Except for a few times, Americans are not big present-givers. There’s no exchange of presents among business people, and if one American tries to give another a present, it may look like that he wants to bribe (贿赂) him. Americans have learned that in some other countries people like to give presents to others, but among ourselves we don’t see the need for presents.
Even friends may never exchange presents. When I go to foreign countries, I try to bring back little things for close friends, but nobody would feel unhappy if I didn’t. I don’t often re­member a friend’s birthday, and few people outside of my family remember mine. If someone gave me presents too often, I’d get unpleasant. But a present from a foreigner — that kind from his or her homeland — won’t go wrong, except to government employees (政府职员) who can’t be given presents.
You usually open a present at once and in front of the person who gives it except Christmas and birthday presents. You should only say, ‘It’s so nice. Thanks…’when you get Christ­mas or birthday presents.
You may want to bring a bottle of wine (葡萄酒) or flowers to a dinner party, but you’re never asked to. Nobody will mind if you bring wine, but your friend may not use it that evening.
At Christmas we often give presents to our family and sometimes our friends. We also give presents to people who have been helpful during the year like doormen, babysitters, housecleaners , newspaper senders — anyone who has often helped us.
【小题1】What do the underlined words ‘close friends’ mean in the passage?

Sam lived in a small village. His mother was often ill and he had to spend much money on medicine. And when he was twenty-eight, he borrowed some money from his friends and married. His wife was beautiful but came from a poor family. So she could not help him. She had to tell her husband to find work in the town. She hoped he would get much money to pay for his debt(债). They young man thought she was right and had to say goodbye to her and left.

The young man could neither read nor write. Of course nobody would employ (雇用) such a man like him in the town. He had to go to an island and planted trees for a farmer there. The island was small and there were only three men on it. They lived a hard life and Sam missed his mother and wife very much. He wanted to write to them, but he couldn’t. Luckily, Charlie, who was in school for five years, helped him. Sam asked the farmer to post the letter for him. From then on he waited for the answer every day. About two months later the farmer brought his wife’s letter to the island. He was very happy but he didn’t read it. He had to ask Charlie to help him again.

The farmer came out of the house and found Sam was stopping Charlie’s ears while he was listening to the young man reading it. It surprised the farmer and he asked, “What are you doing it for, Sam?”

“I can’t let him hear my wife’s letter!”

1.Sam’s wife was a _____________ woman.

A. nice and rich????? ????????????? ????????????? B. beautiful but poor??? ????????????? C. kind and strong

2.Sam had to go to the town to find work because _________.

A. the town was a good place????????????? B. he could read and write??? C. he had to pay for his debt

3.The life on the island was ______________.

A. difficult??????????? ????????????? B. easy?????????????? ????????????? C. relaxing

4.Who posted the letter for Sam?

A. Charlie.???????????? ????????????? B. The farmer.??????? ????????????? ????????????? C. Sam himself.

5.From the story we know Sam was a ___________.

A. rude man???????? ????????????? ????????????? B. kind and hard-working man?????? C. cruel husband

“How many common English words were invented by Shakespeare?”
How long did it take people to find the answer to this question 15 years ago? And now! you can google it and find the answer immediately!
Google is the most popular Internet search engine in the world. It was invented by two students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin. They met in 1993, when they were studying computer science at Stanford University, USA. They dreamed of producing something that could also answer any question in seconds.
Internet search engines at that time were slow and gave many websites that weren't useful. In January 1996, Page and Brin decided to make a better and faster search engine. They thought the results should be based on the most popular websites.
Nobody would give them money for their project, so they used their own money. They also borrowed money from family and friends. Then, in 1998, they were given a cheque for $100,000, and they started their own company. Their first office was in a friend's garage. The company's name is Google, a word which comes from mathematics. A “google” is a very high number---- 1 followed by a hundred zeros.
The google search engine was soon used by thousands of people worldwide because it was fast, easy and correct. By 2002 it was the biggest search engine on the Internet. Now, more questions have been answered by Google than any other Internet service, from sport to science, and from music to medicine. Google hopes that in the future all the world's information will be put on the Internet, so that everybody can find everything.
【小题1】The writer began this passage by asking you a question because ___________.

Except for a few times, Americans are not big present-givers. There’s no exchange of presents among business people, and if one American tries to give another a present, it may look like that he wants to bribe (贿赂) him. Americans have learned that in some other countries people like to give presents to others, but among ourselves we don’t see the need for presents.

Even friends may never exchange presents. When I go to foreign countries, I try to bring back little things for close friends, but nobody would feel unhappy if I didn’t. I don’t often re­member a friend’s birthday, and few people outside of my family remember mine. If someone gave me presents too often, I’d get unpleasant. But a present from a foreigner — that kind from his or her homeland — won’t go wrong, except to government employees (政府职员) who can’t be given presents.

You usually open a present at once and in front of the person who gives it except Christmas and birthday presents. You should only say, ‘It’s so nice. Thanks…’when you get Christ­mas or birthday presents.

You may want to bring a bottle of wine (葡萄酒) or flowers to a dinner party, but you’re never asked to. Nobody will mind if you bring wine, but your friend may not use it that evening.

At Christmas we often give presents to our family and sometimes our friends. We also give presents to people who have been helpful during the year like doormen, babysitters, housecleaners , newspaper senders — anyone who has often helped us.

1.What do the underlined words ‘close friends’ mean in the passage?

2.What kind of presents don’t Americans usually open in front of the givers?

3.Why do Americans also give presents to housecleaners at Christmas?

4.Which of the following do you think is right?

5.What is the main idea of the passage?