“When are you going on holiday? And where? ”are usual questions in the office before the summer holiday, and the answer often is: “In one week, to the beach. ”“Aha! You have a beautiful tan（＝brown by sunshine）! How was your holiday? ”These continue for days after you return.　　  Many Europeans have not only weekends and bank holidays but also five to seven weeks paid leave. おUsually parents in the summer plan to spend three or four weeks with the family. Because of my earlier years in China, I found it difficult to understand the European attitude （态度）toward holidays.

During my childhood in the 1960s, my parents were always busy with work and meetings. They left early in the morning and came back late in the evening. My sisters, my brother and I were left alone with Grandma. We saw our parents only on Sundays and during the few holidays. The only long period （一段）of time during which the whole family could be together once a year was the Spring Festival. We missed our parents badly, but didn’t say so because we had been told that hard work was everyone’s duty and that we could not have our own small family without a big family.　　  Later I was a hard working student and, during summer or winter holidays, often stayed alone at university to have more time to study. I was always encouraged by my parents, for whom the holiday was less important than “work” and “study”. Holidays were a waste of time and I felt as if I had done something wrong if I took a holiday or did nothing during a holiday.

I spent the most difficult period of my life abroad. But when I joined this company, my boss didn’t seem to think it right for me to work like that. When I called him at home after office hours for business purposes （目的）, he politely told me that he preferred talking about work with me in the office.

When the holiday season came near, he asked me to plan my leave beforehand （提前）. He talked with me about his holiday and also asked about mine. For him, leave was a right.　　  Giving up a holiday for the company is encouraged in China, but is foolish here. I began to think about holidays.

Today my parents are retired （退休）and stay home with a lot of time for their children. But we are all grown- up and live far away. We miss each other, but we cannot afford to see each other very much and they often feel sorry for the fact that they were too busy to be able to take care of us when we were young.

Nowadays, Chinese take long weekends and have paid holidays. But do they use their holidays to enjoy family life? I hope so because my experience in China and Europe has helped me understand that work is not my whole life and that a family is also very important. I do not want to feel sorry in the future as my parents do and I certainly spend as much time with my son as possible. There is nothing wrong with either working hard or taking holidays, but we shouldn’t have one instead of the other. It is important to keep a balance （平衡）between work and play.   

1. What do the underlined words “paid leave” mean?

A. You have to pay when you take a holiday.　　 

B. Someone will pay for your holiday.　　 

C. You are still paid when you have your holiday.　　

D. You can’t leave until you pay for the holiday.   

2. What is the main idea of this passage?

A. Working is the only part of the life.      

B. Traveling is the best way to spend your holiday.　　 

C. Enjoying holidays is as important as working　　 

D. Sharing happiness with your family is more important   

3. The writer talks about her own experience because she hopes that the Chinese will _______.　　  A. plan their holiday beforehand　　  B. get used to long holidays and enjoy themselves　　  C. give up a holiday for their work　　   D. bring business home after work hours

 

One summer evening as I was cooking dinner, there was a knock at the door. I opened it and saw an old man. But his voice was pleasant as he said, “Good evening. I come to see if you have a room for just one night. I live far away from here, and there's no bus till next morning. ”

I told him we would find him a bed, but it was not comfortable. I went inside and cooked dinner. When we were ready, I asked him if he would like to join us. “No, thank you. I have plenty.” When I had finished the dinner, I went out to talk with him. He told me he fished for a living to help his daughter, her five children, and her husband, who was ill and too weak to do anything.

At bedtime, we put a bed in the children's room for him. On his next trip, as a gift, he brought a big fish and some fresh vegetables. In the years he came to stay overnight with us, and there was never a time he did not bring us some fish or vegetables from his garden.

 I know it was thankful for our family to know him, from whom we learn what was to accept the bad without a complaint(抱怨) and the good with thanks.

1Why did the old man go to the writer's house?

