consumer must evaluate her or his own situation. Are the benefits of the product important
enough to justify buying it? Advertising is intended to appeal to consumers, but it does not force them to
buy the product. Consumers still control the final buying decision.

1. Advertising can persuade the consumer to buy worthless products by ________.

A. stressing their high quality        
B. convincing him of their low price
C. maintaining a balance between quality and price
D. appealing to his buying motives

2. The reason why the bread advertisement is misleading is that ________.

A. thin slices of bread could contain more calories
B. the loaf was cut into regular slices
C. the bread was not genuine bread
D. the total number of calories in the loaf remained the same

3. The passage tells us that _________.

A. sometimes advertisements really sell what the consumer needs
B. advertisements occasionally force consumers into buying things they don't need
C. the buying motives of consumers are controlled by advertisements
D. fire insurance is seldom a worthwhile investment

4. It can be inferred from the passage that a smart consumer should ________.

A. think carefully about the benefits described in the advertisements
B. guard against the deceiving nature of advertisements
C. be familiar with various advertising strategies
D. avoid buying products that have strong emotional appeal

5. The passage is mainly about _________.

A. how to make a wise buying decision
B. ways to protect the interests of the consumer
C. the positive and negative aspects of advertising
D. the function of advertisements in promoting sales