passage 1and2

1、Access to success

In 1978, as I applied to study film at the University of Illinois, my father objected and quoted me a statistic, “Every year, 50,000 performers compete for 200 available roles on Broadway.” Against his advice, I boarded a flight to the US.

Some years later, when I graduated from the film school, I came to understand my father’s concern. It was nearly unheard of for a Chinese newcomer to make it in the American film industry. Beginning in 1983, I struggled through six years of annoying, hopeless uncertainty. Much of the time, I was helping film crews with their equipment or working as editor’s assistant. My most painful experience involved shopping a screenplay at more than 30 different production companies, and being met with harsh rejection each time.

That year, I turned 30. Yet, I couldn’t even support myself. What could I do? Keep waiting, or give up my moviemaking dream? My wife gave me strong support. Her income was terribly modest. To relieve me from feeling guilty, I took on all housework — cooking, cleaning, taking care of our son — in addition to reading, reviewing films and writing scripts.

It was rather shameful for a man to live this kind of life. Afterward, I enrolled in a computer course at a community college. At that time, it seemed that only the knowledge of computer could quickly make me employable. One morning, right before she got in her car to head off to work, my wife turned back and — standing there on our front steps — said, “Ang Lee, don’t forget your dream.”

Sometime after, I obtained funding for my screenplay, and began to shoot my own films. After that, a few of my films started to win international awards. Recalling earlier times, my wife confessed, “I’ve always believed that you only need one gift. Your gift is making films.” And today, I’ve finally won that golden statue. I think my own perseverance and my wife’s immeasurable sacrifice have finally met their reward.

Q1: When did Ang Lee come to understand his father’s concern about studying film?

Q2: What was Ang Lee’s most painful experience according to the passage?

Q3: Why did Ang Lee enroll in a computer course at a community college?

Q4: What did Ang Lee’s wife think of him according to the passage?

答案：

1. When he graduated from the film school.
2. Being refused repeatedly by production companies when shopping a screenplay.
3. Because he wanted to learn some skills to be employed.
4. He has a talent in making films.

Nothing succeeds like confidence. When you are truly and justifiably confident, it radiates from you like sunlight, and attracts success to you like a magnet. It’s so important to 1) believe in yourself. Believe that you can do anything under any 2) circumstances, because if you believe you can, then you really will. That belief just keeps you 3) searching for success, and then pretty soon you can get it. Confidence is more than an attitude. It comes from knowing exactly where you are going, and how you are going to get there. It comes from 4) a strong sense of purpose. It comes from a strong commitment to take 5) responsibility, rather than just let life happen.

One way to develop self-confidence is to do the thing you fear and get a record of successful experiences behind you. Confidence does not equal self-importance. Self-importance is born out of fear and 6) insecurity, while confidence comes from strength and 7) integrity. Confidence is not just believing you can do it. Confidence is knowing you can do it, and knowing that you are capable of 8) accomplishing anything you want.

Anything can be achieved through focused, determined effort, commitment and self-confidence. If your life is not what you 9) are longing for, you have the power to change it, and you must make such changes on a moment by moment basis. Live with your goals and your plan of action, and live each moment with your 10) priorities in mind, then you will have the life you want.

2、Emotions speak louder than words
With the fierce competition at work or in school, you are often stressed out and easily offended. How can you relieve such stress? Follow the following tips to reduce your stress to manageable levels!

Avoid MUST think. You have to move away from the notion that you must do something in a certain way. For example, “I must get a great score on a test.” This thought pattern only adds to the stress you’ll feel. Evaluate your situation rationally and analytically, and not as a “life or death" situation.

Clean up the mess. Don’t study in a messy or crowded area. Clear yourself a nice, open space that’s free from distractions.

Set manageable goals. Break large projects into smaller parts and you’ll feel a positive sense of accomplishment as you finish each part.

Imagine dumping your worries. Imagine yourself walking on a beautiful beach, carrying a sand bucket. Stop at a good spot and put your worries into the bucket. Drop the bucket and watch as it drifts away into the ocean.

Think good thoughts. Create a set of positive but brief assumptions and mentally repeat them to yourself just before you fall asleep at night, and you will feel a lot more positive in the morning.

