The airline lost your baggage. The hotel laundry(洗衣房) ruined your favorite shirt. The taxi driver overcharged you. When you're abroad, sometimes things go wrong. Now you can do something about it! Use these tips when you want to express an effective complaint in English.
No matter how unfair the situation, it's best to phrase your complaint politely. In English, you'll sound more polite if you use indirect language. Here are some examples:
“I'm sorry to bother you...” Starting a complaint like this puts the listener who may have heard many complaints that day at ease. Use this phrase if the situation isn't that serious. For example, "I'm sorry to bother you, but I wanted a baked potato, not fries."
“Can you help me with this?” Everyone would much rather be asked to do something than told! So try phrasing your complaint as a request for help: "Can you help me with this? My shirt came back from the laundry without buttons."
“I'm afraid there may be a misunderstanding.” This is a polite way of saying, "Your information is wrong. Please fix it now." You'll most likely use this phrase if you made reservations(预定) for a flight, hotel or restaurant, and when you arrive, it's not what you expected. For example, "I'm afraid there may be a misunderstanding. I requested a non-smoking room."
“I understand it's not your fault...” Often when you make a complaint, you deal with a person who was not directly responsible for the problem. But the problem isn't your fault, either! This phrase is helpful when you need swift action. Tell the person you're dealing with you understand they're not at fault and then directly state the problem: "I understand it's not your fault, but the airline promised they would deliver my baggage yesterday."
“Excuse me, but I understood that...” Using this phrase lets the person know you're well-informed and are suspicious they might be trying to take advantage of you. Don't say, "Hey! You're trying to cheat me!" Instead, start indirectly by stating what you know to be true: "I understood that the taxi ride to the airport was only 25 dollars." Then give them an opportunity to do the right thing.What’s the purpose of this passage?
A.To give an introduction of life abroad. |
B.To give suggestions on how to learn English. |
C.To offer advice on giving complaints in English. |
D.To offer guides to those who travel around the world. |
According to the passage, if we meet an unfair situation, we’d better .
A.state our complaints politely |
B.go for the police immediately |
C.use indirect language to hurt people |
D.fight against the one who is responsible |
Why should we start a complaint with polite phrases?
A.Because the situation is never serious. |
B.Because the listener may not speak English. |
C.Because it can help solve the problem more easily. |
D.Because we should be always in good manners abroad. |
Several effective complaints in English are mentioned above EXCEPT .
A.“Can you help me with this?” |
B.“I understand it’s not your fault.” |
C.“Hey! You’re trying to cheat me!” |
D.“I’m afraid there may be a misunderstanding.” |
The Maldives faces the threat of extinction from rising sea levels, but the government said on Thursday it was looking to the future with plans to build homes and a golf course that float.
An increase in sea levels of just 18 to 59 centimeters would make the Maldives -- a nation of tiny coral islands in the Indian Ocean -- virtually uninhabitable by 2100, the UN’s climate change panel has warned.
President Mohamed Nasheed has vowed a fight for survival, and last month he signed a deal with a Dutch company to study proposals for a floating structure that could support a convention centre, homes and an 18-hole golf course. “It is still early stages and we are awaiting a report on the possibility,” a government official said.
The company, Dutch Docklands, is currently building floating developments in the Netherlands and Dubai. There was no immediate comment from the firm but its website said it undertook projects that make “land from water by providing large-scale floating constructions to create similar conditions as on land”.
The Maldives began work on an artificial island known as the Hulhumale near the crowded capital island of Male in 1997 and more than 30,000 people have been settled there to ease congestion. The city, which has a population of 100,000, is already protected from rising sea levels by a 30-million-dollar sea wall, and the government is considering increasingly imaginative ways to combat climate change.
