Millions of British people have ditched the traditional ‘thank you’ and replaced it with the less formal ‘cheers’, according to a survey.
Although the average person will say ‘thank you’ nearly 5,000 times a year, one in three are more likely to throw in a ‘cheers’ or ‘ta’ where it’s needed, rather than risk sounding old fashioned.
One in 20 now say ‘nice one’ instead, while younger generations are more likely to offer a ‘cool’ than a ‘thank you’.‘Merci’, ‘fab’ and even ‘gracias’ were also listed as common phrases to use, as was ‘much appreciated’.
One in twenty who took part in the survey of 2,000 people by the Food Network UK for Thank You Day, which is marked on November 24, 2011, said a formal ‘thank you’ was now not often needed in everyday conversation. More than one in ten adults said they regularly won’t say thank you if they are in a bad mood. Most people declared that saying thank you was something drilled into them by their parents. A huge 70 percent of those questioned will say thank you to a person’s face without even meaning it, while a fifth avoid saying it when they know they should — on at least two occasions every day.
It seems our friends and family get the brunt (壓力) of our bad manners with half admitting they’re not good at thanking those closest to them — many justifying (為…辯解) the lack of thanks because their family ‘a(chǎn)lready know I’m grateful’.
When spoken words won’t do, it falls to a nice text to do the job for most people. A third will still send a handwritten thank-you note — but 45 percent admit it’s been more than six months since they bothered to send one.
A quarter of British people say thank you with food, with 23 percent cooking a meal to show their appreciation to someone. Another 15 percent bake a cake.
It follows that 85 percent of people will be annoyed at not getting the gratitude (感激) they feel they should receive.
【小題1】Most of the people who took part in the survey say that they say “thank you” _____.

A．when they are in good mood

B．completely out of habit

C．when they feel truly grateful

D．purely out of politeness

【小題2】The underlined word “ditched” in Paragraph 1 means “________”.

A．given up

B．used

C．shared

D．grasped

【小題3】It can be learned from the passage that _______.

A．different ways of expressing gratitude are all fashionable

B．people should avoid saying “thank you” nowadays

C．a(chǎn) thank-you note is still appreciated by most people

D．people in a bad mood never say “thank you”

【小題4】Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Most people express their gratitude to others by buying food for them.

B．About fifty percent of people try not to say thank you when they should.

C．Most people may feel natural when they fail to receive others’ gratitude.

D．Many people think it unnecessary to say thanks to their family members.

DEARAUNTYf

My husband’s niece is 13 and what I would call “a handful”. She wants to stay with us for while, and her mother and grandmother have told me what a great influence I would be on her. Her visit ，no doubt, would bring about a long list of demands’ and she’d want to bring a friend too. I don t feel comfortable hosting her, but I don 3r know how to tell my husband’s family members without hurting their feelings.

-Reluctant Aunt

Dear Reluctant,

Let’s get you out of this mess. Your husband’s family is making a request that borders on a demand and sugarcoating it with self-serving flattery (恭維）• Put your foot down, and tell the truth. Say you don’t feel equipped or comfortable hosting the little darling, and regretfully decline (拒絕).Under no circumstances should you take part in any discussion that attempts to change your mind through flattery.

DEAR AUNTY

  have two stepdaughters, 21 and 24. On holidays, the older one always buys me gift but adds her sister’s name on the card. I feel insincere thanking the younger daughter -Vd rather get no gift than be a part of this pretence. Is it tacky (俗氣)to ask the 24-year-old to stop giving her sister credit while it isn t deserved? Will the younger one ever learn to be thoughtful?

-Mindful Mum

Dear Mindful,

Lighten up! Your older stepdaughter is a considerate and generous sister who covers for and protects her younger sister. Good for her! The girls’ relationship is between them. As for your role, you can’t punish anyone into being thoughtful. You can, however, model thoughtful behavior. Spend some time with her, and get to know her better.

