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Please excuse me if I’’m a little pensive (哀伤的) today. Mark is leaving, and I’’m feeling kind of sad. You probably don’’t know Mark, but you might be lucky enough to know someone just like him. He’’s been the heart and soul of the office for a couple of years, combining exemplary professional skills with a sweet nature and gentle disposition. He’’s never been all that interested in getting credit for the terrific work he does. He just wants to do his job, and to do it superbly well. And now he’’s moving on to an exciting new professional opportunity. It sounds like it could be the chance of a lifetime, and we’’re genuinely, sincerely pleased for him. But that doesn’’t make it any easier to say goodbye to a dear friend and trusted colleague. Life has a way of throwing these curve balls at us. Just when we start to get comfortable with a person, a place or a situation, something comes along to alter the recipe. A terrific neighbor moves away. Someone in the family graduates. A child finds new love and loyalties through marriage. The family’’s principle bread-winner is laid off. Our ability to cope with change and disruption determines, to a great degree, our peace, happiness and contentment in life. But how do we do that Philosophers have considered the question for centuries, and their responses have been varied. According to the author of the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes, comfort can be found in remembering that "to every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven." Kahlil Gibran urged his listeners to "let today embrace the past with remembrance, and the future with longing." A friend of mine who works for the government is fond of reminding his fellow bureaucrats that "survivability depends upon adaptability." And then there’’s Chris, the California surf-rat, who once told me that the answer to life’’s problems can be summed up in four words; "Go with the flow." "It’’s like surfing," Chris explained. "You can’’t organize the ocean. Waves just happen. You ride ’’em where they take you, then you paddle back out there and catch the next one. Sure, you’’re always hoping for the perfect wave where you can get, like, you know, totally tubular. But mostly you just take ’’em the way they come. It’’s not like you’’re trying to nail Jell-O (果冻布丁) to a tree, you know" I’’m not exactly sure, but I think Chris was saying that life is a series of events—both good and bad. No matter how deft (熟练的) your organizational skills, there will always be life-influencing factors over which you have no control. The truly successful person expects the unexpected, and is prepared to make adjustments should the need arise—as it almost always does. That doesn’’t mean you don’’t keep trying to make all your dreams come true. It just means that when things come up that aren’’t exactly in your plan, you work around them—and then you move on. Of course, some bumps along the road of life are easier to take than others. A rained-out picnic, for example, is easier to cope with than the sudden death of a loved one. But the principle is the same. "Change, indeed, is painful, yet ever needful," said philosopher Thomas Carlyle. "And if memory have its force and worth, so also has hope." We’’re going to miss Mark, just like you’’ll miss that graduate, that neighbor or that newlywed. But rather than dwell on the sadness of our parting, we’’ll focus on our hopes for a brighter future—for him, and for us. And then we’’ll go out and do everything we can to make that future happen. Until our plans change—again. What do we know about Mark from the passage

A. Mark has been transferred to another job because of his poor work.
B. Mark prefers credit to his own interest.
C. Mark has pleasant personality and plays a key role in the office.
D. Mark will have a very promising future career.

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Passage 35 It seems that beauty and women are twins. You are joking No, I am not. Observe for yourself. Ads on fashion flood TV screens, radio programs, magazines, newspapers and the streets. Whether they have realized it or not, women are besieged (包围) by a sea of fashion. They are taught to think that without beautiful clothes they will grow old and lose their charm. So who dares to neglect dressing up at the cost of their appearance and youth But I do not agree with the opinion that women have to show their beauty through their looks. The richness of their mind proves to be more beautiful and attractive than their looks. (35) A woman who has experienced many troubles and may be called "aunt" or "granny" can still maintain her beauty if she has such excellent qualities as knowledge, ability, a kind heart, great courage and concern for others. In addition, old and young, beautiful and ugly are relative concepts. A person who keeps a young mind will never feel old. Curious about new things and eager to learn more, they keep up with the tide. Plainly dressed women may have a type of beauty, which is pure and real. Reading and learning is the best way to keep one youthful. Good books are fertile soil which can feed the flower of one’s heart and looks. The underlined word "relative" most probably means______.

