Question

①Have you ever wondered what goes through your mind when you choose where to sit in a new classroom? Or in a waiting room full of strangers? Or on a bus? Researchers have found out some interesting facts.

②Girls sit by girls and boys sit by boys. Adults sit together and young people choose another young person to sit near. But it goes further than this. We even choose to sit near someone who looks like us. People with glasses are more likely to sit near other people with glasses. People with long hair sit closer to other people with long hair.

③We seem to believe that people with similar habits or hobbies will share similar experiences and we are more likely to be accepted by people like ourselves， or even， we think we may be safer with people who look like us. Sometimes that’s true but it’s a pity if we always stay with the same people， the same group. The danger in always staying in our comfort zone (舒適區(qū))is that we just recycle the same opinions， the same tastes and the same ideas. We lose the chance to learn something new， find out interesting things， hear funny stories and discover differences.

④When we always stay with the same people， how can we break down the barriers which prevent us from getting to know people with different ideas? And how can we avoid the ignorance(無知)? If you want to live in a society that opens to changes， new things and different opinions， be the cat among the pigeons(鴿子).

⑤Move out of your comfort zone. Go and sit next to someone different. And don’t just sit there in silence. Say hello. Ask a question. Start a conversation. That’s how we make friends. That’s how we learn about people. That’s how we open our minds to new ideas. That’s how we live an exciting life.

1. From the passage， we know that people prefer sitting by someone who .

A. is like themselves B. has a sense of humor

C. is open-minded D. lives an exciting life

2. People like staying in their comfort zone because they may .

A. remain comfortable and special

B. find out more interesting things

C. be accepted easily and feel safe

D. discover differences among themselves

3.The sentence “Unsurprisingly， we prefer to sit closer to people like ourselves.” should be put at the beginning of __________.

A. Paragraph 1 B. Paragraph 2

C. Paragraph 3 D. Paragraph 4

4.What does the underlined word“barriers” mean in Paragraph 4?

A. 聯(lián)系 B. 隔閡 C. 紐帶 D. 熟悉

5.What is the purpose of the passage?

A. To tell us not to talk with strangers.

B. To introduce ways to learn about the world.

C. To explain how people communicate with foreigners.

D. To encourage us to get along with different people.

Answer 1