One Friday morning, Andrew announced to his wife that he finally decided to ask his boss for a salary raise. All day Andrew felt worried --- what if Mr. Larchmont refuses to grant his request? Andrew had worked so hard and of course, he deserves a wage increase.
The thought of walking into Larchmont’s office left Andrew weak in the knees. Late in the afternoon he finally mustered up the courage to approach his superior. To his delight and surprise, the ever-frugal Harvey Larchmont agreed to give him a raise!
Andrew arrived home to a beautiful table set with their best china, and candles lit. His wife, Tina had prepared a fine meal including his favorite dishes. Immediately he figured someone from the office might have broken the good news to her!
Next to his plate Andrew found a lettered note, reading: "Congratulations, my love! I knew you'd get the raise! I prepared this dinner to show just how much I love you. I am so proud of your accomplishments!" He read it and stopped to reflect on how sensitive and caring Tina was.
After dinner, Andrew was on his way to the kitchen when he observed a second card had slipped out of Tina's pocket onto the floor. He picked it up. He read: "Don't worry about not getting the raise! You deserve it anyway! You are a wonderful provider and I prepared this dinner to show you just how much I love you even though you did not get the increase."
Suddenly tears swelled in Andrew's eyes. Total acceptance! Tina's support for him was not conditional upon his success at work.
The fear of rejection is often softened when we know someone loves us regardless of our success or failure. Why was Andrew worried about asking for a salary raise?
| A．He was afraid of being turned down. |
| B．He didn’t think he ought to get a raise. |
| C．He wife didn’t support him in this. |
| D．His superior had refused him once. |
What does the underlined word “muster” in the second paragraph probably mean?
| A．To gather something. |
| B．To make use of something . |
| C．To create something. |
| D．To consume something |
Andrew felt ______ when he discovered the truth.
| A．angry | B．disappointed | C．relaxed | D．moved |
Tina prepared a good meal, _________.
| A．because she knew her husband would make it |
| B．because she wanted to comfort her husband |
| C．but she didn’t know what the result would be |
| D．and she wrote a letter to her husband. |
Workplaces all over the UK are preparing for Christmas and all the traditions and customs that come with it. But will this Christmas be a cause of happiness and celebration, or of disappointment and embarrassment?
At this time of year, colleges show their appreciation of each other by doing a “Secret Santa”. Secret Santa involves people who work together buying gifts for each other without saying who they are from.
Co-workers all write their names on pieces of paper, then organize a lottery in which each worker picks a colleague’s name at random. He then has to buy a present for that colleague, usually on a small budget of five or ten pounds.
Since the givers are unknown, the quality of presents can vary greatly. In an Internet survey of Secret Santa presents, the gifts that people received range from tickets to the opera to an air freshener for a car.
Another common workplace tradition is the office Christmas party, at which workmates put on their best clothes and enjoy lots of free wine.
Most parties go without a hitch, but sometimes the alcohol cause party-goers to behave in a way that they later regret.
The BBC invited people to share their most embarrassing Christmas office party stories, and received hundreds of funny ones. For example, a man split his trousers while dancing; a drunken lady spent the whole night with the edge of her dress folded into her pants, and later looked at photos that proved it at work.
But the funniest story must be that of Stuart Vanies, who got so drunk that he put his boss’s head into the toilet. Unsurprisingly, he was fired the very next day. How many Christmas traditions are mentioned?
| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
We learn from this article that for Christmas ____________________.
| A．few people buy presents for their colleagues in Britain |
| B．British workers write their names on the presents they give their colleagues |
| C．people usually give their colleagues presents of high quality |
| D．British workers buy their presents based on an agreed budget |
The underlined phrase “without a hitch” in the sixth paragraph means _______________.
| A．quite smoothly | B．without a result |
| C．with some difficulty | D．quite unexpectedly |
The examples in the last two paragraphs are to ______________________.
| A．show that most British people enjoy drinking wine |
| B．advise readers not to drink wine at parties |
| C．prove that funny things often happen at office Christmas parties |
| D．criticize the bad habits of the British |
Dogs have an understanding of fair play and become angry if they feel that another dog is getting a better deal, a new study has found.
