In modern society there is a great deal of argument about competition. Some value it highly, believing that it is responsible for social progress and prosperity; others say that competition is bad; that it sets one person against another; that it leads to unfriendly relationship between people.
I have taught many children who held the belief that their self-worth relied on how well they performed at tennis and other skills. For them, playing well and winning are often life-and-death affairs. In their single-minded pursuit of success, the development of many other human qualities is sadly forgotten.
However, while some seem to be lost in the desire to succeed, others take an opposite attitude. In a culture which values only the winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players, they strongly blame competition. Among the most vocal are youngsters who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society. Teaching these young people, I often observe in them a desire to fail. They seem to seek failure by not trying to win or achieve success. By not trying, they always have an excuse: “I may have lost, but it doesn’t matter because I really didn’t try.” What is not usually admitted by themselves is the belief that if they had really tried and lost, that would mean a lot. Such a loss would be a measure of their worth. Clearly, this belief is the same as that of the true competitors who try to prove themselves. Both are based on the mistaken belief that one’s self-respect relies on how well one performs in comparison with others. Both are afraid of not being valued. Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to dissolve can we discover a new meaning in competition.
【小题1】What does this passage mainly talk about?
A. Competition helps to set up self-respect.
B. Opinions about competition are different among people.
C. Competition is harmful to personal quality development.
D. Failures are necessary experiences in competition
【小题2】Why do some people favor competition according to the passage?
A. It pushes society forward.
B. It builds up a sense of duty.
C. It improves personal abilities.
D. It encourages individual efforts.
【小题3】What is the similar belief of the true competitors and those with a desire to fail ?
A. One’s worth lies in his performance compared with others.
B. One’s success in competition needs great efforts.
C. One’s achievement is determined by his particular skills.
D. One’s success is based on how hard he has tried.
【小题4】Which point of view may the author agree to?
A. Every effort should be paid back.
B. Competition should be encouraged.
C. Winning should be a life-and-death matter.
D. Fear of failure should be removed in competition.

   If you want to convince the boss you deserve a pay rise or promotion, the solution could be simple --- eat the same food as they do. Psychologists have discovered managers are much more likely to instantly trust us if we choose the same dishes as them.

During experiments, discussions over wages and work conditions were much more successful if both sides chose to snack on the same treats. And shoppers were much more likely to buy a product advertised on TV by someone eating a similar food to them at the time.

The reason is thought to be the so–called similarity attraction theory --- where people tend to like others who have similar tastes or habits to themselves. But this is believed to be one of the first studies highlighting the role of food in this relationship. Researchers at Chicago University in the US conducted a series of experiments to examine food’s role in earning trust.

In a test, participants were told to watch TV --- where someone pretending to be a member of the public praised a certain product. The volunteers were given Kit Kat bars to nibble, while the TV people ate either a Kit Kat or grapes as they talked.

The results showed viewers were much more likely to express an interest in buying the product if the TV showed the other person eating a Kit Kat too. The researchers added, “Although similarity in food consumption is not a sign of whether two people will get along, we find consumers treat this as such. They feel more trusting of those who consume as they do. It means people can immediately begin to feel friendship and develop a bond, leading to smoother transactions from the start.”

Harley Street psychologist Dr. Lucy Atcheson said it was already known that wearing similar clothes could instantly create trust. But this was the first report that food had the same effect. She said, “This is really interesting. It makes sense as people feel they have common ground and can trust the other person. That means negotiations are more likely to be successful.”

【小题1】According to the passage, customers are likely to buy a product from a dealer who ______.

A．advertises his products on TV	B．has the same taste as them
C．reduces the price of his products	D．pays attention to the quality of his products

【小题2】The experiments conducted by researchers at Chicago University show that ______.

A．food plays an important role in earning people’s trust

B．bosses like employees that have the same taste as them

C．people who have similar tastes to their boss’s earn more

D．people have less interest in buying products advertised on TV

【小题3】What can be inferred from the passage?

A．People who eat similar food are more likely to trust each other.

B．People will get along with each other if they like to eat similar things.

C．The effect of wearing similar clothes hasn’t been proved by researchers.

D．People are more likely to make friends with those wearing the same clothes as them.

【小题4】Which of the following sayings can be an example of the similarity attraction theory?

A．Honesty is the best policy.	B．All good things come to an end.
C．Birds of a feather flock together.	D．Where there is a will, there is a way.

   Pop stars today enjoy what once only belonged to royalty. Wherever they go, people turn out in their thousands to greet them. The crowds go wild trying to catch a brief glimpse of their smiling, or colorfully dressed idols. The stars are transported by Rolls- Royces, private helicopters or executive aeroplanes. They are surrounded by managers,press agents and bodyguards. Photographs of them appear regularly in the press and all their comings and goings are reported. If they enjoy many of the privileges of royalty, they certainly share many of the inconveniences as well. They are no longer private individuals, but public property. The financial rewards they receive for this sacrifice cannot be calculated, for their rates of pay are great.
And why not? Society has always rewarded its top entertainers generously. The great days of Hollywood have become legendary:famous stars enjoy fame, wealth and adulation(奉承). According to today's standards, the excesses of Hollywood do not seem quite so surprising. A single record nowadays may earn much more in royalties(版税) than the films of the past ever did. The competition for the title"Top of the Pops"is fierce, and the rewards are truly huge.
It is only right that the stars should be paid in this way. Don't the top men in industry earn enormous salaries for the service they perform to their companies and their countries? Pop stars earn vast sums in foreign currency-often more than large industrial companies-and the taxman can only be grateful for their massive annual contributions to the exchequer(国库). So who would begrudge them their rewards?
It's all very well for people in boring jobs to complain about the successes and rewards of others. People who make envious remarks should remember that the most famous stars represent only the tip of the iceberg. For every famous star, there are hundreds of people struggling to earn a living. A man working in a steady job and looking forward to a pension at the end of it has no right to expect very high rewards. He has chosen security and peace of mind, so there will always be a limit to what he can earn. But a man who attempts to become a star is taking enormous risks. He knows at the very beginning that only a handful of competitors can get to the very top. He knows that years of concentrated effort may be rewarded with complete failure. But he knows, too, that the rewards for success are very high indeed: they are the payback for the huge risks involved and once he makes it, he will certainly earn them. That's the essence of private enterprise.
【小题1】The underlined word "begrudge"in the third paragraph is closest in meaning to "________".

