W：I had such a （1.） t_______ day yesterday that I’m really starting to （2.） b______ that Friday the thirteenth is unlucky ．
M：Why ? What （3.） h_______ ?
W：Everything went （4.） w______ ．For example , I had to meet an important customer in the morning and on the way to town the car （5.） b______ down ．When I finally got there , the customer had already left ．
M：That certainly is bad luck ．
W：That’s not （6.） a____．In the afternoon the children asked some kids over to play and they had a pillow （7.） f_______ and tore one of the pillows ．When I got home there were feathers all over the （8.） r_____
M：My goodness !
W：And to make matters （9.） w_____ , my boss and his wife arrived while I was （10.） c_______ up the house ．I had forgotten that I’d invited them for dinner．
People want to get ahead when they are working in office, but not everyone can reach the goal．Let’s read the passage and we believe you can understand something useful for your working in the office．
A is for always getting to work on time．
B is for being very busy．
C is for the conscientious （勤勤恳恳） way you do your job ．
You may be all these kinds of people at the office, and even more．But when it comes to getting ahead, some experts say, the ABCs above are not enough, a P should be included, for P—politics, as in office politics．
Dale Carneigie suggested much about office politics（策略） more than 90 years ago: Hard work alone doesn’t ensure career advancement．You have to be able to sell yourself and your ideas, both publicly and behind the scenes．Yet, in spite of the obvious rewards of engaging in office politics, a better job, a raise, praise, but many people are still unable or unwilling to “play the game．”
“People think that office politics involves some manipulative （工于心计的） behavior, ” says Deborah Comer , an assistant professor of management at Hofstra University．“But politics comes from the word ‘polite’．It can also mean controlling and forming associations （交往）．It can mean being kind and helpful, or even trying to please your boss, and then expecting something in return．”
In fact, today, experts explain office politics as proper behavior used to go after one’s own self-interest in the workplace．In many cases, this involves some forms of socializing within the office environment—not just in large companies, but in small workplaces as well．
“The first thing people are usually judged on is their ability to perform well on their work,” says Neil P．Lewis, a management psychologist．“But if two or three candidates （候选人） are up for a position, each of whom has reasonably similar ability, a manager is going to choose the person he or she likes best to get ahead．It’s simple human nature．
Yet, psychologists say, many employees and employers have trouble with the concept of politics in the office．Some people, they say, have an idealistic vision of work and what it takes to succeed．Still others connect office politics with flattery （奉 承） , fearful that, if they speak up for themselves, they may appear to be flattering their boss for favors．
Experts suggested that office politics should be the need for some self-promotion （晋升）．
1.The underlined “Office politics” in （Para 5） is used in the passage to refer to ______．
A．the habit of getting to work on time．
B．the political views and beliefs of office workers．
C．the interpersonal relationships within a company．
D．the various qualities required for a successful career．
2.Why are many people unwilling to “play the game ”（Para．6）?
