Everybody hates it, but everybody does it. A recent report said that 40％of Ameri

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Everybody hates it, but everybody does it. A recent report said that 40％of Americans hate tipping. In America alone, tipping is a $16 billion-a-year industry. Consumers acting politely ought not to pay more than they have to for a given service. Tips should not exist. So why do they? The common opinion in the past was that tips both rewarded the efforts of good service and reduced uncomfortable feelings of inequality. And also, tipping makes for closer relations. It went without saying that the better the service, the bigger the tip.
But according to new research from Cornell University, tips no longer serve any useful function. The paper analyzes numbers they got from 2,547 groups dining at 20 different restaurants. The connection between larger tips and better service was very weak. Only a tiny part of the size of the tip had anything to do with the quality of service.
Tipping is better explained, by culture than by the money people spend. In America, the custom came into being a long time ago. It is regarded as part of the accepted cost of a service. In New York restaurants, failing to tip at least l5％ could well mean dissatisfaction from the customers. Hairdressers can expect to get l5％-20％, and the man who delivers your fast food $2. In Europe, tipping is less common. In many restaurants the amount of tip is decided by a standard service charge. In many Asian countries, tipping has never really caught on at all. Only a few have really taken to tipping.
According to Michael Lynn，the Cornell papers’ author, countries in which people are more social or outgoing tend to tip more. Tipping may reduce anxiety about being served by strangers. And Mr. Lynn says, “In America, where people are expressive and eager to mix up with others, tipping is about social approval. If you tip badly, people think less of you. Tipping well is a chance to show off.”
小题1:This passage is mainly about________.

A．different kinds of tipping in different countries

B．the relationship between tipping and custom

C．the origin and present meaning of tipping

D．most American people hate tipping

小题2:Which of the following best explains the underlined phrase “caught on” ?

A．Been hated．	B．Become popular．
C．Been stopped．	D．Been permitted

小题3:Among the following situations, in your opinion, who is likely to tip most?

A．A Frenchman just quarreled with the barber who did his hair badly in New York.

B．A Chinese student enjoyed his meal in a famous fast food restaurant in New York.

C．A Japanese businessman asked for a pizza delivery from a Pizza Hut in New York.

D．An American just had a wonderful dinner in a well known restaurant in New York.

小题4:We can infer from this passage that________.

A．tipping is no longer a good way to satisfy some customers themselves

B．tipping has something to do with people’s character

C．tipping in America can make service better now

D．tipping is especially popular in New York

答案

小题1:C
小题1:B
小题1:D
小题1:B

解析

小题1:主旨大意题。
小题1:词义猜测题。根据Only a few have really taken to tipping 可知。
小题1:美国人有给小费的习俗。
小题1:推理判断题。由最后一段可知答案。

举一反三

Money is all surrounding us．Every day, we see it, use it, and it is on the tip of our tongue．Did you ever stop to take into consideration where the money that you carry around every day comes from?
Making new money is a very unique job and no easy task．It has up to 65 steps When the money in circulation（流通） gets dirty and worn out, it is replaced with new money The old money is taken from banks and brought to places where it is destroyed Usually, the old money is burned．The burned money is replaced by new paper money
If old money is being replaced, then new money is printed in a place called a mint（造币厂）．Large sheets 01 paper are printed with many pictures of some currency （流通货币）．These large sheets are cut into individual bills．The individual bills are then put together in big stacks and then sent to banks．
Sometimes the mint will make a new bill with a new picture （portraits of statesman and places of interest are favoured） or a new colour. It is not easy for the government to make a new bill. It takes a long time, and there are many steps to go through before a new bill can be sent to banks, first, people m the government decide that a new kind of bill is needed Then, they ask and artist to design the new bill．A different artist cuts the new picture into a soft piece of metal called a die．The dies are made and put onto large printing machines．Then, very special paper is used, which no one but the mint can have．Along with this special paper, the mint also prints currency using special colours．After the dies print the new currency onto the paper, the bills are cut, stacked, and sent off to the banks．
小题1:From the passage we know that

A．banks make new money

B．it takes 65 procedures to make new money

C．mints decide what kind of bill is needed

D．old money that is not used is forever stored in a special place

小题2:We can infer from the passage that a die is ____

A．something for dead people

B．a special machine that prints the money

C．a special piece of paper that the money is made from

D．a piece of metal that puts the picture on the money

小题3:"Which of the following shows the right order of dealing with new money?
①New money is printed in a mint．
②Bills are cut from large sheets of special paper．
③New money is sent in large amounts to banks．
④The government decides to make new money．

A．①②③④

B．④③②①

C．④①③②

D．④①②③

小题4:Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?

