When it comes to friends, I desire those who will share my happiness, who possess wings of their own and who will fly with me. I seek friends whose qualities illuminate(照亮)me and train me up for love. It is for these people that I reserve the glowing hours, too good not to share.

　　When I was in the eighth grade, I had a friend. We were shy and “too serious” about our studies when it was becoming fashionable with our classmates to learn acceptable social behaviors. We said little at school, but she would come to my house and we would sit down with pencils and paper, and one of us would say: “Let’s start with a train whistle today.” We would sit quietly together and write separate poems or stories that grew out of a train whistle. Then we would read them aloud. At the end of that school year, we, too, were changed into social creatures and the stories and poems stopped.

　　When I lived for a time in London, I had a friend.He was in despair(失望)and I was in despair. But our friendship was based on the idea in each of us that we would be sorry later if we did not explore this great city because we had felt bad at the time. We met every Sunday for five weeks and found many excellent things. We walked until our despairs disappeared and then we parted. We gave London to each other.

　　For almost four years I have had a remarkable friend whose imagination illuminates mine. We write long letters in which we often discover our strangest selves. Each of us appears, sometimes in a funny way, in the other’s dreams. She and I agree that, at certain times, we seem to be parts of the same mind. In my most interesting moments, I often think: “ Yes, I must tell….”We have never met.

　　It is such comforting companions I wish to keep. One bright hour with their kind is worth more to me than the lifetime services of a psychologist(心理学家)，who will only fill up the healing(愈合的)silence necessary to those darkest moments in which I would rather be my own best friend.

　　1. In the eighth grade, what the author did before developing proper social behavior was to ______.

　　A. become serious about her study B. go to her friend’s house regularly

　　C. learn from her classmates at school D. share poems and stories with her friend

　　2. In Paragraph 3, “We gave London to each other” probably means ______.

　　A. our exploration of London was a memorable gift to both of us

　　B. we were unwilling to tear ourselves away from London

　　C. our unpleasant feelings about London disappeared

　　D. we parted with each other in London

　　3. According to Paragraph 4, the author and her friend _______.

　　A. call each other regularly B. have similar personalities

　　C. enjoy writing to each other D. dream of meeting each other

　　4. In the darkest moments, the author would prefer to ______.

　　A. seek professional help B. be left alone

　　C. stay with her best friend D. break the silence

　　5. What is the best title for the passage?

　　A. Unforgettable Experiences B. Remarkable Imagination

　　C. Lifelong Friendship D. Noble Companions

It is hardly surprising that clothing manufacturers(生产商) follow certain uniform standards for various features(特征) of clothes. What seems strange, however, is that the standard adopted for women is the opposite of the one for men. Take a look at the way your clothes button. Men’s clothes tend to button from the right, and women’s form the left. Considering most of the word’s population----men and women----are right-handed, the men’s standard would appear to make more sense for women. So why do women’s clothes button from the left?

　　History really seems to matter here. Buttons first appeared only on the clothes of the rich in the 17th century, when rich women were dressed by servants. For the mostly right-handed servants, having women’s shirts button from the left would be easier. On the other hand, having men’s shirts button form the right made sense, too. Most men dressed themselves, and a sword drawn from the left with the right hand would be less likely to get caught in the shirt.

　　Today women are seldom dressed by servants, but buttoning form the left is still the standard for them. Is it interesting? Actually, a standard, once set, resists change. At a time when all women’s shirts buttoned form the left, it would have been risky for any single manufacturer to offer women’s shirts that buttoned from the right. After all, women had grown so used to shirts which buttoned from the left and would have to develop new habits and skills to switch. Besides, some women might have found it socially awkward to appear in public wearing shirts that buttoned from the right, since anyone who noticed that would believe they were wearing men’s shirts.

