The life of an actor appears attractive and many young people dream about becoming one. But the truth is, it is very hard work. If you're successful, there are deadlines to be met, appointments to keep and the press to deal with. If you're not successful, then life is extremely tough. I remember when I started out, I had to search the advertisement board at my drama school every day to look for acting jobs. Drama school was expensive and I needed extra cash to help pay the fees. I welcomed every small job. I played extras in many crowd scenes and became a confident participant in a lot of TV commercials for hair shampoo, soap and washing powder. I had been working for about two years before I got my lucky break. One day, as I was passing the drama school, I decided to go in to check the notice board. There was nothing on it and I was just leaving when the secretary came along the corridor with a piece of paper. She asked me how I was and I told her life was hard and work was difficult to find. The next moment, she put the paper in my hand and walked away. My hands were shaking as I unfolded the paper, full of expectation. To my surprise, it was an audition for a clown for the Canadian circus. I couldn't stop myself from laughing. I had expected an audition with a famous director for a new film! When I was at drama school, there had been a course in acrobatics and clown tricks. I had gained top marks in this course for originality and daring. Later I went to the audition feeling very strange. This was not what I'd had in mind when I enrolled in drama school. To my surprise, the job as a clown turned out to be exactly what I wanted. I loved every moment of getting dressed up and putting on the make-up. I had the opportunity to travel the world and I was more than an actor, I was an entertainer as well. I had visited over 32 different countries and entertained millions of people. Which of the following can best describe the author's feeling when he unfolded the paper? A) Extremely frightened. B) Feeling anxious and excited. C) Very worried. D) Trembling with fear.
B
(Question)
You wake up in the morning, the day is beautiful and the plans for the day are what you have been looking forward to for a long time. Then the telephone rings, you say hello, and the drama starts. The person on the other end has a depressing ( )tone in his voice as he starts to tell you how terrible his morning is and that there is nothing to look forward to. You are still in a wonderful mood? Impossible! Communicating with negative ( ) people can wash your happiness. It may not change what you think, but communicating long enough with them will make you feel depressed for a moment or a long time. Life brings ups and downs, but some people are stuck in the wrong idea that life has no happiness to offer. They only feel glad when they make others feel bad. No wonder they can hardly win other's pity or respect. When you communicate with positive people, your spirits stay happy and therefore more positive things are attracted. When the dagger of a negative person is put in you, you feel the heavy feeling that all in all, brings you down. Sometimes we have no choice but to communicate with negative people. This could be a co-worker, or relative. In this case, say what needs to be said as little as possible. Sometimes it feels good to let out your anger back to negative person, but all this is to lower you to that same negative level and they won't feel ashamed of themselves about that. Negativity often affects happiness without even being realized. The negative words of another at the start of the day can cling to you throughout the rest of your day, which makes you feel bad and steals your happiness. Life is too short to feel negative. Stay positive and avoid negativity as much as possible. Some negative people base their happiness on _ . A) other people's pity for them B) making other people unhappy C) building up a positive attitude D) other people's respect for them
(Answer)
B
Ques: A new research has uncovered that culture is a determining factor when people interpret facial emotions .The study reveals that in cultures where emotional control is the standard,such as Japan,the focus is placed on the eyes to interpret emotions. Whereas in cultures where emotion is openly expressed,such as the United States,the focus is on the mouth to interpret emotions. "These findings go against the popular theory that the facial expressions of basic emotions can be universally recognized," said University of Alberta researcher Dr.Takahiko Masuda." A person's culture plays a very strong role in determining how he will read emotions and needs to be considered when interpreting the facial expressions." These cultural differences are even noticeable in computer emoticons ,which are used to convey a writer's emotions by email and text message. The Japanese emotions for happiness and sadness vary in terms of how the eyes are drawn ,while the American emotions vary with the direction of the mouth. In the United States the emoticons:)and:) show a happy face,whereas the emoticons:(and:(show a sad face. However,the Japanese tend to use the symbol ('') to indicate a happy face,and (;;) to indicate a sad face. "We think it is quite interesting and appropriate that culture tends to mask its emotions. The Japanese would focus on a person's eyes when detecting his or her emotions,as eyes tend to be quite subtle ,"said Masuda. "In the United States,where an open emotion is quite common,it makes sense to focus on the mouth,which is the most expressive feature on a person's face." The text mainly tells us that _ . A) cultural differences are expressed in emotions B) culture is a key to interpreting facial emotions C) different emoticons are preferred in different cultures D) people from different cultures express emotions differently
Ans: B
Ques:In the United States, when one becomes rich, he wants people to know it.And even if he does not become very rich, he wants people to think that he is.That is what "Keeping up with the Joneses" is about.It is the story of someone who tries to look as rich as his neighbors. The expression was first used in 1913 by a young American called Arthur Momand.He told this story about himself.He began earning $125 a week at the age of 23.That was a lot of money in those days.He got married and moved with his wife to a very wealthy neighborhood outside New York City.When he saw that rich people rode horses, Momand went horseback riding every day.When he saw that rich people had servants, Momand and his wife also hired a servant and gave big parties for their new neighbors.It was like a race, but one could never finish this race because one was always trying to keep up.The race ended for Momand and his wife when they could no longer pay for their new way of life.They moved back to an apartment in New York City. Momand looked around him and noticed that many people do things just to keep up with rich lifestyle of their neighbors.He saw the funny side of it and started to write a series of short stories.He called it ''Keeping up with the Joneses", because "Jones" is a very common name in the United States. "Keeping up with the Joneses" came to mean keeping up with rich lifestyle of the people around you.Momand's series appeared in different newspapers across the country for over 28 years. People never seem to get tired of keeping up with the Joneses.And there are "Joneses" in every city of the world.But one must get tired of trying to keep up with the Joneses because no matter what one does, Mr.Jones always seems to be ahead. Some people want to keep up with the Joneses because they _ . A) hope to be rich people like their neighbors B) want others to know or to think that they are rich C) want to hide their wealth from other people D) would like to be common people

Ans:
B