Twenty-first century humanity has mapped oceans and mountains, visited the moon, and surveyed the planets．But for all the progress, people still don’t know one another very well.

That brings about Theodore Zeldin’s “feast of conversation”－events where individuals pair with persons they don’t know for three hours of guided talk designed to get the past “Where are you from?”

Mr．Zeldin, an Oxford University professor, heads Oxford Muse, a 10-year-old foundation based on the idea that what people need is not more information, but more inspiration and encouragement.

The “feast” in London looks not at politics or events, but at how people have felt about work, relations among the sexes, hopes and fears, enemies and authority, the shape of their lives．The “menu of conversation” includes topics like “How have your priorities changed over the years?” Or, “What have you rebelled against the past?”

As participants gathered, Zeldin opened with a speech: that despite instant communications in a globalized age, issues of human heart remain．Many people are lonely, or in routines that discourage knowing the depth of one another．“We are trapped in shallow conversations and the whole point now is to think, which is sometimes painful,” he says．“But thinking interaction is what separates us from other species, except maybe dogs…who do have generations of human interactions.”

The main rules of the “feast”: Don’t pair with someone you know or ask questions you would not answer．The only awkward moment came when the multi-racial crowd of young adults to seniors, in sun hats, ties and dresses, looked to see whom with for hours．But 15 minutes later, everyone was seated and talking, continuing full force until organizers interrupted them 180 minutes later.

“It’s encouraging to see the world is not just a place of oppression and distance from each other,” Zeldin summed up．“What we did is not ordinary, but it can’t be madder than the world already is.”

Some said they felt “l(fā)iberated” to talk on sensitive topics．Thirty-something Peter, from East London, said that “it might take weeks or months to get to the level of interaction we suddenly opened up.”

What can the “conversations” be best described as?

       A．Deep and one-on-one.     B．Sensitive and mad.

       C．Instant and inspiring.      D．Ordinary and encouraging.

In a “feast of conversations”, participants ______.

       A．pair freely with anyone they like

       B．have a guided talk for a set of period of time

       C．a(chǎn)sk questions they themselves would not answer

       D．wear clothes reflecting multi-racial features．

In paragraph 6, “they would be ‘intimate’” is closest in meaning to “______”.

       A．they would have physical contact   B．they would have in-depth talk

       C．they would be close friends     D．they would exchange basic information

From the passage, we can conclude that what Zeldin does is ______.

       A．a(chǎn)n attempt to promote thinking interaction

       B．one of the maddest activities ever conducted

       C．a(chǎn) try to liberate people from old-fashioned ideas

       D．a(chǎn)n effort to give people a chance of talking freely

---Did she find a well-paid job after graduation?

  ---_____,yes.

  A. eventually     B. lastly     C. unfortunately    D. purposefully

—What would you wish to do if you were a college student again?

   —That's very hard to say, but I wish I___________ when I was a college student.

A. has not studied biology          B. did study biology

C. had studied biology              D. studied biology

It was a lovely day at the park and Stella Bianchi was enjoying the sunshine with her two children when a young boy, aged about four, approached her two-year-old son and pushed him to the ground.

“I’d watched him for a little while and my son was the fourth or fifth child he’d pushed,” she says. “I went over to them, picked up my son, turned to the boy and said, firmly, ‘No, we don’t push.’” What happened next was unexpected.

“The boy’s mother ran toward me from across the park,” Stella says, “I thought she was coming over to apologize, but instead she started shouting at me for blaming her child. All I did was let him know his behavior was unacceptable. Was I supposed to sit back while her kid did whatever he wanted and hurt other children?”

Getting your own children to play nice is difficult enough. Dealing with other people’s children has become a hidden danger.

In my house, jumping on the sofa is not allowed. In my sister’s house it’s encouraged. I find myself saying “no” a lot when her kids are over at mine. That’s OK between sisters but becomes dangerous when you’re talking to the children of friends or acquaintances.

