Who's in control of your life? Who is pulling your string? For the majority of us, it's other people-society, colleagues, friends, family or our religious community. We learned this way of operating when we were very young, of course. We were brainwashed. We discovered that feeling important and feeling accepted was a nice experience and so we learned to do everything we could to make other people like us. As Oscar Wilde puts it, “Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry(模仿)，their passions a quotation.”
So when people tell us how wonderful we are, it makes us feel good. We long for this good feeling like a drug－we are addicted to it and seek it out wherever we can. Therefore, we are so eager for the approval of others that we live unhappy and limited lives failing to do the things we really want to. Just as drug addicts and alcoholics live worsened lives to keep getting their fix(一劑毒品)，we worsen our own existence to get our own constant fix of approval.
But just as with any drug, there is a price to pay. The price of the approval drug is freedom－the freedom to be ourselves. The truth is that we cannot-control what other people think. People have their own agenda(日程安排), and they come with their own baggage and, in the end, they're more interested in themselves than in you. Furthermore, if we try to live by the opinions of others, we will build our life on sinking sand. Everyone has a different way of thinking, and people change their opinions all the time. The person who tries to please everyone will only end up getting exhausted and probable pleasing no one in the process.
So how can we take back control? I think there's only one way－make a conscious decision to stop caring what other people think. We should guide ourselves by means of a set of values－not values imposed from the outside by others, but innate values which come from within. If we are driven by these values and not by the changing opinions and value systems of others, we will live a more authentic(真實(shí)的), effective, purposeful and happy life.
【小題1】What Oscar Wilde says implies that      .

A．it's important to accept others' opinions.

B．it's better to do what we like.

C．we shouldn't care what others think.

D．we shouldn't change our won opinions.

Imagine a boy from a small village in East Africa. He, since a very early age, has been looking after cattle. At twelve years old he knows more about cattle than most of you. However, he has never been to school. Has this boy had any education?
Education is discovering about ourselves and about the people and things around us. All the people who care about us — our parents, brothers, sisters, friends — are our teachers. In fact, we learn something from everyone we meet. We start learning on the day we were born, not on the first day we go to school. Every day we have new experiences, like finding a bird’s nest, discovering a new street in our neighborhood, making friends with someone we didn’t like before. New experiences are even more fun when we share them with other people.
Encouragement from the people around us enables us to explore things as many as possible. As we grow up, we begin to find out what we are capable of doing. You may be good at cooking, or singing or playing football. You find this out by doing these things. Just thinking about cooking doesn’t tell you whether you are good at it.
We learn so much just living from day to day. So why is school important? Of course you can learn some things better at home than at school, like how to do the shopping, and how to help old or disabled people who can’t do everything for themselves. At school, teachers help us to read and write. With their guidance, we begin to see things in different ways.
【小題1】 The writer takes the African boy as an example to show that _______.

A．the school is not so important as our living places.

B．the school enables us to understand the world in other ways.

C．the school teaches us things which are useless at home.

D．the school cannot prepare us for our daily lives.

       Many parents who welcome the idea of turning off the TV and spending more time with the family are still worried that without TV they would be too often on call as entertainers（娛樂(lè)者） for their children．They remember thinking up all sorts of things to do when they were children．But their own children seem different, less good at finding things to pass the time, somehow．When there’s nothing to do, these parents notice regretfully that their children seem unable to come up with anything to do besides turning on the TV．?
One father, for example, says, “When I was young, we were always thinking up things to do, projects and games．We certainly never complained in an angry way to our parents, ‘I have nothing to do”．He compares this with his own children today: “They are simply lazy．If someone doesn’t play with them, they’ll happily sit there watching TV all day．”
There is one word for this father’s disappointment: unfair．It is as if he were disappointed in them for not reading Greek though they have never studied the language．He feels his children’s lack of inventiveness a great pity, as if the ability to play were something born that his children are missing．In fact, the tendency（傾向） to play is built into the human species, but the actual ability to play—to imagine, to invent in a playful way, and the ability to gain satisfaction after successful effort from it—these are skills that have to be learned and developed．
Such disappointment, however, is not only unjust, it is also destructive（毀滅性的）．Sensing their parents’ disappointment, children come to believe that they are, indeed, lacking something, and that this makes them less worthy of admiration and respect．Giving children the chance to develop new things to enjoy themselves, to enrich their knowledge and experience and discover the pleasure of doing things on their own is, on the other hand, a way to help children develop a confident（自信）feeling about themselves as able and interesting people．
【小題1】Many people think that, instead of watching a lot of TV, their children should_______．