Nasheed, who staged the world’s first underwater cabinet meeting in October to highlight his people’s dilemma , has even spoken of buying land elsewhere in the world to enable Maldivians to relocate if their homes are flooded. He has also pledged the Hulhumale to turn his nation into a model for the rest of the world by becoming “carbon neutral” by 2020. His plan involves ending fossil fuel use and powering all vehicles and buildings from “green” sources.
1. What’s the main idea of the passage?
A. The Maldives plans to build floating homes for the rising sea level.
B. The Maldives’s president signed a deal with a Dutch company.
C. The Maldives staged the first underwater cabinet meeting.
D. The Maldives is considering ways to fight against the global warming.
2. Which statement is true about the Hulhumale?
A. The Hulhumale is a natural island near the capital of Male.
B. The Hulhumale is an artificial island to be built near the capital.
C. The Hulhumale was built in 1997 and has settled over 30,000 people.
D. The Hulhumale is protected by a 30-million-dollar sea wall.
3. According to the passage, the underlined word congestion means _______.
A. being endangered B. being crowded
C. being flooded D. being disappearing
4. Which of the following is NOT Nasheed’s idea?_______
A. To purchase land elsewhere in the world to help Maldivians to relocate if their homes are flooded.
B. To make his nation a model for the rest of the world by becoming “carbon neutral” by 2020
C. To stop using fossil fuel and power all vehicles and buildings from “green” sources.
D. To build more artificial islands for people to settle there.
5. We can infer from the passage that ________.
A. By 2100, all the the Maldives will live on artificial islands.
B. The plans to build homes and a golf course that float have been carried out
C. Maldive has been greatly affected by the global warming.
D. . Dutch Docklands is the president of Maldive.
Ⅲ阅读(共两节,满分40分)
第一节阅读理解(共15小题;每小题2分,满分30分)
阅读下列短文,从每题所给的A、B、C和D项中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Is a mouse that can speak acceptable? How about a dog with human hands or feet? Scientists, the people with the know-how to make such things happen, are now thinking about whether such experiments are morally right or not.
On Nov. 10, Britain’s Academy of Medical Sciences launched a study on the use of animals with human materials in scientific research. The work is expected to take at least a year, but its leaders hope it will lead to guidelines for scientists in Britain and around the world on how far they can go mixing human genes into animals in search of ways to fight human diseases.
“Do these constructs (构想) challenge our idea of what it is to be human?” asked Martin Bobrow, a professor of medical genetics at Cambridge University and chair of a 14-member group looking into the issue. “It is important that we consider these questions now so that appropriate boundaries are recognized.”
Using human material in animals is not new. Scientists have already created monkeys that have a human form of the Huntingdon’s gene so they can study how the disease develops; and mice with livers (肝) made from human cells are being used to study the effects of new drugs.
However, scientists say the technology to put ever greater amounts of human genetic material into animals is spreading quickly around the world --- raising the possibility that some scientists in some places may want to go further than is morally acceptable.
Last year in Britain there was a lively debate over new laws allowing the creation of human-animal embryos (胚胎) for experiments. On one side of the debate were religious groups, who claimed that such science interferes with nature. Opposing them were scientists who pointed out that such experiments were vital to research cures for diseases.
The experts will publish reports after the end of the study, in which they will give definitions (定义) for animal embryos with human genes or cells, look at safety and animal welfare issues, and consider the right legal framework to work within.
