Four simple keys to transform your life The power of choice.Every one of us make

题型：不详难度：来源：

Four simple keys to transform your life
The power of choice.
Every one of us makes countless choices every day. Every choice we make has an impact on our lives. Even insignificant choices can affect what we experience and how we feel. When hunger strikes, we can reach for a healthy, nutritious snack, or we can choose the sugar high of junk food. The more important the decision, the greater its effect. For instance, how do I act towards that person who treated me badly? Do I generally choose to be passive, or do I actively set clear intentions and create what I want in my life? Every choice we make, however big or small, affects us in some way.
How do you make choices?
If you are interested in living a richer, fuller life, there is a foundation upon which you can base all of your decisions which can make life better not only for you, but also for those around you. This foundation is to choose based on what’s best for all. Imagine a world where every parent, spouse(配偶), friend, teacher, businessperson, and politician truly did their best to choose what’s best for all involved in every decision they made. We would certainly live in a more caring, supportive world.
It’s the intention.
“But how do I know what is really best?” you might ask. The answer is simple. It doesn’t matter. What matters is not the choice you make, but rather the intention behind your choice. What matters is that whatever decision you make, you are clear in your intention of choosing based on what’s best for all. If it later turns out that you made what appears to have been a bad choice, there’s no need for guilt. Knowing that you did your best to choose with a sincere desire for what’s best for all, your conscience stays clear and open. This then allows you to more easily learn from your mistakes, and to live with a clear heart and mind.
What’s best for me, too!
Choosing what’s best does not mean you have to always sacrifice yourself for other. An overly(过度的) exhausted mother can lose her temper easily. Some time off for this mother might seem selfish, yet in the long run, it can help her to be a better mother to her children. So as we move through each day of our lives, let us remember to include ourselves as we do our best to choose what’s best for all.
小题1:According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT true?

A．Every one of us makes countless choices every day.

B．Every choice, however big or small, has an influence on us.

C．People act differently towards the person who treated them badly.

D．People tend to reach for a junk snack when hunger strikes.

小题2:How should we make choices?

A．To be interested in a richer, fuller life.

B．To make life better for ourselves.

C．To base our choices on what’s best for all.

D．To imagine a world where everyone did their best.

小题3: According to the author, what is really best?

A．The choice you make.	B．The intention behind your choice.
C．The mistake you learn from.	D．The consequence of your choice.

小题4:To choose what is best for us, we’d better ________.

A．try to be selfish all the time	B．sacrifice ourselves for others
C．set aside some time for ourselves	D．control our temper before children

答案

小题1:D
小题2:C
小题3:B
小题4:C

解析

试题分析：文章介绍正确选择的重要性，如何做出正确的选择，什么是最好的选择。
小题1:. 细节题：从第三段的句子：When hunger strikes, we can reach for a healthy, nutritious snack, or we can choose the sugar high of junk food.可知当饥饿来袭，人们往往会选择健康的，有营养的零食或是高糖的垃圾食品。选D
小题2:细节题：从第五段的句子：This foundation is to choose based on what’s best for all.可知我们做选择的时候，应该基于对所有的人都好的选择。选C
小题3:细节题：从第七段的句子：What matters is not the choice you make, but rather the intention behind your choice. 可知重要的是选择背后的意图。选B
小题4:细节题：从最后一段的句子：let us remember to include ourselves as we do our best to choose what’s best for all.可知最好的选择包括给自己留些时间。选C
点评：文章介绍正确选择的重要性，如何做出正确的选择，什么是最好的选择。文章测试考生在阅读基础上的逻辑推理能力，要求考生根据文章所述事件的逻辑关系，对未说明的趋势或结局作出合理的推断；或根据作者所阐述的观点理论，对文章未涉及的现象、事例给以解释。考生首先要仔细阅读短文，完整了解信息，准确把握作者观点。

