1. Mean old ladies

There is always a reason why an old lady gives you a serious look – you are being too loud, dressed improperly or not crossing the street in the right place. Sometimes it can be lovely, but if you are already having a bad day, a mean old lady can drive you mad.

What to do about it:

I’ve come to realize that when people start conflicts, it is actually an expression of their inner state expressed in an outside way. You, your personality, your looks or your actions have nothing to do with it. It is not personal, so why take it personally?

2. That person, who cuts in front of everybody in line

This is something that gets me angry. Even if I am not in a hurry, I still feel bad for the other people in line who are being treated unjustly. Are you more patient than I am or do you feel annoying too?

What to do about it:

If we have negative thoughts then we are wasting our energy on negativity. Situations like this could be a great opportunity to learn to control our first negative responses and practice understanding. After all, the person may just have a quick question or maybe there is an emergency.

Friends that tell you “I told you so”

It is one thing to admit that you made a mistake and another to hear it from a friend. Friends should be there to support you and cheer you up when you are feeling down, not make themselves feel better at your expense, right?

What to do about it:

It helps to remember that when people say “I told you so”, they may mean, “Please listen to my advice to avoid future mistakes.” If this is not the help you need – voice it out, without getting defensive.

1.According to the author, what can you do when meeting with a mean old lady?

A. Take it personally.                       B. Take it seriously.

C. Don’t apologize to her.                   D. Don’t get upset.

2.When seeing someone cutting in line, we’d better ________.

A. stop him immediately                             B. treat it with a good state of mind

C. pretend not to see it                                 D. teach him a good lesson

3.The third tip intends to advise you ________.

A. not to keep silent at a friend’s improper suggestion

B. to tell your friend if they have misunderstood you

C. not to talk to your friend if they feel better at your expense

D. to apologize to your friend when you’ve done something wrong

4.What is the best title for this passage?

A. What to do when meeting with these people?

B. How to ask your friends for help when in trouble?

C. How to give advice to your friends when asked to?

D. What to say when faced with different situations?

 

Whenever my dog, Barney, comes into the house after having been for a ride in the car, he runs to the pen(围栏) we have set up for him by the back door. It’s not something we intentionally trained him to do. The habit came simply because my husband tended to put him in his pen whenever they came in. After doing it a few times, Barney just figures that’s what you do when you come inside after a car ride.

It’s the same with your thinking. You get into the habit of thinking a certain way and then you’ll rarely question it after that.

This is especially true when you were growing up. You developed habits that just made things easier for you. You probably didn’t even think about them. That’s just the way it was and that’s what you did. Just like Barney thinks he has to go into his pen, you do things automatically as well.

For example, when you were a kid, you may have been told not to “talk back” and to just keep quiet about things that were bothering you. These are habits that might have worked to keep you safe and out of trouble when you were young.

Now that you're grown up, you may be finding that these previous strategies are actually causing you problems. In a relationship, not communicating isn't going to work as your partner can’t read your mind. What works when you're a child may not work when you become an adult.

When you decide you need to change your thoughts, your brain may at first feel that it's not a safe thing to do. Lots of practice and years of experience says it’s not. Also, you don’t know to question the thought. It’s a truth for you. The trick is to look at your results and see if your thoughts are the cause. Be willing to question your thinking and ask yourself if there are thoughts that are hindering (妨碍) you. As you are now in a different phase of your life, different strategies may be needed.

1.As with the dog Barney, people _______.

A．think in a habitual way

B．enjoy having a car ride

C．usually behave in a friendly way

D．have a good memory

2.According to the passage, as a kid, one tends to _________.

A．be afraid to make mistakes

B．have the experience of playing with a dog

C．learn much from adults like his/her parents

D．form a habit which can keep his/her out of trouble

3.In the writer’s opinion, adults should _______.

A．not“talk back”

B．avoid causing any problem

C．change the habit which will bring troubles

D．value their habits formed in their childhood

4.It can be concluded from the passage that ________.

