in the classes — businesswomen and housewives. They, too, had problems! Clearly, what I needed was a textbook on how to conquer worry—so again I tried to find one.
I went to New York’s great public library at Fifth Avenue and Forty-second Street and discovered to my astonishment that this library had only twenty-two books listed under the title WORRY. I also noticed, to my amusement, that it had one hundred and eighty-nine books listed under WORMS. Almost nine times as many books about worms as about worry! Surprising, isn’t it? Since worry is one of the biggest problems facing mankind, you would think, wouldn’t you, that every high school and college would give a course on “How to Stop Worrying”?
Yet, if there is even one course on that subject in any college in the land, I have never heard of it. No wonder David Seabury said in his book How to Worry Successfully: “ We grow up with as little preparation for the pressures of experience as a bookworm asked to do a ballet (芭蕾舞).”
The result? More than half of our hospital beds are occupied by people with nervous and emotional troubles.
I looked over those twenty-two books on worry, reposing (靠) on the shelves of the New York Public Library. In addition, I purchased all the books on worry I could find; yet I couldn’t discover even one that I could use as a textbook in my course for adults. So I decided to write one by myself.
24. What made the writer realise one of the adults’ biggest problems? A. His wide reading. B. His practical survey. C. His scientific research. D. His students’ real situation.
25. The writer went to New York’s great public library with the purpose of _________. A. getting a book for his teaching B. finding some material for his new book C. obtaining some information for his research D. borrowing some books on worms for his students 26. What do David Seabury’s words in Paragraph 3 show? A. Worry is extremely common. B. We lack knowledge of worry.
C. We show no interest in worry. D. Worry can hardly be controlled.
27. The writer wrote the passage to __________. A. show us how to conquer worry
B. warn us of the possible danger of worry C. persuade us to get rid of worry
D. explain why he wanted to write a book on worry
C
Happy, angry, amazed—these are some of the emotions we like to express these days when we’re sending a message on our smart phones. That’s why many of us now add little pictures to our texts to brighten up someone’s mobile screen but we’re also using them as a quick way of telling someone how we’re feeling. Yes, emojis have become a vital tool for communication.
Let’s clear one thing up first—there are emojis and emoticons (表情符号). The latter are little images made using normal keys on a keyboard. For example, a colon, two dots, followed by the curved line of a close brackets is a “smiley face”.
The emoji was first invented in Japan in the late 1990s and the word “emoji” comes from the Japanese words for “picture” and “character”. The number of different images has dramatically increased since then and now we have a picture for every mood or situation.
So now we have the option to give this new creation the visual “thumbs-up” but have you thought why we’ve become so addicted to using emojis? Professor Vyv Evans who has written a book called The Emoji Code says, “What we’re finding is that digital communication is taking over from certain aspects of face-to-face interaction…One of the reasons emojis are so interesting is that they really do enable us to express our emotional selves much more effectively.”
Another advantage of emojis is that they are an international language—they don’t use words but tell a message in pictorial form so they can be easily interpreted whatever your native language.
Emojis are a good way for showing empathy (共鸣)—they are a virtual hug or an adorable tease. But as linguist Neil Cohn says, “To many, emojis are an exciting evolution of the way we communicate while to others, they are linguistic (语言学的) Armageddon.” It does show there is a lot more to our communication than words alone but does this mean the decline in traditional
writing?
28. What is the main idea of the passage? A. The decline in traditional writing.
B. The differences between emojis and emotions. C. The origins of the emoji. D. The rise of the emoji.
29. Why are emojis appealing according to Professor Vyv Evans? A. Because they are easy to use.
B. Because they allow us to express whatever we want. C. Because they enable us to express our feelings better.
D. Because digital communication has taken the place of face-to-face communication. 30. What can we know according to the passage?
A. An emoji is a small picture which is made using normal keys on a keyboard. B. The emoticon appeared in Japan for the first time.
C. People including linguists all become crazy about emojis now.
D. Emojis have become a more effective tool to express our feelings in modern society. 31. What does the underlined word “Armageddon” probably refer to? A. Nightmare. B. Excitement. C. Preference. D. Future.
D
In many countries, authority is seldom questioned, either because it is highly respected, or because it is feared. Because rank has been important in certain societies for a long time, people have been trained never to question those in authority. For example, children are not expected to question their teachers in school. It may be considered improper for young businessmen to suggest ideas that differ from those of older, more experienced members of the business.
In other countries, including America, children are trained to question and search for answers. When a child asks a question, he will often be told to go to the library and find the answer for himself. By the time students reach the age of 14 or 15, they may be developing exciting new ideas in all fields of science and arts. To encourage such creativity, there are many national prizes offered to students every year for their scientific discoveries and artistic accomplishments.
This interest in questioning and searching may be considered by some people as bad for young people’s manners, that young people lack respect for authority. This impression may be created when visitors notice young Americans asking questions and arguing with older people. However, this is because many Americans have a different attitude toward authority than may exist in other areas of the world. In a work or business situation, ideas are freely and openly discussed and argued. It is important to remember that it is the person’s ideas that are being questioned, not the individual himself. The two are quite separate. The purpose of the searching, questioning, and arguing is to find the facts in a particular situation, and therefore a solution, so that the work of the business can progress in the most effective manner possible.
As was mentioned earlier, you may notice the same questioning in social conversations. Although some individual may think that Americans are rude because of the direct manner with people, they are merely trying to learn more about your ideas.
32. In many countries authority is seldom questioned for the following reasons EXCEPT that
_________.
A. people show great respect for it B. people are afraid of it C. people don’t care about it
D. people are not trained to question those in authority
33. National prizes are offered to students in America every year because _________ A. the students of this age are very curious
B. the students often go to the library and find the answer to a question for themselves C. the students may be developing exciting new ideas in all fields of science and arts D. the students are encouraged to develop their creativity 34. From the text we can infer that _________ .
A. young people lack respect for authority in America
B. what matters is that the questioning of authority leads to an effective solution C. questioning a person is impolite and his ideas as well
D. American young people always give the impression of being rude to others 35. What is possibly the best title of the text? A. Developing the Quality of Questioning B. Rude or Honest?—True Americans
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