Making fists is relaxing. It dictates the shape of the immediate future; it calms you down (it’s OK, it’s on a list somewhere) and it makes you feel good when you cross something off 0ist-making is standard practice in therapy for depression). It might even help you to get things done too. The more you have to do, the more you need a list and few people with high-powered jobs get by without them. Women always think they’re better at lists than men. Men tend to have Tasks which they assemble’ into Action Plans whereas women just have lists of Things To Do.

James Oliver, psychologist, has created his own “time management matrix (模式)”. He writes a list of things to do and then organizes them into categories: things that have to be done straight away, other things that it would be good to do today, things that are important but haven’t got to be done immediately and things that are less urgent but that he doesn’t want to forget. “Using categories to order the world is the way the human mind works,” he says. “After that, you should divide things into levels of importance.” But he also warns, “If people get too absorbed in making fists, it doesn’t work. They have too many categories and lose their ability to decide which is the most important.”

It’s all a question of what works best for you, whether it’s a tidy notebook, a packet of Post-it notes or the back of your hand． Having tried all these, student Kate Rollins relies on a computerized list, which is printed out each morning. “My electronic organizer has changed my life,” she says. “Up to now, I’ve always relied on my good memory, but now that I’m working and studying, I find I’ve got too much to keep in my head．”

So what are you waiting for? No, you’re not too busy to make today the first day of your upgraded time-managed life. In fact, there’s no better time titan the present to begin to take increased control of your work and life. So, get out your pencil and pen and make a list.

1.The main purpose of making lists is to   .

A．help map out one’s future	B．divide things into levels of importance
C．treat certain diseases such as depression	D．organize one’s work and life reasonably

2.We can learn from the passage that   .

A．good memory helps in list making

B．too much’ listing might be misleading

C．women usually make a lot more lists than men

D．people with high-powered jobs make lists most

3.The word “categories” in paragraph 2 most probably has the same meaning as“   ”.

A．groups

B．portions

C．items

D．areas

4.In this passage the author intends to   .

A．suggest a way of raising one’s living standard

B．introduce some ways of business management

C．urge people to develop the habit of listing

D．warn people not to rely on their memory

 

To me, life without music would not be exciting. I realize that this is not true for everybody. Many people get along quite well without going to the concert, and listening to the record. But music plays an important part in everyone's life, whether he realizes it or not. Try to imagine, for example, what films or TV plays would be like without music. Would the feelings, the moving plot, and the greatest interests, be so exciting or dramatic? I'm not sure about it.

Now, we have been speaking of music in its more common meaning----the kind of music we hear in the concert hall. But if we look at some parts of music more closely, we discover them in our everyday life too----in the rhythm of the sea, the melody of a bird in the woods and so on. So music surely has meaning for everyone, in some way or other. And, of course, it has special meaning for those who have spent all their lives working on playing or writing music.

It is well said, “Through music a child enters into a world of beauty, expresses himself from his heart, feels the joy of doing things alone, learns to take care of others, develops his mind and makes his body strong.”

1.What dose the writer say more about in the text?

A．Life full of music.

B．Life without music.

C．The importance of music.

D．The development of music.

2.From the text, we learn that many people________.

A．don't realize the importance of music

B．get along quite well without music

C．go to the concert instead of enjoying music

D．think music would be less exciting than films

3.What does the underlined word “melody” mean in the text?

A．flying             B．looking           C．singing            D．living

4.From the last paragraph, we learn that music________.

A．is very important, especially for children

B．is very necessary for our everyday life

C．can make our life exciting and dramatic

D．can enter into another beautiful world

 

It’s great fun to explore(探索) new places—it feels like an adventure,even when you know you’re not the first to have been there.But make sure not to get lost or waste time going round in circles.

●Do the map reading if you’re being driven somewhere.It’ll be easier if you keep turning the map so it follows the direction you’re traveling in.Keep looking ahead so that you can give the driver lots of warning before having to make a turn,or you’ll have to move to the back seat.

●Get a group of friends together and go exploring.You’ll need a good map,a compass(指南针),a raincoat,a cell phone to call for help in case you get lost,and a bit of spare cash for emergencies(应急现金).Tell someone where you’re going before you set out and let them know what time you expect to be back.The test is in not getting lost,not in seeing how fast you can go,so always stick together,waiting for slower friends to catch up.

●See if your school or a club organizes orienteering activities,in which you need a map and a compass to find your way.This can be done as a sport,with teams trying to find the way from A to B(and B to C,etc.) in the fastest time,or simply as a spare-time activity.Either way,it’s not only good fun,but a great way to keep fit.

Sitting beside the driver,you should ______.

A.direct the driver when necessary

B.look ahead to see where there’s a turn

C.move to the back seat if feeling uncomfortable

D.keep looking at the map to find a place to go to

Why do you need to tell someone your exploration plan before setting out?

