Have you ever heard the story of the four-minute mile? Many years ago, people believed that it was impossible for a human being to run a mile in less than four minutes until Roger Banister proved it wrong in1954.

What happens if you put an animal in a pond? Any animal, big or small, will swim its way through. What happens when someone, who does not know how to swim, falls in deep waters? They drown. If an animal who has not learned swimming could escape by swimming, why not you? Because you believe you will drown while the animal does not.

Have you ever wondered why the letters are organized in a particular order on hour keyboard? You might have thought it is to increase the typing speed. Most people never question it. But the fact is that this system was developed to reduce the typing speed at a time when typewriter parts would jam if the operator typed too fast.

These three cases show the power of our beliefs. There is no other more powerful directing force in human behavior than belief. Your beliefs have the power to create and to destroy. A belief delivers a direct command to your nervous system.

I used a snake in my workshops for children to show them how unrealistic some of their beliefs are. Students of a school in India, said snakes were slippery, slimy (黏糊糊的) and poisonous. After doing an exercise for changing beliefs, they handled my snake and found it to be dry and clean. They also remembered that only three types of poisonous snakes exist in India.

Did this story end the way you thought? Review your beliefs now and find out which ones you need to change.

36. In the author’s opinion, if a person in deep water doesn’t know how to swim he will drown because _________.

A. he is afraid of water               B. he doesn’t want to live in the world

C. he hasn’t learned to swim before     D. he believes he will drown

37. The author thinks that the letters are organized in a particular order on your keyboard in order to _________.

A. reduce one’s typing speed          B. satisfy the operator

C. save more space                  D. increase one’s typing speed

38. The author’s experiment shows that __________.

A. snakes in India aren’t poisonous       B. snakes can be caught easily

C. snakes are slimy and poisonous       D. snakes are dry and clean

39. According to the passage, we know that ________.

A. students from India have unrealistic beliefs on how to live a better life

B. an animal who has not learned to swim will drown if you put it in a pond.

C. Roger Banister was the first person who ran a mile in less than four minutes.

D. most people don’t like the order the letters are arranged on your keyboard

40. The main idea of this passage should be that _______.

A. beliefs make us seem stupid           B. beliefs are very powerful

C. changing your beliefs now if necessary  D. people should always believe in themselves

 

Ideas about polite behavior are different from one culture to another．Some societies, such as America and Australia, for example, are mobile and very open．People here change jobs and move house quite often．As a result, they have a lot of relationships that often last only a short time, and they need to get to know people quickly．So it’s normal to have friendly conversations with people that they have just met, and you can talk about things that other cultures would regard as personal．

    On the other hand there are more crowded and less mobile societies where long – term relationships are more important．A Malaysian or Mexican business person, for example, will want to get to know you very well before he or she feels happy to start business．But when you do get to know each other, the relationship becomes much deeper than it would in a mobile society．

    To Americans, both Europeans and Asians seem cool and formal at first．On the other hand, as a passenger from a less mobile society puts it, it’s no fun spending several hours next to a stranger who wants to tell you all about his or her life and asks you all sorts of questions that you don’t want to answer．

    Cross-cultural differences aren’t just a problem for travelers, but also for the flights that carry them．All flights want to provide the best service, but ideas about good service are different from place to place．This can be seen most clearly in the way that problems are dealt with．

    Some societies have ‘universalistic’ cultures．These societies strongly respect rules, and they treat every person and situation in basically the same way．

    ‘Particularistic’ societies, on the other hand, also have rules, but they are less important than the society’s unwritten ideas about what is right or wrong for a particular situation or a particular person．So the normal rules are changed to fit the needs of the situation or the importance of the person．

    This difference can cause problems．A traveler from a particularistic society, India, is checking in for a flight in Germany, a country which has a universalistic culture．The Indian traveler has two much luggage, but he explains that he has been away from home for a long time and the suitcases are full of presents for his family．He expects that the check – in official will understand his problem and will change the rules for him．The check – in official explains that if he was allowed to have too much luggage, it wouldn’t be fair to the other passengers．But the traveler thinks this is unfair, because the other passengers don’t have his problem．