A. similar
B. comparative
C. related
D. independent

Passage 22 Movies are the most popular form of entertainment for millions of Americans. They go to the movies to escape their normal everyday existence and to experience a life more exciting than their own. They may choose to see a particular film because they like the actors or because they have heard the film has a good story. But the main reason why people go to the movies is to escape. Sitting in a dark theater, watching the images on the screen, they enter another world that is real to them. They become involved in the lives of the characters in the movie, and for two hours, they forget all about their own problems. They are in a dream world where things often appear to be more romantic (浪漫的) and beautiful than in real life. The biggest "dream factories" are in Hollywood, the capital of the film industry. Each year, Hollywood studios make hundreds of movies that are shown all over the world. American movies are popular because they tell stories and they are well-made. They provide the public with heroes who do things the average person would like to do but often can’t. (22) People have to cope with many problems and much trouble in real life, so they feel encouraged when they see the "good guys" win in the movies. The American movies are popular because______.

A. they are well-made and the stories are interesting
B. the characters in the movies are free to do whatever they like
C. the heroes have to cope with many problems and frustrations
D. good guys in the movies always win in the end

Passage 19 Advertisement can be thought of "as the means of making known in order to buy or sell goods or services". Advertisement aims to increase people’s awareness and arouse interest. It tries to inform and to persuade. The media are all used to spread the message. The press offers a fairly cheap method, and magazines are used to reach special sections of the market. The cinema and commercial radio are useful for local market. Television, although more expensive, can be very effective. Public notices are fairly cheap and more permanent in their power of attraction. Other ways of increasing consumer interest are through exhibitions and trade fairs as well as direct mail advertisement. There can be no doubt that the growth in advertisement is one of the most striking features of the western world in this century. Many businesses such as those handling frozen foods, liquor, tobacco and medicines have been built up largely by advertisement. We might ask whether the cost of advertisement is paid for by the producer or by the customer. (19) Since advertisement forms part of the cost of production, which has to be covered by the selling price, it is clear that it is the customer who pays for advertisement. However, if large scale advertisement leads to increased demand, production costs are reduced, and the customer pays less. It is difficult to measure exactly the influence of advertisement on sales. When the market is growing, advertisement helps to increase demand. When the market is shrinking, advertisement may prevent a bigger fall in sales than would occur without its support. What is clear is that businesses would not pay large sums for advertisement if they were not convinced of its value to them. From the last sentence of this passage we conclude that______.

A. businesses usually do not pay much for advertisement
B. businessmen know well that advertisement could bring them more profits
C. advertisement could hardly convince people of the value of the goods
D. advertisement usually costs businesses large amounts of money

Passage 37 Why don’t birds get lost on their long flights from one place to another Scientists have been puzzled over this question for many years. Now they’re beginning to fill in the blanks. Not long ago, experiments showed that birds rely on the sun to guide them during daylight hours. But what about birds that fly by night (37) Tests with artificial stars have proved that certain night-flying birds are able to follow the stars in their long-distance flights. A dove had spent its lifetime in a cage and had never flown under a natural sky. Yet it showed an inborn ability to use the stars for guidance. The bird’s cage was placed under an artificial star-filled sky. The bird tried to fly in the same direction as that taken by his outdoor cousins. Any change in the position of the artificial stars caused a change in the direction of his flight. The stars are apparently their principal means of navigation. When the stars are hidden by clouds, they seemingly find their way by such landmarks as mountain ranges, coast lines, and river courses. But when it’s too dark to see these, the doves circle helplessly, unable to find their way. In total darkness, doves______.

A. use landmarks to find their way
B. don’t know which way to fly
C. make their return flight
D. wait for the stars to appear

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