The study looked at how dogs react when a companion is rewarded for the same trick in an unequal way. Friederike Range, a famous researcher, and her colleagues did a series of experiments with dogs who knew how to respond to the command “give the paw”. The dogs were normally happy to repeatedly give the paw, whether they got a reward or not.
But that changed if they saw that another dog was being rewarded with a piece of food, while they received nothing. The dogs hesitated significantly longer when obeying the command to give the paw. Eventually, the unrewarded dogs stopped cooperating.
Researchers always assumed that only humans pay close attention to unfairness. That changed in 2003 when Frans De Waal, a professor of psychology, and a colleague named Sarah Brosnan did a survey on monkeys. Monkeys had to hand a small rock to researchers to get a piece of cucumber(黄瓜) in return. However, the monkeys would suddenly become angry when receiving the piece of cucumber if they saw another monkey receive a more delicious reward, such as a grape, for doing the same job. The monkey that got the cucumber would eventually throw away the food and the rock, and would later just stop performing.
In that experiment, the monkeys considered the fairness of two different types of payment, but when Range and her colleagues did a similar study with their trained dogs, testing to see if dogs would become upset if they only got bread when other dogs received sausage, they found that dogs did not make that kind of subtle (细微的) distinction. As long as the dogs got some kind of food payment, even if it wasn’t the most delicious kind, they would play along. The dogs refused to give their paws when they _____________________.
| A．were given too much reward |
| B．realized they received less food |
| C．found another dog was given nothing |
| D．felt they were being treated unequally |
The underlined word “that” in Paragraph 3 probably refers to “__________________”.
| A．the dogs obeyed the command happily |
| B．the dogs waited for a reward |
| C．the dogs hesitated to give the paw |
| D．the dogs stopped cooperating |
The monkeys would become angry if they found _____________________.
| A．they were being given the same type of food |
| B．another monkey did much less work |
| C．another monkey was offered tastier food |
| D．other monkeys threw food and rocks |
Range finds that, compared with monkeys, dogs __________________.
| A．enjoy playing interesting games with humans |
| B．prefer to do the same jobs as humans |
| C．pay little attention to the type of reward received |
| D．aren’t sensitive to the stimulation (刺激) of food |
About 45 percent of Americans don’t get enough sleep, according to a recent survey. However, the benefits of getting enough sleep far outweigh the thrill of watching TV for one more hour or surfing the web. Getting a better night’s sleep will help you lose or keep your weight more effectively. Try these simple steps to improve your quality of sleep.
Take time to relax
So many of us go-go-go until it’s time for bed, but it’s important to take time to slow down and relax before sleeping. Do relaxing things, such as listening to soothing (抚慰的) music or deep breathing. Avoid stimulating (刺激的) activities such as writing e-mails, talking on the phone and watching TV. Some guidelines (指导方针): no e-mail after 8 p.m. and no TV or phone calls after 9 p.m..
Darker is better
Your body regulates your sleep cycle in response to the presence and absence of light, so dim the lights as evening approaches. Try getting ready for bed by candlelight. When you’re ready to sleep, make sure your room is as dark as possible.
Put your thoughts to bed
We all need time to process our day, but bed is not the place to do it if you want to sleep well. Take 10 to 15 minutes to record your thoughts in a journal. This effective technique will capture what’s in your mind so you don’t lie awake. Tell yourself you’re putting your thoughts to bed so that you can go to bed.
No sugar or alcohol before bed
These may wake you up. If you need a snack before bed, make it protein.
Try to get more sleep
Get an extra hour or two of sleep every night for a week and see how you feel. You’ll notice the difference!The purpose of writing this text is to ________________________.
| A．share some ways to slow down and relax before sleeping |
| B．guide readers to improve their quality of sleep |
| C．tell readers the importance of getting a good night’s sleep |
| D．publish the results of a recent survey on quality of sleep |
According to the text, we know that __________________________.
| A．we should keep our bedrooms in strong light before going to bed |
| B．writing a diary may excite us and influence our sleep |
| C．we should never get up later on weekends than we do on weekdays |
| D．candlelight is a good choice for our bedrooms when we’re getting ready to sleep |
We should take time to slow down because it can _________________________.
| A．inform us of the importance of sleeping |
| B．signal to our body it’s time to sleep |
| C．tell us to stop watching TV for making phone calls |
| D．tell us not to do stimulating activities |
It is not clear who first fried potatoes in hot oil. However, it is widely agreed that French fries(炸薯条) were prepared as early as the 1700s in Europe. Most people believe that it was the Belgians (比利时人), instead of the French, who invented “French”fries. They think that French fries got this name from the cooking word “to french” --- to cut green beans into long thin strips (条).