1.Often moving from one place to another makes people like Americans and Australians _____．

A．like traveling better                                                     B．easy to communicate with

C．difficult to make real friends                                            D．have a long–term relationship with their neighbors

2.People like Malaysians prefer to associate with those  _________．

A．who will tell them everything of their own  

B．who want to do business with them

C．they know quite well                

D．who are good at talking

3.A person from a less mobile society will feel it _______ when a stranger keeps talking to him or her, and asking him or her questions．

A．boring B．friendly C．normal     D．rough

4.The writer of the passage thinks that the Indian and the German have different ideas about rules because of different _______．

A．interests     B．habits and customs C．cultures   D．ways of life

 

Hallmark arrived in my hometown of Calcutta, India when I was 16. On Valentine’s Day(情人节), I waited in line with many other teenagers just for a chance to get into the store. I remember wishing two things. One of them is that the good-looking boy whom I could see through the store window was picking out a gift for me. Unfortunately, Valentine’s Day passed and I received nothing but a lecture from my father on how Western capitalism(资本主义) was ruining your culture.

The next Valentine’s Day, I still didn’t have a boyfriend, but I did receive a greeting card from a secret admirer. I can’t remember what it exactly said inside the card, but it hardly mattered. I know I’m not the only one who’s had the blues because of being single on Valentine’s Day.

It’s not just on Valentine’s Day that I’m reminded of these feelings. One night, my friend and I were at the subway station in New York City waiting for the local to arrive. The station was mostly full of college students, and later an older couple walked in. Just at that moment, a street musician started playing She’s Only a Woman to Me. The couple began dancing around the station and lost in their own world. On the train, I found myself recalling the time when I was with a date at the subway station, and there he picked me up in his arms like I was a ballerina(芭蕾舞女演员).

My view of romance has changed from when I was 16 in Calcutta to now, 23, and living in Manhattan. This year, I won’t focus all my romantic expectations on one particular day. I’ll spend Valentine’s Day with friends in New York City. But I won’t try to hide somewhere or turn off my cellphone. Instead, I’ll help my coupled-up friends pack for their weekend trips to Rome.

1.The underlined word “Hallmark” in Paragraph 1 probably refers to a              .

A．city

B．street

C．store

D．man

2.We can infer that in the opinion of the writer’s father                           .

A．his daughter should have received a gift

B．people in India shouldn’t celebrate Valentine’s Day

C．people in India should welcome Western culture

D．his daughter should know more about capitalism

3.According to Paragraph 2, if someone has the blues, he or she is probably           .

A．lucky

B．angry

C．excited

D．sad

4.What is implied in the passage?

A．The writer now has a boyfriend.

B．The writer now is afraid of Valentine’s Day.

C．The writer will go to Rome with her coupled-up friends.

D．The writer’s attitude towards Valentine’s Day has changed.

 

Ideas about polite behavior are different from one culture to another. Some societies, such as America and Australia, for example, are mobile and very open. People here change jobs and move houses quite often. As a result, they have a lot of relationships that often last only a short time, and they need to get to know people quickly. So it’s normal to have friendly conversations with people that they have just met, and you can talk about things that other cultures would regard as personal.
On the other hand, there are more crowded and less mobile societies where long–term relationships are more important. A Malaysian or Mexican business person, for example, will want to get to know you very well before he or she feels happy to start business. But when you do get to know each other, the relationship becomes much deeper than it would in a mobile society.
To Americans, both Europeans and Asians seem cool and formal at first. On the other hand, as a passenger from a less mobile society puts it, it’s no fun spending several hours next to a stranger who wants to tell you all about his or her life and asks you all sorts of questions that you don’t want to answer.
Cross-cultural differences aren’t just a problem for travelers, but also for the flights that carry them. All flights want to provide the best service, but ideas about good service are different from place to place. This can be seen most clearly in the way that problems are dealt with.
Some societies have “universalist” cultures. These societies strongly respect rules, and they treat every person and situation in basically the same way. “Particularist” societies, on the other hand, also have rules, but they are less important than the society’s unwritten ideas about what is right or wrong for a particular situation or a particular person. So the normal rules are changed to fit the needs of the situation or the importance of the person.
This difference can cause problems. A traveler from a particularist society, India, is checking in for a flight in Germany, a country which has a universalist culture. The Indian traveler has too much luggage, but he explains that he has been away from home for a long time and the suitcases are full of presents for his family. He expects that the check–in official will understand his problem and will change the rules for him. The check–in official explains that if he was allowed to have too much luggage, it wouldn’t be fair to the other passengers. But the traveler thinks this is unfair, because the other passengers don’t have his problem.
【小题1】Often moving from one place to another makes people like Americans and Australians ______.

