Le Invitation: The first duty of the guest is to respond to the invitation within 48 hours. And no, the guest may not ask to bring a guest because the hostess has chosen her own—and where they will be seated.

       Le Gift: Flowers sent in advance are the preferred gift. They may also be sent afterwards with a thank-you note. It is considered very bad form to arrive with a gift or flowers in hand, therefore forcing the hostess to deal with finding a vase when she is too busy to do that. Though the French love wine, you must never bring a bottle to a dinner party. Why, it’s as if you feared your hosts would not have enough wine on hand, and that’s an insult（凌辱）. You may, however, offer a box of chocolates which the hostess will pass after dinner with coffee.

       Le Arrival: If an invitation is for eight o’ clock, the considerate guest arrives at 8:15. Guests who arrive exactly on time or ---how terrible!---early, are mere thoughtless lout（乡巴佬）who are not giving the hostess those last minutes she needs to deal with details. The “correct” guest arrives between 15 to 20 minutes after the hour because dinner will be served exactly 30 minutes past the time on the invitation.

       Le Table Manner: Don’t eat your bread before main course or hostess will fear you are ruining your appetite for what’s to come. And don’t pick up and pass the salt when asked. That’s right. Don’t, it’s considered bad luck. And you must eat everything you take from the serving dish lest you insult the hostess’ food.  Also, the French abhor waste.

1．In which country, when you go to a dinner party , you are expected to do as what are required in the text_________.

       A．America              B．England              C．France              D．Spanish

2．You’d better not pick up and pass the salt when asked．Because _________.

       A．it’s considered impolite

       B．people believe it can bring bad fortune

       C．it will destroy the dinner.

       D．you should ask the hostess’ permission before you do it.

3．The underlined word “abhor” in the last paragraph can be replaced by ______.

       A．hate                B．ignore             C．admire            D．advocate

4．Which of the following is true?

       A．The “correct” guest arrives between 15 to 20 minutes before the time on the invitation.

       B．Flowers are the preferred gift.

       C．A box of chocolates or a bottle of wine are good gifts.

       D．It’s better for the guest not to bring another guest to attend the party.

When women sit together to watch a movie on TV, they usually talk simultaneously（同时的）about a variety of subjects, including children, men, careers and what' s happening in their lives. When groups of men and women watch a movie together, the men usually end up telling the women to shut up. Men can either talk or watch the screen -- they can' t do both -- and they don' t understand that women can. Besides, women consider that the point of all getting together is to have a good time and develop relationships -- not just to sit there like couch potatoes staring at the screen.
During the ad breaks, a man often asks a woman to explain the plot and tell him where the relationship between the characters is going. He is unable, unlike women, to read the subtle body language signals that reveal how the characters are feeling emotionally. Since women originally spent their days with the other women and children in the group,  they developed the ability to communicate successfully in order to maintain relationships. For a woman, speech continues to have such a clear purpose: to build relationships and make friends. For men, to talk is to relate the facts.
Men see the telephone as a communication tool for sending facts and information to other people, but a woman sees it as a means of bonding. A woman can spend two weeks on vacation with her girlfriend and, when she returns home, telephone the same girlfriend and talk for another two hours.
There is no convincing evidence that social conditioning, the fact that girls' mothers talked them more, is the reason why girls talk more than boys. Psychiatrist Dr Michael Lewis, author Social Behaviour and Language Acquisition, conducted experiments that found mothers talked  to and looked at, baby girls more often than baby boys. Scientific evidence shows parents res the brain bias of their children. Since a girl' s brain is better organized to send and receive speech ,
we therefore talk to them more. Consequently, mothers who try to talk to their sons are usually pointed to receive only short grunts in reply.
56.While watching TV with others, women Usually talk a lot because they
A. are afraid of awkward silence with their families and friends
B. can both talk and watch the screen at the Same time
C. think they can have a good time and develop relationships
D. have to explain the plot and body language to their husbands
57. After a vacation with her girlfriend, a woman would talk to her again on the phone for hours in order to              .
A. experience the happy time again    B. keep a close tie with her
C. recommend her a new scenic spot   D. remind her of something forgotten
58. What does the author want to tell us most?
A. Women' s brains are better organized for language and communication
B. Women love to talk because they are more sociable than men.
C. Men do not like talking because they rely more on facts.
D. Social conditioning is not the reason why women love talking.
59. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A. Women Are Socially Trained to Talk          B. Talking Maintains Relationships
C, Women Love to Talk                     D. Men Talk Differently from Women

She had golden hair when she was a child, but_________ she got older and older; her hair went darker and darker.

A. while       B. when              C. after          D. as

Edith Cavell was born on December 4, 1865, in England. When she left school, she became a teacher. Edith soon found that she had a 36  for nursing(护理), so she completed her training 37  any problem. In 1907, a doctor invited Edith to open a 38  school for nurses in Belgium(比利时).
In August 1914, Germany invaded Belgium. By then, the training school had become a Red Cross hospital. It required its nurses to care for injured soldiers from every country---even 39  soldiers.   .
German forces (军队) went through Belgium to France. British soldiers were 40  with the French, trying to 41  the Germans out of France. But they didn’t 42 . As a result, many British and French soldiers would be caught. But some of them found their 43 to Edith’s training school. There, she took care of them and 44  them from the German forces. Then she heard some 45  people were willing to help the soldiers escape. Together they organized travels for the soldiers out of Belgium to Holland, which was a safe country during the whole war.
In august 1915, the German government discovered 46  was happening at Edith’s training school. Edith was 47  for helping about two hundred British and French 48 escape. Early on October 12, 1915, Edith Cavell was 49  . She died for her country, but she believed that she had only been a nurse trying to do her 50 . History will remember her for ever.

This was my grandmother’s first Christmas without grandfather. When we reached her house, it did seem a little 36 without grandfather.
Grandfather had always said the Christmas  37 was the most important. So we set to work assembling（组装）the beautiful  38 tree that was stored in grandfather’s closet（储藏室）. After we finished, we stepped back to  39 our work. It looked wonderful. But something was  40 .
“Where’s the star?” I asked. It was my grandmother’s  41 . As we emptied box after box and found no star, my grandmother’s eyes  42 with tears. Grandfather had given it to Grandmother fifty years ago. Now, on her first Christmas without  43 , the star was gone, too.
“Let’s  44 in the closet where the tree was,” my sister Donna said. We  45 under beds and over shelves, inside and outside  46 we had exhausted every possibility. We could see Grandmother was  47 , although she tried not to show it. By now, it was  48 outside, and time for bed, as Santa would soon be here.
The next morning, my sisters and I  49 early to see what Santa had left under the tree. After breakfast, the family sat together to  50 presents. “The last gift is to Grandmother from Grandfather.” Father said, in a puzzled voice.
“From who?” There was  51  in my grandmother’s voice.
“I found that  52 in the closet when we got the tree down,” Mother explained.
My grandmother opened it. Her face lit up when she pulled out a(n)  53  golden star. There was a note attached. Her voice trembled（颤抖）as she read it:
Don’t be  54  with me, dear. I broke your star while putting away the tree. Thought it was time for a new one, I hope it brings you as much  55  as the first one. Merry Christmas.