As society advances and basic needs are most often being met, things that were not considered important in the past have taken priority(优先). In the past, people could easily get a job and progress pretty well, as long as they were hard-working; education was important but not as crucial(关系重大) as it is today.
Nowadays, just as clothes are important to first impressions, degree is important to a person’s first job interview or even a job with a good salary. Although experience is important to survive in any trade or profession, the first thing that companies look for is that piece of paper before looking at one’s experience.
A passport into the world of any profession is what having a degree means today, especially for professions that have need of certification and pay well, such as architects, doctors, lawyers, and teachers.
That piece of paper, the degree, is also a passport to jobs in top or middle management in any company, especially so for multi-national corporations(跨国公司). Having a degree opens up opportunities that one would not have had if one did not have any kind of degree. A degree simply proves that one has gone through the necessary training and understanding of how to carry out a job.
Although there are many that may say having a degree may not necessarily equal to success, it would most definitely help any person achieve success in shorter and easier steps. Success cannot simply be a result of hard work and/or depending on one’s experience or degree alone; it is the art and knowledge of how to work that determines one’s success. Therefore, it should not be for the sake to get a degree, but the quality of the degree and experiences that one can learn from that matter as well.
【小题1】 What would be the best title for this passage?

A．People used to be hard-working

B．How important is the degree?

C．How can we enter the top management?

D．Degree surely leads to success

【小题2】Why does the author mention clothes in the second paragraph?

A．To prove the importance of the first impression.

B．To stress the importance of job interviews.

C．To show the importance of clothes.

D．To explain the importance of degree.

【小题3】What does the underlined word “it” in the last paragraph refer to?

A．Having a degree

B．Success

C．Necessary training

D．Having an opportunity

Every country has its traditional festivals. The Chinese New Year is now known as the Spring Festival because it starts from the beginning of spring. Though there are some sayings about its origin, all agree that the word Nian, which in modern Chinese means “year”, was originally the name of a beast that started to eat people the night before the beginning of a new year.
One story goes that the beast Nian had a very big mouth that would take in a great many people at one time. People were very afraid. One day, an old man came to their help and said he would stop all this. He said to Nian, “I hear that you are very strong, but can you eat up all the beasts on earth instead of people who are too weak to be your enemies?” “Yes,” Nian agreed with him and went to kill many of the beasts on earth. People were very happy because those beasts also did bad things to people and killed their farm animals from time to time.
After that, the old man, who was a god, rode on the beast Nian and left. Nian was gone, and other beasts also went into forests; people began to enjoy their happy life. Before the old man left, he had told people to put up red paper-cuts on their windows and doors at each year’s end to drive Nian away, because red is the color the beast felt most afraid of.
From then on, every year at the beginning of spring, people prepare to “Guo Nian”. The word “Guo Nian” means “go through the Nian safely”. Putting up red paper-cuts to drive Nian away and making dumplings for a better new year are still an every-year doing by the Chinese people. However, people today have long forgotten why they are doing all this, they just feel the color and the food make the New Year very enjoyable.
【小题1】How did the old man stop Nian from eating people?

A．By putting red paper-cuts on windows.

B．By eating up beasts.

C．By talking to him.

D．By riding on him.

【小题2】Why did people put on red paper-cuts instead of those of any other color?

A．Because Nian liked the color red.

B．Because the color red could kill Nian.

C．Because the old man like the color red.

D．Because Nian was afraid of the color red.

【小题3】The best title of this passage is “__________”.

A．The Origin of the Chinese New Year

B．The Old Man and the Beast Nian

C．How to Go Through the Nian safely

D．What Nian Was Like

【小题4】Which of the following statement is TRUE?

A．Nian can eat up all the beasts on earth at one time.

B．Nian is a tall beast that likes to eat farm animals.

C．Nian is afraid of red paper-cuts.

D．Nian doesn’t like to use his own mind.

 

If you’re like most students, you probably read both at home and outside your home: Perhaps somewhere on your schoolyard and maybe even at work during your breaks. Your reading environment can have a great effect on your understanding, so give some thought to how you can create（营造）or choose the right reading environments. The right environment allows you to stay alert （专注的）and to keep all of your attention on the text, especially when it is both interesting and difficult.

When you’re at home, you can usually create effective conditions for reading. You might want to choose a particular place-----a desk or table, for example ----where you always read. Make sure the place you choose is well lighted, and sit in a chair that requires you to sit straight. Reading

In a chair that’s too soft and comfortable is likely to make you sleepy! Keep your active reading tools (pens, markers, notebooks or paper) and a dictionary close at hand.

     Before you sit down for a reading period, try to reduce all possible interruptions. Turn off your phone, the televisions, and the radio. Tell your family members or roommates that you’ll be busy for a while. If necessary , put a “Do not disturb” sign on your door! The more interruptions you must deal with while you read, the harder it will be to keep your attention on the task at hand.

1.The author believes that the right reading environment _______.

A. helps readers a little in their reading tasks

B. helps readers a lot in their reading tasks

C. can only be created at one’s home

D. can only be created outside one’s home

2.Which type of the following interruptions is mentioned in the text?

A. Dictionaries     B. Paper            C. Notebooks            D. Phone calls

3.What would be the best title for the text?

    A. What to Read                     B. The Ways to Reduce Possible Interruptions

    C. Creating an Effective Reading Environment    D. How to Read Fast