Asking for help is a sign of strength rather than weakness. In American culture, the independent individual is seen as their ideal. As the University of Missouri at St. Louis states on its website under the heading Key American Values, “Americans have been trained since very early in their lives to consider themselves as separate individuals who are responsible for their own situations in life and their own destinies.” The value also makes them think they can do everything themselves, and makes them feel bad about asking for help when they need it.
And when it comes to work situations, when they think about asking for help there, sometimes they fear that a request for help would make them look inept. While this has always been true for men, many women in the workplace have felt the need to try twice as hard as their male colleagues and do twice as much to get just as far and to prove their worth. Sometimes when we think about asking for help, our inner voices tell us, “See, if you admit you can’t do this on your own, they’ll see you for the imposter (骗子) you really are.”
But the fact is, even though individualism is on the rise, we can’t do everything by ourselves and we shouldn’t try.
Apple founder Steve Jobs once told the Santa Clara Valley Historical Association about the power of asking for help, and how he “never found anybody who didn’t want to help me when I asked them for help”. He said, at the age of 12, he called Bill Hewlett, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard, on the phone after getting his number from the phone book and asking him for spare parts so he could build a frequency counter(计频器). And Hewlett agreed and offered young Jobs a summer job assembling frequency counters.
“If you’re afraid of failing, you won’t get very far,” Jobs said.
1.What is the first paragraph mainly about?
A.What key American values are. B.Why Americans refuse to ask for help.
C.Asking for help is a sign of strength. D.Americans are responsible for their life.
2.Which of the following can replace the underlined word “inept” in Paragraph 2?
A.impolite B.depressed C.incompetent D.sensitive
3.What can be learned from this US cultural phenomenon?
A.Americans suffer a lot from mutual distrust.
B.Americans see weakness as a sign of strength.
C.Americans should learn to build up confidence.
D.Americans think highly of individual values.
4.What can we learn from Jobs’ words in the last paragraph?
A.Don’t hesitate to ask for help. B.Be brave to try whatever you want.
C.Never ask for help. D.Learn to cooperate with others.
Two hundred years ago, American students went to American schools. Like you, they studied math, spelling and geography. Unlike you, they also studied Greek (希腊语) and Latin (拉丁语). In fact, students spent more than half their time studying Greek and Latin.
The same was true for most students in Europe. Until the seventh century, all educated Europeans knew Latin. It did not matter if they lived in England, Italy, France or Spain. If they were educated, they knew Latin.
During the seventh century, educated Europeans began to study Greek as well as Latin. Greek and Latin had been the leading languages of the ancient Greeks and Romans. All educated Europeans were expected to know these languages.
To educated Europeans, the languages of the Greeks and the Romans were important. The ideas of the Greeks and Romans were also important. People knew that many of their own ideas had come from the Greeks and the Romans. To understand their own culture, they must understand its origin (起源). They knew that those beginnings lay in the classical (古典文学的) world.
Today we have so many things to study that few people have time to learn Greek and Latin. Few of you will study either language in school. Yet the ideas of the Greeks and the Romans are still important to us. These ideas still help to shape western culture today. To understand our own culture, we must understand the culture of the classical world.
1.Two hundred years ago, in American schools _____.
A.there were many educated Greeks B.Greek and Latin were very popular
C.students paid little attention to math D.students knew little about geography
2.According to the text, Europeans thought _____.
A.the origin of their culture was unknown
B.the ideas of the Greeks were unacceptable
C.Greek was much more important than Latin
D.the Romans had a great influence on their culture
3.Where does the author of the text probably come from?
A.Japan. B.Greece. C.America. D.China.
4.In the last paragraph, the author suggests that _____.
A.it’s of great value to learn Greek and Latin
B.it’s quite difficult to learn Greek and Latin
C.the culture of the classical world is useless nowadays
D.Western culture is quite different from Greek and Roman cultures
By the time I reached junior high, I was sure I wanted to be a nurse. If you didn’t study Latin, you couldn’t be a nurse, so I enrolled. Many Latin words were familiar to me. The hard part turned out to be the usage and creating sentences with the words that seemed so easy to pronounce. Several weeks into the course my teacher came to me, saying, “I think you should withdraw from this course. It seems to be too hard for you.”
