Unit 5 Canada–“The True North”

一、阅读理解。

Do you hear that birds of a feather flock together? It certainly appears that they do. We are likely to hang around with individuals who are similar to ourselves. Poor people like to surround themselves with other poor people, and rich people with other rich people. Intelligent people associate with like-minded people, and artists typically seek out other artists.

It appears that we all have comfort zones we attempt to stay within. Very stressed and poor people don’t feel comfortable associating with rich people. We owe it to each other to be successful because success breeds more success. And if we are not feeling successful, looking at who we have as friends and associates can tell us and others a lot about ourselves and why. The longer we associate with a group of individuals, the more our thinking processes become like theirs.

A few years ago, a doctor friend of mine began associating with a new group of people. At the time, he had a successful practice and a positive and grateful attitude to life. However, within the first six months of his association with these individuals, his attitude and goals changed , he was angry at how things were and was dissatisfied with those who’d become his opposition. He became very stubborn. As a result his practice dropped in quality of service. His facial expressions often showed anger and stress.

After about two years of association with this group, he learned some valuable lessons. He realized that always focusing on problems or being dissatisfied with others doesn’t lead to a rewarding life, nor does it solve as many problems as it creates. He decided that he’d rather get back into serving his patients.

This doctor put his heart and soul into his practice, and his life changed again. He began to attract people who focused on solutions instead of problems. His success was now more obvious than his stress—his achievement more obvious than his frustration.

Whom we hang out with does make a difference. The old saying ＂If you want to soar (翱翔) with the eagles, don’t flock with the turkeys.＂ has a point.

1.What does the underlined part ＂birds of a feather flock together＂ in Paragraph 1 mean?

A. Birds like to take a risk to fly high in the sky.

B. Birds are more likely to fly together than other creatures.

C. People are more likely to have different attitudes to life.

D. People of the same kind are found together.

2.We can infer from the passage that the individuals the doctor hung out with were ________.

A. stressed B. successful

C. patient D. rich

3.The author uses the old saying in the last paragraph to ________.

A. show his great literary talent

B. make his article more persuasive

C. raise another similar question

D. suggest the end of his article

4.The author uses the doctor’s example to prove that ________.

A. bad luck never comes alone

B. success breeds more success

C. someone has no control over his own life

D. people are likely to become like those who they associate with

【语篇解读】俗话说：物以类聚，人以群分，人们往往会和相处的人相似，所以我们要和积极的人在一起。

1.D【解析】句意理解题。根据文章第一段的句子＂We are likely to hang around with individuals who are similar to ourselves.＂可知，＂birds of a feather flock together＂ 指的是同样的人会在一起。故选D。

3.B【解析】推理判断题。根据最后一段的句子＂Whom we hang out with does make a difference.＂我们和谁 在一起很重要，然后用谚语If you want to soar (翱翔) with the eagles, don’t flock with the turkeys.证明他 的观点。故选B。