1.The underlined word “a handful” would probably mean a person who______

A.is difficult to deal with    B.enjoys making friends

C.is easy to get along with D.gets easily influenced

2.AUNTY suggested that Reluctant Aunt______

A.kindly host the guest

B.discuss with her husband

C.politely turn down the request

D.try to meet all the demands

3.Which of the following is TRUE about the second case?

A.Mindful Mum is very proud of her two step daughters.

B.The two stepdaughters always buy Mindful Mum gifts.

C.AUNTY thinks the older sister should be punished.

D.The older stepdaughter cares for her sister.

4.In which section does the passage most probably appear in a magazine?

A.Entertainment.       B. Advice. C. Health.  D. Food &Recipes.

 

 A long time ago there lived a farmer in a village. One day, while   36   in the fields, the farmer’s son   37   and broke his leg. The villagers went to the __ 38 __ and said，“My goodness, what great misfortune! Your son has broken his leg; now he can’t   39   you in the fields.”O(jiān)ne day later, government troop (軍隊(duì)) went to the village   40   young men to join the __ 41 _. They had to leave the boy ___42   because his leg was broken. Again, the villagers came and said，“My goodness, what great __ 43 __!”  The farmer replied, “It is neither fortune __ 44 __ misfortune.”

Then one day the farmer’s     45    horse jumped the fence and ran away. The villagers came and said，“What great misfortune that your horse has run away.” Two or three days later, the horse __ 46 __ with a dozen wild horses ___47    it. The villagers came and said，“What great misfortune that your horse came back with twelve_ 48 __.”

The farmer was __49 __ enough to know that nothing was either fortune or misfortune. Everything that happens has a ___50 __ and meaning beyond   51    appearances of the events. So many times, we are __ 52   by the feelings we have about the events in our lives. Remember: “Nothing is long or short, hot or cold, good or bad.” There is no   53    in thinking of something as good or bad, because we __ 54   know what will happen next. The best thing we can do is__ 55   it.

1.A. playing        B. walking      C. living      D. working

2.A. came up                      B. fell down     

 C. broken down                  D. ended up

3. A. ground        B. son          C. farmer     D. village

4. A. supply         B. help        C. teach       D. move

5. A. looking for                   B. thanking for     

   C. asking for                    D. waiting for

6.A. club          B. group       C. army       D. government

7. A. up           B. down        C. away       D. behind

8. A. pleasure      B. success      C. fortune      D. fun

9. A. or           B. nor         C. and         D. but

10.A. only         B. next         C. same        D. first

11.A. provided      B. rose        C. ran         D. returned

12. A. watching     B. following    C. begging     D. crossing

13.A. ones         B. others       C. those       D. another

14. A. wiser        B. confident     C. quick       D. honest

15. A. use          B. dream       C. purpose     D. goal

16. A. usual        B. strange     C. real         D. simple

17. A. left         B. kept        C. surprised     D. cheated

18. A. point        B. luck        C. chance      D. way

19.A. always      B. never        C. often        D. seldom

20.A. use         B. change       C. accept     D. enjoy

 

A month after Hurricane Katrina, I returned home in New Orleans. There lay my house, reduced towaist-high ruins, smelly and dirty.

Before the trip, I’d had my car fixed. When the office employee of the garage was writing up the bill，she noticed my Louisiana license plate. “You from New Orleans?”she asked I said I was, “No charge.”She said, and firmly shook her head when I reached for my wallet. The next day I went for a haircut, and the same thing happened.

As my wife was studying in Florida, we decided to move there and tried to find a rental house that we could afford while also paying off a mortgage (抵押貸款〉on our mined house. We looked at many places, but none was satisfactory. We’d began to accept that we*d have to live in extremely reduced circumstances for a while, when I got a very curious e-mail from a James Kemmedy in California. He’d read some pieces I’d written about our sufferings for State, the online magazine  and wanted to give us (""no conditions attached’）a new house across thelake from New Orleans.

It sounded too good to be true, but I replied, thanking him for his exceptional generosity, that we had no plan to go back. Then a poet at the University of Florida offered to let his house to me, while he went to England on his one-year paid leave. The rent was rather reasonable. I mentioned the poet’s offer to James Kemdedy, and the next day he sent a check covering our entire rent for eight months.