A．like traveling better

B．easy to communicate with

C．difficult to make real friends

D．have a long–term relationship with their neighbors

【小题2】 People like Malaysians prefer to associate with those ______.

A．who will tell them everything of their own

B．who want to do business with them

C．they know quite well

D．who are good at talking

【小题3】Which of the following is true about “particularist societies”?

A．There is no rule for people to obey.

B．People obey the society’s rules completely.

C．No one obeys the society’s rules though they have.

D．The society’s rules can be changed with different persons or situations.

【小题4】 The writer of the passage thinks that the Indian and the German have different ideas about rules because of different ______.

A．interests

B．habits and customs

C．cultures

D．ways of life

Ideas about polite behavior are different from one culture to another．Some societies, such as America and Australia, for example, are mobile and very open．People here change jobs and move house quite often．As a result, they have a lot of relationships that often last only a short time, and they need to get to know people quickly．So it’s normal to have friendly conversations with people that they have just met, and you can talk about things that other cultures would regard as personal．
On the other hand there are more crowded and less mobile societies where long – term relationships are more important．A Malaysian or Mexican business person, for example, will want to get to know you very well before he or she feels happy to start business．But when you do get to know each other, the relationship becomes much deeper than it would in a mobile society．
To Americans, both Europeans and Asians seem cool and formal at first．On the other hand, as a passenger from a less mobile society puts it, it’s no fun spending several hours next to a stranger who wants to tell you all about his or her life and asks you all sorts of questions that you don’t want to answer．
Cross-cultural differences aren’t just a problem for travelers, but also for the flights that carry them．All flights want to provide the best service, but ideas about good service are different from place to place．This can be seen most clearly in the way that problems are dealt with．
Some societies have ‘universalistic’ cultures．These societies strongly respect rules, and they treat every person and situation in basically the same way．
‘Particularistic’ societies, on the other hand, also have rules, but they are less important than the society’s unwritten ideas about what is right or wrong for a particular situation or a particular person．So the normal rules are changed to fit the needs of the situation or the importance of the person．
This difference can cause problems．A traveler from a particularistic society, India, is checking in for a flight in Germany, a country which has a universalistic culture．The Indian traveler has two much luggage, but he explains that he has been away from home for a long time and the suitcases are full of presents for his family．He expects that the check – in official will understand his problem and will change the rules for him．The check – in official explains that if he was allowed to have too much luggage, it wouldn’t be fair to the other passengers．But the traveler thinks this is unfair, because the other passengers don’t have his problem．
【小题1】Often moving from one place to another makes people like Americans and Australians _____．

A．like traveling better	B．easy to communicate with
C．difficult to make real friends	D．have a long–term relationship with their neighbors

【小题2】People like Malaysians prefer to associate with those  _________．

A．who will tell them everything of their own

B．who want to do business with them

C．they know quite well

D．who are good at talking

【小题3】A person from a less mobile society will feel it _______ when a stranger keeps talking to him or her, and asking him or her questions．

A．boring

B．friendly

C．normal

D．rough

【小题4】The writer of the passage thinks that the Indian and the German have different ideas about rules because of different _______．

A．interests

B．habits and customs

C．cultures

D．ways of life