There are two basic ways to see growth: one as a product, the other as a process. People have generally viewed personal growth as an external (外在的) result or a product that can easily be identified and measured．The worker who gets a rise, the student whose grades improve, the foreigner who learns a new language—all these examples of people who have measurable results to show for their efforts．
By contrast (对照) , the process of personal growth is much more difficult to determine, since it is a journey and not the specific signposts or landmarks along the way．The process is not the road itself, but the attitudes, feelings people have , and their caution or courage, as they meet with new experiences and unexpected difficulties．In this process, the journey never really ends；there are always new ways to experience the world, new ideas to try, new challenges to accept．
In order to grow, to travel new roads, people need to have a willingness to take risks, to face the unknown, and to accept the possibility that they may “fail” at first．How we see ourselves as we try a new way of being is necessary for our ability to grow．Do we see ourselves as quick and curious? If so, we tend to take more chances and be more open to unfamiliar experiences．Do we think we’re shy and indecisive? Then our sense of fear can cause us to hesitate, to move slowly, and we think we are slow to adapt (适应) change or that we’re not smart enough to deal with a new challenge．Then we are likely to take a more passive role or not try at all．
These feelings of insecurity (不安全) and self-doubt are both unavoidable and necessary if we are to change and grow．If we protect ourselves too much, then we stop growing．We become trapped inside a shell of our own making．
1．In the author’s eye, one who views personal growth as a process would ______．
A．succeed in climbing up the social ladder
B．grow up from his own achievements
C．face difficulties and take up challenges
D．aim high and reach his goal each time
2．Which of the following can be viewed as the process of personal growing?
A．Our manager was always willing to accept new challenges．
B．Jane won the first prize in the speech competition．
C．Jerry picked up French during his stay in Paris．
D．Father’s salary rose from 5, 000 to 7,000．
3．For personal growth, the author is in favor of all the following EXCEPT _______．
A．being curious about more changes
B．being quick in self-adaptation
C．having an open mind to new experiences
D．staying away from failures and challenges
4．Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A．It is not so easy to measure personal growth．
B．To try and fail on the new road facing the unknown is unavoidable．
C．There are only two ways to see a person’s growth．
D．If you are too shy to take any risks in life, you cannot grow up．
5．The best title for this passage should be ______．
A．Facing New Challenges B．Growth—Product or Process
C．Two Basic Ways of Growth D．Overcoming Internal Fears
Since we are social beings, the quality of our lives depends in large measure on our interpersonal relationships. One strength of the human conditions is our possibility to give and receive support from one another under stressful（有压力的）conditions. Social support makes up of the exchange of resources among people based on their interpersonal ties. Those of us with strong support systems appear better able to deal with major life changes and daily problems. People with strong social ties live longer and have better health than those without such ties. Studies over types of illnesses, from depression to heart disease, show that the presence of social support helps people defend themselves against illness, and the absence of such support makes poor health more likely.
Social support cushions stress in a number of ways. First, friends, relatives and co-workers may let us know that they value us. Our self-respect is strengthened when we feel accepted by others in spite of our faults and difficulties. Second, other people often provide us with informational support. They help us to define and understand our problems and find solutions to them. Third, we typically find social companionship supportive. Taking part in free-time activities with others helps us to meet our social needs while at the same time distracting（转移注意力）us from our worries and troubles. Finally, other people may give us instrumental support — money aid, material resources, and needed services — that reduces stress by helping us resolve and deal with our problems.
1. Interpersonal relationships are important because they can _______.
A. make people live more easily
B. smooth away daily problems
C. deal with life changes
D. cure types of illnesses
2. The researches show that people's physical and mental health _______.
A. lies in the social medical care systems which support them
B. has much to do with the amount of support they get from others
C. depends on their ability to deal with daily worries and troubles
D. is related to their courage for dealing with major life changes
3. Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined word “cushions” ?
A. takes place of B. makes up of
C. lessens the effect of D. gets rid of
4. Helping a sick neighbor with some repair work in spare time is an example of _______.
A. instrumental support B. informational support
C. social companionship D. the strengthening of self-respect
All plant cells are capable of taking up water. Even dead ones do to a certain degree. Absorption（吸收）of water by dead cell walls makes wood become larger. In common land plants, the living cells of roots take up most of the water. Land plants without roots do exist, however. Those greenish-yellow lichens（苔藓）you see on rocks in the high mountains have no roots. Half a billion years ago, when water plants started to enter the land, the first land plants did not have roots.
Even among the flowering plants, one finds rootless forms. These flowering plants are “the higher plants” because they evolved（进化）recently and are thus considered higher on the evolutionary scale（进化度）. In the Peruvian desert, there grows one of these rootless higher plants, a bromeliad. It is a relative of the pineapple. Even if this plant had roots, they would be of no use, because where the plant grows, it never rains. The plant gets its water only from the dew（露水）it collects at night, when its leaves cool off. Such rootless plants, of course, can be moved with ease, but they will only grow when they are placed out in the open. If they are placed too near a house, the radiation from the heat of the house prevents the leaves from cooling and so prevents dew from forming, and the plant dies. In the southern United States and in Puerto Rico, one sees bromeliads growing high above the streets on the insulation（绝缘物）of electric wires. These plants get their water from rain, and the only soil they ever come in contact with is the dust that may blow on their leaves.
1．Wood becomes larger because of .
A．dead cell walls B．water entering dead cells
C．the growth of cells D．the death of cells
2．The “bromeliad” is a plant that .
A．has useless roots B．is a pineapple
C．can grow anywhere D．takes up water through its leaves
3．The most suitable title for this passage is “ ”.