1. What does the underlined word “they” in Paragraph 2 refer to?
A. Scientists in Britain and around the world. B. Leaders of the research.
C. Guidelines for scientists. D. Scientific experiments.
2. Scientists do research of mixing human genes into animals in order to ____.
A. test new drugs on animals B. to find ways to fight human diseases
C. prove the research is morally acceptable
D. create monkeys and mice with livers made from human cells
3. We can infer from the passage that ____.
A. the experts will release reports after the study
B. scientists have never doubted the use of animals with human materials
C. the creation of human-animal embryos for experiments is legal in Britain
D. religious groups hold that cures for diseases have to be done through experiments
4. What would be the best title of the passage?
A. Morally right or not? B. A debate about new laws
C. Cures for diseases D. Animal embryos with human genes
5. Where is the passage from?
A. A science textbook B. A science booklet
C. the science column of a newspaper D. A science magazine for teenagers
The Japanese believe that a person has two souls, each necessary. One is the “gentle” soul; the other is the “rough” soul. Sometimes the person uses his gentle soul; sometimes he must use his rough soul. He does not favor his “gentle” soul; neither does he fight his “rough” soul. Human nature in itself is good, Japanese philosophers insist, and a human being does not need to fight any part of himself. He has only to learn how to use each soul properly at the appropriate times. Virtue for the Japanese consists in fulfilling one’s obligations to others. Happy endings, either in life or in fiction, are neither necessary nor expected, since the fulfillment of duty provides the satisfying end, whatever the tragedy it inflicts (遭受,承受). And duty includes a person’s obligations to those who have conferred benefits upon him and to himself as an individual of honor. He develops through this double sense of duty a self-discipline which is at once permissive and rigid, depending on the area in which it is functioning.
The process of acquiring this self-discipline begins in childhood. A Japanese child is given his own identity very early! If I were to define in a word the attitude of the Japanese toward their children I would put it in one succinct (简洁的) word – “respect”. Love? Yes, abundance of love, warmly expressed from the moment he is put to his mother’s breast. For mother and child this nursing of her child is important psychologically.
Rewards are frequent, a bit of candy bestowed ( 给予) at the right moment, an inexpensive toy…As the time comes to enter school, however, discipline becomes firmer. To bring shame to the family is the greatest shame for the child.
What is the secret of the Japanese teaching of self-discipline? It lies, I think, in the fact that the aim of all teaching is the establishment of habit. Rules are repeated over, and continually practiced until obedience becomes instinctive. This repetition is enhanced by the expectation of the elders. They expect a child to obey and to learn through obedience. The demand is gentle at first and tempered to the child’s tender age. It is no less gentle as time goes on, but certainly it is increasingly inexorable (不可阻挡的).
1. The main purpose of the passage is to discuss_________.
A. the belief system of the Japanese people B. Japanese view of happiness
C. Japanese view of duty D. self-discipline of the Japanese people
2. What can be inferred according to the Japanese belief system?
A. Some people have two different souls.
B. Some people are born evil. C. One should try to achieve the happy ending.
D. Duty is central in Japanese view of virtue.
3. In the teaching of self-discipline the Japanese emphasize _________.
A. obligations to one’s family and relations.
B. early tolerant training combined with restrictive movement
C. heavy external (外界的) control including strict punishment
D. a permissive atmosphere almost until adulthood
4. How do the Japanese teach their children of self-discipline?
A. They lie to their children about the benefit of self-discipline.
B. They develop their children’s habit of obedience through various teachings.
C. They rely on the important role of schools.
D. They use rewards to set good samples of self-discipline.
5. What does the underlined word “It”in the last sentence refer to?
A. The demand. B. The age. C. The obedience. D. The establishment.
There was no possibility of taking a walk that day. We had been wandering, indeed, in the leafless shrubbery an hour in the morning; but since dinner ( Mrs. Reed, when there was no company, dined early) the cold winter wind had brought with it clouds so dark, and rain so likely to pour, that further outdoor exercise was now out of the question.
I was glad of it. I never liked long walks, especially on cold afternoons. Awful to me was the coming home in the raw twilight, with nipped (冻伤的) fingers and toes, and a heart saddened by the scoldings of Bessie, the nurse, and humbled (贬低) by the consciousness of my physical inferiority to Eliza, John, and Georgiana Reed.
Eliza, John, and Georgiana were now surrounding their mama in the drawing room; she lay on a sofa by the fireside, and with her darlings around her ( for the time neither quarrelling nor crying) looked perfectly happy. She had stopped me from joining the group. She said that she regretted to be under the necessity of keeping me at a distance, but that until she heard from Bessie, and could discover by her own observation that I was trying to acquire a more sociable and childlike nature and a more attractive and lovely manner, and that she really must exclude me from privileges intended only for good children.