举一反三

“People are ruder today because they are rushed and more ‘time poor’ than ever before, ” says Patsy Rowe, “ Manners have fallen off the radar(雷达). ” Due to our strong attraction to electronic equipment it is a wonder more people don’t wake up each morning and greet the singing birds with a complaint（抱怨）about the noise. Here are some examples of rudeness.
Some people prefer to do almost everything over the internet. To them, dealing with an actual human is like an evolutionary step backward. It feels very slow because humans don, t work at 4G speeds. When you have dinner with friends, you will often notice someone paying more attention to his mobile phone. We have programmed ourselves to think that every new message brings life-changing news, so taking calls and checking our texts are more important than talking to the people we are with. What is worse, some people even tend to send anonymous（匿名的） rude messages by email.
However, rudeness is never acceptable, Don, t assume it is OK to be rude if the person you, re in touch with won, t recognize you. If you have something awful to say, have the courage to face the person and say it, write a letter or email and sign it, or forget it. Upsetting people with unsigned messages is cruel and disgusting.
We shouldn′t blame technology for our shortcomings. Technology is here to help us, but we should not allow it to take over our lives. An important step is acknowledging our shortcomings. People spend a lot of time pointing out bad manners but it would be even more help if we′d publicly acknowledge good manners when we see them.
小题1:What can be inferred from the underlined sentence in Paragraph I?

A．People can tell good from bad behavior.

B．Radar is able to observe human behavior.

C．People care little about their behavior.

D．Radar can be used to predict human behavior.

小题2:Some people are less willing to deal with humans because

A．they are becoming less patient

B．they are growing too independent

C．they have to handle many important messages

D．they have to follow an evolutionary step backward.

小题3:The author thinks sending unsigned awful messages is

A．Ridiculous

B．disgusting

C．acceptable

D．reasonable

小题4:What can we learn from the last paragraph?

A．We should applaud good behabior.

B．Technology can neber be blamed

C．We should keep pointing out mistakes.

D．Technology will take over lives one day.

题型：不详难度：| 查看答案

When international aid is given, steps must be taken to ensure (确保)that the aid reaches the people for whom it is intended. The way to achieve this may not be simple. It is very difficult for a nation to give help directly to people in another nation. The United Nations Organization (UNO) could undertake to direct the distribution of aid. Here however rises the problem of costs. Also tied with this is time. Perhaps the UNO could set up a body of devoted men and women in every country who can speedily distribute aid to victims of floods and earthquakes.
More than the help that one nation can give to another during a disaster; it would be more effective to give other forms of help during normal times. A common proverb says, “Give me a fish and I eat for day, teach me to fish and I eat for a lifetime.” If we follow this wise saying, it would be right to teach people from less developed nations to take care of themselves. For example, a country could share its technology with another. This could be in simple areas like agriculture or in more complex areas like medical and health care or even in building satellites. Even small country is able to help less developed nations. Sometimes what is take for granted, like the setting up of a water purification plant or the administration of a school, could be useful for countries which are looking about to solve common problems. It does not cost much to share such simple things. Exchange students could be attached for a number of months or years and learn the required craft while on the site. They can then take their knowledge back to their homelands and if necessary come back form time to time to clear doubts or to update themselves. Such aid will be truly helpful and there is no chance of it being temporary or of it falling into the wrong hands.
Many countries run extensive courses in all sorts of skills. It will not cost much to include deserving foreigners in these courses. Besides giving effective help to the countries concerned, there is also the build-up of friendships to consider. Giving direct help by giving materials may be effective in the short run and must continue to be given in the event of emergencies. However, in the long run what is really effective would be the sharing of knowledge.
小题1:According to the author, how could international aid reach the victims in time?

A． By solving the cost problems

B． By solving the transportation problems

C． By setting up a body of devoted people in every country.

D． By relying on the direct distribution of the UNO.

小题2:What does the author try to express in the underlined sentence?

A．Providing food is vital	B．Learning to fish is helpful
C．Teaching skills is essential	D．Looking after others is important.

小题3:The second paragraph is developed mainly _________.

A．by example

B．by process

C．by comparison

D．by contrast

小题4:Which aid is likely to fall into the wrong hands?