A．the author’s husband must be good at training dogs

B．childhood is the best time for developing good habits

C．one can change his/her life by changing his/her thoughts

D．you should change all your childhood habits when you grow up

 

　 Most of us lead unhealthy lives; we spend far too much time sitting down. If in addition we are careless about our diets, our bodies soon become loose and fatty and our systems slow-moving. There are some aspects(方面)of our unhealthy lives that we cannot avoid. I am thinking of such features of modern city life as pollution, noise, rushed meals and stress. But keeping fit is a way to reduce the effects of these evils. The usual suggestion to a person who is looking for a way to keep fit is to take up some sport or other. While it is true that every weekend you will find people playing football and hockey in the local park, they are outnumbered a hundred to one by the people who are simply watching them.

　 For those who do not particularly enjoy competitive sports—and it is especially difficult to do so if you are no good at them—there are such separate activities as cycling, walking, jogging and swimming. What often happens though is that you do them un such a leisurely way, so slowly, that it is doubtful if you are doing yourself much good, except for the fact that you have at least managed to get up out of your armchair.

　 Even after you have found a way for keeping in shape, through sport or gymnastics, you are still only half way to good health, because, according to the experts, you must also master the art of complete mental and physical relaxation(放松). It has to do with deep breathing, emptying your mind of all thoughts, meditation, and so on. Yoga, as practiced in the West is the most widely known and popular of the systems for achieving the necessary state of relaxation. It seems ironical(讽刺的), though, that as our lives have improved in a material sense we have found it increasingly necessary to go back to forms of activity—physical effort on the one hand relaxation on the other—which were the natural way of life of our forefathers.

1. Pollution, noise and stress are examples of ____.

　 A. causes of unfitness

　 B. bad features of living in towns

　 C. the things we can completely do away with

　 D. unavoidable things in town

2. We don’t get much out of separate sports because we ____.

　 A. don’t do them very often

　 B. don’t do them actively enough

　 C. find it hard to get out of our armchairs

　 D. don’t find them interesting

3. To be healthy we must ____.

　 A. keep fit and active

　 B. keep fit and learn to relax

　 C. be active and practice Yoga

　 D. have a sound mind

4. Our forefathers were healthy because ____.

　 A. their way of life closely connected with both exercise and relaxation

　 B. they were careful to get plenty of fresh air

　 C. they spent most of the time out of doors

　 D. their environment was not polluted

 

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       71   It is divided into two types: short term memory and long term memory. Short term memory helps the brain to remember the information from a few seconds to a few minutes, for example, searching a phone number in the phone directory. This type of information is not stored for a long time, and slips from the brain.    72   

      73    There is no exact definition of brain exercises. The key to brain exercises is to stimulate(刺激) the gray cells of our mind. For example, trying out different problem solving exercises can be a good practice for improving the analytical skills of brain.   74   If you regularly exercise it, you will develop a good body, or else you will have an unfit body, and thus, our brain needs exercises regularly. Here are some memory improvement tips for adults:

●Regular exercises help to keep away diseases that are harmful to the memory. Besides, regular exercising improves the feeling of well-being and improves blood circulation to the brain.

●Don't be stressed, as stress holds back the ability of the mind to concentrate. A stress-free mind will collect and store more information that a stressed mind, so avoid being over-stressed. But in modern times people have great pressure from work and life.    75   . Sleep is necessary for keeping the mind and body fit and the side effects of lack of sleep include a lack of concentration.

A.Ask your doctors for advice on memory.

B.Developing good sleeping habits helps a lot.

C.The memory is just like our body in some way.

D.Memory is the remembering of any information taken in by the brain.

E.Not all people have the power to recite so many things at a time.

F.Long term memory, on the other hand, is the memory where we make conscious efforts to keep the information for a long time.

G.Brain exercises are one of the simplest ways of improving memory power.