Isn't it astonishing how much time we spend talking about food? “Have you ever eaten …?” “What did you have for lunch?” and so on. And yet when you travel from one country to another, you will find that people have quite different feelings about food. People often feel that what they eat is normal (正常) and that what other people eat is strange or silly. In most parts of Asia, for example, no meal is complete without rice. In England, people eat potatoes every day. In the Middle East, bread is the main part of every meal. Eating like so many things we do, becomes a habit which is difficult to change. Americans like to drink a lot of orange juice and coffee. The English drink tea four or five times every day. Australians drink a great deal of beer, and the French drink wine every day.

   The sort of meat people like to eat also differs from one country to another. Horse meat is thought to be delicious in France. In Hong Kong, some people enjoy eating snakes. New Zealanders eat sheep, but they never eat goat meat. The Japanese don't like to eat sheep meat because of its smell, but they enjoy eating raw fish (生鱼).

   So it seems that although eating is a topic we can talk about for hours, there is very little common sense in what we say it. People everywhere enjoy eating what they have always eaten, and there is very little we can do to change our eating habits.

56. Which of the following is true according to the article?

A. All people have the same feeling about food.

B. In most parts of Asia, people usually have rice for meals.

C. People often consider other people to be strange or silly.

D. The topic people spend time talking about is bread and meat.

57. People in different countries      

A. drink the same sort of wine     B. have the same eating habit

C. eat different kinds of meat      D. have the same tea at different time within a day

58. The Japanese don't like to eat sheep meat         

A. because they dislike its smell   B. because it is too expensive

C. because it is easy to go bad     D. because they think it will do harm to their health

59. English people drink tea four or five times a day      

A. because they get thirsty easily      B. because there is plenty of tea in Britain

C. because of their drinking habit      D. because they have enough time to do so

We can make mistakes at any age. Some mistakes we make are about money. But most mistakes are about people. “Did Jerry really care when I broke up with Helen?” “When I got that great job, did Jim really feel good about it, as a friend? Or did he envy my luck?” When we look back, doubts like these can make us feel bad. But when we look back, it’s too late.

Why do we go wrong about our friends—or our enemies? Sometimes what people say hides their real meaning. And if we don’t really listen we miss the feeling behind the words. Suppose someone tells you, “You’re a lucky dog.” That’ s being friendly, “lucky dog”? There’s a bit of envy in those words. Maybe he doesn’t see it himself. But bringing in the “dog” bit puts you down a little. What he may be saying is that he doesn’t think you deserve(值得)your luck. 

“Just think of all the things you have to be thankful for” is another noise that says one thing and means another. It could mean that the speaker is trying to get you to see your problem as part of your life as a whole. But is he? Wrapped up in this phrase is the thought that your problem isn’t important. It’s telling you to think of all the starving(挨饿的)people in the world when you haven’t got a date for Saturday night.

How can you tell the real meaning behind someone’s words? One way is to take a good look at the person talking. Do his words fit the way he looks? Does what he says agree with the tone of voice? His posture(姿态)? The look in his eyes? Stop and think. The minute you spend thinking about the real meaning of what people to you may save another mistake.  

63. This passage is mainly about _____.

A. how to interpret what people say

B. what to do when you listen to others talking

C. how to avoid mistakes when you communicate with people

D. Why we go wrong with people sometimes

64. In the sentence “Maybe he doesn’t see it himself.” in Paragraph 2, the pronoun “it” refers to ____ .

A. being friendly       B. lucky dog                  

C. a bit of envy         D. your luck

65. When we listen to a person talking, the most important thing for us to do is to ___________.

A. notice the way the person is talking          

B. take a good look at the person talking

C. understand the real meaning of what he says 

D. mind his tone, his posture and so on