A．A medical team.	B．An exchange program.
C．A water plant.	D．Financial support.

小题5:What can we infer about international aid from the passage?

A．It is facing difficulties

B．It is unnecessary during normal times

C．It should be given in the form of materials

D．It has gained support developed countries

题型：不详难度：| 查看答案

Many people think that listening is a passive business. It is just the opposite. Listening well is an active exercise of our attention and hard work. It is because they do not realize this, or because they are not willing to do the work, that most people do not listen well.
Listening well also requires total concentration upon someone else. An essential part of listening well is the rule known as ‘bracketing’. Bracketing includes the temporary giving up or setting aside of your own prejudices and desires, to experience as far as possible someone else’s world from the inside, stepping into his or her shoes. Moreover, since listening well involves bracketing, it also involves a temporary acceptance of the other person. Sensing this acceptance, the speaker will seem quite willing to open up the inner part of his or her mind to the listener. True communication is under way and the energy required for listening well is so great that it can be accomplished only by the will to extend oneself for mutual growth.
Most of the time we lack this energy. Even though we may feel in our business dealings or social relationships that we are listening well, what we are usually doing is listening selectively. Often we have a prepared list in mind and wonder, as we listen, how we can achieve certain desired results to get the conversation over as quickly as possible or redirected in ways more satisfactory to us. Many of us are far more interested in talking than in listening, or we simply refuse to listen to what we don’t want to hear.
It wasn’t until toward the end of my doctor career that I have found the knowledge that one is being truly listened to is frequently therapeutic(有疗效的) In about a quarter of the patients I saw, surprising improvement was shown during the first few months of psychotherapy(心理疗法), before any of the roots of problems had been uncovered or explained. There are several reasons for this phenomenon, but chief among them, I believe, was the patient’s sense that he or she was being truly listened to, often for the first time in years, and for some, perhaps for the first time ever.
小题1:The phrase “stepping into his or her shoes” in paragraph 2 probably means _______.

A．preparing a topic list first	B．focusing on one’s own mind
C．directing the talk to the desired results	D．experiencing the speaker’s inside world

小题2:What is mainly discussed in Paragraph 2?

A．How to listen well.	B．What to listen to.
C．Benefits of listening.	D．Problems in listening

小题3:According to the author, in communication people tend to ________.

A．listen actively	B．listen purposefully
C．set aside their prejudices	D．open up their inner mind

小题4:According to the author, the patients improved mainly because _______.

A．they were taken good care of.	B．they knew they were truly listened to.
C．they had partners to talk to.	D．they knew the roots of problems.

小题5:What type of writing the article likely to be?

A．Science fiction

B．A news report.

C．A medical report.

D．Popular science

题型：不详难度：| 查看答案

In my living room, there is a plaque (匾) that advises me to “Bloom (开花) where you are planted.” It reminds me of Dorothy. I got to know Dorothy in the early 1980s, when I was teaching Early Childhood Development through a program with Union College in Barbourville, Kentucky. The job responsibilities required occasional visits to the classroom of each teacher in the program. Dorothy stands out in my memory as one who “bloomed” in her remote area.
Dorothy taught in a school In Harlan County, Kentucky, Appalachian Mountain area. To get to her school from the town of Harlan, I followed a road winding around the mountain. In the eight-mile journey, I crossed the same railroad track five times, giving the possibility of getting caught by the same train five times. Rather than feeling excited by this drive through the mountains, I found it depressing. The poverty level was shocking and the small shabby houses gave me the greatest feeling of hopelessness.
From the moment of my arrival at the little school, all gloom (忧郁) disappeared. Upon arriving at Dorothy’s classroom. I was greeted with smiling faces and treated like a queen. The children had been prepared to show me their latest projects. Dorothy told me with a big smile that they were serving poke greens salad and cornbread for “dinner” (lunch). In case you don’t know, poke greens are a weed-type plant that grows wild, especially on poor ground.
Dorothy never ran out of reports of exciting activities of her students. Her enthusiasm never cooled down. When it came time to sit for the testing and interviewing required to receive her Child Development Associate Certification, Dorothy was ready. She came to the assessment and passed in all areas. Afterward, she invited me to the one-and-only steak house in the area to celebrate her victory, as if she had received her Ph. D. degree. After the meal, she placed a little box containing an old pen in my hand. She said it was a family heirloom (传家宝), but to me it is a treasured symbol of appreciation and pride that cannot be matched with things. (360 words)
小题1:“Early Childhood Development” in Paragraph 1 refers to __________.