A．be more disappointed

B．refuse to learn new things

C．discover the pleasures of doing things on their own

D．lose their confidence and respectability

Among various programmes, TV talk shows have covered every inch of space on daytime television. And anyone who watches them regularly knows that each one is different in style. But no two shows are more opposite in content, while at the same time standing out above the rest, than the Jerry Springer and the Oprah Winfrey shows.
Jerry Springer could easily be considered the king of “rubbish talk”. The contents on his show are as surprising as they can be. For example, the show takes the ever-mon talk show titles of love, sex, cheating, and hate, to a different level. Clearly, the Jerry Springer show is about the dark side of society, yet people are willing to eat up the troubles of other people’s lives.
Like Jerry Springer, Oprah Winfrey takes TV talk show to its top. But Oprah goes in the opposite direction. The show is mainly about the improvement of society and different quality of life. Contents are from teaching your children lessons, managing your work week, to getting to know your neighbors.
pared to Oprah, the Jerry Springer show looks like poisonous waste being poured into society. Jerry ends every show with a “final word”. He makes a small speech about the entire idea of the show. Hopefully, this is the part where most people will learn something very valuable.
Clean as it is, the Oprah show is not for everyone. The show’s main viewers are middleclass Americans. Most of these people have the time, money, and ability to deal with life’s tough problems. Jerry Springer, on the other hand, has more of a connection with the young adults of society. These are 18-to-21-year-olds whose main troubles in life include love, relationship, sex, money and drug. They are the ones who see some value and lessons to be learned through the show’s exploitation.
【小題1】pared with other TV talk shows, both the Jerry Springer and the Oprah Winfrey are ____.

A proven method for effective textbook reading is the SQ3R method developed by Francis Robinson. The first is to survey (the S step) the chapter by reading the title, introduction, section headings, summary., and by studying any graphs, tables, illustrations or charts. The purpose of this step is to get an overview of the chapter so that you will know before you read what it will be about.  In the second step (the Q step), for each section you ask yourself questions such as "What do I already know about this topic?" and "What do I want to know?" In this step you also take the section heading and turn it into a question. This step gives you a purpose for reading the section. The third step (the first of the 3 R's) is to read to find the answers to your questions. Then at the end of each section, before going on to the next section, you recite ( the second of the 3 R's) the answers to the questions that formed in the question step. When you recite you should say the information you want to learn out loud in your own words. The fifth step is done after you have completed step 2, 3 and 4 for each section. You review (the last of the 3 R's) the entire chapter. The review is done much as the survey was in the first step. As you review, hold a mental conversation with yourself as you recite the information you selected as important to learn. The mental conversation could take the form of asking and answering the questions formed the headings or reading the summary, which lists the main ideas in the chapter, and trying to fill in the details for each main idea.
【小題1】 The passage implies that the SQ3R method          .

ALBANY，New York—Students who rely on working at night to improve their
grades might want to sleep on that strategy: A new survey in the US says those who never study all night have slightly higher grades than those who do.
A survey of 120 students at St.Lawrence University found that students who had never pulled an all­nighter on average had higher grades than those who had. The survey found those who did not study through the night had a grade point average of 3.2 compared to 2.95 for those who did.
The study, by assistant professor of psychology Pamela Thacher, is to be included in the January issue of Behavioral Sleep Medicine.
“It's not a big difference，but it's pretty striking, ” Thacher said, “I am primarily a sleep researcher and I know nobody thinks clearly at 4∶00 in the morning. You think you can do，but you can't.”
Many college students, of course, have inadequate or irregular sleep, for reasons ranging from excessive caffeine to poor time management.
“A lot of students were under the impression that all­nighters were a very useful tool for accomplishing work, and that caffeine intake was very useful in meeting deadlines and stuff like that, ”said Mr Chatani, who had a 3.4 grade point average last term.
Dr Howard Weiss, a physician at St.Peter's Sleep Center in Albany, said the study results made sense.
“Certainly that data is out there showing that short sleep duration absolutely interferes with concentration and performance on objective testing, ”he said.
“Some night owls do get good grades, of course，which may be explained by circadian (晝夜節(jié)律的，生理節(jié)奏的) rhythms, ”Weiss said, “Some people have different 24­hour body clocks from others, and may do better depending on classes and testing time.”
63.The purpose of the passage is to tell us 　　　　
A. the bad effects of pulling an all­nighter
B. pulling an all­nighter leads to sleep problems
C. Thacher's doubt about all­nighters
D. all­nighters influence students' grades
64. According to Thacher's study，around 4 o'clock in the morning is a time when 　　　　.
A. one can think more clearly
B. one has his/her best memory
C. one can't learn efficiently
D. one's brain falls into a period of deep sleep
65.What can we know from Dr Howard Weiss' words？
A. Thacher's study is not convincing enough.
B. He believes in Thacher's study.
C. Thacher's study makes no sense.
D. Thacher should take exceptions into consideration.

