As any homemaker who has tried to keep order at the dinner table knows, there is far more to a family meal than food. Sociologist Michael Lewis has been studying 50 families to find out just how much more.

Lewis and his co-workers carried out their study by videotaping the families while they ate ordinary meals in their own homes. They found that parents with small families talk actively with each other and their children. But as the number of children gets larger, conversation gives way to the parents’ efforts to control the loud noise they make. That can have an important effect on the children." In general the more question-asking the parents do, the higher the children’s IQ scores," Lewis says. "And the more children there are, the less question-asking there is."

The study also provides an explanation for why middle children often seem to have a harder time in life than their siblings(兄弟，姐妹). Lewis found that in families with three or four children, dinner conversation is likely to center on the oldest child, who has the most to talk about, and the youngest, who needs the most attention. “Middle children are invisible,” says Lewis. “When you see someone get up from the table and walk around during dinner, chances are that it’s the middle child.” There is, however, one thing that stops all conversation and prevents anyone from having attention: “When the TV is on,” Lewis says, “dinner is a non-event(扫兴的事).”

1.The writer’s purpose in writing the text is to _________.

　　A. show the relationship between parents and children

　　B. teach parents ways to keep order at the dinner table

　　C. report on the findings of a study

　　D. give information about family problems

2. Parents with large families ask fewer questions at dinner because____.

　　A. they are busy serving food to their children

　　B. they are busy keeping order at the dinner table

　　C. they have to pay more attention to younger children

　　D. they are tired out having prepared food for the whole family

3.By saying “Middle children are invisible” in paragraph 3, Lewis means that middle children__________.

　　A. have to help their parents to serve dinner

　　B. get the least attention from the family

　　C. are often kept away from the dinner table

　　D. find it hard to keep up with other children

4.Lewis’ research provides an answer to the question_________.

　　A. why TV is important in family life

　　B. why parents should keep good order

　　C. why children in small families seem to be quieter

　　D. why middle children seem to have more difficulties in life

5.Which of the following statements would the writer agree to?

　　A. It is important to have the right food for children.

　　B. It is a good idea to have the TV on during dinner.

　　C. Parents should talk to each of their children frequently.

　　D. Elder children should help the younger ones at dinner.

Paris in the springtime was, is and always will be, something rather special. Why not experience it for yourself with this excellent break for four days? This attractive city has something to offer to everyone and with prices at just ??129.

Your break begins with comfortable bus transfer (运送) from local pick-up points and travel to Paris is via cross-channel ferry, arriving at your hotel in the evening. The Ibis is an excellent quality hotel with private facilities in all rooms: satellite TV, radio, telephone and alarm clock. It has a bar and restaurant and is situated about two miles south of Notre Dame, enabling you to explore Paris with ease.

The following day, after continental breakfast (included), the bus takes you on a comprehensive sightseeing tour of the city, during which you will see the Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysees, L’Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, in fact almost every famous landmark you have ever heard of. You then leave Paris and take a short drive to the magnificent Palace of Versailles, the home of Louis XIV. The tour ends mid-afternoon back in Paris where you will have the remainder of the day at your leisure. In the evening there is a “Paris by Night” tour showing you the beautiful buildings with bright lights.

Day three takes you to Montmarter, perhaps the most attractive quarter. In the afternoon you are free to explore this beautiful city as you wish, perhaps having a pleasant voyage on the River Seine, wandering around the beautiful gardens or looking among the antique shops（古董店）. In the evening you will have the opportunity to visit the best nightclub in the city, the splendid Paradis Latain. On the final day it’s back to the UK via channel ferry.

Included in the price of ??129 per person :

●Return comfortable bus travel to Paris

●Return ferry crossings

●3 nights housing in a twin bedded room in a Central Paris hotel with private facilities

●Continental breakfast during your stay

●Guided sightseeing tour of “Paris by Day” and “Paris by Night”

●Visit to the Chateau of Versailles (admission not included )

●Tour around Montmartre

What is the purpose of this passage?  

A. To show the price of traveling to Paris . 　　

B. To tell tourists the routes to Paris.

C. To introduce the city of Paris.            

D. To attract tourists to Paris.

During the stay in Paris, the tourists will _________.

A. have a “Paris by Night” tour on the first evening

B. live in a hotel two miles away from Paris

C. have free time for half a day

   D. have a pleasure voyage on the River Seine together

What does the underlined word “quarter” mean in the passage?

A. An area.                     B. A period of time.

C. A coin worth 25 cents.          D. One of four equal parts.

According to the passage, which of the following is true?

A. The Palace of Versailles is not in the center of Paris.

B. The tourists can telephone in the Ibis without paying.

C. It will take you a long time to get to Montmartre from Paris.

D. The tourists will spend the night in the antique shops on the third day.

This passage is probably written for _____

   A. Asians           B. Australians         C. Chinese        D. Englishmen

　　When I was about 12,I had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out my shortcomings.

　　Week by week her list grew: I was very thin, I wasn’t a good student, I talked too much, I was too proud, and so on. I tried to hear all this as long as I could. At last, I became very angry. I ran to my father with tears in my eyes.

