A
Hi, everyone. I’m Nate. People always think it’s strange that Francis and I are so close, and you know what? He and I are total opposites. Here’s what I mean:

() 1. In Picture 2, the underlined part “what he has achieved” refers to “______”.
A. his great dreams B. his hard work
C. his smart brain D. his high scores
() 2. Francis and Aunt Patty are similar in ______.
A. diets B. habits C. looks D. personality
() 3. Nate wrote this study guide about Francis to ______.
A. complain about him B. show Francis is strange
C. ask others to learn from Francis D. show how different they are

B
Imagine you are clicking on a link (链接) for a video online. The video, however, takes time to load (载入). After ten seconds, it hasn’t even started playing yet. Will you continue to wait patiently?
Ramesh Sitaraman is an American computer scientist. He placed 6.7 million people in a situation like the one above. According to his study, people would begin giving up on a video after only two seconds if it still hadn’t started loading yet. And with every extra second that would pass without the video starting to play, another 5.8 percent of them would click on the “Close” icon.
Sitaraman’s study shows people are becoming less and less patient. Because of the faster and faster Internet speeds, we are used to receiving “instant gratification (即时满足)”. When we don’t get what we want at once, we become worried or even angry.
This happens not only in front of our screens. Take one of my friends for example. One day last summer, he was cycling home after work. At one crossing, he had to stop because of a red traffic light. After waiting for 30 seconds, he felt impatient and made a crazy decision: Go in whichever direction he saw there was a green light. The decision didn’t really save him time. In fact, he took a detour and needed 20 minutes more than usual to get back home.
My friend is not alone. Whenever there are traffic jams, many drivers try to quickly change lanes (变道) — a main reason for accidents. Being patient doesn’t just save you trouble. It is also key to your success in life.
The next time you want to get instant gratification, tell yourself: good things take time.
() 4. Why does the writer ask readers to imagine putting themselves in the situation in Para. 1?
A. To make people think about whether they are patient.
B. To introduce the right way of clicking on links.
C. Chose the readers how to find useful videos online.
D. To describe the importance of being patient.
() 5. Suppose (假定) “x” means the time people have to wait before the video begins and that “y” means the number of the people who choose to wait for the video to start playing. According to Paragraph 2, which of the charts below shows the relationship between “x” and “y”?
() 6. What does the underlined phrase “took a detour” mean in Paragraph 4?
A. Waited for a long time. B. Ran the traffic lights.
C. Chose the nearest way. D. Took a longer way.
() 7. What is the correct structure (结构) of the passage? (①=Paragraph 1)
A. ①/②③/④⑤/⑥ B. ①/②/③④⑤/⑥ C. ①②/③④/⑤⑥ D. ①/②③④/⑤⑥
() 8. How does the writer feel about “instant gratification”?
A. Supportive. B. Doubtful. C. Pleasant. D. Interested.