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

A nobleman and a merchant once met in an inn. For their lunch they both ordered soup. When it was brought, the nobleman took a spoonful, but the soup was so hot that he burned his mouth and tears came to his eyes, The merchant asked him why he was weeping. The nobleman was ashamed to admit that he had burned his mouth and answered, “Sir, I once had a brother who committed a great crime , for which he was hanged. I was thinking of his death, and that made me weep.” The merchant believed this story and began to eat his soup. He too burned his mouth, so that he had tears in his eyes. The nobleman noticed it and asked the merchant, “Sir, why do you weep?” The merchant, who now saw that the nobleman had deceived (欺骗) him, answered, “My lord(=master), I am weeping because you were not hanged together with your brother.”

1.This story teaches us ______.

A. not to eat in inns                     B. not to eat soup that is too hot

C. to cry when we burn our mouth          D. not to believe everything you hear

2.The nobleman did not tell the truth because he ______.

A. was a nobleman        B. felt ashamed       C. was in an inn        D. was angry

3.It is probable that the nobleman ______.

A. had no brother who was hanged       B. had a very good brother

C. knew the soup was too hot           D. had never eaten soup

4. The merchant’s answer showed that he ______.

A. was very happy                    B. believed the nobleman

C. was angry with the nobleman         D. had kind heart

 

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

I found out one time that doing a favor for someone could get you into a lot of trouble. I was in the eighth grade at the time, and we were having a final test. During the test, the girl sitting next to me whispered something, but I didn’t understand. So I leaned over her way and found out that she was trying to ask me if I had an extra pen. She showed me that hers was out of ink and would not write. I happened to have an extra one, so I took it out of my pocket and put it on her desk.
Later, after the test papers had been turned in, the teacher asked me to stay in the room when all the other students were dismissed（解散）. As soon as we were alone she began to talk to me about what it meant to grow up; she talked about how important it was to stand on your own two feet and be responsible (负责任) for your own acts. For a long time, she talked about honesty and emphasized（强调） the fact that when people do something dishonest, they are really cheating（欺骗） themselves. She made me promise that I would think seriously（认真地） about all the things she had said, and then she told me I could leave. I walked out of the room wondering why she had chosen to talk to me about all those things.
Later on, I found out that she thought I had cheated on the test. When she saw me lean over to talk to the girl next to me, it looked as if I was copying answers from the girl’s test paper. I tried to explain about the pen, but all she could say was it seemed very very strange to her that I hadn’t talked of anything about the pen the day she talked to me right after the test. Even if I tried to explain that I was just doing the girl a favor by letting her use my pen, I am sure she continued to believe that I had cheated on the test.
【小题1】The story took place exactly __________ .

A．in the teacher’s office	B．in an exam room
C．in the school	D．in the language lab

【小题2】The girl wanted to borrow a pen, because ___________ .

A．she had not brought a pen with her

B．she had lost her own on her way to school

C．there was something wrong with her own

D．her own had been taken away by someone

【小题3】The teacher saw all this, so she asked the boy ____________ .

A．to go on writing his paper	B．to stop whispering
C．to leave the room immediately	D．to stay behind after the exam

【小题4】The thing(s) emphasized in her talk was (were) ___________ .

A．honesty

B．sense of duty

C．seriousness

D．all of the above

【小题5】The boy knew everything _____________ .

A．the moment he was asked to stay behind

B．when the teacher started talking about honesty

C．only some time later

D．when he was walking out of the room

Do you know of anyone who uses the truth to deceive(欺骗)? When someone tells you something that is true，but leaves out important information that should be included, he can give you a false picture．

For example，someone might say, “I just won a hundred dollars on the lottery(彩票). It was great. I took that dollar ticket back to the store and turned it in for one hundred dollars!”

This guy's a winner，right? Maybe，maybe not．We then discover that he bought $ 200 worth of tickets，and only one was a winner．He’s really a big loser!

He didn’t say anything that was false，but he left out important information on purpose．That’s called a half-truth．Half truths are not technically lies，but they are just as dishonest．

Some politicians often use this trick．Let’s say that during Governor Smith’s last term，her state lost one million jobs and gained three million jobs．Then she seeks an  other term．One of her opponents(对手)says，“During Governor Smith’s term，the state lost one million jobs!” That’s true．However，an honest statement would have been，“During Governor Smith's term，the state had a net gain of two million jobs．’’

Advertisers will sometimes use half—truths．It’s against the law to make false statements so they try to mislead you with the truth．An advertisement might say，“Nine out of ten doctors advised their patients to take Yucky Pills to cure toothache．”It fails to mention that they only asked ten doctors and nine of them work for the Yucky Company．

This kind of deception happens too often．It’s a sad fact of life：Lies are lies，and sometimes the truth can 1ie as well．

1.How much did the lottery winner lose?

A．one hundred dollars．	B．Two hundred dollars．
C．Three hundred dollars．	D．Four hundred dollars．

2.We may infer that the author believes people should ________.

A．buy lottery tickets if possible	B．make use of half—truths
C．be careful about what they are told	D．not trust the Yucky Company

3. How many examples does the writer give to show how the truth is used to deceive?

A．One．

B．Two．

C．Three．

D．Four．

4.Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．Using half truths is against the law．

B．Technically，half truths are in fact lies．

C．Yucky Pills is a very good medicine for toothache．

D．Governor Smith did a good job during her last term．

5.Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?

A．He’s really a big loser!

B．Sometimes the truth can lie as well．

C．Advertisers will sometimes use half truths．

D．It’s against the law to make false statements．