A．Absorption of water by plants B．Rootless plants
C．Plants in the desert D．Higher plants
Banks are not ordinarily prepared to pay out all account; they depend on depositors(储户) not to demand payment all at the same time. If depositors come to fear that a bank is not sound, that it can not pay off all its depositors, then that fear might cause all the depositor to appear on the same day .If they did, the bank could not pay all accounts. However, if they did not all appear at once, then there would always be funds to pay those who wanted their money when they wanted it. Mrs Elsie Vaught has told us of a terrifying run on the bank that she experienced.
One day in December of 1925, several banks failed to open in the city where Mrs Vaught lived. The other banks expected a run the next day, and so the officers of the bank in which Mrs Vaught worked as a teller(出纳员) had enough funds on hand to pay off as many depositors as might appear. The officer simply instructed the tellers to pay on demand. The next morning a crowd gathered in the bank and on the sidewalk outside. The length of the line made many believe that the bank could not possibly pay off everyone. People began to push and then to fight for places near the tellers’ windows. Clothing was torn, legs and arms broken, but the crowd continued for hours. The power of the panic atmosphere was so great that two tellers, though they knew that the bank was sound and could pay out all depositors, drew their own money from the bank. Mrs Vaught says that she had difficulty preventing herself from doing the same.
1. When would a bank run happen?
A. A bank is closed for one or more days.
B. Too many depositors attempts to draw out their money at the same time.
C. Other banks don’t have enough money.
D. Clerks of a bank take their own money out of the bank
2. The crowd in the bank and on the sidewalk gathered because of _________.
A. demand B. hunger C. doubt D. anger
3. The basic cause of a run on the bank is __________.
A. loss of confidence B. lack of enough funds
C. crowds of people D. inexperienced tellers
第四部分：阅读理解（共20小题，每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每小题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项
This story took place in Central Africa more than 30 years ago. One day two Europeans got to a small village in which the Negroes lived. One of them looked like the boss, the other was his assistant. The boss looked Sambo up and down said,“Young fellow, you look strong. Would you like to work for me? I will give you more money than at the rubber plantation(橡胶园).”At first Sambo wasn’t able to make up his mind, but a few minutes later he agreed.
Sambo’s new work wasn’t hard. He had only to carry light parcels from the village to the camp of the Europeans. He went a short distance along the road, then into the forest and straight to the camp. On the fifth day, when he went through the woods, he saw a big cage with a lion in it. He hesitated a little and went on. All of a sudden the cage was opened and out jumped the lion with a horrible roar(吼叫).
Sambo dropped the parcel and ran as fast as possible, so as to reach the camp in time. for the white man there were armed with guns. All at once Sambo saw two men high up in the tree. They were the two Europeans for whom he was doing. The assistant was turning the handle of the camera with a smile. It was now clear to him that he had been cheated. His eyes were filled with hatred. He wished to kill them, but it was too late.
1. The young man named Sambo was probably _____.
A. the assistant of the two Europeans
B. an African who worked at the rubber plantation
C. an African who acted as a hunter in the forest
D. the servant of the two Europeans.
2. The two Europeans went to the African village_____.
A. so as to take some photos for the villagers there
B. in order that they could write a book on travels.
C. to take a picture which showed how a real lion ate a real man
D. in order to save Sambo in time of danger
3. What did the boss say to Sambo?
A. He asked Sambo to serve as his servant in his country.
B. He wanted Sambo to guard against the lion.
C. He asked Sambo if he was afraid of a lion.
D. He told Sambo that he would be well paid if he would work for him
4. Not until Sambo _____ did he find out that he was cheated.
A. caught sight of the lion
B. saw the cage with a lion
C. found the white men on the branch of the tree
D. ran before the lion as fast as he could
5. In this story the writer mainly told us_____.
A. how Negroes were not so clever as the white
B. how cruel the two white men were
C. what a silly young man Sambo was
D. Sambo carted so much for money that he lost his life at last
第三部分：完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）
Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each 16 to help drain the fluid(排出流质) from his lungs. His bed was next to the room’s only window. The other man had to spend all his time 17 on his back.
The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their families, their homes, their jobs and a whole lot of things. Every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by 18 to his roommate what he could see 19 the window.
The man in the other bed began to 20 for those one-hour periods when his 21 would be broadened and brightened by all the activity and color of the world outside.
The window overlooked a 22 with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children 23 their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm among 24 of every color and a fine 25 of the city skyline could be seen in the 26 . As the man described all this, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and 27 the beautiful scene.
Days and weeks passed. One morning, the day nurse arrived to find the man by the window, had died 28 in his sleep. Later, the other man asked 29 he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch.
Slowly, painfully, he managed to 30 and take his first look at the 31 world outside. Surprisingly, it 32 a blank wall.
The next day he learned from the nurse that the man was 33 and could not 34 see the wall. She said, “Perhaps he just wanted to 35 you.”
16. A. morning B. afternoon C. evening D. night
17. A. flat B. quiet C. still D. calm
18. A. listening B. talking C. describing D. explaining
19. A. beyond B. outside C. behind D. near
20. A. look B. live C. prepare D. work
21. A. health B. dream C. world D. career
22. A. garden B. farm C. mountain D. park
23. A. made B. rowed C. took D. sailed
24. A. trees B. flowers C. houses D. birds
25. A. photo B. map C. view D. appearance
26. A. distance B. hospital C. future D. sky
27. A. enjoy B. experience C. sense D. imagine
28. A. peacefully B. painfully C. sadly D. bravely
29. A. when B. if C. how D. why
30. A. climb up B. stand up C. sit up D. turn up
31. A. real B. noisy C. ordinary D. new
32. A. contained B. covered C. connected D. faced
33. A. mad B. blind C. ill D. dead
34. A. yet B. just C. even D. clearly
35. A. support B. fool C. cure D. encourage
