I have had just about enough of being treated like a second-class citizen, simply because I happen to be that unfairly treated member of society --- a customer. The more I go into shops and hotels, banks and post offices, railway stations, airports and the like, the more I am convinced the things are being run solely to suit the firm, the system, or the union. There seems to be a deceptive (欺骗的) new motto for so-called “service” organizations --- Staff Before Service.

　　 How often, for example, have you queued for what seems like hours at the Post Office or the supermarket because there were not enough staff on duty to man all the service grilles or checkout counters? Surely in these days of high unemployment it must be possible to hire cashiers and counter staff. Yet supermarkets, hinting darkly at higher prices, claim that uncovering all their cash registers at any one time would increase operating costs. And the Post Office says we cannot expect all their service grilles to be occupied “at times when demand is low”.

　　  It is the same with hotels. Because waiters and kitchen staff must finish when it suits them, dining rooms close earlier or menu choice is cut short. As for us guests, we just have to put up with it. There is also the nonsense of so many friendly hotel night porters having been thrown out of their jobs in the interests of “efficiency” and replaced by coin-eating machines which offer everything from lager to laxatives (从贮藏啤酒到通便剂). Not to mention the tea-making kit in your room: a kettle with a mixed collection of tea bags, plastic milk boxes and lump sugar. Who wants to wake up to a raw teabag? I do not, especially when I am paying for “service”.

　　Can it be stopped, this worsening of service, this growing attitude that the customer is always a bore? I angrily hope so because it is happening, sadly, in all walks of life.

　　Our only hope is to hammer home our anger whenever and wherever we can and, if all else fails, bring back into practice that other, older slogan --- Take Our Deal Elsewhere.

 

1.The writer feels that nowadays customers __________.

A. deserve the lowest status in society

B. are unworthy of proper consideration

C. have received high quality service

D. have become victims of modern organizations

2.The writer argues that the quality of service is changing because __________.

A. customers’ demands have greatly changed

B. the staff receive more consideration than customers

C. customers’ needs have become more complex

D. staff members are less considerate than their employers

3. According to the writer, long queues at counters are caused by __________.

A. not having enough male staff on duty

B. difficulties in hiring more efficient staff

C. lack of cooperation between staff members

D. not providing enough staff on purpose to reduce budget

4.The writer suggests that a customer __________.

A. be patient when queuing before checkout counters

B. put up with the rude manners of the staff

C. try to control his temper when ill-treated

D. go to other places where good service is available

 

I have had just about enough of being treated like a second-class citizen, simply because I happen to be that unfairly treated member of society --- a customer. The more I go into shops and hotels, banks and post offices, railway stations, airports and the like, the more I am convinced the things are being run solely to suit the firm, the system, or the union. There seems to be a deceptive (欺骗的) new motto for so-called “service” organizations --- Staff Before Service.

　　 How often, for example, have you queued for what seems like hours at the Post Office or the supermarket because there were not enough staff on duty to man all the service grilles or checkout counters? Surely in these days of high unemployment it must be possible to hire cashiers and counter staff. Yet supermarkets, hinting darkly at higher prices, claim that uncovering all their cash registers at any one time would increase operating costs. And the Post Office says we cannot expect all their service grilles to be occupied “at times when demand is low”.

　　  It is the same with hotels. Because waiters and kitchen staff must finish when it suits them, dining rooms close earlier or menu choice is cut short. As for us guests, we just have to put up with it. There is also the nonsense of so many friendly hotel night porters having been thrown out of their jobs in the interests of “efficiency” and replaced by coin-eating machines which offer everything from lager to laxatives (从贮藏啤酒到通便剂). Not to mention the tea-making kit in your room: a kettle with a mixed collection of tea bags, plastic milk boxes and lump sugar. Who wants to wake up to a raw teabag? I do not, especially when I am paying for “service”.

　　Can it be stopped, this worsening of service, this growing attitude that the customer is always a bore? I angrily hope so because it is happening, sadly, in all walks of life.

　　Our only hope is to hammer home our anger whenever and wherever we can and, if all else fails, bring back into practice that other, older slogan --- Take Our Deal Elsewhere.

 

1.The writer feels that nowadays customers __________.

