课时跟踪练(一) Welcome to the unit & Reading Pre reading.阅读理解AWhat can help you make a fortune in the future? Graduating from a top university might not be enough. A new study from the University of Essex in Britain has shown that the more friends you have in school, the more money youll earn later.The idea that popularity could have a serious influence on ones earning potential shouldnt come as too much of a surprise. The researchers noted that if you want to get ahead in life, social skills and networking are easily as powerful as talent and hard work.“If a person has lots of friends, it means that he or she has the ability to get along with others in all kinds of different situations，” said Xu Yanchun, 17, from Nantou High School in Shenzhen, who totally agreed with the recent finding. “Also, friends always help each other. They not only create wider social circles for you but lift your mood when you are occasionally in low spirits，” said Xu. She believes that all this helps you “earn a higher salary”Maybe thats why some people think the younger generations are in the age of Friendaholism (交友狂症). A woman even complained that the networking website Facebooks 5,000friend limit was too low for her large reserve of social contacts.But what does a friend mean? Should friends be regarded as a form of currency?“Call me uncool, but I think of a friend as an actual person with whom I have an actual history and whom I enjoy actually seeing. It seems, however, that this is no longer the definition of friend”， said Meghan Daum, who works with The Los Angeles Times in the US.Daum dislikes the idea that quantity trumps quality in the age of Friendaholism. She thought the idea of friendship, at least among the growing population of Internet social networkers, was to get as many of notreallyfriends as possible. For example, a friend might be someone you might know personally but who could just as easily be the friend of a friend of some other Facebook friend you dont actually know. Although she agreed that social ties grease (润滑) the wheels of life, she also warned. “Too bad one thing money cant buy is a real friend.”语篇解读：最近，英国一所大学的一项研究表明，一个人在学校时交朋友越多，未来挣钱就越多。1What will be needed if you are to achieve success according to the researchers?ASocial skills, friends, good mood and fortune.BSocial skills, networking, talent and hard work.CSocial skills, networking, potential and fortune.DSocial skills, talent, hard work and the facebook.解析：选B细节理解题。从第二段第二句“The researchers noted that if you want to get ahead in life, social skills and networking are easily as powerful as talent and hard work.”可知B项正确。2What can friends do in the eyes of Xu Yanchun?AThey can help you with your schoolwork.BThey teach you how to make more money.CThey help you get rid of sadness and cheer up.DThey always get on well with you.解析：选C细节理解题。从第三段中“Also, friends always help each other. They not only create wider social circles for you but lift your mood when you are occasionally in low spirits.”可知C项正确。3We learn that Meghan Daums attitude towards friends is somewhat _.AuptodateBoptimisticCconfused Dtraditional解析：选D推理判断题。从第六段中“Call me uncool .”可知D项正确。4What does the underlined word “trumps” in the last paragraph mean?Ais better than Bis equal toCis worse than Dis similar to解析：选A词义猜测题。从画线后的“She thought the idea of friendship . was to get as many of notreallyfriends as possible.”可知选A项。BWhen asked about happiness, we usually think of something extraordinary, an absolute delight, which seems to get rarer, the older we get.For kids, happiness has a magical quality. Their delight at winning a race or getting a new bike is unreserved.In the teenage years the concept of happiness changes. Suddenly its conditional on such things as excitement, love and popularity. I can still recall the excitement of being invited to dance with the most attractive boy at the school party.In adulthood the things that bring deep joy love, marriage, birth also bring responsibility and the risk of loss. For adults, happiness is complicated.My definition of happiness is “the capacity for enjoyment”. The more we can enjoy what we have, the happier we are. Its easy to overlook the pleasure we get from the company of friends, the freedom to live where we please, and even good health.I experienced my little moments of pleasure yesterday. First I was overjoyed when I shut the last lunchbox and had the house to myself. Then I spent an uninterrupted morning writing, which I love. When the kids and my husband came home, I enjoyed their noise after the quiet of the day.Psychologists tell us that to be happy we need a mix of enjoyable leisure time and satisfying work. I dont think that my grandmother, who raised 14 children, had much of either. She did have a network of close friends and family, and maybe this is what satisfied her.We, however, with