Personal Growth

　　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 (外部的，表面的) result or product that can easily be identified and measured. The worker who gets a promotion, the student whose grades improve, the foreigner who learns a new language — all these are examples of people who have measurable results to show for their efforts.

　　By contrast, the process of personal growth is much more difficult to determine, since by definition it is a journey and not the specific signposts or landmarks along the way. The process is not the road itself, but rather the attitudes and feelings people have, their caution or courage, as they gain new experiences and face 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 confront (正視) 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 essential to our ability to grow. Do we see ourselves as quick and curious? If so, then we tend to take more chances and to be more open to unfamiliar experiences. Do we think we’re shy and indecisive (優(yōu)柔寡斷)? Then we may hesitate, move slowly, and not take a step until we know the ground is safe. Do we think we’re slow to adapt to change or that we’re not smart enough to deal successfully with a new challenge? Then we are likely to take a more passive role or not try at all.

　　These feelings of insecurity and self-doubt are both unavoidable and necessary for us to change and grow. If we do not confront and overcome these internal (內(nèi)部的) fears and doubts, if we protect ourselves too much, then we cease (停止) to grow. We become trapped inside a shell of our own making.

In the author’s eyes, one who views personal growth as a process would _______.

       A. succeed in climbing up the social ladder

       B. judge his ability to grow from his own achievements

       C. face difficulties and take up challenges

       D. aim high and reach his goal each time

When the author says “a new way of being”, he is referring to ________.

       A. a new approach to experiencing the world      B. a new way of taking risks

       C. a new method of understanding ourselves　    D. a new system of adapting to change

For personal growth, the author supports all of the following EXCEPT _______.

       A. curiosity about more chances    B. promptness (迅速) in self-adaptation

       C. open-mindedness to new experiences       D. avoidance of internal fears and doubts

The best title for this passage should be _________.

       A. Growth — Product or Process  B. Facing New Challenges

       C. Two Basic Ways of Growth          D. Overcoming Internal Fears

第三部分　閱讀理解（共20小題；每小題2分，滿(mǎn)分40分）
閱讀下列短文，從每題所給的四個(gè)選項(xiàng)（A、B、C和D）中，選出最佳選項(xiàng)。
A
　　Learners report two main difficulties in reading, which may be linked. There are too many unknown words and as a result reading is simply not a pleasure. For some students, even reading in their own language is a chore.
　　Having a wide vocabulary is essential to making sense of written language. Of course, this is a circular argument, because the more you read the more vocabulary you learn and the more words you know the more easily you can read. Don’t make the mistake of reading with your dictionary beside you, looking up every single new or doubtful word. This is laborious and prevents you from practicing the skill of prediction.
　　Sometimes in reading you find a word you know but the sense doesn’t seem to fit in. This is not surprising because words have so many meanings and degrees of meaning. What is more, part of their meaning is shaped by the words around them. Keep looking at the surrounding words and asking yourself “what sort of meaning would make sense here?”
　　The more that people study the reading process, the better they can pass on to language learners a range of advice to choose from. People have learned to read in all kinds of ways. Here is some information that could help you plan to be a better reader in the foreign language you are studying.
　　1）Work out the general meaning first
　　When people read in a new language they often feel they must take a detailed approach, focusing in every word, particularly those they don’t know. They read as if they were using a microscope, looking carefully at each of the small pieces（the individual words）, but not necessarily seeing the whole picture at first. This is called the “bottom-up” approach. Other readers try to look first at the big picture（the “top-down” approach）, attending to individual bricks only as necessary, a process that involves some intelligent guesswork. Generally this second approach is recommended by successful learners.
　　2）Interactive reading
　　Another way of thinking about reading is to describe it as an interactive process, where the text brings something to you and you bring something to the text. Readers bring together all their knowledge of the world with what they see on the page in front of them. That is why, when reading in our own language, we don’t need to read every word. We add meaning which is not actually stated.
　　3）From supported reading to independent reading
　　Language learners start by needing considerable support as they read. Textbooks supply this support in the form of introductions that summaries the contents, glossaries, pictures, explanations of new grammar points. In your reading you need to move gradually from this support to reading more the text itself.
51．According to the author, ________.
A．looking up the dictionary is of great help for the understanding
B．reading more promotes the gaining of vocabulary
C．the more you read，the clearer the meaning is
D．the amount of vocabulary is the key to reading
52．Successful learners recommend ________.
A．trying to look first at the big picture
B．looking carefully at each of the small pieces
C．focusing on every word
D．“bottom-up”approach
53．The word “chore” in the first paragraph maybe means ________.
A．a(chǎn)n important aspect
B．a(chǎn) difficult and tiring thing
C．a(chǎn)n easy question
D．something special
54．You come across a new or doubtful word when you are reading, you can ________.
A．just miss it and let it be
B．keep looking at the surrounding words
C．look it up in the dictionary each time
D．make sense of it with the help of dictionary

Some animals apparently can resist cancer by strengthening their immune nervous system in preparation for winter，John Hopkins researchers said on Wednesday.