　　5. What is surprising about the standard of the clothing industry?

　　A. It has been followed by the industry for over 400 years.

　　B. It is different for men’s clothing and women’s.

　　C. It woks better with men than with women.

　　D. It fails to consider right-handed people.

　　6. What do we know about the rich men in the 17th century?

　　A. They tended to wear clothes without buttons.

　　B. They were interested in the historical matters.

　　C. They were mostly dressed by servants.

　　D. They drew their swords from the left.

　　7. Women’s clothes still button from the left today because .

　　A. adopting men’s style is improper for women

　　B. manufacturers should follow standards

　　C. modern women dress themselves

　　D. customs are hard to change

　　8. The passage is mainly developed by .

　　A. analyzing causes B. making comparisons

　　C. examining differences D. following the time order

The latest research suggests that the key factor separating geniuses from the merely accomplished is not I.Q., a generally bad predictor of success. Instead, it’s purposeful practice. Top performers spend more hours practising their craft. It you wanted to picture how a typical genius might develop, you’d take a girl who possessed a slightly above average language ability. It wouldn’t have to be a big talent, just enough so that she might gain some sense of distinction. Then you would want her to meet, say, a novelist, who coincidentally shared some similar qualities. Maybe the writer was from the same town, had the same family background, or shared the same birthday.

　　This contact would give the girl a vision of her future self. It would hive her some idea of a fascinating circle who might someday join. It would also help if one of her parents died when she was 12, giving her a strong sense of insecurity and fuelling a desperate need for success. Armed with this ambition, she would read novels and life stories of writers without end. This would give her a primary knowledge of her field. She’s be able to see new writing in deeper ways and quickly understand its inner workings.

　　Then she would practise writing. Her practice would be slow, painstaking and error-focused. By practising in this way, he delays the automatizing process. Her mind wants to turn conscious, newly learned skills into unconscious. Automatically performed skills. By practising slowly, by breaking skills down into tiny parts and repeating, she forces the brain to internalize a better pattern of performance. Then she would find an adviser who would provide a constant stream of feedback, viewing her performance form the outside, correcting the smallest errors, pushing her to take on tougher challenges. By now she is redoing problems—how do I get characters into a room—dozens and dozens of times. She is establishing habits of thought she can call upon in order to understand or solve future problems.

　　The primary quality our young writer possesses is not some mysterious genius. It’s the ability to develop a purposeful, laborious and boring practice routine; the latest research takes some of the magic out of great achievement. But it underlines a fact that is often neglected. Public discussion is affected by genetics and what we’re “hard-wired” to do. And it’s true that genes play a role in our capabilities. But the brain is also very plastic. We construct ourselves through behaviour.

　　9. The passage mainly deals with .

　　A. the function of I.Q. in cultivating a writer

　　B. the relationship between genius and success

　　C. the decisive factor in making a genius

　　D. the way of gaining some sense of distinction

　　10. By reading novels and writers’ stories, the girl could .

　　A. come to understand the inner structure of writing

　　B. join a fascinating circle of writers someday

　　C. share with a novelist her likes and dislikes

　　D. learn from the living examples to establish a sense of security

　　11. In the girl’s long painstaking training process, ________.

　　A. her adviser forms a primary challenging force to her success.

　　B. her writing turns into an automatic pattern of performance

　　C. she acquires the magic of some great achievement

　　D. she comes to realize she is “hard-wired” to write

　　12. What can be concluded from the passage?

　　A. A fuelling ambition plays a leading role in one’s success

　　B. A responsible adviser is more important than the knowledge of writing.

　　C. As to the growth of a genius, I.Q. Doesn’t matter, but just his|her effort.

　　D. What really matters is what you do rather than who you are.

答案

　　1-4 D .A .C .B .D

　　5-8

　　5. 答案B

　　【解析】细节理解题。由 “What seems strange , however, is that the standard adopted for women is the opposite of the one for men.”可知男女衣服的标准不一样令人惊奇。所以答案选B项。

　　6. 答案D

　　【解析】细节理解题。根据文中“Most men dressed themselves, and a sword drawn from the left with the right hang would be less likely to get caught in the shirt.”可判断选D项。

　　7. 答案D

　　【解析】细节理解题。根据“Actually, a standard , once set, resists change.”可知，习惯一旦养成，就很难改变是女式衣服的纽扣仍然在左边的原因。由此判断选D项。

　　8. 答案A

　　【解析】组织结构题。通观整篇文章可以看出，作在开始提到一个现象——男女衣服的标准相反，然后分析这种现象产生的历史原因，最后告诉我们现在这是这样的原因。由此判断选A项。

　　9-12 C .A .B .D