ÍõÂõÂõÓ¢Óï

ory of Failure in America¡±, Scott Sandage argues that the mid-nineteenth century saw a redefinition of failure¡ªfrom something that had described a lousy business to something that defined a whole life.

Yet one of the striking things about America is how valiantly it has resisted the idea that there is any such thing as a born loser. American schools resist streaming their pupils much longer than their European counterparts: the whole point is to fit in rather than stand out. American higher education has numerous points of entry and reentry. And the American legal system has some of the most generous bankruptcy rules in the world. In Europe, a bankrupt is often still a ruined man; in America, he is a risk-taking entrepreneur.

American history¡ªnot to mention American folklore¡ªis replete with examples of people who tried and tried again until they made a success of their lives. Lincoln was a bankrupt storekeeper. Henry Ford was a serial failure. At 40, Thomas Watson, the architect of IBM, faced prison. America¡¯s past is also full of people who came back from the brink. A second way to deal with losers is to celebrate them. Perhaps in reaction to the relentless boosterism of business life, American popular culture often sympathises with losers. But even in the loser-loving bits of popular culture, the American obsession with success has a habit of winning through. More often than not, born losers turn out to be winners in disguise.

31. According to paragraph 1, why are Americans ¡°much more likely to choose a high-paying job that carries a risk of redundancy than a lower-paid job that guarantees security¡±?

[A] Because they don¡¯t mind taking risks.

[B] Because Americans believe in the idea of ¡°no pain, no gain¡±.

[C] Because Americans rely a lot on selfª²help books written by famous people.

[D] Because a having highª²paying job is how many Americans view success.

32. Paragraph 2 suggests that ________________

[A] America was once a racist country.

[B] black Americans now have equal rights.

[C] if you give someone the chance to succeed, you also give them the chance to fail.

[D] you can know how successful you are by seeing how many people are failing.

33. The ¡°honest toilers¡± mentioned in paragraph 3 refer to__________________

[A] lazy people and alcoholics.

[B] trustworthy workers.

[C] people who fail even though they try hard.

[D] born losers¡ªpeople who need lots of second chances in order to succeed.

34. We can learn from paragraph 4____________

[A] that the United States is better than Europe.

[B] that American society is designed to give people many opportunities.

[C] that the American system is better for children and businessmen.

[D] that Scott Sandage¡¯s book is largely irrelevant to modern American society.

35. According to paragraph 5, which of these is NOT an example of why Americans might like losers?

[A] They often succeed in the end.

[B] Losers often have legal problems.

[C] There is sometimes a dislike of people who enthusiastically promote business.

[D] Some very famous Americans were once losers.

Text 4

Few things say ¡°forget I¡¯m here¡± quite so eloquently as the pose of the shy¡ªthe averted gaze, the hunched shoulders, the body pivoted away from the crowd. Shyness is a state that can be painful to watch, worse to experience and, in survival terms at least, awfully hard to explain. In a species as hungry for social interaction as ours, a trait that causes some individuals to shrink from the group ought to have been snuffed out pretty early on. Yet shyness is commonplace. ¡°I think of shyness as one end of the normal range of human temperament,¡± says professor of pediatrics William Gardner of Ohio State University.

But normal for the scientist feels decidedly less so for the painfully shy struggling merely to get by, and that¡¯s got a lot of researchers looking into the phenomenon. What determines who¡¯s going to be shy and who¡¯s not? What can be done to treat the problem? Just as important, is it a problem at all? Are there canny advantages to being socially averse that the extroverts among us never see? With the help of behavioral studies, brain scans and even genetic tests, researchers are at last answering some of those questions, coming to understand what a complex, and in some ways favorable, state shyness can be.

For all the things shyness is, there are a number of things it¡¯s not. For one, it¡¯s not simple introversion. If you stay home on a Friday night just because you prefer a good book to a loud party, you¡¯re not necessarily shy¡ªnot unless the prospect of the party makes you so anxious that what you¡¯re really doing is avoiding it. ¡°Shyness is a greater than normal tension or uncertainty when we¡¯re with strangers,¡± says psychologist Jerome Kagan of Harvard University. ¡°Shy people are more likely to be introverts, but introverts are not all shy.¡±

Still, even by that definition, there are plenty of shy people to go around. More than 30% of us may qualify as shy, says Kagan, a remarkably high number for a condition many folks don¡¯t even admit to. There are a lot of reasons we may be so keyed up. One of them, new research suggests, is that we may simply be confused.

In a study published early this year, Dr. Marco Battaglia of San Raffaele University in Milan, Italy, recruited 49 third-and fourth-grade children and administered questionnaires to rank them along a commonly accepted shyness scale. He showed each child a series of pictures of faces exhibiting joy, anger or no emotion at all and asked them to identify the expressions. The children who scored high on the shyness meter, it turned out, had a consistently hard time deciphering the neutral and the angry faces.

36. In paragraph 2, the writer intends to _______________

[A] introduce paragraph 3.

[B] illustrate the questions scientists are asking and how they can find answers to them.

[C] contrast the ideas raised in paragraph 1.

[D] show us the writer's field of interest and expertise.

37. Why is it considered strange that there are so many shy people?

[A] Because it is considered by psychologists to be an undesirable trait.

[B] Because it is not a trait associated with social animals.

[C] Because our ancestors were not shy, so we should be like them.

[D] Because shy people could not have survived in early human society.

38. Which of the following people would psychologists certainly consider to be shy?

[A] A person who prefers to study alone rather than spend time with friends.

[B] A person who is afraid to talk to an attractive person of the opposite sex.

[C] A person who isn¡¯t good at introducing themselves to new people.

[D] A person who feels exceptionally nervous when around unfamiliar people.

39. It is suggested that shy people might be confused because ________________

[A] they misinterpret other people¡¯s facial expressions.

[B] they have problems recognising certain facial expressions.

[C] they are extremely introverted.

[D] they are unable to admit to being shy.

40. Which of the following would best replace the word ¡°canny¡± used in paragraph 2?

[A] clever. [B] distinct.

[C] unknown. [D] surprising.