A. deserve the lowest status in society

B. are unworthy of proper consideration

C. have received high quality service

D. have become victims of modern organizations

2.The writer argues that the quality of service is changing because __________.

A. customers’ demands have greatly changed

B. the staff receive more consideration than customers

C. customers’ needs have become more complex

D. staff members are less considerate than their employers

3.According to the writer, long queues at counters are caused by __________.

A. not having enough male staff on duty

B. difficulties in hiring more efficient staff

C. lack of cooperation between staff members

D. not providing enough staff on purpose to reduce budget

4.The writer suggests that a customer __________.

A. be patient when queuing before checkout counters

B. put up with the rude manners of the staff

C. try to control his temper when ill-treated

D. go to other places where good service is available

 

When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor named Dr. Gibbs. He didn’t look like any doctor I’d ever known. He never yelled at us for playing in his yard. I remember him as someone who was a lot nicer than most of the adults in our community.

When Dr. Gibbs wasn’t saving lives, he was planting trees. His house sat on ten acres, and his life’s goal was to make it a forest.

The good doctor had some interesting theories concerning plant care and growth. He never watered his new trees, which flew in the face of conventional wisdom. Once I asked why. He said that watering plants spoiled them so that each successive tree generation would grow weaker and weaker. So you have to make things rough for them and weed out(淘汰) the weaker trees early on. He talked about how watering trees made for shallow roots, and how trees that weren’t watered had to grow deep roots in search of moisture. I took him to mean that deep roots were to be treasured.

So he never watered his trees. He planted an oak and, instead of watering it every morning, he beat it with a rolled-up newspaper. Smack! Slap! Pow! I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree’s attention.

Dr. Gibbs passed away a couple of years after I left home. Every now and again, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I’d watched him plant some twenty-five years ago. They’re extremely tall, big and robust since they have deep roots now. However, the trees in my garden trembled in a cold wind although I had watered them for several years.

It seems that adversity(逆境) and suffering benefit these trees in ways comfort and ease never could. I stood there deep in thought.

Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. I stand over them and watch their little bodies, the rising and falling of life within. I often pray for them. Mostly I pray that their lives will be easy. But I think that it’s time to change my prayer(祷词) because now I know my children are going to encounter hardship.

According to Dr. Gibbs’ theories, trees will become weaker if they _________.

A. are lack of care　　　　　B. are watered      C. are weeded out　　　　　D. are beaten

According to Para.3 and Para.4, we can infer that Dr. Gibbs’ motto(座右铭) may be       .

A. “Seeing is believing”                                    B. “Put everything in proper use”

C. “Practice makes perfect”                               D. “No pain, no gain”

The underlined word robust in Para.5 most probably means _________.

A. strong　　                      B. strange　　       C. deep　　                        D. old

Which of the following may be the author’s best prayer for his two sons now?

A. I wish them strong wings, with which they can fly higher and touch the sky.

B. I wish them nice fortune so that they can meet people like Dr. Gibbs in the future.

C. I wish them deep roots into the earth since the rains fall and the winds blow often.

D. I wish them great shades under the tree since the sunlight is always sharp and bitter.

Which of the following can be the best title of this passage?

A Nice Doctor  B. The Deep Roots  C. Adversity and Suffering  D. My Childhood Memory

When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor named Dr. Gibbs. He didn’t look like any doctor I’d ever known. He never yelled at us for playing in his yard. I remember him as someone who was a lot nicer than most of the adults in our community.
When Dr. Gibbs wasn’t saving lives, he was planting trees. His house sat on ten acres, and his life’s goal was to make it a forest.
The good doctor had some interesting theories concerning plant care and growth. He never watered his new trees, which flew in the face of conventional wisdom. Once I asked why. He said that watering plants spoiled them so that each successive tree generation would grow weaker and weaker. So you have to make things rough for them and weed out(淘汰) the weaker trees early on. He talked about how watering trees made for shallow roots, and how trees that weren’t watered had to grow deep roots in search of moisture. I took him to mean that deep roots were to be treasured.
So he never watered his trees. He planted an oak and, instead of watering it every morning, he beat it with a rolled-up newspaper. Smack! Slap! Pow! I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree’s attention.
Dr. Gibbs passed away a couple of years after I left home. Every now and again, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I’d watched him plant some twenty-five years ago. They’re extremely tall, big and robust since they have deep roots now. However, the trees in my garden trembled in a cold wind although I had watered them for several years.
It seems that adversity(逆境) and suffering benefit these trees in ways comfort and ease never could. I stood there deep in thought.
Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. I stand over them and watch their little bodies, the rising and falling of life within. I often pray for them. Mostly I pray that their lives will be easy. But I think that it’s time to change my prayer(祷词) because now I know my children are going to encounter hardship.
【小题1】According to Dr. Gibbs’ theories, trees will become weaker if they _________.

