Kiss crisis, hug horrors and the UK's handshake headaches
Greeting someone, saying goodbye – these situations fill me with unease. You have a second to make a dangerous decision. One peck (轻吻)? Two pecks? Three? No kisses at all? Why, I think, as I crash into the other person’s face, why can’t it be as simple as a handshake?
A survey by the soap company Radox in May showed one in five Brits now feels a handshake is “too formal”, according to the Daily Mail. Some 42 percent said they never shook hands when greeting friends. For one third of people the alternative was a hug, for 16 percent a kiss on the cheek.
British people are known to be reserved (保守的) – unfriendly, some would say. Handshakes used to work for us because we didn’t have to get too close. But the super-British handshake is no longer fashionable. We want to be more like our easygoing Mediterranean neighbors who greet each other with kisses and hugs.
The trouble is, we still find it a bit awkward. What does a married man do when greeting a married female friend, for example? How should someone younger greet someone older?
Guys don’t tend to kiss one another; my male friends in Britain go for the “manly hug”, taking each other stiffly (不自然地) in one arm and giving a few thumps on the back with words like “Take it easy, yeah?”.
The biggest questions, if you do decide to kiss, are how many times and which cheek first. Unlike the French, who comfortably deliver three, our cheek-pecks usually end in embarrassed giggling (咯咯笑): “Oh, gosh, sorry, I didn’t mean to kiss you on the lips, I never know where to aim for first!”
But then it’s never been easy for us poor, uncomfortable Brits. Even the handshake had its problems: don’t shake too hard, but don’t hold the other person’s hand too limply (无力地) either, and definitely don’t go in with sweaty hands.
Maybe it’s better to leave it at a smile and a nod.
45. What is the article mainly about?
A. Origin of the traditional British way of greeting someone.
B. New trends and problems that Brits have with the way they greet people.
C. Why the author feels uneasy when greeting someone or saying goodbye.
D. Differences in greetings between Britain and other Western countries.
46. What did the survey by the soap company Radox show?
A. It is now considered unfriendly to greet friends with a handshake in Britain.
B. A kiss on the cheek is becoming the most popular form of greeting in Britain.
C. Most Brits no longer offer to shake hands with those they meet.
D. More and more Brits prefer to be greeted with a hug or kiss.
47. The underlined word “awkward” in paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to ______.
A. not helpful B. too informal C. quite embarrassed D. very interesting
48. Which does the author think might be the safest form of greeting for a British person?
A. A hug. B. A smile and a nod. C. A handshake. D. A kiss on the cheek.
49. Who wrote the article?
A. A British writer. B. An American writer. C. A French writer. D. A Chinese writer.
同步轻松练习系列答案科目：高中英语 来源：江苏省苏北四市(徐、淮、连、宿)2012届高三第三次模拟考试英语试题 题型：050
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科目：高中英语 来源：2012届广东省广州市高三第二次月考英语题 题型：完型填空
The story goes that some time ago, a man had a very lovely little daughter．One day the man 1 his 3-year-old daughter for 2_ _ a roll of gold wrapping paper．Money was tight and he became 3 when the child tried to decorate a 4 to put under the Christmas tree．However , the little girl brought the gift to her father the next morning and said, "This is for you, Daddy．"
The man was 5 by his earlier 6 , but his anger flared again when he found out the box was __7 ．He yelled at her, stating, "Don’t you know, when you give someone a present, there is 8 to be something inside?" The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and cried, "Oh, Daddy, it’s not empty at all．I blew kisses into the box．They are all for you, Daddy．"
The father was crushed. He 9 his arms around his little girl, and he begged for her 10 ．Only a short time later, an 11 took the life of the child. It is also told that her father kept that gold box by his bed for many years and whenever he was discouraged, he would take out a(an) 12 kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there．In a very real sense, each one of us, as human beings, has been given a gold container 13 unconditional love and kisses．．．from our children, family members, friends and God. There is simply no other __14 , anyone could hold, more 15 than this．
1.A．asked B．praised C．begged D．punished
2.A．wasting B．stealing C．selling D．holding
3.A．glad B．angry C．sad D．upset
4.A．room B．hall C．box D．ball
5.A．puzzled B．surprised C．scared D．embarrassed
6.A．overwork B．overreaction C．overcoat D．overtime
7.A．empty B．heavy C．full D．wet
8.A．happened B．seemed C．supposed D．used
9.A．put B．turned C．handed D．gave
10.A．kindness B．forgiveness C．sadness D．carelessness
11.A．overcoat B．incident C．accident D．action
12.A．imaginary B．kind C ．gentle D．warm
13.A．filled with B．pleased with C．crowded with D．equipped with
14.A．world B．feeling C．possession D．love
15.A．expensive B．precious C．comfortable D．interesting
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科目：高中英语 来源：2010年黑龙江省高二下学期期中考试英语 题型：阅读理解
Do dogs understand us?
Be careful what you say around your dog. It might understand more than you think.
A border collie named Rico recognizes the names of about 200 objects, say researchers in Germany. The dog also appears to be able to learn new words as easily as a 3-year-old child. Its word-learning skills are as good as those of a parrot or chimpanzee(黑猩猩).
In one experiment, the researchers took all 200 items that Rico is supposed to know and divided them into 20 groups of 10 objects. Then the owner told the dog to go and fetch one of the items and bring it back. In four tests, Rico got 37 out of 40 commands right. As the dog couldn't see anyone to get clues, the scientists believe Rico must understand the meanings of certain words.