Imagine yourself succeeding. Close your eyes and remember a real-life situation in which you did well. Imagine facing your stressful situation with the same feeling of confidence.

Use your bed for sleeping, not studying. Your mind may start to associate your bed with work, which will make it harder for you to fall asleep.

Listen to relaxing music. If you want to play music, keep it low in the background. Classical music especially can aid the learning process.

Apply these tips to your own life, soon you’ll find fewer and fewer situations to feel stressful about.

Q1: What will happen if you always think that you must do something in a certain way?

Q2: How can you make large projects workable according to the passage?

Q3: What is the benefit of classical music mentioned in the passage?

Q4: What is the best title for the passage?

答案：

1. You will experience more stress.
2. By dividing them into smaller parts to finish one after another .
3. It can facilitate your learning.

4. Suggestions to reduce your stress to manageable levels.
   

Moods, say the experts, are emotions that tend to become fixed, 1) exerting an influence on one’s outlook for hours, days or even weeks. That’s 2) fabulous if your mood is a pleasant one, but it will be a problem if you are sad, anxious, angry or lonely.

Perhaps one of the best ways to deal with such moods is to 3) talk them out. Sometimes, though, there is no one to listen.

Modern science offers an abundance of drugs to deal with bad moods. But scientists have also discovered the practicability of several non-drug 4) approaches to release you from an unwanted mood. These can be just as useful as drugs, and have the added benefit of being healthier. So, the next time you feel out of sorts, don’t 5) head for the drug store — try the following approach.

Of all the mood-altering self-help techniques, physical exercise seems to be the most 6) efficient cure for a bad mood. “If you could keep up the exercise, you’d be in high spirits,” says Kathryn Lance, author of Running for Health and Beauty. Obviously, physical activity 7) is linked with mood changes.

Researchers have explained biochemical and various other changes that make exercise 8) compare favorably to drugs as a mood-raiser. Physical exertion such as housework, however, does little help, probably because it is not intensive enough, and people usually do it unwillingly. The key is physical exercise — running, cycling, walking, swimming or other sustained activities that 9) boost the heart rate, increase circulation and improve the body’s use of oxygen. Do them for at least 20 minutes a 10) session, three to five times a week.

3、Love your neighbor
The BBC’s iPM radio program asks its listeners for interesting questions. In response, a listener asked the following question:

“I would like to ask a question about the relationships among neighbors. I mean those people who live in your immediate neighborhood. Many people we have spoken to have said they don’t know any of their immediate neighbors.”

What about you? Do you know any of your immediate neighbors, in the sense of something more than exchanging “Good morning” or “Good afternoon”, for example?

A research group carried out an investigation and asked people how well they know their neighbors and this is what the research group discovered.

Surprisingly, 77 percent of people say they know their neighbors. It also emerged that if they live in a house, regardless of town or rural area, a massive 80 percent of them know their neighbors.

However, the figure drops to 75 percent if they’re in a flat. The survey also revealed that people appear to get friendlier as they get older. In fact, only 64 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds know their neighbors, but for people aged 55-64 this number climbs to 88 percent. Interestingly enough, it turns out that men are a little less likely to say they know their neighbors than women, and the rich are closer to their neighbors than the less well-off.

This topic was very popular with lots of BBC listeners and provoked plenty of comments on the BBC’s iPM website.

One of the listeners said, “I only really got to know my neighbors when their house caught fire. We’re good friends now.”

Another one recalled, “When we moved into our house three years ago, the first remark our neighbor made was, ‘So, you’re moving in? I hope you don’t have noisy kids.’ We reassured him we had no children and tried to make conversation but with no success.”

Q1: What question did the research group try to find an answer to?

Q2: Which age group is more likely to know their neighbors?

Q3: Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

Q4: What do the website’s comments mentioned at the end of the passage imply?

答案：

1. How well do people know their neighbors?
2. 55- to 64-year-olds.
3. Women are more likely to know their neighbors than men.
4. It is hard to get to know our neighbors.

