A wise man once said, “A man who makes no mistakes usually does not make anything.” It took me a long time to gather the   36  to admit that I had been making mistakes since my earliest days.   37  , many of the things that I had learned were   38  .

As a child from a poor family, I learned that when you had money, you were   39   to spend it on whatever brought you happiness   40  . I didn’t understand that even though putting money in the bank would not   41   me that quick joy, it could provide a sense of   42  — I still had that money.

One problem is that I never had an opportunity to   43   any money of my own until late in my teen years. All of my gift money   44   to my parents for “saving”, which actually   45   to be an emergency fund(风险基金) for things such as food.

On rare   46  , some relatives would give me some money, but they would   47   in my ear not to tell my mother and to spend it quickly on something fun. Their   48   was good — they wanted to bring joy to the life of a “  49  ”boy, but it didn’t teach me any   50   skills. Soon I would go back to having no money.

Another thing is that I believed that   51   help from others was bad. My parents were strict, and in many ways I   52   their philosophy (处事原则), but their personal beliefs prevented them from ever accepting any help.   53   we often had to live on a single part-time income, we never asked   54   anything. In this way, I was led to believe that accepting a helping hand, even in   55   of great need, was a sign of weakness.

36. A. time                          B. power                      C. courage                    D. chance

37. A. Otherwise                  B. Also                         C. Instead                         D. However

38. A. different                    B. common                   C. big                          D. wrong

39. A. supposed                    B. determined               C. ordered                    D. left

40. A. naturally                    B. immediately             C. probably                  D. eventually

41. A. buy                           B. prove                       C. sell                          D. show

42. A. direction                    B. guilty                       C. safety                       D. difference

43. A. receive                   B. lend                         C. manage                    D. earn

44. A. gave                          B. went                        C. borrowed                 D. left

45. A. added up                    B. came up                   C. gave out                   D. turned out

46. A. states                         B. occasions                  C. situations                  D. moments

47. A. shout                         B. explain                     C. whisper                    D. insist

48. A. plan                          B. information                     C. look                         D. intention

49. A. naughty                          B. poor                       C. hopeless                   D. lovely

50. A. financial                    B. imaginative                     C. popular                    D. formal

51. A. offering                          B. accepting                C. begging                    D. demanding

52. A. disobeyed                  B. ignored                    C. respected                  D. agreed

53. A. Even if                    B. Now that                C. Unless                      D. Until

54. A. about                         B. around                            C. against                            D. for

55. A. groups                     B. terms                            C. ways                        D. times

A punctual person is in the habit of doing a thing at the proper time and is never late in keeping an appointment.

The unpunctual man, on one hand, never does what he has to do at the proper time. He is always in a hurry and in the end loses both time and his good name. A lost thing may be found again, but lost time can never be regained. Time is more valuable than material things. In fact, time is life itself. The unpunctual man is for ever wasting and mismanaging his most valuable asset (财产) as well as other’s. The unpunctual person is always complaining that he finds no time to answer letters, or return calls or keep appointments promptly. But the man who really has a great deal to do is very careful of his time and seldom complains of want of it. He knows that he can not get through his huge amount of work unless he faithfully keeps every piece of work when it has to be attended to.

Failure to be punctual in keeping one’s appointments is the sign of disrespect towards others. If a person is invited to dinner and arrives later than the appointed time, he keeps all the other guests waiting for him. Usually this will be regarded as a great disrespect to the host and all other guests present.

Unpunctuality, moreover, is very harmful when it comes to do one’s duty, whether public or private. Imagine how it would be if those who are put in charge of important tasks failed to be at their proper place at the appointed time. A man who is known to be habitually unpunctual is never trusted by his friends or fellow men.

What does the author think is the main difference between a punctual person and an unpunctual person?

A. A punctual person does everything ahead of time while an unpunctual person does everything behind schedule.

B. A punctual person does everything at the right time while an unpunctual person seldom does anything at the correct time.

C. A punctual person has a lot of appointments while an unpunctual person has few appointments.

D. A punctual person has much time to do everything while an unpunctual person has little time to do anything.

According to the passage, the main reason that a person is always unpunctual is that _______.