In another experiment, the scientists took one toy that Rico had never seen before and put it in a room with seven toys whose names the dog already knew. The owner then told Rico to fetch the object, using a word the dog had never heard before.
The correct object was chosen in seven out of l0 tests, suggesting that the dog had worked out the answer by process of elimination(排除法). A month later, Rico remembered half of the new names, which is even more impressive.
Rico is thought to be smarter than the average dog. For one thing, Rico is a border collie, a breed (品种)known for its mental abilities. In addition, the 9-year-old dog has been trained to fetch toys by their names since the age of nine months.
It's hard to know if all dogs understand at least some of the words we say. Even if they do, they can't talk back. Still, it wouldn't hurt to sweet-talk your dog every now and then. You might just get a big, wet kiss in return!
1.From paragraph 3 we know that _________.
A. animals are as clever as human beings
B. dogs are smarter than parrots and chimpanzees
C. chimpanzees have very good word-learning skills
D. dogs have the same speaking abilities as 3-year-old children
2.Both experiments show that____________
A. Rico is smart enough to get all commands right
B. Rico can recognize different things including toys
C. Rico has developed the ability of learning mathematics
D. Rico won't forget the names of objects once recognizing them
3.Which of the following statements is true?
A. The purpose of the experiments is to show the border collie's physical abilities.
B. Rico has a better memory partly because of its proper early training.
C. The Border collie is world-famous for fetching objects.
D. Rico is born to understand all its owner's commands.
4.What does the writer want to tell us?
A. To train your dog. B. To talk to your dog.
C. To be friendly to your dog. D. To be careful with your dog.
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
He looked like a pirate.
With his handkerchief tied in a knot behind his little nine-year-old head, he looked like a pirate, a sad pirate. The first time little David came to our camp, he was hairless and worn out from medical treatments. He was also very angry.
Paul Newman's camp counselors (指导老师 ) were hoping to fill David's days with fun and laughter. But David stayed inside himself, wanting to be alone, or in a corner of the cabin. At this camp for children with life-threatening illnesses, we had seen some pretty tough children worn out by cancer recover full of energy despite their illness. But we saw little progress in David no matter what we tried with him. Five days into the eight-day session saw a quiet, sad little pirate.
Then something happened on that fifth night. Something at camp that we would call "huge".
It was cabin night. That's the time when campers and counselors spend lime together in each individual cabin instead of an all-camp activity. Campers love cabin nights because there's always a bedtime snack. On the cabin table that night were bags of potato chips.
David slowly walked over to the table, leaving his comer to join the rest of us. He took one of the bags of the potato chips and started smashing(弄碎) it with his little fists, as all the other campers looked on in disbelief, I wondered what the cabin counselor would do.
The college-age volunteer counselor positioned a bag of chips on die table in front of himself, and he, too, started smashing it with his fist. The campers went crazy as everyone ran to the table to get in on the fun of smashing potato chips with their fists.
Somehow everyone knew, everyone sensed, that anger within him was now being released.
For the last couple days of the session, David was a different kid. He was a little nine-year-old boy again, trying to fill the hours of each remaining day at camp with as much fun as could be possible.
Several days after the session, David came back again. This time, there wasn't anything he wouldn't try to fit in to his day. He sure was having a great time at camp. David asked me if I needed an altar(祭坛)boy when I celebrated Mass in the woods. Sure enough, he was my altar boy. I remembered how carefully he listened to me when I talked about death. 1 said it's only a doorway. You walk through the door and there's the Lord God and behind God a whole line of people waiting to hug you.
After Mass, he said to me, "Hey Fatha, a door, huh?"
A couple more days of fun passed and tonight was the talent show. The tradition is that campers and counselors dress up in costumes, and everyone gets a standing applause for singing and dancing or simply just acting like fools on stage.
The show had begun: lights, camera, action.
Unfortunately, the only action taking place in our row of seats was little David making his way from counselor to counselor to say an early good-bye to camp. He had become quite ill and had to go to the hospital because of this new crisis.
When this little nine-year-old pirate stood in front of me, he gave me a hug and a big wet kiss on my cheek. 1 was crying. He was crying. A whole row of counselors was in tears. After the hug and kiss, he put his hands on my shoulders, and tears still in his eyes, said: "See you on the other side of the door, Fatha."
71.The camp counselors failed to fill David's beginning days with fun and laughter, mainly because David .
A. behaved like a pirate
B. remained in a bad mood
C. was left alone at the camp
D. was teased by other campers
72.Seeing David smashing the potato chips, the counselor did the same thing in response because he .
A. would like David to eat more of them
B. hoped all the other campers would join
C. found it possible to help David release anger
D. wanted to show that he was as angry as David
73.What can we learn from this article?
A. The camp was intended for those talented in singing and dancing.
B. The purpose of the camp was to give diseased children caring love.
C. The camp was popular among the children who enjoyed their vacation here.
D. Medical treatment could be provided to diseased children at the camp.
74.Which of the following does NOT show the change in David?
A. David came back to the camp for a second session after the first ended.
B. David had become quite ill and had to go to the hospital because of this new crisis.
C. David made his way from counselor to counselor to say an early good-bye to camp.
D. David stood in front of me and gave me a hug and a big wet kiss on my cheek.
75. What do you think the theme of the story is?
A. Children with deadly diseases are usually difficult to get along with.
B. People should have patience with children with life-threatening illnesses.
C. People should tell children with life-threatening illnesses to care nothing about death.
D. Love and proper guidance can help people look at something negative in a positive way.
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