Many neighbor disputes end up in court because of poor communication. If something dangerous or 1) illegal happens, the cops are the obvious solution. But if problems that arise are grayer, communication is the best way to save money and trouble. Here are some tips to be a good neighbor and deal with a bad one:

Get to know each other. Being a good neighbor doesn’t mean 2) taking family vacations together. Just knowing them well enough to say hi, or maybe borrowing a cup of sugar or loaning a gardening tool, can build trust and understanding. Issues are much more likely to occur among strangers than even casual 3) acquaintances.

Head off problems before they’re problems. If you are 4) throwing a party at your place, go to all neighbors who might be affected and offer them two things: a 5) verbal invitation to the party and a card with your phone number. If they are not 6) tolerant of the noise or there are other problems, your neighbors can call you instead of asking the police to 7) intervene.

Tell your neighbors what’s bothering you — don’t assume they know what the problem is. Be open and direct, not passive-aggressive. Ask for their opinions, and wherever possible, propose a solution that 8) splits the difference and demonstrates a willingness to compromise. Stay cool and positive, even if your neighbors are not.

Check with other neighbors. See if anybody else on the block is having similar issues — they may be willing to help 9) resolve it. If one of the neighbors is close to the troublemaker, have them come with you when you 10) talk it out.

Bottom line? As with any relationship, being a good neighbor — or dealing with a bad one — is all about communication.

4、What’s the big idea?
We may take the invention of the toilet for granted, but it is something many of us would have a hard time learning to live without. Public sanitation systems were invented long ago, but when was the toilet invented? The story of the toilet takes us back to 1596.

The toilet was created by Sir John Harrington for his godmother, Queen Elizabeth I. Harrington called his design a “water closet”, and his water closet was installed in Queen Elizabeth’s castle in 1596.

The original toilet, or water closet, had a knob on a chain that had to be pulled in order for the water to be released from a bowl. Underneath the bowl, there was a basin or collection bowl that had to be emptied and cleaned often. It is not the sanitary and pleasant way for removing waste that we know of, but it paves the way for later improvements.

Over time, many inventors improved Harrington’s original water closet by improving the pipes that were attached to the bottom and the flush system that built upon the original toilet. By 1896, Thomas Crapper began to sell toilets. Crapper saw the importance and necessity of the toilet, and he used his admiration for the product to help promote and sell the toilet.

Harrington’s invention is, without a doubt, one invention that would be hard to live without. Inventors will continue to develop upon Harrington’s original water closet.

Q1: Who invented the first toilet according to the passage?

Q2: What was one of the problems with Harrington’s water closet?

Q3: How did inventors improve the original toilet according to the passage?

Q4: Which of the following can best summarize the passage?

答案：

1. Sir John Harrington.
2. The basin had to be emptied and cleaned consuming.
3. They improved the pipes that were attached to the bottom.
4. The development of the toilet.

Scientific research should improve our overall quality of life. The government should provide financial and political support to any research that is likely to result in immediate and significant benefits for the people. However, people’s ideas 1) vary when it comes to whether the government should support scientific research with no practical use. Still 2) a large portion of people believe that the government should distribute adequate funds to any scientific research that aims to improve the 3) well-being of people, even if it is of no practical use in the short run.

Scientific research whose social benefits are immediate, predictable, and 4) profound should continue to be a high priority. For example, biotechnology research has been proven to help cure and prevent diseases; information technology enables education to be more 5) accessible; and communication technology facilitates global peace by improving mutual understanding among people and their participation in the democratic process.

However, this is not to say that research whose benefits are less immediate or clear should be given a lower priority. It is difficult to predict which research will 6) ultimately lead to the greatest contributions to society. Reluctance to finance less practical scientific research could 7) have a harmful effect on the efforts to explore new knowledge. This is particularly true of the computer sciences. For instance, before the first computer was invented, public opinions 8) went against it, as most people saw nothing practical in computer research. However, computers transformed the way human society evolved and proved to be of great avail in the long run, especially in terms of scientific development in fields such as the military, medicine, 9) aviation, and education.

Therefore, never should we think that scientific research whose benefits are unknown 10) is not worth pursuing since the purpose of any research should be to discover truths, whatever it might be.