Have you ever received a gift that was so clearly , not your taste that you wondered if perhaps it had been handed to you by mistake? Worse, have you ever given a present and watched your friend look as though she had opened the wrong box? Maybe she responded with a polite “Why, thank you,” but you knew you had missed the mark. Why do presents sometimes go wrong? And what do your choices (good and had) reflect about your personal qualities?
Choosing the right is an art, I believe. It calls for empathy－the ability to put yourself into someone else’s head and heart. We’
re all able to do this; in fact, we’re born with a kind of natural empathy. After the earliest period of childhood, however, it needs to be reinforced（加强）－by our parents, teachers, friends. When it isn’t, we’re not able to understand other people’s feelings as sharply. This can show in the gifts we select, and so can many other emotional qualities.
Think back to the presents you’ve given over the past year, the time and effort you put into your selection, how much you spent, your thoughts while you were shopping, and your feelings when the receiver opened the package. Keep in mind that what you choose displays your inner world. Of course, you may express yourself differently
with different friends, relatives, and other people you know.
We live in a society where exchanging presents is an importan
t part of communication. Ignoring the tradition won’t make it go away. If you really dislike such a tradition, tell your friends ahead of time.
60. The underlined expression “you had missed the mark” means “you had failed to_________ ”.
A. make her feel better B. keep your friendship
C. receive a present in return D. get the expected effect
61. Which of the following is the main idea of the second paragraph?
A. Natural empathy needs to be reinforced.
B. Emotional changes
influence one’s choice of gifts.
C. Selecting the right gift is an ability people
are born with.
D. Choosing gifts requires one to understand the receivers.
62. In the third paragraph, the author tells us that _____________. .
A. attention should be paid to the receivers’ responses
B. one learns from what he did in the past
C. the choice of girls reflects one’s emotional qualities
D. one should spend more time choosing gifts
63. The best possible title for this passage is “___________”.
A. Ways of Choosing Gifts B. An Important Tradition
C. Exchanging Presents D. Message in a Gift
For most people, shopping is still a matter of wandering down the street or loading a cart in a shopping mall. Soon, that will change. Electronic commerce (trade) is growing fast and will soon bring people more choices. There will, however, be a cost: protecting the consumer from being cheated will be harder. Many governments therefore want to apply street regulations to the electronic world. But politicians would be wiser to see cyberspace as a basis for a new era of corporate self-regulation.
Consumers in rich countries have grown used to the idea that the government takes responsibility for everything from the stability of the banks to the safety of the drugs or their rights to refund when goods are faulty. But governments cannot enforce national laws on businesses whose only presence is on the screen. Even in a country where a clear right to compensation exists, the on-line customer in Tokyo, say, can hardly go to New York to get a refund (退款) for a clothes purchase.
One answer is for government to cooperate more: to recognize each other’s rules. But that requires years of work and volumes of detailed rules. And plenty of countries have rules too fanciful for sober countries to accept. There is, however, another choice. Let the electronic businesses do the regulation themselves. They do, after all, have a self-interest in doing so.
In electronic commerce, a reputation for honest dealing will be a valuable competitive asset. Governments, too, may compete to be trusted. For instance, customers ordering medicines on- line may prefer to buy from the United States because they trust the rigorous screening of the Food and Drug Administration; or they may decide that the FDA’s rules are too strict, and buy from Switzerland instead.
Customers will still need to use their judgment, but precisely because the technology is new, electronic shoppers are likely for a while to be a lot more cautious than customers of the normal sort. And the new technology will also make it easier for them to complain when a company lets them down. In this way, at least, the advent(出现) of cyberspace may argue for fewer consumer protection laws, not more.In case an electronic shopper bought faulty goods from a foreign country, what could he do?
| A．Refuse to pay for the purchase. | B．Go to the seller and ask for a refund. |
| C．Appeal to consumer protection law. | D．Complain about it on the Internet. |
In the author’s view, businesses would place a high emphasis on honest dealing because in the electronic world _______.
| A．international cooperation would be much more frequent |
| B．consumers could easily seek government protection |
| C．a good reputation is a great advantage in competition |
| D．it would be easy for consumers to complain |
We can infer from the passage that in licensing new drugs the FDA in the United States is______.
| A．very quick | B．very cautious | C．very slow | D．rather careless |
According to the author, what will be the best policy for electronic commerce?
