4、A lot of us lose life’s tough battles by starting a frontal（正面的）attack—when a touch of humor might well enable us to win. Consider the case of a young friend of mine, who hit a traffic jam on his way to work shortly after receiving an ultimatum（最后通牒） about being late on the job. Although there was a good reason for Sam’s a being late—serious illness at home—he decided that this by-now-familiar excuse wouldn’t work any longer. His supervisor was probably already pacing up and down preparing a dismissal speech.

       Yes, the boss was, Sam entered the office at 9:35. The place was as quiet as a locker room（更衣室）; everyone was hard at work. Sam’s supervisor came up to him. Suddenly, Sam forced a grin and stretched out his hand. “How do you do!” he said. “I’m Sam Maynard. I’m applying for a job. Which, I understand, became available just 35 minutes ago. Does the early bird get the worm?”

       The room exploded in laughter. The supervisor clamped off a smile and walked back to his office. Sam Maynard had saved his job—with the only tool that could win, a laugh.

       Humor is a most effective, yet frequently neglected, means of handling the difficult situations in our lives. It can be used for patching up differences, apologizing, saying “no”, criticizing, getting the other fellow to do what you want without his losing face. For some jobs, it’s the only tool that can succeed. It is a way to discuss subjects so sensitive that serious dialog may start a quarrel. For example, many believe that comedians on television are doing more today for racial and religious tolerance（忍受力）than people in any other forum.

1．Why was Sam late for his job?

       A．Because he was ill.

       B．Because he got up late.

       C．Because he was caught in a traffic jam.

       D．He was busy applying for a new job.

2．the main idea of this passage is         

       A．They have no doubts about them.

       B．They have doubts about them.

       C．They approve of them.   

       D．They avoid talking about them.

3．the phrase “clamped off “in paragraph 3 probably means trying to    

A．hold back             B．set off           C．leave behind           D．gave out

4．Which of the following statements can we infer from the passage?

       A．Many lose life’s battles for they start a frontal attack.

       B．It wasn’t the first time that Sam came late for his work

       C．Sam was supposed to come to his office at 8:30.

       D．Humor is a very effective way of dealing with difficult situations.

3、Psychologists take opposing views of how external rewards（外部獎(jiǎng)賞）, from warm praise to cold cash, affect motivation and creativity. Behaviorists, who study the relation between actions and their consequences, argue that rewards can improve performance at work and school. Cognitive （認(rèn)知學(xué)派的） researchers, who study various aspects of mental life, believe that rewards often destroy creativity by encouraging dependence on approval and gifts from others.    

    The latter view has gained many supporters, especially among educators. But the careful use of small monetary （金錢的） rewards sparks creativity in grade-school children, suggesting that properly presented inducements （刺激） indeed aid inventiveness（創(chuàng)造力）, according to a study in the June Journal of Personality and Social Psychology".

       "If kids know they're working for a reward and can focus on a relatively challenging task, they show the most creativity," says Robert Eisenberger of the University of Delaware in Newark. "But it's easy to kill creativity by giving rewards for poor performance or creating too much desire for rewards." A teacher who continually draws attention to rewards or who hands out high grades for ordinary achievement ends up with uninspired students, Eisenberger holds. As an example of the latter point, he notes growing efforts at major universities to tighten grading standards and restore failing grades.     

    In earlier grades, the use of so-called token economies, in which students handle challenging problems and receive performance-based points toward valued rewards, shows promise in raising effort and creativity, the Delaware psychologist claims.       

1．Psychologists are divided with regard to their attitudes toward _____.

       A．the choice between spiritual encouragement and monetary rewards

       B．the amount of monetary rewards for students' creativity

       C．the study of relationship between actions and their consequences

       D．the effects of external rewards on students' performance

2．What is the response of many educators to external rewards for their students? 

       A．They have no doubts about them.

       B．They have doubts about them.

       C．They approve of them.   

       D．They avoid talking about them.

3．Which of the following can best raise students' creativity according to Robert Eisenberger?

       A．Giving them tasks they have not dealt with before.

       B．Giving them tasks which require inventiveness.

       C．Giving them rewards they really deserve.

       D．Giving them rewards they hope for.

4．It can be inferred from the passage that major universities are trying to tighten their grading standards because they believe ______.