A. he has more work to do than other people

B. he is always in a hurry when he works

C. he doesn’t care much about time

D. he always mismanages and wastes his time

According to the third paragraph, when you are invited to dinner, you should arrive there _______.

A. after other guests have arrived

B. before all other guests

C. at the appointed time

D. after the host has got things ready

Which of the following statements best describes the harm of unpunctuality?

A. If you are an unpunctual person, you cannot be in charge of any important task.

B. If your friends know that you are unpunctual, they may not see you again.

C. Unpunctuality may bring about heavy losses for both public and private affairs.

D. Unpunctuality may make you miss a lot of appointments and lose friends.

A person named Bernard Jackson today is a free man, but he has many bitter memories. He spent five years in prison after a jury (陪审团) wrongly convicted (判处……有罪) him of raping two women. At Jackson’s trial, although two witnesses testified that Jackson was with them in another location at the time of the crime, he was convicted anyway. Why? The jury believed the testimony (证词) of the two victims, who positively identified Jackson as the man who had attacked them. The court eventually freed Jackson after the police found the real criminal.

Many factors influence the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. For instance, witnesses sometimes see photographs of several suspects before they try to identify the person they saw in a group of people. They can become confused by seeing many photographs of similar faces. The number of people in the group, and whether it is a person or a photograph, my also affect a witness’s decision. People sometimes have difficulty identifying people of other races. The questions the police ask witnesses also have an effect on them.

Many people believe that police officers are more reliable than ordinary people. Psychologists decided to test this idea, and they discovered that it is not true. Two psychologists showed a film of crimes to both police officers and civilians. The psychologists found no difference between the police and the civilians in correctly remembering the details of the crimes.

Despite all the possibilities for inaccuracy, courts cannot omit eyewitness testimony from a trial. American courts depend almost completely on eyewitness testimony to resolve (决定) court cases. Sometimes it is the only evidence to a crime, such as rape. Furthermore, eyewitness testimony is often correct. Although people do sometimes make mistakes, and convict innocent people, more importantly, eyewitness testimony has rightly convicted a larger number of guilty people.

American courts depend on the ability of the twelve jurors, and not the judges, to determine the accuracy of the witness’s testimony. It is their responsibility to decide if a certain witness could actually see, hear and remember what happened.

Bernard Jackson was found guilty and sentenced 5 years’ prison because           .

    A．the victims insisted that he was the attacker

    B．the admitted the crime of raping two women

    C．the police discovered evidence leading to his guilt

    D．the eyewitness proved the victims’ testimony

The following statements may be the reasons for why sometimes the eyewitness’ testimony is not accurate EXCEPT          .

    A．the eyewitness is confused by the police’s questions

    B．the eyewitness is shown photos of many similar faces

    C．the eyewitness lacks the professional help from police

    D．the eyewitness can’t identify people of other races clearly

．An inaccurate eyewitness testimony may lead to         .

    A．the misunderstanding of the case B．the disbelief in the court

    C．the disrespect for the eyewitness    D．the conviction of an innocent person

Eyewitness testimony is important because         .

    A．it can be relied on to detect criminals in all cases.

    B．it is sometimes the only way to resolve court cases.

    C．it is sometimes the only clue for police investigation.

    D．it is more reliable than physical evidences to a crime.

According to the text, we can infer that           .

    A．eyewitness testimony is valuable, though sometimes incorrect.

    B．police identification is more reliable than that of the ordinary people

    C．crime victims often fail to give positive identification of the suspects

    D．the jury relies on the judge than the eyewitness for a decision

A punctual person is in the habit of doing a thing at the proper time and is never late in keeping an appointment.

The unpunctual man, on one hand, never does what he has to do at the proper time. He is always in a hurry and in the end loses both time and his good name. A lost thing may be found again, but lost time can never be regained. Time is more valuable than material things. In fact, time is life itself. The unpunctual man is for ever wasting and mismanaging his most valuable asset (财产) as well as other’s. The unpunctual person is always complaining that he finds no time to answer letters, or return calls or keep appointments promptly. But the man who really has a great deal to do is very careful of his time and seldom complains of want of it. He knows that he can not get through his huge amount of work unless he faithfully keeps every piece of work when it has to be attended to.

Failure to be punctual in keeping one’s appointments is the sign of disrespect towards others. If a person is invited to dinner and arrives later than the appointed time, he keeps all the other guests waiting for him. Usually this will be regarded as a great disrespect to the host and all other guests present.

