Passage 4
Time spent in a bookshop can be most enjoyable, whether you are a book-lover or merely there to buy a book as a present. You may even have entered the shop just to find shelter from a sudden shower. Whatever the reason, you can soon BECome totally unaware of your surroundings. The desire to pick up a book with an attractive dust-jacket is irresistible, although this method of selection ought not to be followed, as you might end up with a rather dull book. You soon become absorbed in some book or other, and usually it is only much later that you realise that you have spent far too much time there and must dash off to keep some forgotten appointment-without buying a book, of course.
This opportunity to escape the realities of everyday life is, I think, the main attraction of a bookshop. There are not many places where it is possible to do this. A music shop is very much like a bookshop. You can wander round such places to your heart’s content( 尽情地) . If it is a good shop, no assistant will approach you with the inevitable GREeting: "Can I help you, sir?" You needn’t buy anything you don’t want. In a bookshop an. assistant should remain in the background until you have finished browsing(浏览) . Then, and only then, are his services necessary Of course, you may want to find out where a particular section is, but when he has led you there, the assistant should retire discreetly and look as if he is not interested in selling a single book.
You have to be careful not to be attracted by the variety of books in a bookshop. It is very easy to enter the shop looking for a book on, say, ancient coins and to come out carrying a copy of the latest best-selling novel and perhaps a book about brassrubbing, something which had only vaguely interested you up till then. This volume on the subject, however’ happened to be so well illustrated and the part of the text you read proved so interesting that you just had to buy it.
This sort of thing can be very dangerous. Apart from running up( 积聚迅速) a huge account, you can waste a great deal of time wandering from section to section. Book-sellers must be both long-suffering and indulgent.
There is a story which well illustrates this. A medical student had to read a text-book which was far too expensive for him to buy. He couldn’t obtain it from the library and the only copy he could find was in his bookshop. Every afternoon, therefore, he would go along to the shop and read a little of the book at a time. One day, however, he was dismayed to find the book missing from its usual place and about to leave when he noticed the ’owner of the shop beckoning(打招呼) to him. Expecting to be reproached, he went towards him. To his surprise, the owner pointed to the book, which was tucked away in a corner. "I put it there in case anyone was tempted to buy it, "he said, and left the delighted student to continue his reading.
48. You may spend too much time in a bookshop because ________.
A. the dust-jackets are very attractive
B. you start reading one of the books
C. it is raining outside
D you have to make sure you don’t buy a dull book as a present
49. In a good bookshop ________.
A. nobody takes any notice of you
B. the assistant greets you in a friendly way
C. your heart is contented
D. you feel that you are in a music shop
50. It is very easy to enter a bookshop and buy ________.
A. a book on ancient coins
B. a best-selling novel on brass-rubbing
C. a book that only vaguely interests you
D. a book, that unexpectedly interests you
51 . The text-book the medical student was interested in was tucked away in a corner ________.
A. to prevent anyone from buying it
B. because the medical student might take it away
C. in case the medial student was tempted to buy it
D. because it was a rare and expensive book
Passage 5
Beauty has always been regarded as something praiseworthy. AI-most everyone thinks attractive people are happier and healthier, have better marriages and have more respectable occupations. Personal consultants give them better advice for finding jobs. Even judges are softer on attractive defendants (被告)
But in the executive circle, beauty can become a liability.
While attractiveness is a positive factor for a man on his way up the executive ladder, it is harmful to woman.
Handsome male executives were perceived as having more integrity than plainer men; effort and ability were thought to account for their success .
Attractive female executives were considered to have less integrity than unattractive ones; their success was attributed not to ability but to factors such as luck.
All unattractive women executives were thought to have more integrity and to be more capable than the attractive female executives. Interestingly, though, the rise of the unattractive overnight successes was attributed more to personal relationships and less to ability than was that of attractive overnight successes Why are attractive women not thought to be able? An attractive woman is perceived to be more feminine(女性的)and an attractive man more masculine(男性的) than the less attractive woman has an advantage in traditionally female jobs, but an attractive woman in a traditionally masculine position appears to lack the "masculine" qualities required .
This is true even in politics. "When the only clue is how he or she looks’ people treat men and women differently, "says Anne Bowman, who recently published a study on the effects of attractiveness on political candidates. She asked 125 undergraduate students to rank two groups of photographs, one of men and one of women, in order of attractiveness’ The students were told the photographs were of candidates for political offices. They were asked to rank them again, in the order they would vote for them.
The results showed that attractive males utterly defeated unattractive men, but the women who had been ranked most attractive invariably received the fewest votes.
52. In traditionally female jobs, attractiveness _______.
A. reinforces the feminine qualities required
B. makes women look more honest and capable
C. is of primary importance to women
D. often enables women to succeed quickly
53. Bowman’s experiment reveals that when it comes to politics, attractiveness _______.
A. turns out to be an obstacle to men
B. affects men and women alike
C. has as little effect on men as on women
D. is more of an obstacle than a benefit to women
54. It can be inferred from the passage that people’s views on beauty are often _______.
A. practical B. prejudiced
C. old-fashioned D. radical
55. The author writes this passage to ________.
A. discuss the negative aspects of being attractive
B. give advice to job-seekers who are attractive
C. demand equal rights for women .
D emphasize the importance of appearance
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