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B
Dear Customers,
I feel quite pleased to announce Amazon Prime, our latest membership program, which provides “all-you-can-eat” express shipping. It’s simple: for a directly yearly membership fee, you get unlimited two-day shipping for free on over a million in store items. Members also get overnight shipping for only $3.99 per item—order as late as 6:30PM ET.
Amazon Prime takes the effort out of ordering: no lowest purchase and no combining orders. Two-day shipping becomes an everyday experience rather than an occasional excitement.
We are offering Amazon Prime membership at the introductory price of $79 per year, which includes sharing the benefits with up to four family members in your household. Considering that we normally charge $9.48 for two-day shipping on a single book and $ 16.48 for overnight, many of our customers will find the program very rewarding. It works across books, DVDs, music, electronics, kitchen, tool, health, personal care, etc, etc.
We expect Amazon Prime to be expensive for Amazon.com in short term. In the long run, we hope to earn even more of your business, which will make it good for us too. We hope you enjoy our latest transformation(转变).
You can sign up for membership with one click HERE.
Sincerely,
Jeff Bezos
Founder & CEO
 
 
25．What’s the purpose of the letter delivered by the CEO?
A. To encourage customers to join in a special program for free.
B. To ask for the feedback of the customers.
C. To express festive greetings to the consumers.
D. To encourage customers to consume more on line.
26．How much can you save compared with the ordinary customers if you have two orders each with a two-day shipping and a over-night shipping?
A. $ 21.97     B. $ 25.96
C. $ 16.48     D. $ 9.48
27．What does “all-you-can-eat” mean in the first paragraph?
A. direct       B. unlimited
C. convenient   D. cheap
28．What does the last part infer?
A. They lose much in the special program.
B. The customers spend more in the future.
C. This program can offer a double-win in a long term.
D. Amazon.com is a very popular on-line bookstore.
C
I watch documentaries, not movies．I read history books, not fiction．I use every free moment to accomplish one of the tasks on my never-ending checklist, and I am completely filled with thoughts of productivity．An hour sleeping is an hour wasted．And like the rest of 21st century America, I like it．But this fixation on productivity is increasingly destroying character and transforming men into robots.
New York Times columnist David Brooks warned American University students of this cultural decline in a speech．“We cut off all things spiritual and emotional in a competitive urge to stand out”, he said, “The pressure to succeed professionally, to acquire skills, to do the things you need to do to succeed in an information age economy really became the overwhelming（难以应付的） pressures, and it sort of eclipses the thinking about character and morality.”
Many students happily go to college, viewing it as a next step on their rise to professional achievement．Forcing as many success-building activities into their schedules as they can, they enjoy keeping busy with little sleep．“Today’s outstanding kids are likely to spend their afternoons and weekends shuttling from one skill-improving activity to the next,” Brooks wrote in an article, “We fear failure more than we desire success.”
A century ago, college was about character building．Today, our characters are in decline．We are experts on economics, material things and professional skills．We fail to discuss and understand relationships, emotions and all things spiritual．
Philosopher Karl Popper divided the world into two categories: Clocks and Clouds．Clock problems are those that can be taken apart, examined and solved through deductive reasoning（演绎推理）．Clouds cannot be taken apart．Cloud problems represent whole systems that need to be understood in a different way.
“When we have a Cloud problem, we try to turn it into a Clock problem,” Brooks said．And in a reason-centered culture, adding titles to one’s resume becomes a trend．At American University, 85 percent of seniors (and 89 percent of business majors) graduate with at least one practical experience which is often helpful to a student’s future career, but can sometimes draw focus away from academics.
To prevent the death of man’s character, Brooks urges rediscovering our human natures through falling in love．And by love he means love for a task, job, or another person．“Synchronicity is key to happiness,” he said．Rather than crazily increasing our long lists of accomplishments, we need to lose ourselves in what we do, and success will come on its own.
29．From Paragraph 1, we can learn that people __________.
A．are controlled by time
B．are keen on reading books
C．are changing their characters
D．are eager to achieve more
30．In Paragraph 2, the underlined word “eclipses” means _________.
A．deletes       B．weakens
C．worsens       D．emphasizes
31．The last paragraph mainly tells us that __________．
A．love is more important than focus
B．the focus on human natures counts
C．more work contributes to happiness
D．success comes from devotion to work
32．The purpose of this passage is to __________.
A．bring awareness to character building
B．stress the importance of productivity
C．warn about the pressure to seek success
D．criticize students’ desire for achievements
D
Staying silent can be just as powerful as the words you mean to say, like when the act of hugging will be more comforting than saying, “Sorry for your loss.”
Another time when silence is golden is when you are unsure of what to say. If you are confused about your own feelings concerning a matter, it’s best to stay quiet until you are more certain because more harm can be done by revealing false or exaggerated feelings
Choose silence instead of blurting out “in-the-moment” feelings that are hurtful and not really how you feel in the grand scheme of things. When you feel the urge to say an unkind thing, take a few breaths and think of the possible consequences of your words.
Silence can be your best friend during negotiations. Say your piece, then close your mouth, and let the other person come to their own conclusions. Your silence shows that one, you are confident in what you just said, and two, you respect the other person enough to hear what they have to say.
Sometimes silence is the best and most timely solution because the other person is not in a position to hear what you have to say. For example, when a friend needs for you to listen to her problems, but she is unable to accept your advice at that moment.
Practice being silent at work when you don’t have anything meaningful to contribute. Unless you can start the conversation by pointing out something interesting, missing, or beneficial, it’s best to just observe and learn.
Finally, silence is golden when you don’t want to engage in a fool’s argument. As some squabbles(口角) will never be resolved, one must agree to disagree.
However, there will be times in your life where you will need the power of your voice,the voice within you that wants and needs to be respected and appreciated.
33．The passage mainly tells us about ___
A. whether or not to stay silent         B. why to stay silent
C. how to stay silent                    D. when to stay silent
34．What is the best to do during negotiation?
A. Grasp every chance to say more than the other
B. Close your mouth and just listen to the other
C. Speak out your own points and discuss with others
D. Keep silent after expressing yourself
35．To follow this passage, the writer is likely to continue telling about___
A. the occasions when you should speak up
B. the power of your voice
C. the advantages of speaking up
D. the disadvantages of staying silent
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