　　He listened to me quietly, then he asked.” Are the things she says true or not? Janet, didn’t you ever wonder what you’re really like? Well, you now have that girl’s opinion. Go and make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true. Pay no attention to the other things she said.”

　　I did as he told me. To my great surprise, I discovered that about half the things were true. Some of them I couldn’t change (like being very thin),but a good number I could--and suddenly I wanted to change. For the first time I go to a fairly clear picture of myself.

　　I brought the list back to Daddy. He refused to take it.” That’s just for you,” he said.” You know better than anyone else the truth about yourself. But you have to learn to listen, not just close your ears in anger and feeling hurt. When something said about you is true, you’ll find it will be of help to you. Our world is full of people who think they know your duty. Don’t shut your ears. Listen to them all, but hear the truth and do what you know is the right thing to do.”

　　Daddy’s advice has returned to me at many important moments. In my life, I’ve never had a better piece of advice.

68.Which do you think would be the best title for this passage?

A. Not an Enemy, but the Best Friend

B. The Best Advice I’ve Ever Had

C. My Father

D. My Childhood

69.What does “Week by week her list grew” mean?

A. Week by week she discovered more shortcomings of mine and pointed them out to me.

B. She had made a list of my shortcomings and she kept on adding new ones to it so that it was growing longer and longer.

C.I was having more and more shortcomings as time went on.

D. Week by week, my shortcomings grew more serious.

70.Why did her father listen to her quietly?

A. Because he believed that what her daughter’s “enemy” said was mostly true.

B. Because he had been so angry with his daughter’s shortcomings that he wanted to show this by keeping silent for a while.

C. Because he knew that his daughter would not listen to him at that moment.

D. Because he wasn’t quite sure which girl was telling the truth.

71.What did the father do after he had heard his daughter’s complaint?

A. He told her not to pay any attention to what her “enemy” had said.

B. He criticized(批评) her and told her to overcome her shortcomings.

C. He told her to write down all that her “enemy” had said about her and pay attention only to the things that were true.

D. He refused to take the list and have a look at it.

The way we do things round here

Some years ago, I was hired by an American bank. I received a letter from the head of the Personnel Department that started, “Dear John, I am quite pleased that you have decided to join us. ”That “quite” saddened me. I thought he was saying “we’ re kind of pleased you decided to join　us although I wish we had hired someone else.” Then I discovered that in American English “quite” sometimes means “very”, while in British English it means “fairly”.

So the first lesson about working in other countries is to learn the language and by that I don' t

just mean the words people speak. It is body language, dress, manners, ideas and so on. The way people do things highlights many of the differences we see between cultures（文化）．

Some of these differences may be only on the surface—dress, food and hours of work—while others may be deeper and take longer to deal with. Mostly, it is just a question of getting used to the differences and accepting them, like the climate（气候），while getting on with business.

Some of the differences may be an improvement. People are more polite; the service is better; you ask for something to be done and it happens without having to ask again. However, other differences can be troubling, like punctuality（准时）．If you invite people to a party at 7 o’ clock

your guests will consider it polite to turn up exactly on time in Germany, five minutes early in the

American Midwest, an hour early in Japan, 15 minutes afterwards in the UK, up to an hour afterwards in Italy and some time in the evening in Greece. I prefer not to use the word “late” because there is nothing wrong with the times people arrive. It is simply the accepted thing to do in their own country.

1.The author was unhappy as mentioned in Paragraph 1 because he thought______．

    A. the American bank didn’ t think much of him

    B. the American bank might hire another person

    C. it’ s difficult to get used to American culture

    D. it’ s easy to misunderstand Americans

2.The word “highlights” in Paragraph 2 probably means_____.

    A. encourages                  B. helps to narrow

    C. increases                    D. draws attention to

3.According to the author, what should we do with most cultural differences?

    A. Ask the native people for help.

    B. Understand and accept them.

    C. Do things in our own way.

    D. Do in-depth research.

4.When invited to a party the people who are usually punctual are______.

    A. Italians 　　　B. Germans　　　 C. Greeks 　　　D. the British

完形填空

　　Having passed what I considered the worst obstacle （障碍） , our spirits 1 . We made our way towards the left cliff （悬崖） . Where the going was better, though 2 steeper （steep陡峭） . Here we found 3 snow, as most of it seemed 4 blown off the mountain. We could see 5 mountains in the distance because 6 were forming all round us.

　　About one o'clock a storm 7 suddenly. We should have noticed its coming but we were concentrating on cutting steps and before we had time to do anything, we were 8 by snow. We could not move up or down and had to wait motionless , getting colder and colder. 9 my hood （兜帽） , my nose and cheeks were nearly frozen but I dare not 10 a hand out of my glove to 11 them.

　　After two hours of this, I realized we would have to do something to 12 being frozen to death. We stood up from time to time through the snow. I had 13 the outline of a buttress （扶垛）just above us. Our only 14 was to climb up to the buttress, and dig out a platform at the foot of it on which we could put up our 15 . We climbed to this place and started to cut away the ice. At first my companion seemed to regard this situation as 16 but gradually the wind died away and he 17 up. At last we made a platform big enough to pitch the tent , and we did this as best as we could. We 18 into our sleeping bags and fell asleep , 19 that we were lucky to be still 20 .

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