When you put down your pens at the end of the college entrance exam, 12 hard years of study will have come to an end. Forget your studies for a while. It’s time to enjoy yourselves!
There are many ways to celebrate this special month of graduation. You can have photos taken with your classmates and teachers, or dine out together and exchange gifts.
High school students in western countries such as the United States and Canada usually have party to mark their graduation. It’s to mark the time when kids turn into young men and women. After the party, teenagers either go to college or find a job. It means they will no longer depend on their parents as before.
As the party, boys usually dress in dinner jackets and bow ties, though many different types of formal clothes are worn. Girls traditionally wear formal dresses, or dress to shock or be noticed, in shiny or brightly colored materials.
Common party activities include dining, dancing, the crowing(加冕)of a ball king and queen, and just talking to friends. In some cases, high school students collect funds for their class party through the four years of their high school.
High schools in or near large cities may rent big rooms at expensive hotels or，to be unusual, on a pleasure boat．But often costs are out by simply using the school gym．Students make a lot of effort to decorate the gym to make the event special．The music played at the party will be the most popular kinds，like rock and hip-hop．
Sometimes teachers and parents also go to the party，but others like to go with friends，to whom they are soon going to say goodbye．
【小題1】The writer’s purpose in writing this passage is to         ．

When I first began to work with international students, I asked someone at a lunch, “What brings you here today?” Looking at me like I was a bit crazy, he answered, “ The bus.” That was my first realization that no matter how good a speaker is, there are phrases that will always tend to cause confusion to non-native speakers. These idiomatic phrases(慣用語(yǔ)) add color and interest to any language and are worth learning if you want to talk fluently with native speakers.
“By no stretch”----The speaker is referring to something that’s very hard to achieve or realize, even with great effort, as in “It was not a good meal, by any stretch of the imagination.” Which means that ______________.
“Half dead”----An expression of extreme tiredness, having nothing to do with actual health. Commonly used at the end of a long and tiring day.
“By the book”----This means that an action should follow the rules exactly. It also describes the nature of someone who won’t deviate(背離) from a set of rules no matter what the situation is.
“More power to you”----This isn’t a wish for you to have better electricity from the power company----it’s a statement, usually slightly ironic(諷刺的), that the speaker thinks that you are unlikely to do a task, but you should try if you think you can complete it. It generally means the speaker has no intention of helping you achieve your goal neither will they discourage you from attempting to reach it. For example, “I don’t think you can meet that deadline, but more power to you.”
“As easy as pie”----A reference that something is as simple or easy as eating a delicious dessert, or that it requires little effort to successfully achieve. In chatting, this phrase does not refer to the process of cooking or eating.
【小題1】The example given by the author in the first paragraph is used to show__________.

Self-esteem(自尊心)is all about how much we feel valued,accepted and thought well of by others---and how much we value,love and accept ourselves.Poeple with healthy self-esteem are able to feel good about themselves,appreciate their own worth,and take pride in their abilities,skills,and accomplishments with others,feel happier,find it easier to deal with low self-esteem may feel as if no one will like them or accept them or that they can’t do well in anything.
Here are some steps that may help improve your self-esteem:
Try to stop     Try to thinking about negative thoughts about yourself.If you’re used to focusing on your shortcomings,start thinking about positive aspects of yourself that outwheigh them .Each day,write down three things about yourself that make you happy.it is good to aim high,but your goals should be within reach.That’s why you should set pratical goals and never expect the impossible.Mistakes are part of learning,so view mistakes as learning opportunities.Accept that you will make mistakes because everyone does.Also, you should recognize what you can change and what you can’t.if you realize that you’re unhappy with something about yourself that you can change, then start today.If it’s something you can’t change(like your height),then start to work toward loving yourself the way you are.Feeling like you’re making a difffference and that your help is valued can do wonders to improve self-esteem.So don’t hesitate to make a contribution.Help a classmate who’s having trouble,help clean up your campus,or volunteer your time in some other way.
Self-esteem plays a role in almost everything you do.It’s never to be late to build healthy positive self-esteem.It takes some work,but healthy self-esteem is an asset you’ll have for life.
【小題1】What does the author mainly want to tell us in this passage?

“A good book for children should simply be a good book in its own right,”says Mollie Hunter. Born and brought up near Edinburgh, Mollie has devoted her talents to writing primarily for young people. She firmly believes that there is and should always be a wider audience for any good book whatever its main market is. In Mollie’s opinion it is necessary to make full use of language and she enjoys telling a story, which is what every writer should be doing, “If you aren’t telling a story, you’re a very dead writer indeed.”she says. With the chief function of a writer being to entertain, Mollie is indeed an entertainer. “I have this great love of not only the meaning of language but of the music of language,”she says. “This love goes back to early childhood. I’ve told stories all my life. I had a school teacher who used to ask us what we would like to be when we grew up and, because my family always had dogs, and I was very good at handling them. I said I wanted to work with dogs, and the teacher always said‘Nonsense, Mollie; dear, you’ll be a writer.’So finally I thought that this woman must have something, since she was a good teacher and I decided when I was nine that I would be a writer.”
This childhood intention is described in her novel, A Sound of Chariots, which although written in the third person is clearly autobiographical (自傳體的)and gives a picture both of Mollie’s ambition and her struggle towards its achievement. Thoughts of her childhood inevitably(不可避免的)brought thoughts of the time when her home was still a village with buttercup meadows and strawberry fields-sadly now covered with modern houses. “I was once taken back to see it and I felt that somebody had lain dirty hands all over my childhood. I’ll never go back,”she said.“Never.”“When I set one of my books in Scotland,”she said,“I can recall my romantic feelings as a child playing in those fields, or watching the village blacksmith at work. And that’s important, because children now know so much so early that romance can’t exist for them, as it did for us.”
【小題1】 What does Mollie Hunter feel about the nature of a good book?