| A．Self-regulation by the business. | B．Strict Consumer protection laws. |
| C．Close international cooperation. | D．Government protection. |
Bayfield Shopping Coupons(赠券)
| 1. Six Hours Free Parking If you spend $100 or more in our stores you will receive six hours of free parking. When you have spent $100 or more, just take this coupon and your receipt to the customer service desk on lever 4. They will stamp your parking ticket to allow 6 hours of free parking. Offer here until November 14. |
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| 2. Win a $1,000 CD Collection Win your choice of $1,000 worth of CDs from JB Music Store. Just buy any two CDs and your name will go into the competition. Select your own prize from our wide variety of rock, pop, jazz, and classical music. Competition ends November 14. Prize drawn on November 21. Check store for more information. |
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| 3. Buy One, Get One Free Buy one shirt or tie at Deniel’s Menswear, and get another shirt or tie of the same value free. Choose from any of our dress shirts and we will give you another one at no cost. Hurry! Offer ends November 14. Offer limited to one per customer. |
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| 4. 10% Off Present this coupon at Tile Book Store to get a 10% discount on any books you buy. We have lots of books to choose from, including children’s books, novels, travel guides, and science works. You’ re sure to find something that you will enjoy. Shop now for Christmas. We have plenty of toys as gifts for you and avoid the rush! Offer here until November 14. |
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| 5. Half price Movie Tickets Buy any full price movie ticket on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, and you can buy a second ticket for a friend for only half price. The latest movies are show in one of our five theaters at Bayfield Shopping Centre. Offer here through December 1. Limit one per customer. |
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| 6. Free Soft Drink Buy any meal for at least $ 6 at Mike’ s Cafe, and receive a free soft drink. We serve the best fast food in the Shopping Centre. Come in and try our delicious meals and our excellent service. You won’ t be disappointed ! Free soft drink offer ends November 14. |
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What are these ads for?
| A．Food you can order for delivery. | B．Places to go on vacation. |
| C．Special offers at a shopping center. | D．Things on sale in a big store. |
Which of the following is true according to the ads?
| A．Spending $ 50 means 3 hours of free parking. |
| B．One person can buy 4 tickets for the price of’ $ 2. |
| C．After buying two CDs, you can get another two CDs for free. |
| D．At Mike’ s Cafe, people can get a free soft drink after spending $ 6. |
We can know from the passage _______.
| A．there is more than one theatre in the centre |
| B．if you buy a book there, you may pay less than half the price |
| C．you may get a free one if you buy a shirt, or a tie, or a pair of shoes |
| D．you won’t get a free soft drink unless you spend more than 10 dollars on the meal |
People who are cheerful and relaxed are less likely to suffer from colds. It’s possible that being full of vim and vigor helps the body fight illnesses, say the researchers from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh.
“We need to take more seriously the possibility that a positive emotional style is a major player in disease risk,” says psychologist Sheldon Cohen, the study’s lead researcher.
In a previous study, Cohen and his colleagues found that people who tended to be cheerful and lively were least likely to develop sniffles, coughs, and other cold symptoms(症状).
Those findings were interesting, but they didn’t prove that a person’s attitude affects whether he or she gets sick. Instead, it was still probable that a person’s underlying personality is what matters.
Evidence suggests, for instance, that certain people are naturally more likely to be outgoing and optimistic, with high self-respect and a sense of control over life. This would mean that who we are, not how we feel, finally decides our chances of catching colds.
To figure out which mattered more (personality or emotions), the CMU team interviewed 193 healthy adults. The researchers talked to each person over the phone every evening for 2 weeks. They told the researchers about the positive and negative feelings they had experienced that day.
The results showed that everyone in the study was equally likely to get infected. Their symptoms, however, differed depending on the types of emotions that they had reported over the previous 2 weeks.