“What did Bessie say about me?” I asked.
“Jane, I don’t like questioners; besides, there is something truly forbidding in a child taking up her elders in that manner. Be seated somewhere; remain silent until you can speak pleasantly.”
The study room adjoined the drawing room and I slipped there. It contained a bookcase. I soon possessed myself of a volume stored with pictures.
With the book on my knee, I was then happy; happy at least in my way. I feared nothing but interruption, and that came too soon.
1. The underlined phrase “out of the question” in the first paragraph probably means________.
A. impossible B. possible C. likely D. no problem
2. Jane never liked long walks on cold afternoons because ________.
A. it often rained
B. it was too cold to walk outside
C. she often suffered a lot, both mentally and physically
D. she was often scolded by the nurse
3. We can infer from the passage that________.
A. Jane was treated equally in the family
B. Jane couldn’t enjoy equal rights with her cousins
C. Mrs. Reed was very strict with Jane for the sake of her
D. Jane was too troublesome
4. From the passage we can infer that ________.
A. the drawing room contained a bookcase B. Jane liked reading very much
C. Jane drew the curtain to keep warm D. Bessie was Jane’s good friend
5. The main idea of this part of the story is ________.
A. Jane was on good terms with her cousins B. Jane spent a happy childhood
C. Jane was badly treated in such a family D. Jane loved Mrs. Reed and her cousins
III阅读(共两节,满分40分)
第一节阅读理解(共15小题:每小题2分,满分30分)
阅读下列短文,从每题所给的A、B、C、D 选项中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Do you have any idea what you would like to be and do after graduation? A lot of people don’t begin thinking about careers until they reach junior or senior year, which, in my opinion, is too late.
When people are trying to decide what they want to do, it helps to know something they love. Ever since I was little, I’ve always been doing someone’s hair, make-up or nails, starting with Barbie dolls and progressing to humans. Over the years my family has really inspired me to do this and now I fix friends’ and family members’ hair for weddings, dances and other big events.
I have been thinking about what I would like to do for a career since middle school. I did some research and discovered that I might really enjoy being a cosmetologist, so I went to my hair stylist and asked her lots of questions about what it takes to reach her level and what she would recommend I do. I considered her advice and then did more research.
I used Aveda’s website to get information on the Aveda Institute and what type of credit(贷款) I would need from high school to apply. I found their institute has three parts: theoretical knowledge, practical experience, and professional business-building skills. For the past few years, I have been looking at Aveda in more and more detail. This school not only offers cosmetology, but also massage therapy. I grew up in Minnesota(美国中北部的一个州), so I plan to apply to the institute in Minneapolis that several people have highly recommended. It helps students become “future industry leaders in hair care, skin care, makeup and total body wellness”. It is affordable and everyone there is friendly and understanding.
Having done the groundwork and thinking about what I’d like to do after high school, I know that I will definitely pursue my dream of becoming a cosmetologist.
1.After reading the text, we can infer the author is interested in ___________.
A.traveling abroad B. service business C. social activities D. acting on the stage.
2.Why does the author think it’s too late for people to start thinking about careers in junior or senior year?
A. Because he/she began to think about them when very young.
B. Because many people are too old to learn.
C. Because a lot of people can’t grasp the opportunity.
D. Because many people have little they love.
3.We know from the text that a cosmetologist is __________ .
A. a chemist working at college B. a person who works in the institute
C. a doctor in a hospital D. a person doing all types of body care for people
4.The author plans to apply to the institute in Minneapolis NOT because________
A.the people there are good to others B. some people advise him/her to do so
C. the institute is free of charge D. the institute is helpful to his/her future
5. The author of the text may be a __________.
A. married person B. middle school student C. college student D. a teacher in an institute.