A．They believe that doing so is not polite．
B．They feel that such behavior is unprincipled（不道德的．）
C．They do like the manipulating workmates．
D．They think the effort will get them nothing．
3.The author considers office politics to be _______．
A．unwelcome at the workplace．
B．bad for interpersonal relationships．
C．impossible to the development of company culture．
D．an important factor for personal advancement．
4.It is the experts’ view that _______．
A．speaking up for oneself is part of human nature．
B．office politics is necessary to self-advancement．
C．hard work is of little importance to one’s promotion．
D．all employees can recognize the need for flattery．
A new study warns that about thirty percent of the world's people may not have enough water by the year 2025．A private American organization called Population Action International did the new study．It says more than three-hundred-thirty-five-million people lack enough water now．The people live in twenty-eight countries．Most of the countries are in Africa or the Middle East．
PAI researcher Robert Engelman says by the year 2025, about three-thousand-million people may lack water．At least 18 more countries are expected to have severe water problems．The demand for water keeps increasing．Yet the amount of water on Earth stays the same．
Mr．Engelman says the population in countries that lack water is growing faster than in other parts of the world．He says population growth in these countries will continue to increase．
The report says lack of water in the future may result in several problems．It may increase health problems．Lack of water often means drinking waters not safe．Mr．Engelman says there are problems all over the world because of diseases, such as cholera （霍乱）, which are carried in water．Lack of water may also result in more international conflict．Countries may have to compete for water in the future．Some countries now import sixty percent of their fresh water from other countries．This is true of Egypt, the Netherlands, Cambodia, Syria, Sudan, and Iraq．And the report says lack of water would affect the ability of developing to improve their economies．This is because new industries often need a large amount of water when they are beginning．The Population Action International study gives several solutions to the water problem．One way, it says, is to find ways to use water for more than one purpose．Another way is to teach people to be careful not to waste water．A third way is to use less water of agriculture．
1.According to the fourth paragraph, lack of water in the future may result in many problems EXCEPT_______．
A．health problems B．international conflict
C．environmental problems D．economic problems
2.According to the passage, in the following countries, _______is in deep need of water．
A．Colombia B．Syria C．New Zealand D．South Africa
3.The PAI study gives many solutions to the water problem EXCEPT_______．
A．usage of multifunctional water B．water saving
C．using less water of farming D．control of population
4.The most suitable title of the passage is_______．
A．Population and Water B．How to Solve Water Problem
C．International Water Crisis（危机） D．Water—the Life of the Earth
Are some people born clever and others born stupid? Or is intelligence developed by our environment and our experiences? Strangely enough, the answer to both these questions is yes．To some extent our intelligence is given us at birth, and no amount of special education can make a genius（天才）out of a child born with low intelligence．On the other hand, a child who lives in a boring environment will develop his / her intelligence less than one who lives in rich and varied surroundings．Thus the limits of a person’s intelligence are fixed at birth, but whether or not he / she reaches those limits will depend on his / her environment．This view, now held by most experts, can be supported in a number of ways．
It is easy to show that intelligence is to some extent something we are born with．The closer the blood relationship between two people, the closer they are likely to be in intelligence．Thus if we take two unrelated people at random from the population, it is likely that their degrees of intelligence will be completely different．If on the other hand we take two identical twins, they will very likely be as intelligent as each other．Relations like brothers and sisters, parents and children, usually have similar intelligence, and this clearly suggests that intelligence depends on birth．
Imagine now that we take two identical twins and put them in different environments．We might send one, for example, to a university and the other to a factory where the work is boring．We would soon find differences in intelligence developing,and this indicates that environment as well as birth plays a part．This conclusion is also suggested by the fact that people who live in close contact with each other, but who are not related at all, are likely to have similar degrees of intelligence．
1.The writer holds the view that human beings’ intelligence depends on ．
A．birth
B．education
C．both birth and environment
D．neither birth nor education
2.It can be learned from the passage that if a child is born with low intelligence, he can ．
A．not become a genius．
B．still become a genius if he is given special education．
C．exceed（超过） his intelligence limits in rich surroundings．
D．not fulfill his intelligence in his life．
3.In the second paragraph, “if we take two unrelated people at random from the population” means “if we ”．
A．pick any two persons．