The scientists said their study was the first to show that the central nervous system，reacting to environmental changes，may spark changes in the body’s immune system(免疫系統(tǒng)) that control the growth of tumors.They said if that was the case，a better understanding of how the process works eventually could lead to new cancer treatments.

Dr.Randy Nelson，an associate professor of psychology at Hopkins，stressed at a meeting of the Society of Neuroscience that further study would be needed to confirm a connection between the length of the day，the animals’ immune system and cancer.More work also would be needed to show that the findings could be applied to human cancer.

Dr.Faye Austin，an immunologist with the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda，said，“It’s a very intriguing observation that the length of exposure to light can affect the growth of a tumor.But I think that the draws really need further work to clarify the mechanics.”

But Austin said the findings were surprising and important，only because they open up a new approach for research.

Studies showed that stress weakened the immune system in animals.They figured that because winter is stressful，the season probably causes exertion (影響) on the immune system.

The researchers reasoned that animals that compensated by boosting (促進(jìn)) their immune systems as winter approached would have a better chance of surviving and producing offspring.

“In the same way that animals have evolved to select the best time to breed，it struck me that animals ought to be able to predict when conditions would be challenging immunologically.”Nelson said.

1．Dr.Nelson has drawn a conclusion that ________.

A．there is a relation between the length of the day，the animal’s immune system and cancer

B．the findings of animals’ resistance to cancer can be applied to human cancer treatments

C．the length of exposure to light can affect the growth of a tumor

D．there is a new approach for studying the function of central nervous system in the body’s immune system

2．Which season can strengthen the immune system in animals?

A．Spring. 　　　 B．Summer.　　　 C．Autumn.　　　 　D．Winter.

3．On which of the following subjects can essays be presented at the meeting of the Society of Neuroscience?

A．The nervous system.

B．The treatment of cancer.

C．The ability to produce offspring.

D．The control of the growth of tumors.

第三部分　閱讀理解（共20小題；每小題2分，滿(mǎn)分40分）

閱讀下列短文，從每題所給的四個(gè)選項(xiàng)（A、B、C和D）中，選出最佳選項(xiàng)。

A

　　Learners report two main difficulties in reading, which may be linked. There are too many unknown words and as a result reading is simply not a pleasure. For some students, even reading in their own language is a chore.

　　Having a wide vocabulary is essential to making sense of written language. Of course, this is a circular argument, because the more you read the more vocabulary you learn and the more words you know the more easily you can read. Don’t make the mistake of reading with your dictionary beside you, looking up every single new or doubtful word. This is laborious and prevents you from practicing the skill of prediction.

　　Sometimes in reading you find a word you know but the sense doesn’t seem to fit in. This is not surprising because words have so many meanings and degrees of meaning. What is more, part of their meaning is shaped by the words around them. Keep looking at the surrounding words and asking yourself “what sort of meaning would make sense here?”

　　The more that people study the reading process, the better they can pass on to language learners a range of advice to choose from. People have learned to read in all kinds of ways. Here is some information that could help you plan to be a better reader in the foreign language you are studying.

　　1）Work out the general meaning first

　　When people read in a new language they often feel they must take a detailed approach, focusing in every word, particularly those they don’t know. They read as if they were using a microscope, looking carefully at each of the small pieces（the individual words）, but not necessarily seeing the whole picture at first. This is called the “bottom-up” approach. Other readers try to look first at the big picture（the “top-down” approach）, attending to individual bricks only as necessary, a process that involves some intelligent guesswork. Generally this second approach is recommended by successful learners.

　　2）Interactive reading

　　Another way of thinking about reading is to describe it as an interactive process, where the text brings something to you and you bring something to the text. Readers bring together all their knowledge of the world with what they see on the page in front of them. That is why, when reading in our own language, we don’t need to read every word. We add meaning which is not actually stated.

　　3）From supported reading to independent reading

　　Language learners start by needing considerable support as they read. Textbooks supply this support in the form of introductions that summaries the contents, glossaries, pictures, explanations of new grammar points. In your reading you need to move gradually from this support to reading more the text itself.

51．According to the author, ________.

A．looking up the dictionary is of great help for the understanding

B．reading more promotes the gaining of vocabulary

C．the more you read，the clearer the meaning is

D．the amount of vocabulary is the key to reading

52．Successful learners recommend ________.

A．trying to look first at the big picture

B．looking carefully at each of the small pieces

C．focusing on every word

D．“bottom-up”approach

53．The word “chore” in the first paragraph maybe means ________.

A．a(chǎn)n important aspect

B．a(chǎn) difficult and tiring thing

C．a(chǎn)n easy question

D．something special

54．You come across a new or doubtful word when you are reading, you can ________.

A．just miss it and let it be

B．keep looking at the surrounding words

C．look it up in the dictionary each time

D．make sense of it with the help of dictionary