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

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 way we do things round here

Some years ago, I was hired by an American bank. I received a letter from the head of the Personnel Department that started, “Dear John, I am quite pleased that you have decided to join us. ”That “quite” saddened me. I thought he was saying “we’ re kind of pleased you decided to join　us although I wish we had hired someone else.” Then I discovered that in American English “quite” sometimes means “very”, while in British English it means “fairly”.

So the first lesson about working in other countries is to learn the language and by that I don' t

just mean the words people speak. It is body language, dress, manners, ideas and so on. The way people do things highlights many of the differences we see between cultures（文化）．

Some of these differences may be only on the surface—dress, food and hours of work—while others may be deeper and take longer to deal with. Mostly, it is just a question of getting used to the differences and accepting them, like the climate（气候），while getting on with business.

Some of the differences may be an improvement. People are more polite; the service is better; you ask for something to be done and it happens without having to ask again. However, other differences can be troubling, like punctuality（准时）．If you invite people to a party at 7 o’ clock

your guests will consider it polite to turn up exactly on time in Germany, five minutes early in the

American Midwest, an hour early in Japan, 15 minutes afterwards in the UK, up to an hour afterwards in Italy and some time in the evening in Greece. I prefer not to use the word “late” because there is nothing wrong with the times people arrive. It is simply the accepted thing to do in their own country.

1.The author was unhappy as mentioned in Paragraph 1 because he thought______．

    A. the American bank didn’ t think much of him

    B. the American bank might hire another person

    C. it’ s difficult to get used to American culture

    D. it’ s easy to misunderstand Americans

2.The word “highlights” in Paragraph 2 probably means_____.

    A. encourages                  B. helps to narrow

    C. increases                    D. draws attention to

3.According to the author, what should we do with most cultural differences?

    A. Ask the native people for help.

    B. Understand and accept them.

    C. Do things in our own way.

    D. Do in-depth research.

4.When invited to a party the people who are usually punctual are______.

    A. Italians 　　　B. Germans　　　 C. Greeks 　　　D. the British

A farmer had some puppies（小狗）to 　36 . He painted a sign advertising the puppies and 　37__ nailing （钉）it to a post on the edge of his yard. As he was driving the last nail into the post, a little boy came to him.

“Mister,” he said, “I want to buy one of your puppies.”

“Well,” said the farmer, as he 　38 the sweat off his face, “these puppies come from fine parents and cost 　39 money. Do you have enough money?”

The boy 　 40　 his head for a moment. Then reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of 　41 and held it up to the farmer. “I’ve got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take a look?” “Sure,” said the farmer. And with that he 　42 a whistle (口哨声), “Here, Dolly!” he called. 　43 from the doghouse and down the ramp ran Dolly 　 44 by four little balls of fur. The little boy’ eyes danced with delight. As the dogs made their 　45 to the fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the doghouse. 　46　 another little ball appeared; this one noticeably smaller. Then in a somewhat 　 47　 manner the little pup began hobbling（蹒跚） toward the others, doing its best to 　 48　 .

“I want that one,” the little boy said, 　49　 to the smallest one. The farmer said, “Son, you don’t want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you 　50 these other dogs would.”

With that the little boy 　51 back from the fence, and began 　 52 　up one leg of his trousers. In doing so he exposed a steel support running down both sides of his leg 　53 itself to a specially made 　54　 . Looking back up at the farmer, he said, “You see sir, I don't 　55　 too well myself, and he will need someone who understands.”

36．A. sell　 　　　　　 B. buy 　　　　　　　　　　　 C. raise　 　　　　　　　　　 D. drive

37. A. set off　　　　　　　 B. set out　　　　　　　　　　 C. set about　　　　　　　　 D. set up

38. A. wiped　　　　　　　 B. removed 　　　　　　　　 C. settled　　　　　　　　　　 D. drove

39. A. a number of 　　 B. quite a few　　　　　　　 C. a great deal of　 　 D. only a little

40. A. raised 　　　　　　 B. buried 　　　　　　　　　　 C. dropped　　　　　　　　　 D. shook

41. A. change　　　　　　 B. price　　　　　　　　　　　 C. treasure　　　　　　　　　 D. wallet

42. A. made out　　　　　 B. put away　　　　　　　　 C. gave away　　　　　　　 D. let out

43.　 A. In 　　　　　　　　　 B. Away　　　　　　　　　　　 C. Out　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. Up

44. A. equipped　　　　　 B. protected　　　　　　　　 C. attacked　　　　　　　　　 D. followed

45. A. way　　　　　 　　　 B. direction　　　　　 　　　 C. path　　　　　　　　 　　　 D. struggle

46. A. Rapidly　　　　　　 B. Slowly　　　　　　　　　　 C. Suddenly　　　　　　　　 D. Simply

47. A. curious　　　　　　 B. foolish 　　　　　　　　　 C. ordinary　　　　　　　　　 D. active

48. A. catch up　　　　　 B. keep up　　　　　　　　　 C. put up　　　　　　　　　　 D. make up

49. A. staring 　　　　　　 B. pointing　　　　　　　　　 C. greeting 　　　　　　　　 D. devoting

50. A. while　　　　　　　 B. as　　　　　　　　　　　　　 C. that 　　　　　　　　　　　 D. what

51. A. stepped　　　　　　 B. escaped　　　　　　　　　 C. went　　　　　　　　　　　 D. kept

52. A. pushing　　　　　　 B. forcing　　　　　　　　　　 C. rolling　　　　　　　　　　 D. tearing

53. A. attaching 　　　　 B.attached　　　　　　　　　 C. being attached　　　　　 D.to attach

54. A. leg　　　　　　　　　 B. stick 　　　　　　　　　　 C. shoe　　　　　　　　　　　 D. foot

55. A. walk　　　　　　　　 B. run　　　　　　　　　　　　 C. live　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. go

I was the middle child of three，but there was a gap of five years on either side，and I hardly saw my father before I was eight. For this and other reasons I was somewhat lonely. I had the lonely child's habit of making up stories and holding conversations with imaginary persons，and I think from the very start my literary ambitions（文学志向）were mixed up with the feeling of being isolated（孤独）and undervalued. I knew that I had a natural ability with words and a power of facing unpleasant facts，and I felt that this created a sort of private world in which I could get my own back for my failure in everyday life.

However, the quantity of serious writing which I produced all through my childhood would not add up to half a dozen pages. I wrote my first poem at the age of four or five，my mother taking it down to dictation. I cannot remember anything about it except that it was about a tiger and the tiger had "chair-like teeth”--a good enough expression. At eleven，when the war of 1914-18 broke out, I wrote a poem which was printed in the local（地方的）newspaper, as was another, two years later, on the death of Kitchener. From time to time, when I was a bit older, I wrote bad and usually unfinished "nature poems". I also, about twice，attempted a short story which was a failure. That was the total of the would-be serious work that I actually set down on paper during all those years.

1.The underlined word“it" in paragraph 2 refers to_____.

A. the quantity of serious writing         B. the writer's first poem

C. the writer's childhood                 D. the tiger in the poem

2.From the text, we learn that as a little boy the writer＿．

A. had no playmates

B. showed his gift for writing

C. put out lots of poems and stories

D. got his first poem published in 1916.

3.What can be inferred about the writer?

A. He was least favoured in his family.

B. He had much difficulty in talking with others.

C. He had an unhappy childhood for lack of care.

D. His loneliness resulted in his interest in writing.