That was the day I learned I wasn’t smart enough to become a nurse. With shame, I handed in my Latin textbook.
After high school, the years raced by. I married and had children. Then one day my husband John came home. “Carol, Max died this afternoon.” I looked at my husband with disbelief.
John was touched by this tragedy. Finally one evening he said, “Carol, Jackie has never worked and now she’s alone with four children. I've been thinking - if anything happens to me. I want you to be able to take care of yourself and the children. Why don’t you think about what you’d like to do and get the training you’ll need to do it?”
I signed up for the entrance exam for nursing programs. One day I received a letter from the schoo1. I wanted so badly to open it, but with my lack of confidence, I laid it on the kitchen counter saying, “I'm not in the mood for a rejection letter today.”
Finally I forced myself to open it. “Dear Carol,”I read. “We are pleased to inform you that you successfully passed the entrance exam.”
An insensitive teacher once stole my dream. If you have a dream, exhaust every effort to reach it. I’ve worked thirty years now as a nurse and I’ve never been more certain that this is what I was meant to be.
1.Why did John advise Carol to find a job?
A.To support the family B.To provide more money for her kids
C.To live a more colorful life D.To be able to live independently
2.From the text, we know what the teacher said____________.
A.destroyed Carol’s dream to be a nurse.
B.helped Carol find her true interest
C.saved Carol from wasting her time
D.encouraged Carol to be careful in learning
3.After receiving the letter from the schoo1, Caro1____________.
A.was uncertain about the result B.had no mood to read it then
C.didn’t take it seriously at all D.couldn’t wait to open it
4.What may be the best title for the text？
A.A dream too high to achieve. B.Too stupid to be a nurse?
C.Never too late to 1earn. D.A chance too important to miss
Stories of Animals Acting Just Like Humans
◆Monkeys do math
If monkeys manage the world, we might have stayed away from the recent banking hardship. In an experiment led by Keith Chen at Yale, monkeys showed an understanding of pricing and planning the money, as well as a wish to stay away from losses when required to buy food with money. Makes sense this one looks like it’s checking its stocks (股票) on a smart phone. Think that’s impressive?
◆Camel eats breakfast with people
The first time Joe ate with British farmers, he was uninvited. The four-year-old Bactrian camel stuck his head through their open kitchen window, and emptied a fruit bowl. Now the couple, who rent out reindeer, camels, goats, and other creatures for television shows, movies, and photo shoots, set a place at their table for the confident double-humped creature, where Joe eats grain food and his favorite: bananas on toast.
◆Marmots (土拨鼠) befriend a boy
A group of marmots in the Austrian Alps has made friends with eight-year-old Matteo Walch by chance, whose family vacations there in summer. Typically, they beat their tails, chatter, and whistle to warn other marmots of danger, but with Matteo, they behave much differently, allowing the boy to feed, pet, and even touch noses with them. “Watching them makes me feel a connection with nature,” says Matteo. How sweet!
1.In what way do monkeys behave like humans according to the text?
A.In character. B.In intelligence.
C.In communication. D.In the way of lifestyle.
2.Why do the British couple raise the animals?
A.To make money.
B.To have dinners with them.
C.To protect endangered animals.
D.To train them to act as humans.
3.Why did Matteo Walch go to the Austrian Alps?
A.To warn marmots of danger.
B.To develop interest in nature.
C.To make friends with marmots.
D.To go on a holiday with his family.
听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1.For what reason did so many people gather on the Golden Gate Bridge?
A.They wanted to use the opening of the bridge.
B.They wanted to walk across the bridge.
C.They wanted to get involved in celebrating the 50th birthday of the bridge.
2.When did the bridge walk begin?
A.It began at the time when the sun was rising.
B.It began at the time when the sun was setting.
C.It began at the time when the moon was rising.
3.How long did the party last?
A.It lasted four hours. B.It lasted the whole day. C.It lasted half a day.
听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1.Where is Mr Green staying?
A.At the next door B.At the Star Hotel C.At a restaurant
2.What kind of food does Mr Green like?
A.Chinese food B.Fast food C.European food
3.When did the conversation take place?
A.In the morning B.At night C.In the afternoon