A．The reason for making new money．

B．The processes of making a new bill．

C．The amount of new money needed．

D．Things used．to make new money or a new bill．

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Advertisement is the difficult business of bringing information to great numbers of people.The purpose of an advertisement is to make people respond to make them react to an idea，such as helping prevent forest fires，or to make them want to buy a certain product or service.At the beginning of the 20th century，advertisement was described as“salesmanship in print”.If this definition were expanded to include radio and television，it would still stand today.The most effective way to sell something is through person-to-person contact.But the cost of person-to-person selling is high because it takes a great deal of time，and it increases the cost of the product or service.Advertising distributes the selling message to many people at one time.The first printed advertisement in the English language appeared in 1278，more than a century before Shakespeare’s first play was produced.This early advertisement was the work of William Caxton，England’s first printer，who used it to advertise religious books from his own workshop Caxton posted small printed notices along London’s main streets．Besides advertising his product，he identified his shop with a red-striped shield(盾形徽章)so that customers could find it easily．
This same sort of simple informational advertising is still used.Examples are the roadside signs that tell travelers that they can buy fresh corn just down the road or that there is a restaurant in the next town.
The Industrial Revolution，in the 18th and 19th centuries，brought a new kind of advertising.Large factories took the place of small workshops and goods were produced in large quantities.
Manufacturers used the newly built railroads to distribute(递送)their products over wide areas.They had to find many thousands of customers in order to stay in business.They couldn’t simply tell people where shoes or cloth or tea could be bought---they had to learn how to make people want to buy a specific product. Thus modern advertising was born．
Advertising created new markets and helped to raise standards of living as people came to feel that they had a right to new and better products.
小题1:The passage mainly talks about .

A．the development of advertisement

B．the first advertisement in the world

C．the difficulty in advertising

D．the advantages of advertisements

小题2:Why is advertisement accepted by people?

A．Because it can help to prevent forest fires.

B．Because it cand make people want to buy a certain product or service.

C．Because it can bring information to great numbers of people.

D．Because it can help people live longer.

小题3:Modern advertisement was born as a result of .

A．the Industrial Revolution

B．the newly built railroads

C．the appearance of the first printer advertisement

D．people’s need

小题4:We can conclude from the passage that .

A．red-striped shield is the best thing to use in advertising

B．main streets and television are used in advertising

C．person-to-person selling is the best way in advertising

D．people show little interest in advertisement

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Have you got any wonderful plans for your coming winter vacation? Here are some wonderful films for you to kill time.

Away We Go

With a baby on his way, a young couple, Burt and Verona, look at their lives and are puzzled about what they really want. So they hit the road and seek a place to call home. On their journey, they visit a handful of characters and learned a lot.
It’s about taking the scenic route in life, preparing for the hope and excitement and fear of new beginnings, while never forgetting to look out of the window.

Orphan

Easther, a bright and well-behaved child, however, is not as innocent as she appears. Soon after being taken home, the peace of her adoptive family is completely changed…
You want a good horror film about a child from hell? Then you got one! Do not, in any cases, take children to see it.

500 Days of Summer

Tom is in love with Summer from the moment he sees her. Can he accept that she simply likes him for now, not for forever? The movie is about Tom wrestling with that reality. Tom remembers his love, Summer, as a series of joys and bafflements(阻碍,迷惑). But Summer is just herself and he cannot have her.
Here is a rare movie that begins by telling us how it will end and is about how the hero has no idea why.

2012

The director Roland Emmerich successfully dresses a corny story with an old Mayan prediction, which is believed by many to happen in the coming 2012 and as a result, attracts millions of people into the cinema.
It’s just an entertaining Hollywood blockbuster(大片) with plenty of jokes, instead of a description of what the end of the world is really like. Don’t take it too seriously!

小题1: This passage aims to __________.

A．make comments on films for a cinema	B．introduce films for a film corporation
C．recommend several films for fun	D．advertise several films for a website

小题2:If you bring your seven-year-old sister to the cinema, which of the following film should you avoid?

A．Away We Go.

B．Orphan.

C．2012.

D．500 Days of Summer.

小题3: Among all the characters mentioned in the passage, who directed films in Hollywood?

A．Roland Emmerich.

B．Tom and Summer.

C．Burt and Verona.

D．Esther.

小题4:Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Orphan is a comedy about Esther adopted by a kind family.

B．500 Days of Summer is a romance with a happy ending.

C．Away We Go shows beautiful scenery on the young couple’s journey.

D．The ancient Mayan prediction is going to happen in 2012.

