III. Reading Comprehension (40%) Direction： There are 4 reading passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center. Passage One Have you ever been afraid to talk back when you were treated unfairly? Have you ever bought something just because the salesman talked you into it? Are you afraid to ask someone for a date? Many people are afraid to assert themselves(坚持己见). Dr. Alberti, author of Stand Up, Speak Out, and Talk Back, thinks it’s because their self-esteem(自尊) is low. “Our whole set up (体制) is designed to make people distrust themselves,” says Alberti. “There’s always ‘superior’ around — a parent, a teacher, a boss — who ‘knows better’. These superiors(上级，长官) often gain when they chip (削弱) away at your self-image.” But Alberti and other scientists are doing something to help people assert themselves. They offer “assertiveness training” courses — AT for short. In the AT courses people learn that they have a right to be themselves. They learn to speak out and feel good about doing so. They learn to be more aggressive (敢闯, 闯劲儿) without hurting other people. In one way, learning to speak out is to overcome fear. A group taking an AT course will help the timid person to lose his fear. But AT uses an even stronger motive — the need to share. The timid person speaks out in the group because he wants to tell how he feels. Whether or not you speak up for yourself depends on your self-image. If someone you face is mo...