“Kids aren’t all raised the same,” agrees Professor Naomi White of Monash University.” But there is still an idea that they’re the property of the parent. We see our children as a mirror of ourselves, so if you’re saying that my child is behaving improperly, then that’s somehow a criticism(批評) of me.”

In those situations, it’s difficult to know whether to approach the child directly or the parent first. There are two opinions.

“I’d go to the child first,” says Andrew Fuller, author of Tricky Kids. “Usually a quiet reminder that ‘we don’t do that here’ is enough. Kids have antennae (直覺) for how to behave in different settings.”

He points out bringing it up with the parent first may make them feel careless, which could cause problems. Of course, approaching the child first can bring its own headaches, too.

This is why White recommends that you approach the parents first. Raise your concerns with the parents and ask them to deal with it,” she says.   

Asked how to approach a parent in this situation, psychologist Meredith Fuller answers: “Explain your needs as well as stressing the importance of the friendship. Start with something like: ‘I know you’ll think I’m silly but in my house I don’t want…’” 

What did Stella Bianchi expect the young boy’s mother to do when she talked to him?

       A. Make an apology             B. Come over to stop her     

       C. Blame her own boy          D. Take her own boy away

What does the author say about dealing with other people’s children?

       A. It’s important not to hurt them in any way

       B. It’s no use trying to stop their wrongdoing

       C. It’s advisable to treat them as one’s own kids

       D. It’s possible for one to get into lots of trouble

According to professor Naomi White, when one’s kids are criticized, their parents will probably feel ______.

       A. discouraged       B. hurt    C. puzzled      D. affected

What should one do when seeing other people’s kids misbehave according to Andrew Fuller?

       A. Talk to them directly in a mild way  B. Complain to their parents politely

       C. Simply leave them alone            D. Punish them lightly

Happiness is associated with smiling. But do we always smile when we are happy?

During the Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992, Spanish researchers analyzed the facial expressions of 22 gold medal winners at the medal ceremonies. The researchers were surprised to see that these medal winners didn't smile very much. In fact, throughout the different medal ceremonies, they only smiled about 10% of the time. But during the brief moment when the gold medal was put around their neck, the medal winners grinned (露齒笑) about 70% of the time.   

The researchers interviewed the winners they had watched to find out how they felt. All the winners interviewed said that they felt intensely(強(qiáng)烈的）happy throughout the ceremony.   

Though they were profoundly（衷心地）happy, they didn't smile a great deal. The researchers concluded that smiling was not the automatic expression of happiness. The fact that the gold medal winners smiled much more when they were actually being given their medals could be explained because, according to the Spanish researchers, smiling was a form of communication between individuals. The happy athletes were smiling at the people who were giving them gold medals. Perhaps we can support the findings of the Spanish researchers by making some observations of our own behaviors. When we are all alone, for example, do we smile at ourselves when we are happy? Probably not very often. If someone greets us with a friendly smile, do we respond with a smile? Yes, we probably do. When a friend gives us a beautiful present, will we show our appreciation with a smile? Yes, of course. But if we are sitting alone watching television, do we smile at a commentator (講解員) who smiles at us?

How much of the time did the gold medal winners smile during the medal ceremonies?

      A. 10%.   B. 70%.   C. 22%.   D. 92%.

According to the passage, when did the athletes smile quite a lot?

      A. Throughout the medal ceremony.             

B. When they were informed of their success.

      C. When the gold medal was put around their neck. 

D. When their national flag was raised.

According to the passage, on which of the following occasions would we most probably NOT smile?

A. When we are sitting alone watching TV.   

B. When someone greets us with a friendly smile.

C. When a friend gives us a beautiful present. 

D. When we feel intensely happy.

According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. The gold medal winners were too nervous that they would hardly smile at the medal ceremonies.

B. People will always smile automatically when they feel happy.

C. Smiling is a way of communication.

D. When the gold medal was put around their neck, the gold medal winners were smiling at the audience but not at those who gave the medal.