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World Expo 2010 Shanghai China is to be staged in Shanghai from May1 to October 31, 2010. If you plan to visit the Shanghai Expo this summer, China Pavilion is a must-see area for you.
China Pavilion, which is called Oriental Crown（东方之冠）, is located at the center of the Expo site. Standing 63 meters tall, the China Pavilion takes the shape of an emperor’s crown, with the upper layers larger than the lower ones. Covering 160,000 square meters in floor space, the pavilion consists of a national hall and a regional hall. Construction on the China Pavilion began on December 18, 2007. The design of the China Pavilion was picked from a total of 344 designs put forward by Chinese from around the world. The pavilion possesses both traditional and modern features, which helps develop the theme of the 2010 Expo: “ Better City, Better Life”. For example, it is red in appearance, which contains the elements of traditional Chinese culture, and it is green indoors, with the use of energy-saving techniques. The Shanghai World Expo is expected to attract 70 million visitors from across the globe. It is estimated that 400,000 people will visit the Expo and its 140 pavilions every day during the period, but the China Pavilion is only able to receive about one tenth of the total. How to accommodate so many people in the pavilion remains a tough task. Luckily, the China Pavilion is built as a permanent landmark.
During the Expo, the main structure will be used for an exhibition based on the theme of “ Chinese wisdom in urban development” by explaining the values of harmony, nature and spirit. The three-story pavilion has three sections. The top floor’s “Footprint of the East” will show some of the changes in Chinese cities. There, you can see a film which shows how Chinese cities have changed, especially in the past 30 years. According to Lu Chuan, director of the film, the scenery is like something from Lord of the Rings. On the second floor, “Journey of Wisdom” will explain China’s four great inventions. And the ground’s “Blossoming City” will display scenes from cities of the future.
小题1:Which of the following words can be used to describe the China Pavilion?

A．Tiny	B．Round
C．Exotic（异国情调的）	D．Environmentally-friendly

小题2:From the passage, we can infer that _____.

A．China Pavilion will be pulled down after the World Expo 2010 is over

B．China Pavilion will probably continue to be open to visitors after the Expo is over

C．you can continue to visit the other pavilions after the Expo is over

D．some foreign friends took part in the designs of the China Pavilion

小题3: On the second floor, you can _________.

A．enjoy a film about the changes of cities in China

B．learn what Shanghai looked like in the 1920s

C．find out how paper was invented

D．see how Chinese cities will look like in the future

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The days of Europeans relaxing in the cafe with a newspaper and a seemingly endless cup of coffee appear to be numbered．A new English expression is popular in Europe these days：“coffee to go．”
“Five or ten years ago it was much more normal to sit in a cafe for several hours than it is nowadays，”says Joann，who works in a central Berlin coffee bar owned by the Canadian coffee and bakery chain Tim’s.
“There is a trend towards a more fast-paced life．But people still act surprised when you ask if the coffee is‘to go’．You mean I can take it with me? they ask..”
“Europe is often five or eight years behind trends in America，”says Joann.“In the States.‘coffee to go’is part of everyday life.”
Owing in part to Starbucks，it appears to be very much part of everyday life in many other countries too．
The Seattle-based group compete with a growing number of global chains in attempting to reshape coffee drinking cultures in regions including Asia and the Middle East．
The US is the model for continental Europe’s new“coffee to go”culture：Each of the new cafe bars offers bagels，muffins，brownies and cookies to go with the coffee.
But then,“coffee to go’’might sound a little odd to English ears used to the words “takeaway”or take one．
It does sum up the brisker pace of life since the city resumed its status as the German capital following the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989.
As one more sign of the changing times，one of Berlin’s most venerable(古老而庄重的)coffee houses，cafe Einstein，has followed the trend by opening a small chain of coffee shops across the city．
Taking coffee,slowly and in decorous（端正的）surroundings,has been a feature of European coffee houses,particularly in German speaking countries,for decades.
For the elderly citzens of Vienna it amounts to a ritual（仪式）when they gather in coffee houses around the city for a cup of their favovrite drink and a piece of rich,creamy cake.
小题1:From the passage,we can see that .

A．“coffee to go” springs in Europe these days

B．Europe is often a few years before trends in America

C．America often follows Europe’s “coffee to go”culture

D．it’s easy to reshape coffee drinking cultures in the Middle East

小题2:Every new cafe bar offers some to go with the coffee

A．food

B．newspaper

C．drink

D．music

小题3:More and more Europeans have takeaway coffee because .

A．Europeans live a more fast-paced life now

B．The coffee is much cheaper

C．Europeans are used to taking away the coffee

D．the coffee is easy to take away

小题4:The characteristic of European coffee houses is .

A．“coffee to go ”as part of daily life

B．sitting in a cafe bar for several hours

C．having coffee slowly in a pleasant atmosphere

D．taking away coffee in a hurry

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