It’s really true what people say about English politeness: it’s everywhere. When
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It’s really true what people say about English politeness: it’s everywhere. When squeezing past someone in a narrow passage, people say “sorry”. When getting off a bus, English passengers say “thank you” rather than the driver. In Germany, people would never dream of doing these things. After all, squeezing past others is sometimes unavoidable, and the bus driver is only doing his job. I used to think the same way, without questioning it, until I started traveling to the British Isles, and here are some more polite ways of interacting with people in UK.
People thank each other everywhere in England, all the time. When people buy something in a shop, customer and shop assistant in most cases thank each other twice or more. In Germany, it would be exceptional to hear more than one thank you in such a conversation. British students thank their lecturers when leaving the room. English employers thank their employees for doing their jobs, as opposite to Germans, who would normally think that paying their workers money is already enough.
Another thing I observed during my stay was that English people rarely criticize others. Even when I was working and mistakes were pointed out to me, my employers emphasized several times but none of their explanations were intended as criticism. It has been my impression that by avoiding criticism, English people are making an effort to make others feel comfortable. This also is showed in other ways. British men still open doors for women, and British men are more likely to treat women to a meal than German men. However, I do need to point out here that this applies to English men a bit more than it would to Scottish men! Yes, the latter are a bit tightfisted.
小题1:What is the author’s attitude towards English politeness?| A．He thinks it is unnecessary. | B．He thinks little of it. | | C．He appreciates it very much. | D．He thinks it goes too far. |
小题2:What can be inferred from the passage?| A．German men never treat a woman to dinner. | | B．The author think it’s unnecessary to say “thank you” to the bus driver. | | C．In Germany, employers often say “thank you” to employees for their job. | | D．Germans think it is unnecessary to thank workers because payment is enough. |
小题3:We can learn from the last paragraph that Scottish men ______.| A．like to fight with each other | | B．treat women in a polite way | | C．are as generous as English men | | D．are unwilling to spend money for women |
小题4:The author develops the text through the method of ______.| A．making comparisons | B．telling stories | C．giving reasons | D．giving examples |
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答案
小题1:C
小题2:D
小题3:D
小题4:A |
解析
试题分析：相比德国人和苏格兰人，英国人的礼貌无处不在。作者通过把英国人和德国人、苏格兰人相比较，来体现英国人的礼貌及绅士。
小题1:推理判断题。通过第一段及全文可知，作者看到英国人的礼貌无处不在，起初他不以为然，认为有些事大可不必说客气话，但是在英国大不列颠岛的一次旅行改变了作者对英国人礼貌的看法，所以选C。appreciate意为“欣赏”。
小题2:细节理解题。通过文中第二段最后一句话可知，英国老板会感谢工人为自己做的工作。相反，德国老板却不会，因为他们觉得付给工人的钱已经足够了。所以D项与原文意思相符。
小题3:细节理解题。根据文中最后一段的后半部分可知，英国男士比德国男士更喜欢请女士吃饭，但是，作者同时指出这个规律相比苏格兰男士而言更适合英国男士，因为苏格兰男士有一些很吝啬，不愿意出钱，故选D。
小题4:细节理解题。通过全文可知，作者通过把英国人和德国人、苏格兰人相比较，来体现英国人的礼貌及绅士，所以选A。 |
举一反三
One period of our lives when better results are demanded of us is, strangely enough, childhood． Despite being young we are expected to achieve good grades, stay out of trouble, make friends at school, do well on tests, perform chores at home and so on． It’s not easy．
The good news is that being likeable can help a child perform better． Likeable children enjoy many advantages, including the ability to cope（对付） more easily with stresses of growing up．
In her book Understanding Child Stress, Dr． Carolyn Leonard states that children who are likeable and optimistic are able to gain support from others． This leads to focus and resilience, the ability to recover from or adjust early to life stress; a child who has adequate emotional armor can continue down the path to success． Much research shows that resilience has enabled children to succeed in school, avoid drug abuse, and develop a healthy self-awareness．
Why does a likeable child more easily handle stress and do better in his or her life? Because likeability helps create what’s known as a positive feedback loop（回馈圈）． The positive feelings you want to see in other people are returned to you, creating constant encouragement and motivation to deal with the daily stress of life．