B．choose two persons who are relatives．
C．take out two different persons on purpose．
D．choose two persons with different intelligence．
4.The example of the twins in the third paragraph is used to show ．
A．the importance of their intelligence．
B．the role of environment on intelligence．
C．the importance of their social positions．
D．the part that birth plays．
You are standing under the most famous neon lights in the centre of London, waiting to cross the road．Suddenly the traffic stops．You hear the distant sounds of cheering, clapping and shouting．Then, like a multi-colored train, 2, 000 people with wheels on their feet zoom past you．You have just witnessed the London Skate, a twice weekly roller-skate（溜旱冰） event that attracts people in their hundreds and thou-
sands London．Skate is a completely free tour of the streets of London -the only condition is that you go along on roller-skates．It lasts between two and three hours and by the end of it you have skated between 10 and 12 miles．The skate snakes round the streets of London along several different routes．Many of the routes pass by tourist attractions such as Buckingham Palace and Big Ben．Marshals （交通协调员） go ahe- of the group, stopping the traffic so that people can skate as safely as possible．Everyone is welcome to take part and people from the age of 4 to 63 years old join the fun．"I love it very much, it is amazing．It feels just like a carnival （狂欢节），" said Celeste Beverage regular skater．
Roller-skating is really taking off across Europe and America．It is a very good way to keep fit and can be practised anywhere there is a smooth surface．Many big cities in Western Europe and in the US now ha- ve a regular group skating event．The biggest skates take place in Paris and Munich and tens of thousands of fans show up on warm evenings．"Roller-skating is taking over the world," said Julian Grenoble, a 25- year-old ski shop employee from London．Grenoble went to the Paris-Roller （Paris skate） regularly until he moved to Britain．
"It's so exciting to skate in Paris．Everyone skates so fast and puts in their best efforts!" he said．The Paris Roller is well known because of the huge attendance, the presence of marshals and the police protection．Paris is a great city for roller-skating because of its long wide streets and smooth surfaces．Roller-skating is also becoming more popular in China among young people and children．Skating fans' favorite places to practise in China are big squares．
1.We can infer from the passage that London Skate Event ________．
A．is probably supported by the city government
B．attracts a great many tourists from all over the world
C．usually causes a lot of traffic problems
D．draws people of all ages into the sport
2.The underlined phrase "taking off " in the passage means________ ．
A．rising from the ground
B．becoming popular
C．setting out
D．getting exciting
3.Paris is regarded as one of the most suitable places for roller-skating because ________．
A．a large number of roller players attend it
B．the police protect the roller skaters
C．the streets are safe, wide and smooth
D．the event usually takes place on warm evenings
4.This article mainly talks about________ ．
A．places and streets for roller-skating
B．roller-skating in big cities
C．London Skate Event
D．roller skaters in different countries
．
Have you ever wondered why different animals or pests have their particular colours? Colours in them seem to be used mainly to protect themselves．
Birds, especially seagulls, are very fond of locusts, but birds cannot easily catch locusts because locusts change their colours together with the change of the colour of crops．When crops are green, locusts look green．But when crops are ripe, locusts take on exactly the same brown colour as crops have．Some other pests with different colours from plants are usually easily found and eaten by their enemies．So they have to hide themselves in terror for lives and appear only at night．
If you study the animal life in any part of the world, you will find the main use of colouring is to protect themselves．Bears, wolves and other beasts move quietly through forests．They are usually invisible to the eyes of hunters, because they have the colour much like the barks of trees．
An even more strange act remains to be noticed．A kind of fish living in seas can send out a kind of very black liquid when it faces danger．While the liquid spreads over, its enemies cannot find it, and it immediately swims away．Thus, it has existed up to now though it is not powerful at all．
1.This passage mainly talks about ________．
A．the change of colour in locusts
B．the protective coloration of animals and pests
C．how a certain sea fish protects itself
D．animals or pests can dye themselves different colours
2.Locusts are ________ but they are not easily wiped out by their enemies because ________．
A．animals; they are powerful enough
B．beasts; they are dangerous to their enemies
C．pests; they take on the same colours as crops
D．birds; they fly extraordinarily fast
3.The pests that have different colours from plants usually appear at night because ________．
A．their enemies can easily find them and eat them
B．they have the habit of coming out in darkness
C．it’s easy for them to destroy plants in darkness
D．birds take their rest when night comes
4.Bears and wolves have the same colour as barks of trees because ________．
A．they fear other beasts
B．they like brown or grey colours
C．they enjoy walking through forests quietly
D．the colours help prevent themselves from being noticed