Throughout this painful experience, the kindness of strangers has done much to bring back my faith in humanity. It’s almost worth losing your worldly possessions to be reminded that people are really nice when given half a chance.

1.The garage employee’s attitude toward the author was that of           

A．unconcern                 B．sympathy

C．doubt                     D．tolerance

2.What do we know about James Kemnedy?

A．He was a writer of an online magazine.

B．He was a poet at the University of Florida

C．He offered the author a new house free of charge.

D．He learned about the author’s sufferings via e-mail

3.It can be inferred from the text that         

A．the author’s family was in financial difficulty

B．rents were comparatively reasonable despite the disaster

C．houses were difficult to find in the hurricane-stricken area

D．the mortgage on the ruined house was paid off by the bank

4.The author learned from his experience that          

A．worldly possessions can be given up when necessary

B．generosity should be encouraged in some cases

C．people benefit from their sad stories

D．human beings are kind after all.

 

完形填空(共20小題；每小題1.5分，滿分30分)

請(qǐng)閱讀下面短文，掌握其大意，然后從36~55各題所給的四個(gè)選項(xiàng)(A、B、C和D)中，選出最佳選項(xiàng)，并在答題卡上將該選項(xiàng)的標(biāo)號(hào)涂黑。

In the clinic,I asked if Michael could be retested,so the specialist tested him again.To my

    36   ,it was the same score.

Later that evening,I    37    told Frank what I had learned that day.After talking it over,we agreed that we knew our    38   much better than an IQ(智商) test.We    39    that Michael’s score must have been a      40      and we should treat him    41    as usual.

We moved to Indiana in 1962,and Michael studied at Concordia High School in the same year.He got      42      grades in the school,especially      43      biology and chemistry,which was a great comfort.

Michael    44    Indiana University in 1965 as a pre-medical student.Soon afterwards,his teacher permitted him to take more courses than    45   .In 1968,he was accepted by the School of Medicine,Yale University.

On graduation day in 1972,Frank and I    46    the ceremony(典禮) at Yale.After the ceremony,we told Michael about the    47    IQ score he got when he was six.Since that day,Michael sometimes would look at us and say    48   .“My dear mom and dad never told me that I couldn’t be a doctor,not until after I graduated from medical school!”It is his special way of thanking us for the    49    we had in him.

Interestingly,Michael then    50    another IQ test.We went to the same clinic where he had    51    the test eighteen years before.This time Michael scored 126,an increase of 36 points.A result like that was supposed to be    52   .

Children often do as    53   as what adults,particularly parents and teachers,   54    of them.That is,tell a child he is “   55   ,”and he may play the role of a foolish child.

36.A.joy                       B.surprise              C.dislike                       D.disappointment

37.A.tearfully               B.fearfully             C.cheerfully                  D.hopefully

38.A.student                 B.son                    C.friend                       D.doctor

39.A.argued                  B.realized              C.decided                     D.understood

40.A.joke                            B.mistake              C.warning                    D.wonder

41.A.specially               B.strictly               C.naturally                   D.carefully

42.A.poor                     B.good                  C.average                     D.standard

43.A.in                        B.about                 C.of                             D.for

44.A.visited                  B.chose                 C.passed                       D.entered

45.A.allowed                B.described            C.required                    D.offered

46.A.missed                  B.held                   C.delayed                     D.attended

47.A.high                     B.same                  C.low                           D.different

48.A.curiously                     B.eagerly               C.calmly                      D.jokingly

49.A.faith                     B.interest               C.pride                         D.delight

50.A.looked for            B.asked for            C.waited for                 D.prepared for

51.A.received               B.accepted             C.organized                  D.discussed

52.A.imperfect              B.impossible          C.uncertain                   D.unsatisfactory

53.A.honestly               B.much                 C.well                          D.bravely

54.A.hear                            B.learn                  C.expect                       D.speak

55.A.wise                     B.rude                   C.shy                           D.stupid