This feedback loop continues into adulthood． To return once again to the example of teaching, learning becomes easier with a likeable personality． Michael Delucchi of the University of Hawaii reviewed dozens of studies to determine if likeable teachers received good ratings because of their likeability or because they in fact taught well． Delucchi found that “Students who perceive（察觉） a teacher as likeable, in contrast to（比照） those who do not, may be more attentive to the information that the teacher delivers and they’ll work harder on assignments, and they will learn more．”
You may have noticed this pattern in your own life when you try to give some advice． The more positive your relationship with that person, the more he or she seems to listen, and the more you feel certain that that person has heard you and intends to act on your words．
小题1:The writer implies in the first paragraph that __________．| A．children are expected much than we usually think | | B．life is not easy for every one of us | | C．better education results in smarter children | | D．to be a likable child is almost impossible |
小题2:According to Dr． Leonard, likeable children __________．| A．can cope more easily with stress independently | | B．know how to avoid trouble and unpleasant events | | C．are always optimistic and ready to help those in need | | D．can achieve more and understand themselves better |
小题3:The term “emotional armor” in paragraph 3 means __________．| A．mental support from friends | B．mental support from adults | | C．failures in life | D．ability to handle life stress |
小题4:The main purpose of the studies done by Michael Delucchi is to find __________．| A．if a likeable teacher has a positive personality | | B．if a likeable teacher draws more attention | | C．how a teacher’s likeability gains popularity | | D．how a likeable teacher’s teaching style is formed |
小题5:The passage aims at proving that __________．| A．likeable people do better in life generally | | B．likeable people do better in their childhood | | C．social creatures enjoy more advantages | | D．likeable people give better advice |
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MANY of us enjoy doing it: you turn on the camera on your mobile phone and hold it at a high angle (角度), making your eyes look bigger and your cheekbones more marked out. You turn to your best side and click.
There it is – your selfie.
Over the past year, “selfie” has become a well-known term across the globe. This August the Oxford dictionary added the word to their online dictionary and defined it as: “A photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website.”
Today it’s not difficult to find social networking pages full of photos people have taken of themselves and their friends. And selfie culture has become especially related to young people. As many as 91 percent of teenagers have posted photos of themselves online, according to a recent survey by the US Pew Research Center.
So what are the reasons for the rise of selfie culture?
“The cult (狂热) of the selfie celebrates regular people,” Pamela Rutledge, a professor at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology, told Vogue magazine. “There are many more photographs available now of real people than models.”
Posting selfies also allows you to control your image online. “I like having the power to choose how I look, even if I’m making a funny face,” Samantha Barks, 19, a high school student in the US, told Vogue.
In addition to self-expression and documentation (记录), selfies “allow for an close friendship for long-distance friends, because you can see each other’s faces every day”, wrote Casey Miller at The Huffington Post.
But US psychologist Jill Weber is concerned that selfies might lead to social problems. “There’s a danger that your self-esteem (自尊心) may start to be tied to the comments and ‘likes’ you get when you post a selfie, and they aren’t based on who you are – they’re based on what you look like,” Weber told Vogue. “When you get nothing or a negative response, your confidence can plummet.”
小题1:The first paragraph is intended to _________.| A．explain why selfie is popular | B．describe how to make selfie | | C．show the importance of selfie | D．introduce the topic of selfie |
小题2:How many reasons for the rise of selfie culture are mentioned in the passage?小题3:What is Jill Weber’s opinion about selfies?| A．Comments on selfie are based on who you are. | | B．Selfies have more disadvantages than advantages. | | C．Others’ response to selfies might affect one’s self-esteem. | | D．Selfies shouldn’t be encouraged for they lead to social problems. |
小题4:The underlined word “plummet” in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to __________.| A．go down | B．calm down | C．pick up | D．build up |
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Men are spending more and more time in the kitchen encouraged by celebrity (名人) chefs like Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver, according to a report from Oxford University.
