Workplaces all over the UK are preparing for Christmas and all the traditions and customs that come with it. But will this Christmas be a cause of happiness and celebration, or of disappointment and embarrassment?
At this time of year, colleges show their appreciation of each other by doing a “Secret Santa”. Secret Santa involves people who work together buying gifts for each other without saying who they are from.
Co-workers all write their names on pieces of paper, then organize a lottery in which each worker picks a colleague’s name at random. He then has to buy a present for that colleague, usually on a small budget of five or ten pounds.
Since the givers are unknown, the quality of presents can vary greatly. In an Internet survey of Secret Santa presents, the gifts that people received range from tickets to the opera to an air freshener for a car.
Another common workplace tradition is the office Christmas party, at which workmates put on their best clothes and enjoy lots of free wine.
Most parties go without a hitch, but sometimes the alcohol cause party-goers to behave in a way that they later regret.
The BBC invited people to share their most embarrassing Christmas office party stories, and received hundreds of funny ones. For example, a man split his trousers while dancing; a drunken lady spent the whole night with the edge of her dress folded into her pants, and later looked at photos that proved it at work.
But the funniest story must be that of Stuart Vanies, who got so drunk that he put his boss’s head into the toilet. Unsurprisingly, he was fired the very next day.
【小题1】 How many Christmas traditions are mentioned?

A．One.

B．Two.

C．Three.

D．Four.

【小题2】 We learn from this article that for Christmas ____________________.

A．few people buy presents for their colleagues in Britain

B．British workers write their names on the presents they give their colleagues

C．people usually give their colleagues presents of high quality

D．British workers buy their presents based on an agreed budget

【小题3】The underlined phrase “without a hitch” in the sixth paragraph means _______________.

A．quite smoothly	B．without a result
C．with some difficulty	D．quite unexpectedly

【小题4】The examples in the last two paragraphs are to ______________________.

A．show that most British people enjoy drinking wine

B．advise readers not to drink wine at parties

C．prove that funny things often happen at office Christmas parties

D．criticize the bad habits of the British

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

They once seemed more at home on the busy streets of Asia like Delhi, Calcutta and Bangkok but cycle powered rickshaws (人力车) can now be seen taking people across town in many European cities. Many people believe that rickshaws are a good way of experiencing a city close-up, while also cutting down on traffic jams and pollution. In Berlin, one of the first cities to introduce this new model of transport, more than 200 bike-taxis go along at 15km per hour, past many tourist attractions and city parks.
“It is completely environmentally friendly; we have new models with an engine to help the driver up the hills but they use renewable energy.” said a spokesman for VELOTAXI, the leading rickshaw company which has carried a quarter of a million people this year.
While the city still has 7,000 motor-taxis, rickshaw company officials say their taxis’ green ideas, speed and safety make them more than just a tourist attraction. While now increasingly out of fashion in Delhi, Berlin people have eagerly accepted the new fleet since their launch in 1997.
“It’s better than a taxi, better than a bus, better than the train,” said ULF Lehman, 36, as he leapt out of a rickshaw near the world famous Brandenburg gate. “ It feels so free.”
“This is something out of the ordinary, you feel you are on holiday in Bangkok instead of Berlin,” said another traveler.
In Amsterdam, driver Peter Jancso said people like to be driven around in his bright yellow rickshaw and pretend to be a queen in a golden carriage. "I like my passengers to feel important," he said as he dropped off another passenger. Another visitor noted how cheap it was compared with a normal taxi.
Although increasingly popular in Europe, it is the opposite in India, where hand-pulled rickshaws are considered inhuman and a symbol of India's backward past.
Nearly 500 bike-rickshaws are running in London and are not required to pay the city's road tax but things may change as other taxi drivers complain of unfair treatment.
【小题1】Where are rickshaws becoming more popular?

A．Delhi, Berlin, Paris.	B．Amsterdam, Bangkok, Delhi.
C．Athens, London, Berlin.	D．Berlin, Amsterdam, London.

【小题2】Why are rickshaws no longer as widely used in India as in the past?

A．They are a reminder of a bad period in India's history.

B．They have been banned because they are inefficient.

C．The streets of India are too crowded for them to move through easily.

D．Indians now prefer to travel by car because they are richer.

【小题3】What does the underlined sentence "This is something out of the ordinary, you feel you are on holiday in
Bangkok instead of Berlin" suggest?

A．The passenger didn't like taking a rickshaw as it reminded him of Bangkok.