A．are lack of care

B．are watered

C．are weeded out

D．are beaten

【小题2】According to Para.3 and Para.4, we can infer that Dr. Gibbs’ motto(座右铭) may be       .

A．“Seeing is believing”	B．“Put everything in proper use”
C．“Practice makes perfect”	D．“No pain, no gain”

【小题3】The underlined word robust in Para.5 most probably means _________.

A．strong

B．strange

C．deep

D．old

【小题4】Which of the following may be the author’s best prayer for his two sons now?

A．I wish them strong wings, with which they can fly higher and touch the sky.

B．I wish them nice fortune so that they can meet people like Dr. Gibbs in the future.

C．I wish them deep roots into the earth since the rains fall and the winds blow often.

D．I wish them great shades under the tree since the sunlight is always sharp and bitter.

【小题5】Which of the following can be the best title of this passage?

A．A Nice Doctor

B．The Deep Roots

C．Adversity and Suffering

D．My Childhood Memory

I have had just about enough of being treated like a second-class citizen, simply because I happen to be that unfairly treated member of society --- a customer. The more I go into shops and hotels, banks and post offices, railway stations, airports and the like, the more I am convinced the things are being run solely to suit the firm, the system, or the union. There seems to be a deceptive (欺骗的) new motto for so-called “service” organizations --- Staff Before Service.
　　 How often, for example, have you queued for what seems like hours at the Post Office or the supermarket because there were not enough staff on duty to man all the service grilles or checkout counters? Surely in these days of high unemployment it must be possible to hire cashiers and counter staff. Yet supermarkets, hinting darkly at higher prices, claim that uncovering all their cash registers at any one time would increase operating costs. And the Post Office says we cannot expect all their service grilles to be occupied “at times when demand is low”.
　　  It is the same with hotels. Because waiters and kitchen staff must finish when it suits them, dining rooms close earlier or menu choice is cut short. As for us guests, we just have to put up with it. There is also the nonsense of so many friendly hotel night porters having been thrown out of their jobs in the interests of “efficiency” and replaced by coin-eating machines which offer everything from lager to laxatives (从贮藏啤酒到通便剂). Not to mention the tea-making kit in your room: a kettle with a mixed collection of tea bags, plastic milk boxes and lump sugar. Who wants to wake up to a raw teabag? I do not, especially when I am paying for “service”.
　　Can it be stopped, this worsening of service, this growing attitude that the customer is always a bore? I angrily hope so because it is happening, sadly, in all walks of life.
　　Our only hope is to hammer home our anger whenever and wherever we can and, if all else fails, bring back into practice that other, older slogan --- Take Our Deal Elsewhere.
【小题1】The writer feels that nowadays customers __________.

A．deserve the lowest status in society

B．are unworthy of proper consideration

C．have received high quality service

D．have become victims of modern organizations

【小题2】The writer argues that the quality of service is changing because __________.

A．customers’ demands have greatly changed

B．the staff receive more consideration than customers

C．customers’ needs have become more complex

D．staff members are less considerate than their employers

【小题3】According to the writer, long queues at counters are caused by __________.

A．not having enough male staff on duty

B．difficulties in hiring more efficient staff

C．lack of cooperation between staff members

D．not providing enough staff on purpose to reduce budget

【小题4】The writer suggests that a customer __________.

A．be patient when queuing before checkout counters

B．put up with the rude manners of the staff

C．try to control his temper when ill-treated

D．go to other places where good service is available