Everybody hates it, but everybody does it. A recent report said that 40％of Americans hate tipping. In America alone, tipping is a $16 billion-a-year industry. Consumers acting politely ought not to pay more than they have to for a given service. Tips should not exist. So why do they? The common opinion in the past was that tips both rewarded the efforts of good service and reduced uncomfortable feelings of inequality. And also, tipping makes for closer relations. It went without saying that the better the service, the bigger the tip.

    But according to new research from Cornell University, tips no longer serve any useful function. The paper analyzes numbers they got from 2,547 groups dining at 20 different restaurants. The connection between larger tips and better service was very weak. Only a tiny part of the size of the tip had anything to do with the quality of service.

    Tipping is better explained, by culture than by the money people spend. In America, the custom came into being a long time ago. It is regarded as part of the accepted cost of a service. In New York restaurants, failing to tip at least l5％ could well mean dissatisfaction from the customers. Hairdressers can expect to get l5％-20％, and the man who delivers your fast food $2. In Europe, tipping is less common. In many restaurants the amount of tip is decided by a standard service charge. In many Asian countries, tipping has never really caught on at all. Only a few have really taken to tipping.

    According to Michael Lynn，the Cornell papers’ author, countries in which people are more social or outgoing tend to tip more. Tipping may reduce anxiety about being served by strangers. And Mr. Lynn says, “In America, where people are expressive and eager to mix up with others, tipping is about social approval. If you tip badly, people think less of you. Tipping well is a chance to show off.”

1.This passage is mainly about________.

    A. different kinds of tipping in different countries

    B. the relationship between tipping and custom

    C. the origin and present meaning of tipping

    D. most American people hate tipping

2. Which of the following best explains the underlined phrase “caught on” ?

    A. Been hated．                     B. Become popular．

    C. Been stopped．                   D. Been permitted

3. Among the following situations, in your opinion, who is likely to tip most?

    A. A Frenchman just quarreled with the barber who did his hair badly in New York.

    B. A Chinese student enjoyed his meal in a famous fast food restaurant in New York.

    C. A Japanese businessman asked for a pizza delivery from a Pizza Hut in New York.

    D. An American just had a wonderful dinner in a well known restaurant in New York.

4.We can infer from this passage that________.

A. tipping is no longer a good way to satisfy some customers themselves

B. tipping has something to do with people’s character

C. tipping in America can make service better now

D. tipping is especially popular in New York

 

What will man be like in the future—in 5000 or even 50, 000 years from now? We can only make guesses, of course, but we can be sure that he will be different from what he is today, for man is slowly changing all the time.

Let us take an obvious example. Man, even five hundred years ago , was shorter than he is today. Now, on average,  men are about three inches taller. Five hundred years is a relatively short period of time, so we may assume that man will continue to grow taller. Again, in the modem world we use our brains a great deal. Even so, we still make use of only about 20% of the brain’ s capacity(容量). As time goes on , however , we shall have to use our brains more and more,  and eventually we shall need larger ones! This is likely to bring about a physical change too: the head, in particular the forehead, will grow larger. Nowadays our eyes are in constant use. In fact , we use them so much that very often they become weaker and we have to wear glasses. But over a very long period of time it is likely that man’ s eyes will grow stronger.

On the other hand, we tend to make less use of our arms and legs. These, as a result, are likely to grow weaker. At the same time, however , our fingers will grow more sensitive（敏感的） because they are used a great deal in modern life.

But what about hair? This will probably disappear from the body altogether in course of time because it does not serve a useful purpose any longer. In the future, then, both sexes are likely to be bald.

Perhaps all this gives the impression that future man will not be a very attractive creature to look at! This may well be true. All the same, in spite of all these changes, future man will still have a lot in common with us. He will still be a human being, with thoughts and emotions similar to our own. …

1.The passage mainly tells us that _______.

A．man’s life will be different in the future.

B．future man will look quite different from us.

C．man is growing taller and uglier as time passes.

D．human’s organs’ functions will become weak “

2.The change in man’s size of forehead will probably be because ___________.

A．he makes use onIy20% of the brain’s capacity.

B．his brain has grown larger over the past centuries.

C．the other 80% of his brain will grow in due time

D．he will use his brain more and more as time goes on :

3.What will be true about a human being in the future?

A．He will be hairless because hair is no longer useful.

B．He will have smaller eyes and will wear better glasses.

C．His fingers will grow weaker because he won’t have to make use of them.

D．He will think and feel in a different way.

4.It is implied that ________.

A．human beings will become less attractive in the future

B．less use of a bodily organ may lead to its degeneration(退化,)

C．human beings hope for a change in the future life

D．future life is always predictable

 

What will man be like in the future — in 5,000 or even 50,000 years from now? We can only make guesses, of course, but we can be sure that he will be different from what he is today, for man is slowly changing all the time.

Let us take an obvious example. Man, even five hundred years ago, was shorter than he is today. Now, on average, men are about three inches taller. Five hundred years is relatively a short period of time, so we may suppose that man will continue to grow taller. Again, in the modern world we use our brains a great deal. Even so, we still make use of only about 20% of the brain’s capacity(容量). As time goes on, however, we shall have to use our brains more and more, and finally we shall need our brains more and more, and finally we shall need larger ones! This is likely to bring a physical change too: the head, in particular the forehead, will grow larger.

Nowadays our eyes are in constant use. In fact, we use them so much that very often they become weaker and we have to wear glasses. But over long period of time it is likely that man’s eyes will grow stronger.

On the other hand, we tend to make less use of our arms and legs. These, as a result, are likely to grow weaker. At the same time, however, our fingers will grow more sensitive because they are used a great deal in modern life.

But what about hair? This will probably disappear from the body altogether in course of time because it does not serve a useful purpose any longer. In the future, then, both sexes are likely to be bald.

Perhaps all this gives the impression that future man will not be a very attractive creature to look at! This may well be true. All the same, in spite of all these changes, future man will still have a lot in common with us. He will still be a human being, with thoughts and motions similar to our own.

1.The passage mainly tells us that __________.

A．Man’s life will be different in the future

B．Future man will look quite different from us

C．Man is growing taller and uglier as time passes

D．Man’s organs’ functions will change

2.What serves as the evidence that man is changing?

A．Man has got stronger eyes now than he ever had.

B．Man’s hair is getting thinner and thinner.

C．Man’s arms and legs have become lighter and weaker.

D．Man has been growing taller over the past 500 years.

3.The change in man’s size of the forehead is probably because __________.

A．he makes use of only 20% of the brain’s capacity

B．his brain has grown larger over the past centuries

C．he will use his brain more and more as time goes on

D．the other 80% of his brain will grow in due time

4.Which of the following is TRUE about a human being in the future?

A．He is hairless because hair is no longer useful.

B．He has smaller eyes and wears better glasses.

C．His fingers grow weaker because he doesn’t have to make use of them.

D．He thinks and feels in a different way.

5.It is implied that __________.

A．human beings will become less attractive in the future

B．body organs will become poorer if they are not used often

C．human beings hope for a change in the future life

D．future life is always predictable