When Thomas Jefferson traveled to France, he enjoyed the deep-fried potatoes very much and brought them home with him. Ever since he served French fries to his guests at a Whitehouse dinner in 1802, the dish has become very popular in America.
In the summer of 1853, an American Indian called George Crum worked as a cook at Moon Lake Lodge, a hotel in Saratoga Springs, New York. He was good at making French fries. One evening, a dinner guest found Crum’s French fries too thick and sent them back to the kitchen. Crum then cut and fried some thinner French fries, but these, too, were met with disapproval. This time, the cook got angry. So he decided to play a trick on the guest. He finally made fries that were too thin to eat with a fork. To his surprise, the guest loved the browned, paper-thin chips. The browned chips, then called Saratoga Chips, became one of the most popular dishes of the hotel. Soon they were being sold, first in local restaurants, then throughout New England.The French fries were believed to be introduced to America in _________________________.
| A．the early 1700s | B．the early1800s |
| C．the early 1900s | D．the summer of 1853 |
By saying “these, too, were met with disapproval” in Paragraph 3, the author means that __________________.
| A．the guest still didn’t like the dish |
| B．the French fries were thin enough |
| C．the cook prepared the chips carefully |
| D．the cook had met the guest’s need |
How were Saratoga Chips invented?
| A．They were introduced by Thomas Jefferson. |
| B．A guest told a cook how to make the chips. |
| C．A cook made them only to play a trick on a guest. |
| D．A cook invented them in order to attract more guests. |
Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
| A．America’s Favorite Food | B．Who Invented Saratoga Chips? |
| C．George Crum --- a Clever Cook | D．The History of French Fries |
Sightseeing Tours in Germany
Germany has a variety of cities each with its own characteristics, from the busy city of Berlin, to the ancient city of Cologne, to the Bavarian capital of Munich. Thankfully, these major German cities offer sightseeing tours that offer the opportunity to better explore the surrounding regions and the country’s most historic sites.
Berlin on Bike
Berlin on Bike takes visitors through the German capital via five bicycle tours, all with guides. Regular tours include the Wall Tour and Berlin’s Best, with stops at some of the city’s most famous landmarks, such as the Reichstag explores what life was like in East Berlin under Communist Rule. The cost of the tour includes the bike and helmet rental, and tourists may choose to continue renting their bikes once the tour has ended.
Berlinonbike.de/English/index.php
Munich City Sightseeing Tour
The Munich City Sightseeing Tour transports travelers throughout the city via an open-air, double-decker bus. Passengers can hop on and off at various stops throughout the day. This tour includes stops at such sites as the Munich central train station, the 1972 Olympic Stadium Park, Munich’s opera house and Karlsplatz, the gate to the historic city. The bus features a narrated tour guide and offers an English-language option.
Raileurope.com/activities/munich-city-sightseeing-tour/index.html
Nice City Tours- Cologne
Nice City Tours offers three tours of Cologne, available to private or business groups in a variety of languages. The old Town Tour runs for two hours and includes a guided tour of the Cologne Cathedral and some of the city’s old squares. The Brewery Pub Tour explores some of the city’s most beloved breweries and pubs, and details the history behind Kolsch, Cologne’s resident beer. Finally, the Old Town and Rhine Tour begins by visiting some of old town’s most historic sites and ends with a ride down the Rhine River.
Nicecitytours.con/tours.htmThe similarity of the three tours lies in that they all include_____.
| A．bus tours | B．English service | C．three routes | D．guide’s service |
If you take a great interest in beer, which tour might be suitable for you?
| A．The Wall Tour | B．The Brewery Pub Tour |
| C．The Old Town Tour | D．The Munich City Sightseeing Tour |
Where can you probably see this passage?
| A．In a textbook. | B．On a website. |
| C．In an encyclopedia. | D．In a journal. |