B．The passenger enjoyed being on holiday in Berlin more than in Bangkok.

C．The passenger was impressed when taking a rickshaw and considered it unusual.

D．The passenger disapproved of rickshaws because they were not original to Berlin.

【小题4】What is the author's attitude towards rickshaws?

A．He gives no personal opinion.

B．He believes they will be of no use.

C．He thinks they will reduce pollution.

D．He thinks they are old-fashioned.

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. Lewis found that in families with three or four children, dinner conversation is likely to center on the oldest child, who has the most 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 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.”
【小题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

【小题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

【小题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

【小题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

While income worry is a rather common problem of the aged, loneliness is another problem that aged parents may face. Of all the reasons that explain their loneliness, a large geographical distance between parents and their children is the major one. This phenomenon is commonly known as “Empty Nest Syndrome”（空巢综合症）.
In order to seek better chances outside their countries, many young people have gone abroad, leaving their parents behind with no clear idea of when they will return home. Their parents spend countless lonely days and nights, taking care of themselves, in the hope that someday their children will come back to stay with them. The fact that most of these young people have gone to Europeanized or Americanized societies makes it unlikely that they will hold as tightly to the value of duty as they would have if they had not left their countries. Whatever the case, it has been noted that the values they hold do not necessarily match what they actually do. This geographical and cultural distance also prevents the grown-up children from providing response in time for their aged parents living by themselves.
The situation in which grown-up children live far away from their aged parents has been described as “distant parent phenomenon”, which is common both in developed countries and in developing countries. Our society has not yet been well prepared for “Empty Nest Syndrome”.
【小题1】According to the passage, the loneliness of aged parents is mainly caused by _________.

A．their earlier experience of feeling lonely

B．the unfavorable living conditions in their native countries

C．the common worry about their income

D．the geographical distance between parents and children

【小题2】Many young people have gone abroad, leaving their aged parents behind, to _________.

A．live in the countries with more money

B．seek a better place for their aged parents

C．continue their studies abroad

D．realize their dreams in foreign countries

【小题3】If young people go abroad, _________.

A．they do not hold to the value of duty at all

B．they can give some help to their parents back home

C．they cannot do what they should for their parents

D．they believe what they actually do is right

【小题4】From the last paragraph, we can infer that _________.

A．the situations in the developed and developing countries are different

B．“Empty Nest Syndrome” has arrived unexpectedly in our society

C．children will become independent as soon as they go abroad

D．the aged parents are not fully prepared for “Empty Nest Syndrome”

How did it make you feel when you learned that KFC’S Beijing restaurants pulled three more items from their menus last week? There were fears that the items may have contained the cancer-causing coloring Sudan I．Do you have any desire to take the food provider to court because it feeds you something dangerous?
After all，the law supposedly gives people the right to fight for their rights．But some experts have said it might not be so wise to take the company directly to court．
Qiu Baochang，a lawyer in Beijing，suggested that consumers not take the company directly to court．“In addition to the high costs，consumers’complaints are unlikely to win unless they can prove they have had the banned dye at KFC，”—Qiu explained．
One problem for those wanting to take action against the fast food chain is that few customers ask for or keep receipts(收据)．And，this must be the first step．
If they can prove that their health has been damaged by KFC，they can cue(控告)the company．But that would be almost impossible to do so because the Sudan I damage is a long-term effect and is not immediately apparent.
A KFC spokesperson said on Monday that the company was confdent of being able to handle customers’complaints，“We will obey legal procedure if We raceive any complaints.”
【小题1】Why did KFC’s Beijing restaurants pull three more items from their menus?

A．Because the company was afraid to handle customers’complaints.

B．Because coloring Sudan I may have been contained in those items.

C．Because the KFC’s restaurants were accused ofselling poisonous food to the customers．

D．Because these items were no longer popular with the customers.

【小题2】The reason why experts suggested not taking the company directly to court is that      .

A．the costs will be high

B．consumers can’t prove food contained Sudan I

C．consumers can’t prove the food at KFC damaged their health

D．all of the above

【小题3】This passage most probably appears in      .

A．a notice．

B．a book on cooking．

C．a story book．

D．a newspaper．

【小题4】What is the general ieda of the passage?

A．KFC’s Beijing restaurants pulled three items from their menus last week.

B．How the consumers dealt with the KFC problem.

C．How KFC handled the customers’s complaints.

D．Consumers never forget to ask for or keep receipts.