A．be jealous of	B．be satisfied with
C．be anxious about	D．be crazy about

【小题2】According to the passage, which of the following can match the view of the author?

A．He who laughs last laughs best.

B．Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

C．He who makes no mistakes makes nothing.

D．Success belongs to the persevering.

【小题3】The author holds a(n) ______ attitude towards the high income of pop stars.

A．critical	B．indifferent
C．optimistic	D．supportive

【小题4】Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．People are blind in idolizing stars.

B．There is fierce competition in becoming pop stars.

C．The government taxes pop stars very little.

D．Pop stars' life is more luxurious than that of royalty.

   The new study shows that we spend more time using the mobile Internet to read newspapers and magazines or do some other things. According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau（IAB），the average European spends 4.8 hours reading newspapers and magazines but 1.6 hours more using the mobile Internet per week.

The IAB questioned 15,000 people in 15 European countries, looking at how people were using the Internet and its influence on their everyday lives. It found that the mobile Internet is increasingly finding its way into the public awareness. Over 71 million Europeans now have Internet access on their mobile phones. In the UK, 10 million people now access the Internet through their mobile phones and spend 6.3 hours doing so per week averagely.

Unsurprisingly, young generations in the UK are leading the way, with nearly half of the country's 16-to 24-year-olds and a quarter of 25-to 34-year-olds using the Internet, spending 6.5 and 6.2 hours online each week.

Entertainment plays a main role in our mobile Internet lives，with one in five British people using their phones for online games，a third listening to the online radio and 39 percent watching films，TV or other videos at least once a week. One third of those using an Internet phone said they received videos，images or other multimedia on their mobile，and 61percent said they passed on the contents they had received.

From a communication point of view，80 percent of those questioned agreed that the Internet had made it easier for them to stay in touch with friends and family.

Alison Fennah，director of the IAB，said the use of the mobile Internet had come to the point that marketers should be looking to strategies（策略）that connect them with consumers more effectively. "Better tools as well as improved consumer motivation that start coming together in 2011 can make a great difference to extending the online experience，" Fennah said.

【小题1】How long does a European spend on the mobile Internet per week according to the IAB？

A．6.4hours.	B．6.2hours.
C．4.8hours.	D．1.6 hours.

【小题2】What do people mainly use the mobile Internet for？

A．Communication.	B．Entertainment.
C．Study.	D．Advertising.

【小题3】It can be known from the passage that __________.

A．more than half of the people in the UK use the mobile Internet

B．the Internet is the most effective way to stay in touch with friends and family

C．the UK has the largest number of people who use the mobile Internet in Europe

D．better tools and improved consumer motivation help extend the online experience

【小题4】The author wrote the passage to tell us __________.

A．how to use mobile phones to surf the Internet

B．newspapers and magazines will disappear soon

C．more and more people use the Internet in Europe

D．how the Internet influences our daily lives

   New technology rules the whole world now. But I still remember when I was a child, I did not have a cell phone or a computer because it was not necessary at all in those days. The Internet was not popular and the touch screen technology was unknown.

At this time here in the US smartphones are really a need, especially for young and business people. There are many applications (应用软件) really useful like maps, dictionaries, e-mails and games.

For me, I use my smartphone to check the weather and to look for something on the Internet and of course to keep communicating through calls and texts. Besides, I like music applications, GPS and Facebook.

Many tests have discovered that cell phones cause damage to us because they send out radioactive (具有放射性的) waves to our bodies and this could cause cancer.

Psychologists say that these devices can affect behavior and I believe everyone knows it is harmful to the eyes if we are sitting for a long time in front of the computer. However, it seems to be difficult for us to give up, even if we know how bad it is for our health. The use of technology becomes more and more important in our lives.

I think the use of technology has brought us unimaginable things. If we use technology correctly, I am sure it would be possible to decrease the damage to our bodies.

Keep in mind that it is important not to focus only on technology, but to spend time with our families and people close to us.

【小题1】What can we know from the passage?

A．The author is a businessman working for a cell phone company.

B．The author has suffered a lot from the use of electrical devices.

C．The author knows little about the functions of modern cell phones.

D．The author is quite pleased with the various functions of cell phones.

【小题2】Which of the following does the author agree with?

A．It’s not necessary to add more applications to cell phones.

B．Cell phones have made our world a boring place to live in.

C．New technology has done people more harm than good.

D．New technology makes people separated from each other.

【小题3】What does the underlined word “decrease” in Paragraph 6 mean?

A．Keep.	B．Cause.
C．Reduce.	D．Add.

【小题4】What does the author mainly discuss in the passage?

A．The importance of the Internet.	B．The applications of cell phones.
C．The role of new technology in our lives.	D．The health problems brought by cell phones.