Among those who reported good moods and had been infected with the flu virus, for example, 28 percent developed coughs and stuffy(堵塞)noses. On the other hand, those symptoms struck 41 percent of people who had been less positive. Scientists argue about whether negative emotions or positive emotions have a stronger effect on how healthy we are. For now, it can’t hurt to look on the bright side more often than not! What is the text mainly about?
| A．how to get rid of colds | B．Attitude determines life |
| C．Smiles turn away colds | D．Different opinions about colds |
The word “full of vim and vigor” underlined in Paragraph 1 probably means_______.
| A．ignorant | B．well-informed | C．energetic | D．in low spirits |
According to the finding a leading factor of catching colds should be one’s _______.
| A．health. | B．personality. | C．quality | D．mood |
Bysayingthelastparagraph,thewriterintendstosuggest_______.
| A．positiveemotionsareasgoodasnegativeemotions |
| B．itisnotnecessarilygoodforyouifyoualwayslookatproblemspositively |
| C．itwillbegoodforyourhealthtoalwayskeepupanoptimisticstateofmind |
| D．thesaying---everycoinhastwosides. |
Not many years ago, a wealthy and rather strange old man named Johnson lived alone in a village in the south of England. He had made a lot of money in trading with foreign countries. When he was seventy – five, he gave $ 60,000 to the village school to buy land and equipment for a children’s ground.
As a result of his kindness, he became famous. Many people came to visit him. Among them was a newspaperman. During their talk, Johnson remarked that he was seventy-five and expected to live to be hundred. The newspaperman asked him how he managed to be healthy at seventy-five. Johnson had a sense of humor. He liked whisky and drank some each day. “I have an injection (注射) in my neck each evening,” he told the newspaperman, thinking of his evening glass of whisky.
The newspaperman did not understand what Johnson meant. In his newspaper he reported that Johnson was seventy-five and had daily injection in his neck. Within a week Johnson received thousands of letters from all over Britain, asking him for the secret of his daily injection.Johnson became a rich man through _______.
| A．doing business | B．making whisky | C．cheating | D．buying and selling land |
The gift of money to the school suggests that Johnson _______.
| A．had many children in the school | B．was a strange old man |
| C．was very fond of children | D．was very kind |
Many people wrote to Johnson to find out _______.
| A．what kind of whisky he had |
| B．how to live longer |
| C．how to become wealthy |
| D．in which part of the neck to have an injection |
When Johnson said he had an injection in his neck each evening, he really meant that _______.
| A．he liked drinking a glass of whisky in the evening |
| B．he needn’t an injection in the neck |
| C．a daily injection in the evening would make him sleep well |
| D．there was something wrong with his neck |
Students who date in middle school have significantly worse study skills. They are four times more likely to drop out of school and report twice as much alcohol and tobacco use as their single classmates, according to new research from the University of Georgia.
"Romantic relationships are a trademark of adolescence, but very few studies have examined how adolescents differ in the development of these relationships," said Pamela Orpinas, study author and professor in the College of Public Health and head of the Department of Health Promotion and Behavior.
Orpinas followed a group of 624 students over a seven-year period from 6th to 12th grade.
Each year, the group of students completed a survey indicating whether they had dated and reported the frequency of different behaviors, including the use of drugs and alcohol. Their teachers completed questionnaires about the students’ academic efforts. He found some students never or hardly ever reported dating from middle to high school, and these students had consistently the best study skills according to their teachers. Other students dated infrequently in middle school but increased the frequency of dating in high school.
"At all points in time, teachers rated the students who reported the lowest frequency of dating as having the best study skills and the students with the highest dating as having the worst study skills,” according to the journal article. Study skills refer to behaviors that lead to academic success such as doing work for extra credit being well organized, finishing homework, working hard and reading assigned chapters.
"Dating a classmate may have the same emotional complications of dating a co-worker," Orpinas said, "When the couple break up, they have to continue to see each other in class and perhaps witness the ex-partner dating someone else. It is reasonable to think this could be linked to depression and divert attention from studying.”
“Dating should not be considered a ceremony of growth in middle school,” Orpinas concluded. According to the passage, students who date in middle school may_____
| A．have poorer academic performances |
| B．be more likely to hurl others |
| C．enjoy better school lives |
| D．are less likely to use alcohol and tobacco |
When doing his study, Orpinas_____.
| A．followed a group of students of 6th and 12th grade |
| B．completed a survey and a report each year |
| C．completed questionnaires about the students’ academic efforts |
| D．found that the students’ study skills have connection with their frequency of dating |
Study skills may include the following behaviors and qualities Except_____
| A．being diligent | B．being well organized |
| C． being kind and helpful | D．finishing assigned schoolwork |
What can possibly happen to the school couples after they break up?
| A．They don’t want to see each other any longer. |
| B．Their attention to studying will be affected. |
| C．They will miss their ex-partners sometimes |
| D．They will think it reasonable to get depressed. |
Orpinas’ attitude towards dating in middle school is_____
| A．supportive | B．positive | C．negative | D．indifferent |