Facebook users may feel socially successful in the web world but they are more likely to perform poorly in exams. The majority of students who use Facebook every day are doing badly compared with those who don’t. About 83% of British 16 to 24-year-old people are using social networking site such as Facebook and MySpace, to keep in touch with friends and organize their social activities.
“Our study shows people who spend more time on Facebook spend less time studying,” said Aryn Karpinski, a researcher. “Every generation has its distractions(娱乐), but I think Facebook is a unique phenomenon.” Karpinski and a colleague questioned 219 US undergraduates and graduates about their study and general Internet use, as well as their specific use of Facebook. They found 65% of Facebook users accessed their account daily, checking it several times to see if they had received new messages. The amount of time spent on Facebook at each log-in(登录) varied from just a few minutes to more than an hour.
Some UK students have already realized the potential danger. Daisy Jones, 21, an undergraduate, realized the time she was spending on Facebook was threatening her grades, urging her to deactivate(使无效) her account, “I was in the library and tried to write a 2,000-word essay when I realized my Facebook habit had got out of hand,” she said. “I couldn’t resist going online, when thinking about it. Before you know it , a couple of minutes have turned into a couple of hours and you haven’t written a word.”
Jones is among the few to have realized the risks. 79% of the users, however, believed the time they spent on the site had no impact on their work. The CEO of Facebook said, “There is also academic research that shows the benefits of services like Facebook. It’s in the hands of students to decide how to spend their time.”
【小题1】What can we know from Paragraph 1?

A．All the students who don’t use Facebook do well in exams.

B．Social networking sites have both advantages and disadvantages.

C．Facebook is the main site for British people to keep in touch.

D．Most of British students use social networking sites daily.

【小题2】Facebook users check their account frequently to ____________.

A．spend less time on study	B．make sure new messages aren’t missed
C．practise specific use of Facebook	D．accumulate amount of time spent on Facebook.

【小题3】Why did Daisy Jones deactivate her account?

A．She was warned about the risk of using Facebook.

B．Spending much time on Facebook affected her study

C．She wanted to write a long article in the library.

D．There was something wrong with her eyes.

【小题4】What’s the best title of the passage ?

A．Facebook fans do worse in exams	B．Social networking sites and their fans
C．Facebook helps organize social activities	D．How to use social networking sites correctly.

Japanese students work very hard but many are unhappy．They feel heavy pressures from their parents to do well in school．Most students are always being told by their parents to study harder so that they can have a wonderful life．Though this may be good ideas for those very bright students，it can have very bad results for many students who are not quick enough at learning．
Unfortunately，a number of students killed themselves．Others are after comfort in using drugs．Some do bad things with trouble-makers and turn to crime．Many of them have tried very hard at school but have failed in the exams and have disappointed their parents．Such students feel that they are less important and leave school before they have finished their study．
It is surprising that though most Japanese parents are worried about their children, they do not help them in any way．Many parents feel that they are not able to help their children and that it is the teachers' work to help their children．To make matters worse, a lot of parents send their children to special school called juku-cram schools．These schools are open during the evening and on weekends, and their only purpose is to prepare students to pass exams, they do not try to educate students in any real sense of the real world. It thus comes as a shock to realize that almost three quarters of the junior or high school population attend these cram schools．　 　　　
Ordinary Japanese schools usually have rules about everything from the students' hair to their clothes and things in their school bag．Child psychologists now think that such strict rules often lead to a feeling of being unsafe and being unable to fit into society．They regard the rules as being harmful to the development of each student．They believe that no sense of moral values is developed and that students are given neither guidance nor training in becoming good citizens．
【小题1】A lot of Japanese students are unhappy at school because              　　

A．they work very hard	B．they find they can't do well at school
C．they feel unimportant	D．they are under too much pressure

【小题2】Because of their failure at school, some students take drugs to          

A．kill themselves	B．seek comfort
C．disappoint their parents	D．make trouble

【小题3】What should be the best title of the passage?

