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 a 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 you spend the most time with, or to put it another way, you are who your friends are.

Attitudes are important. Whether they are positive(积极的) or negative (消极的)，they are rubbing off on you. If you are around people who complain about lack of work and about other musicians, or blame others, and you play the role of victim(受害者) , chances are you will start 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 hand out with, and simply stop spending time with the negative people on your list. Set a new standard 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(职业) path.”

1.Which of the following would be the best title for the 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 “ rubbing off on you” means ________ .

A．They’ll push you ahead                  B．They will influence(影响) you

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

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

A．the musician’s 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 friendship with your friends

D．arrange the time with your friends properly

5.The passage is mainly written for ________ .

A．musicians         B．managers          C．negative people    D．people wanting to succeed

 

There are a lot of ___ flowers in that park.

     A. little red beautiful   B. beautiful little red  C.little beautiful red  D.red little beautiful

There are a lot _______ people today than yesterday.

 A. of              B. more              C. most              D. /

An increase in students applying to study economics at university is being attributed to （归因于）the global economic crisis awakening a public thirst for knowledge about how the financial system works.

Applications for degree courses beginning this autumn were up by 15% this January, according to UCAS, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service. A spokesman for the Royal Economic Society said applications to do economics at A-level were also up.

Professor john Beath, the president of the society and a leading lecture at St Andrews University, said his first-year lectures—which are open to students from all departments—were drawing crowds of 400, rather than the usual 250.

“There are a large number of students who are not economics majors, who would like to learn something about it. One of the things I have done this year is to relate my teaching to contemporary events in a way that one hasn’t traditionally done. ” He added.

University applications rose 7% last year. But there were rises above average in several subjects. Nursing saw a 15% jump, with people’s renewed interest in careers in the pubic sector（部门）, which are seen as more secure in economic crisis.

A recent study showed almost two thirds of parents believed schools should do more to teach pupils about financial matters, and almost half said their children had asked them what was going on, although a minority of parents felt they did not understand it themselves well enough to explain.

Zack Hocking, the head of Child Trust Funds, said: “It’s possible that one good thing to arise from the downturn will be a generation that’s financially wiser and better equipped to manage their money through times of economic uncertainty.”

1. Professor John Beath’s lectures are          .

A．given in a traditional way

B．connected with the present situation

C．open to both students and their parents

D．warmly received by economics

2.Careers in the public sector are more attractive because of their         .

A．better reputation   B．higher pay         C．fewer applications   D．greater stability

3.In the opinion of most parents,         .

A．economics should be the focus of school teaching

B．more students should be admitted to universities

C．the teaching of financial matters should be strengthened

D．children should solve financial problems themselves

4.According to Hocking, the global economic crisis might make the youngsters         .

A．get jobs in Child Trust Funds               B．have access to better equipment

C．confident about their future careers         D．wiser in money management

5.What’s the main idea of the text?

A．Universities have received more applications.

B．Economics is attracting an increasing number of students.

C．College students benefit a lot from economic uncertainty

D．Parents are concerned with children’s subject selection.

 

阅读下面短文，从每题所给的四个选项中，选出最佳答案。

This year some twenty-three hundred teenagers(young people aged from13~19)from all over the world will spend about ten months in U.S. homes. They will attend U.S. schools, meet U.S. teenagers, and form impressions of the real America. At the same time, about thirteen hundred American teenagers will go to other countries to learn new languages and gain a new understanding of the rest of the world.

Here is a two-way student exchange in action. Fred, nineteen, spent last year in Germany with George’s family. In turn, George’s son Mike spent a year in Fred’s home in America.

Fred, a lively young man, knew little German when he arrived, but after two months’ study the language began to come to him. School was completely different from what he had expected—much harder. Students rose respectfully when the teacher entered the room. They took fourteen subjects instead of the six that are usual in the United States. There were almost no outside activities.

Family life, too, was different. The father’s word was law, and all activities were around the family rather than the individual. Fred found the food too simple at first. Also, he missed having a car.

“Back home, you pick up some friends in a car and go out and have a good time. In Germany, you walk, but you soon learn to like it.”

At the same time, in America, Mike, a friendly German boy, was also forming his idea. “I suppose I should criticize(批评)American schools,” he said. “It is far too easy by our level. But I have to say that I like it very much. In Germany we do nothing but study. Here we take part in many outside activities. I think that maybe your schools are better in training for citizens. There ought to be some middle ground between the two.”

This year ________teenagers will take part in the exchange programme between America and other countries.

twenty-three hundred

thirteen hundred

over three thousand

less than two thousand

The whole exchange programme is mainly to__________.

help teenagers in other countries know the real America

send students in America to travel in Germany

let students learn something about other countries

have teenagers learn new languages

Fred and Mike agree that__________.

America food tasted better than German food

German schools were harder than American schools

Americans and Germans were both friendly

There were more cars on the streets in America

What is particular in American schools is that________.

there is some middle ground between the two teaching buildings

there are a lot of after-school activities

students usually take fourteen subjects in all

students go outside to enjoy themselves in a car