       A．rewarding poor performance may kill the creativity of students

       B．punishment is more effective than rewarding

       C．failing uninspired students helps improve their overall academic standards          D．discouraging the students' anticipation for easy rewards is a matter of urgency             

5．The phrase "token economies" （Sentence 1, Paragraph 5） probably refers to _____.           A．ways to develop economy      

       B．systems of rewarding students

       C．a(chǎn)pproaches to solving problems

       D．methods of improving performance

2、Dear Tracy,

       Although I’m 16 years old, but my father still treats                  1．          

me as a carelessly child. He doesn’t value my opinions.                    2．          

He is very strict in me and often punishes me for                             3．          

leaving things lying around in the house while he did this                  4．          

all time. I think he fails to set an example to me to                            5．          

follow. But he often says:“ Doing as I say, not as I do.”                   6．          

Even more worse, he points out my past mistakes to guests,                    7．           

making me feel hurting. I love my father, but I can’t                        8．          

bear how he does. I  have tried many times to talk                          9．          

with him but he never listen. Please, help me.                                  10．          

Puzzled

1、“神州7號(hào)”中國(guó)人首次太空艙外活動(dòng)成功以后，人們就“普通人去太空旅游”的話題展開(kāi)了熱烈討論。請(qǐng)你根據(jù)下列提示以“The advantages and disadvantages of Space Travel”為題寫一篇英語(yǔ)短文，闡述表格中的兩種觀點(diǎn)，并簡(jiǎn)要地談?wù)勀銈�(gè)人的看法。

注意事項(xiàng)：

       1．短文必須包括所列內(nèi)容。

       2．不要逐字逐句翻譯。

       3．詞數(shù)110左右。

25、Please do me _______ favor and pass me the cup of ______ coffee.

A．the；不填         B．a(chǎn)；不填           C．a(chǎn)； the           D．the； the

24、—Listen！It is raining.

—Oh, really！I ______ it at all.

A．didn’t realize                  B．don’t realize   

C．haven’t realized                   D．hadn’t realized

22、請(qǐng)根據(jù)下面提示，寫一篇短文，詞數(shù)不少于50。

    In your English class, you are asked to describe the following picture and explain to your classmates how you understand it,

21、

       DNA（Deoxyribonucleic acid）is one of the most important discoveries in science. DNA is the plan for the human being ，as a blueprint is the plan for building. DNA makes a person look the way he does. A person’s DNA. comes from a mixing of his parents’ DNA . That’s why a child looks like his parents. But ，besides controlling things such as height and hair color，DNA can also give people diseases，Scientists are now studying DNA to cure diseases.

In the seventies, scientists developed a process called recombinant (重新組合) or RDNA. Although it sounds difficult to understand，RDNA simply means taking DNA from one animal or plant and putting it into another. By doing so ， scientists can create new beings. In so doing，scientists can better understand DNA，especially what parts of DNA do what parts of DNA do what. After they understand DNA，scientists can begin to cure diseases. Often，the new being created will itself be the cure.

Besides curing diseases，RDNA research can also do other things. For example，scientists in Japan have already created“super-trees”Trees help humans，because they take CO₂， which poisons humans ，from the air and turns it into oxygen， which lets humans breathe.“Super-trees” do this too，but do it much faster. As things such as cars and factories have already put much CO₂ in the area，“super-trees”are badly needed.

Unfortunately，there is serious danger in RDNA research.  Scientists want to create animals to cure old diseases，but these new animals may also create new diseases. It will be a serious problem if the animals escape from the science laboratory and into nature. As these animals are not natural，they may  let loose  many new powerful diseases.

      As a result，RDNA research will create many solutions （解決方案），but it will also create many problems.

1．From the passage，we can know that a boy looks like his parents because       

      A．he is son of his parents

      B．his parents’ DNA decides his appearance

      C．he has received DNA from his father or his mother

      D．scientists have put some of his parents’ DNA into him

2．What does the underlined expression “l(fā)et loose”probably mean？

       A．let．．．go free      B．get rid of            C．a(chǎn)bsorb                D．survive

3．What is the best title for the passage？

       A．The DAN Research in Japan

       B．A New Way of DNA Research in Japan

    C．The Causes and Effects of DNA Research

       D．The Advantages And Disadvantages of RDNA

4．The following statements are true abort RDNA research EXCEPT      

       A．the research has been stopped because the created animals carry virus

       B．super-trees might be widely planted around the world

       C．scientists have not completely understood DNA

       D．RDNA research will benefit human beings a lot