Unpunctuality, moreover, is very harmful when it comes to do one’s duty, whether public or private. Imagine how it would be if those who are put in charge of important tasks failed to be at their proper place at the appointed time. A man who is known to be habitually unpunctual is never trusted by his friends or fellow men.

1. What does the author think is the main difference between a punctual person and an unpunctual person?

A. A punctual person does everything ahead of time while an unpunctual person does everything behind schedule.

B. A punctual person does everything at the right time while an unpunctual person seldom does anything at the correct time.

C. A punctual person has a lot of appointments while an unpunctual person has few appointments.

D. A punctual person has much time to do everything while an unpunctual person has little time to do anything.

2. According to the passage, the main reason that a person is always unpunctual is that _______.

A. he has more work to do than other people

B. he is always in a hurry when he works

C. he doesn’t care much about time

D. he always mismanages and wastes his time

3. According to the third paragraph, when you are invited to dinner, you should arrive there _______.

A. after other guests have arrived

B. before all other guests

C. at the appointed time

D. after the host has got things ready

4. Which of the following statements best describes the harm of unpunctuality?

A. If you are an unpunctual person, you cannot be in charge of any important task.

B. If your friends know that you are unpunctual, they may not see you again.

C. Unpunctuality may bring about heavy losses for both public and private affairs.

D. Unpunctuality may make you miss a lot of appointments and lose friends.

A different sort of generation gap is developing in the workplace. Someone --- specifically the father-daughter team of Larry and Meagan Johnson --- has figured out that on some American job sites, five generations are working side by side.

In their new book about generations in the workplace the pair argue that while such an age difference adds a lot of texture and a variety of life experiences, it can also bring tensions and conflicts.

The Johnsons are human-resource trainers and public speakers. Dad Larry is a former health-care executive; daughter Meagan is a onetime high-level sales manager.

Here are the oldest and youngest of the five generations they identify:

They call the oldest group Traditionals, born before 1945. They were heavily influenced by the lessons of the Great Depression and World War Two. They respect authority, set a high standard of workmanship, and communicate easily and confidently. But they’re also stubbornly independent. They want their opinions heard.

At the other extreme are what the Johnsons call Linksters, born after 1995 into today’s more complicated, multi-media world. They live and breathe technology and are often social activists.

You won’t find many 15-year olds in the offices of large companies, except as volunteers, of course, but quite old and quite young workers do come together in sales environments like bike shops and ice-cream stores.

The Johnsons, Larry and Meagan, represent a generation gap themselves in their work with jobsite issues. The Johnsons’ point is that as the average lifespan continues to rise and retirement dates get delayed because of the tight economy, people of different generations are working side by side, more often bringing with them very different ideas about company loyalty and work values.

The five generations are heavily influenced by quite different events, social trends, and the cultural phenomena of their times. Their experiences shape their behavior and make it difficult, sometimes, for managers to achieve a strong and efficient workplace.

Larry and Meagan Johnson discuss all this in greater detail in a new book, “Generations, Inc.: From Boomers to Linksters --- Managing the Friction Between Generations at Work,” published by Amacom Press, which is available in all good bookstore from this Friday.

The type of generation gap in paragraph 1 refers to the difference in beliefs ________.

A. between managers and workers

B. among family members

C. among employees

D. between older and newer companies

Which of the following statements is NOT true about Traditionals?

A. They’ve learned much from war and economic disaster.

B. They’re difficult to work with as they are stubborn.

C. They respect their boss and hope to be respected.

D. They’re independent workers with great confidence.

According to the passage, the Linksters are usually ________.

A. found working in the offices of large companies

B. influenced by media and technology

C. enthusiastic multi-media activists

D. ice-cream sellers

According to the passage, modern workforces are more diverse because ________.

A. people want to increase their average lifespan

B. many young people are entering the workforce

C. employees with different values can benefit their companies

D. retirement dates are being delayed for economic reasons

What’s the main purpose of the passage?

A. To promote a new book by Larry and Meagan Johnson.

B. To describe the five different workplace generations.

C. To introduce the Johnsons’ research about diverse workforces.

D. To identify a major problem in modern workforces.