A．Students' Pressure

B．Students' Problems

C．The Negative Impact(影响) of Japanese Education

D．The Trouble in Japanese Schools

【小题4】In juku-cram schools students              ．

A．are taken good care of by the teachers	B．feel no pressure
C．are trained to pass exams	D．can learn a lot of useful things

【小题5】In ordinary Japanese schools，       ．

A．there are strict rules	B．students feel safe
C．students can do anything	D．learning is not important

Mistreat(虐待) your animals and someone might take them from you.
Allen (not his real name) is driving north out of Virginia in the middle of the night，with stolen property in the back of his van.But Allen isn’t a criminal—in fact he normally would never dream of breaking the law.
The “property” he stole is a dog he calls Flash.Allen doesn’t particularly want Flash in fact，in a few hours he’ll drop him off at a stranger’s house and never see him again.“I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing，”he explains.“The owner was plainly neglecting (忽视) the dog，but the police wouldn’t do anything about it.”
For over a year，Flash had been tied to a tree in front of someone’s house.“He was sick and weak，”says Allen.“More than once I saw the owner kick him for no reason at all.”Allen had repeatedly tried to get the owner to take better care of the animal，or to give it away to someone who would.Finally，he took matters into his own hands—in the dead of night，he took Flash off his chain and drove away with him.
An hour later，Flash had a new license and he_was_treated_by_a_veterinarian_who_knew_better_than_to_ask_questions.
Pictures of the dog were put up on animal rescue websites，asking for someone to adopt the dog.A couple in New York offered to take the dog，and animal lovers in states along the way agreed to provide transportation.
Nobody can say for sure how many animals like Flash are “rescued” every year；receiving stolen property is a crime，so rescuers tend to stay in the shadows.But a growing number of empty collars are because of their work as more and more animals find their way to loving homes.
【小题1】Why did Allen steal the dog?

A．He liked the dog very much.

B．He wanted to stop the dog being treated badly.

C．He is a criminal who likes stealing dogs.

D．Someone ordered him to do that.

【小题2】What had Allen ever done for the dog before stealing him?

A．Finding a new owner for him.

B．In the dead of night，taking him off his chain and drove away with him.

C．Kicking him for no reason at all.

D．Asking the owner to treat the dog better or give it to someone else.

【小题3】How did Allen help the dog find a new owner?

A．By putting advertisements on TV.

B．By asking the Animals Protection Association for help.

C．By asking for help on the Internet.

D．By putting up signs on the street.

【小题4】What can we infer from the underlined sentence in the fifth paragraph?

A．The veterinarian had treated many animals that were mistreated by their owners.

B．The veterinarian had once stolen some animals like Flash before.

C．The veterinarian was Allen’s friend.

D．The veterinarian was a learned man.

There have been great changes in the lives of women. During the twentieth century ,there was an unusual shortening of the time of a woman’s life spent in caring for children. A woman marrying at the end of the 19th century would probably have been in her middle twenties, and would be likely to have about eight children, of whom about five lived till they were five years old. By the time the youngest was fifteen, the mother would have been in her early fifties and would expect to live a further twenty years, during which custom, chance and health made it unusual for her to get paid work. Today women marry younger and have fewer children. Usually a woman’s youngest child will be fifteen when she is forty-five and is likely to take paid work until retirement at sixty. Even while she has the care of children, her work is lightened by household appliances(家用电器) and convenience(方便) foods.
This important change in women’s way of life has only recently begun to have its full effect on women’s economic position. Even a few years ago most girls left school at the first opportunity and most of them took a full-time job. However, when they married, they usually left work at once and never returned to it. Today the school-leaving age is sixteen, many girls stay at school after that age, and though women tend to marry younger, more married women stay at work at least until shortly before their first child is born. Very many more afterwards, return to full or part-time work. Such changes have led to a new relationship in marriage, with both husband and wife accepting a greater share of the duties and satisfaction of family life, and with both husband and wife sharing more equally in providing the money and running the home, according to the abilities and interest of each them.
【小题1】Women marrying at the end of the 19th century ________.

A．would have fewer children than those today.

B．would have more children than those today.

C．lived as hard as those in the 20th century

D．lived more comfortably than those in the 20th century

【小题2】 According to the passage, a woman in the 19th century would likely to have about eight children and _______.

A．only about three of them could live more than five years old.

B．only about three of them could live for five years.

C．about eight children lived to be more than five years.

D．about eight children lived to be less than five years.

【小题3】 From the second paragraph, we know _______.

A．women today are not willing to run their home together with their husbands.

B．women today wouldn’t like to do any housework.

C．women today will return to work after they have their babies.

D．were unlikely to find jobs like the mothers before .

【小题4】According to the passage, which of the following is right ?

A．in the past most women often stay at home after leaving school

B．women today like to marry men younger than themselves

C．women today are playing important parts in work and family life.

D．husbands today needn’t do any work at home.