A.To get information when in danger.

B.To be saved in case of an accident.

C.To share the fun with him/her in exploration.

D.To tell him/her what’s going on with the group members.

Orienteering activities can ______.

A.make people work fast

B.help people stay healthy

C.help people organize other activities

D.make people get prepared for sports

The text mainly talks about ______.

A.the fun of exploration

B.what to bring for exploration

C.the way to use a map in exploration

D.how to prevent getting lost in exploration

阅读理解。从ABCD中选出正确的答案。（每题2分，共40分）

It was a winter morning, just a couple of weeks before Christmas 2005. While most people were warming up their cars, Trevor, my husband, had to get up early to ride his bike four kilometers away from home to work. On arrival, he parked his bike outside the back door as he usually does. After putting in 10 hours of labor, he returned to find his bike gone.

    The bike, a black Kona 18 speed, was our only transport. Trevor used it to get to work, putting in 60-hour a week to support his young family. And the bike was also used to get groceries（食品杂货）, saving us from having to walk long distances from where we live.

    I was so sad that someone would steal our bike that I wrote to the newspaper and told them our story. Shortly after that, several people in our area offered to help. One wonderful stranger even bought a bike, then called my husband to pick it up. Once again my husband had a way to get to and from his job. It really is an honor that a complete stranger would go out of their way for someone they have never met before.

    People say that a smile can be passed from one person to another, but acts of kindness from strangers are even more so. This experience has had a spreading effect in our lives because it strengthened our faith in humanity（人性） as a whole. And it has influenced（影响） us to be more mindful（注意的，留神的）of ways we, too, can share with others. No matter how big or how small, an act of kindness shows that someone cares. And the results can be everlasting.

1.Why was the bike so important to the couple?

A. They used it for work and daily life.

B. It was their only possession.

C. It was a nice Kona 18 speed.

D. The man's job was bike racing.

2.What does the underlined phrase mean?

A. go very far to see someone

B. walk out on foot to greet someone

C. help someone with one’s best

D. enjoy the moment with someone

3.We can infer from the text that ________.

A. the couple worked 60 hours a week

B. people were busy before Christmas

C. the stranger brought over the bike

D. life was hard for the young family

4.How did people get to know the couple's problem?

A. From a stranger.

B. From a newspaper.

C. From TV news.

D. From radio broadcasts.

5.What do the couple learn from their experience?

A. Strangers are usually of little help.

B. One should take care of their bike.

C. News reports make people famous.

D. An act of kindness can mean a lot.

 

Jack lay, quiet and unmoving, for thirty minutes while a stranger repeatedly stabbed(刺) him with sharp needles, causing blood to pour steadily out of his leg. Jack was getting a tattoo. His friend Tony had recently gotten a tattoo, and Jack was so impressed by it that he decided to get one too. Peer pressure, media influence, and personal expression are some of the common reasons for wearing tattoos today.

     The desire to be accepted by one’s friends or peers can have a great influence on what a person does. Sometimes, wearing a tattoo can be a sign that you belong to a certain group. Gangs often use special clothes and tattoos to identify their particular group. Some of these groups wear only brand-name clothes. Others wear tattoos. When a person’s friends are all doing something, that person is more likely to do the same thing.

     The media is another big influence behind the popularity of tattoos in North America. A wide variety of media images show tattoos—people appearing in commercials selling expensive cars, famous sports heroes with tattoos in magazines, fashion models wearing designer clothes that show their bodies tattooed with detailed and colorful patterns. These media images link tattoos to ideas of wealth, success, and status. As a result, many people decide to get a tattoo for its fashion and status value.

     Many people decide to wear tattoos in order to express their artistic nature, their beliefs, or their feelings－in other words, to show their individuality(个性). A musician in a rock band may get a tattoo of a guitar on the arm. Some environmentalists may tattoo pictures of endangered animals on their shoulders. A tattoo can be a public sign to show what is important in a person’s life.

     As you can see, there are many reasons why young North Americans get tattoos. A tattoo can be part of a group’s uniform, a sign of fashion, or an expression of individuality. The decision to get a tattoo is most often a result of the influence of friends or media or the desire to express oneself. For Jack, it was a mixture of all three.

1.Jack has got tattoos in order to ________.

     A. show his great bravery                            B. gain a special experience

     C. make himself more healthy                      D. be different from others

2.According to the passage, media images are linked to ________.

     A. traditional lifestyle                                  B. social position

C. cultural background                             D. public interest

3.We can infer from the passage that ________.

     A. some people get tattoos out of pressure B. tattoo is related to religious belief

     C. getting tattoos costs a lot of money               D. most people with tattoos are artists