A. To give a fish to the writer.                   B. To stay for the night.

C. To sell some fish.                             D. To ask for some money.

2 How many people were there in the old man's daughter's family?

A. Two.           B. Four.                 C. Six.           D. Seven.

3 Which of the following is true?

 A. The old man stayed for the night with the writer only once.

 B. The old man came to the writer's house to ask for some food.

 C. The old man came to stay with the writer for the night many times.

 D. The old man felt lonely because he had no son or daughter.

British people are famous for drinking tea. But brother and sister, Sarah and Bobby Green, became young millionaires(百万富翁) when they opened a chain of American-style coffee shops in the UK.

Having the idea: It started when Sarah took a weekend trip to New York to visit her brother Bobby. One evening, in a Thai restaurant, Sarah told Bobby how much she wished she could buy American-style coffee in London. Bobby suggested they started their own coffee shop. Sarah fell in love with the idea.

Doing the research: Back in London, she spent a whole day on the London subway, getting off the train at different stations to taste the coffee. “It was terrible, and I knew there was a gap (空缺) in the market.” In 1995, they opened their first Coffee Republic shop in the center of London.

Making it work: The first year was very difficult. British people were not used to the names of American coffees, like latte and macchiato. But being successful was their dream and they were not going to give up. Today, there are over 100 Coffee Republic shops all over the country and the company has ￡30 million a year.

Advice for others: Sarah has now written a best-selling book about their experience, called Anyone Can Do It! She hopes it will help other young people to start their own businesses. She says, “If you think you have the energy, then get out and follow your dream.”

4What kind of company do they run?

A. A fast-food restaurant.                                B. A tea shop.   

C. A coffee shop.                       D. A big hotel.

5 Where are their Coffee Republic shops?

A. All over the UK.                        B. All over the US.

C. In the center of London.                D. In New York.

6Which information is mentioned in the passage?

A. Sarah was not interested in Bobby’s idea.

 B. British people never drank coffee before 1995.

 C. Sarah’s best-selling book is about how to make coffee.

 D. Sarah found a business chance while doing the research.

Most people around the world are right-handed. This also seems to be true in history. In 1799, scientists studied works of art made at different times from 1,500 B. C. to the 1950s. Most of the people shown in these works are right-handed, so the scientists guessed that right-handedness has always been common through history. Today, only about 10% to 15% of the world's population is left-handed.

  Why are there more right-handed people than left-handed ones? Scientists now know that a person's two hands each have their own jobs. For most people, the hand is used to find things or hold things. The right hand is used to work with things. This is because of the different work of the two sides of the brain(脑). The right side of the brain, which makes a person's hands and eyes work together, controls(控制) the left hand. The left-side of the brain, which controls the right hand, is the centre for thinking and doing problems. These findings show that more artists should be left-handed, and studies have found that left-handedness is twice as common among artists as among people in other jobs.

No one really knows what makes a person become right-handed instead of left-handed. Scientists have found that almost 40% of the people become left-handed because their main brain is damaged(伤害) when they are born. However, this doesn't happen to everyone, so scientists guess there must be another reason why people become left-handed. One idea is that people usually get right-handed from their parents. If a person does not receive the gene(基因)for right-handedness, he/she may become either right-handed or left-handed according (根据)to the chance and the people they work or live with.

  Though right-handedness is more common than left-handedness, people no longer think left-handed people are strange or unusual. A long time ago, left-handed children were made to use their right hands like other children, but today they don't have to.

7 After studying works of art made at different times in history, the scientists

found ____________.

A. the art began from 1,500 B. C.

B. the works of art ended in the 1950s

C. most people shown in the works of art are right-handed

D. most people shown in the works of art are left-handed

8 How many people in the world are left-handed now?

A. Less than one sixth.                 B. More than a half.

C. About 40%.                             D. The passage doesn't tell us.

9 According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

A. No one really knows what makes a person become right-handed.

B. Scientists think there must be some reason why people become left-handed.

C. Today children are not made to use their right hands only.

D. Left-handedness is cleverer than right-handedness.

10 What is the best title for this passage?

A. Left-handed People                           B. Scientists' New Inventions

 C. Which Hand                         D. Different Brains, Different Hands