A．a program directed by Dorothy

B．a course given by the author

C．an activity held by the students

D．an organization sponsored by Union college

小题2: In the journey, the author was most disappointed at seeing __________.

A．the long track	B．the poor houses
C．the same train	D．the winding road

小题3:Upon arriving at the classroom, the author was cheered up by __________.

A．a warm welcome	B．the sight of poke greens
C．Dorothy’s latest projects	D．a big dinner made for her

小题4:What can we know about Dorothy from the last paragraph?
A. She was invited to a celebration at a restaurant.
B. She got a pen as a gift from the author.
C. She passed the required assessment.
D. She received her Ph. D. degree.
小题5:What does the author mainly intend to tell us?

A．Whatever you do, you must do it carefully.

B．Whoever you are, you deserve equal treatment.

C．However poor you are, you have the right to education,

D．Wherever you are, you can accomplish your achievement.

题型：不详难度：| 查看答案

It’s such a happy-looking library, painted yellow, decorated with palm-tree stickers and sheltered from the Florida sun by its own roof. About the size of a microwave oven, it’s pedestrian-friendly, too, waiting for book lovers next to a sidewalk in Palm Beach country Estates, along the northern boundary of Palm Beach Gardens.
It’s a library built with love.
A year ago, shortly after Janey Henriksen saw a Brian Williams report about the Little Free Library organization, a Wisconsin-based nonprofit that aims to promote literacy and build a sense of community in a neighborhood by making books freely available, she announced to her family of four, “That’s what we’re going to do for our spring break!”
Son Austin, now a 10th-grader, didn’t see the point of building a library that resembles a mailbox. But Janey insisted, and husband Peter unwillingly got to work. The 51-year-old owner of a ship supply company modified a small wooden house that he’d built years earlier for daughter Abbie’s toy horses, and made a door of glass.
After adding the library’s final touches (装点), the family hung a signboard on the front, instructing users to “take a book, return a book,” and making the Henriksen library, now one of several hundred like it nationwide and among more than 2,500 in the world, the only Little Free Library in Palm Beach County.
They stocked it with 20 or so books they’d already read, a mix of science fiction, reference titles, novels and kids’ favorites. “I told them, keep in mind that you might not see it again,” said Janey, a stay-at-home mom.
Since then, the collection keeps replenishing (补充) itself, thanks to ongoing donations from borrowers. The library now gets an average of five visits a day.
The project’s best payoff, says Peter, are the thank-you notes left behind. “We had no idea in the beginning that it would be so popular.” (317 words)
小题1:In what way is the library “pedestrian-friendly”?

A．It owns a yellow roof.	B．It stands near a sidewalk.
C．It protects book lovers from the sun.	D．It uses palm-tree stickers as decorations.

小题2:Janey got the idea to build a library from __________.

A．a visit to Brian Williams	B．a spring break with her family
C．a book sent by one of her neighbors	D．a report on a Wisconsin-based organization

小题3:The library was built __________.

A．by a ship supply company	B．on the basis of toy horses
C．like a mailbox	D．with glass

小题4:What can we infer about the signboard?

A．It was made by a user of the library.	B．It marked a final touch to the library.
C．It aimed at making the library last long.	D．It indicated the library was a family property.

小题5:The passage tells us that the users __________.

A．donate books to the library

B．get paid to collect books for the library

C．receive thank-you notes for using the library

D．visit the library over 5 times on average daily

题型：不详难度：| 查看答案