The effect of the celebrity role models, who have given cooking a more manly picture, has combined with a more general drive towards sexual equality and men now spend more than twice the amount of time preparing meals than they did in 1961.
According to the research by Prof. Jonatahn Gershuny, who runs the Centre for Time Research at Oxford, men now spend more than half an hour a day cooking, up from just 12 minutes a day in 1961.
Prof. Gershuny said, “The man in the kitchen is part of a much wider social trend. There has been 40 years of sexual equality, but there is another 40 years probably to come.”
Women, who a generation ago spent nearly two hours a day cooking, now spend just one hour and seven minutes—a great fall, but they still spend far more time in the kitchen than men.
Some experts have named these men in aprons as “Gastrosexuals (men using cooking skills to impress friends)”, who have been inspired to pick up a kitchen knife by the success of Ramsay, Oliver as well as other male celebrity chefs such as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Marco Pierre White and Keith Floyd.
“I was married in 1974. When my father came to visit me a few weeks later, I was wearing an apron when I opened the door. He laughed,” said Prof. Gershuny. “That would never happen now.”
Two-thirds of adults say that they come together to share at least three times a week, even if it is not necessarily around a kitchen or dining room table. Prof. Gershuny pointed out that the family meal was now rarely eaten by all of its members around a table—with many “family meals” in fact taken on the sofa in the sitting room, and shared by family members. “The family meal has changed a lot, and few of us eat—as I did when I was a child—at least two meals a day together as a family. But it has survived in a different format.”
小题1:What is one reason behind the trend that men spend more time cooking than before?| A．The improvement of cooks’ status. | | B．The influence of popular female chefs. | | C．The change of female’s view on cooking. | | D．The development of sexual equality campaign. |
小题2:What does the author think about the time men and women spend on cooking?| A．Men spend more time cooking than women nowadays. | | B．Women spend much less time on cooking than before. | | C．It will take 40 years before men spend more time at the stove than women. | | D．There is a sharp decline in the time men spend on cooking compared with 1961. |
小题3:How did Prof. Gershuny see the family meal according to the passage?| A．It has become a thing of the past. | | B．It is very different from what it used to be. | | C．It shouldn’t be advocated in modern times. | | D．It is beneficial to the stability of the family. |
小题4:Which is the best title for the passage?| A．The Changes of Family Meals | | B．Equality between Men and Women | | C．Cooking into a New Trend for Men | | D．Cooking—a Thing of the Past for Women |
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I prefer Lynne Truss’s phraseology: I am a grammar “sticker”. And, like Truss – author of Eats, shoots & Leaves – I have a “zero tolerance” approach to grammar mistakes that make people look stupid.
Now, Truss and I disagree on what it means to have “zero tolerance”. She thinks that people who mix up basic grammar “deserve to be struck by lightning, hacked (砍) up on the spot and buried in an unmarked grave”, while I just think they deserve to be passed over for a job – even if they are otherwise qualified for the position.
Everyone who applies for a position at either of my companies, iFixit or Dozuki, takes a compulsory grammar test. If job hopefuls can’t distinguish between “to” and “too”, their applications go into the bin.
Of course, we write for a living. iFixit.com is the world’s largest online repair manual (指南), and Dozuki helps companies write their own technical documentation, like paperless work instructions and step-by-step user manuals. So, it makes sense that we’ve made a strong strike against grammar errors.
But grammar is relevant for all companies. Yes, language is constantly changing, but that doesn’t make grammar unimportant. Good grammar is credibility, especially on the Internet. And, for better or worse, people judge you if you can’t tell the difference between “their” “there” and “they’re”.
