第一节 (共10小题；每小题2分，满分20分)

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的4个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

Forget losing weight or saving money-we suggest one simple task to add to your list of inspiring New Year's decisions: read a book. Trust us, and your brain will thank you. Not only does reading increase the amount of daily pleasure in your life, but it could also delay dementia (痴呆) and even help you live longer.

But still, picking the perfect novel isn't easy. Thankfully, Business Insider asked a Harvard professor to recommend the one book he thinks every student should read in 2019-and we suggest adding it to your list, too. (No time for all the books on your list? Here's a shortcut: Read the endings to some of the world's most famous books, instead.)

Steven Pinker, Professor of Psychology at Harvard, recommends The Internationalists by legal scholars Hathaway and Shapiro. The book makes a surprising statement that the Kellogg-Briand Paris Peace Pact (条约) of 1928, which declared war illegal, has caused a steady drop in war throughout history.

"But in their fascinating and evidence-rich book, they make a lifelike case," Pinker said. "And like The Clash of Civilizations and The End of History, the book presents a sweeping vision (视野) of the international scene, making sense of many developments in the news and recent history."

Other professors at Harvard recommended classics like Anna Karenina by Tolstoy, as well as Just Mercy by Stevenson, The Theory of Moral Sentiments by Adam Smith, and Robot-Proof by Joseph Aoun.

So, go ahead and give (at least) one of these books a read in 2019! And while you're at it, you should add the following 20 books you really should have read by now to your list, too...

21. Which has the closest meaning to the underlined word "shortcut" in the 2nd paragraph?

　　A. A time-saving way to read books.

　　B. A lazy person's way to read books.

　　C. A quick way to know about endings of books.

　　D. A wise way to deal with too many books to read.

22. What or who has reduced the number of wars throughout history?

　　A. The Paris Peace Pact. B. The Internationalists.

　　C. Hathaway and Shapiro. D. A wide vision of the international scene.

23. What may be written in the next or last paragraph of the passage?

　　A. More advice on reading books.

　　B. The names of the 20 books recommended.

　　C. The main contents of the 20 books recommended.

　　D. The brief introduction of the 20 books recommended.

　　Failure is an unavoidable part of life. Though science has named some life skills that promise success, we're told over and over again that no great success was ever achieved without failure -- or many failed attempts. One of life's most important lessons, therefore, has to be how to handle failure best. But what is the message?

　　For starters, ignore advice from anyone that tells you, "Don't beat yourself up about it," no matter how well-meaning they are. According to the new research from the University of Kansas, we absolutely should be beating ourselves up when we fail. Marketing professor Noelle Nelson and her team found that the more emotional a person's response is to failure, the more likely they are to achieve better results the next time they deal with a related task.

　　The researchers carried out two experiments in which undergraduate students were required to perform specific tasks. In one experiment, they were asked to search online for a squeezer and report the lowest price they could find with the possibility of winning a $50 cash prize. However, the task was controlled, and all participants were told (by a computer) that the lowest price was $3.27 less than their reported price. Consequently, no participant won the cash prize. When the results were announced, some participants were asked to focus on their emotional response, and others on their cognitive (认知的) response. During the next similar task, participants who focused on their emotional response to failure made more effort than those who focused on a cognitive response.

　　Everybody has their own unique challenges, responsibilities, duties, and projects, but these findings are related to all of us. Your personal failure may be a cake that fails to rise, a presentation that goes wrong, or a deadline that gets missed-it doesn't matter. What matters is how you react to it. Instead of thinking about the failure, let yourself feel bad about it. Then follow this advice on how to bounce back after your failure.

24. What's the relationship between failure and success?

　　A. Failure promises success. B. Failure is the key to success.

　　C. Failure does damage to success. D. Well-handled failure is good for success.

25. Why does the writer support beating oneself up when failing?

　　A. It's a well-meaning suggestion for failure.

　　B. It's been proved by the study of a university.

　　C. Being emotional is good for his future success.

　　D. It can make people less emotional about failure.

26. Which can be the best title for the passage?

　　A. Personal Failure Is a Cake That Fails to Appear

　　B. The Most Productive Way to Handle Any Failure

　　C. Different Methods to Change Failure into Success

　　D. The Reason Why Failure Is the Mother of Success

C

Would you buy a car that released calming smells into the air when you are stuck in