Good grammar makes good business sense – and not just when it comes to hiring writers. Writing isn’t in the official job description of most people in our office. Still, we give our grammar test to everybody, including our salespeople, our operations staff, and our programmers.
Grammar signifies more than just a person’s ability to remember high school English. I’ve found that people who make fewer mistakes on a grammar test also make fewer mistakes when they are doing something completely unrelated to writing – like stocking shelves or labeling parts. It is the same with programmers. Applicants who don’t think writing is important are likely to think lots of other things also aren’t important.
小题1:The author agrees with Lynne Truss in that ________.| A．grammar mistakes can’t be tolerated | | B．books on grammar make people stupid | | C．people need to learn basic grammar | | D．grammar mistakes are absolutely unavoidable |
小题2:What’s the author’s “zero tolerance” approach to these job seekers who mix up basic grammar?| A．They should be left out for a job. | | B．They have to correct their mistakes. | | C．They aren’t qualified for their jobs. | | D．They must be severely punished. |
小题3:Which of the following is TRUE of iFixit and Dozuki?| A．Only one of them has a compulsory grammar test. | | B．They are companies where one learns grammar. | | C．Grammar is quite important for their existence. | | D．They depend on grammar correction for a living. |
小题4:What can we learn from the text? | A．Companies giving grammar tests may have no good business sense. | | B．Grammar becomes unimportant as language is constantly changing. | | C．A “zero tolerance” approach to grammar errors might seem a little unfair. | | D．People who pay attention to writing may pay attention to other things. |
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Whether you’re eating at a fancy restaurant or dining in someone’s home, proper table manners are likely to help you make a good impression. According to a US expert, Emily Post, “All rules of table manners are made to avoid ugliness.”
While Henry Hitchings of the Los Angeles Times admits that good manners can reduce social conflict, he points out that mostly their purpose is protective – they turn our natural warrior-like selves into more elegant ones.
So where did table manners come from?
In medieval England, a writer named Petrus Alfonsi took the lead to urge people not to speak with their mouths full. And King David I of Scotland also proposed that any of his people who learned to eat more neatly be given a tax deduction (减除).
Disappointingly, that idea never caught on. It was during the Renaissance, when there were real technical developments, opinions of correct behavior changed for good. “None of these was more significant than the introduction of the table fork,” wrote Hitchings. “Gradually, as forks became popular, they brought the new way of eating, making it possible, for instance, to consume berries without making one’s fingers dirty.”
Forks were introduced to Britain in 1608 and 25 years later, the first table fork reached America. Yet while most of the essentials (基本要素) are the same on both sides of the Atlantic, there are a few clear differences between what’s normal in the US and what holds true in the UK. For example, in the US, when food needs cutting with a knife, people generally cut a bite, then lay aside the knife and switch the fork to their right hand. Then they pick up one bite at a time. By contrast, Britons keep the fork in the left hand and don’t lay the knife down.
Though globalization has developed a new, simpler international standard of table manners, some people still stick with the American cut-and-switch method.The Los Angeles Times noted, “They are hanging on to a form of behavior that favors manners above efficiency.”
小题1:What does the story mainly talk about?| A．The importance of proper table manners . | | B．The development of table manners in Western countries. | | C．Some unwritten rules of table manners in the US and UK. | | D．Differences between American and British table manners. |
小题2: The underlined phrase “caught on” in the passage probably means ______.| A．worked in practice | B．became popular | | C．drew attention | D．had a positive effect |
小题3:Which of the following events influenced people’s table manners most according to the article?| A．The introduction of forks. | | B．The tax deduction policy. | | C．The rise of the Renaissance. | | D．Petrus Alfonsi’s efforts in promoting table manners. |
小题4:What can we conclude from the article?| A．British and American table manners are completely different from each other. | | B．American people pay more attention to their table manners than British people do. | | C．With globalization, the American cut-and-switch method has been abandoned in the US. | | D．British people’s way of using a knife and fork may be more efficient than American people’s. |
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