One day, I heard an American boy say to a Chinese girl student, “You speak very good English.” But the girl answered, “No, no. My English is very poor.” The foreigner was quite   16    at the answer. Thinking he had not made    17    understood or the girl had not   18    him clearly, he said, “Yes, indeed, you speak very well.”   19    the girl still kept saying, “No.” In the end the American boy could not understand and didn’t know   20    to say.

What’s wrong with the girl’s answer? She didn’t   21   a compliment (恭维) in the same way as the American people do. She should answer, “Thank you” instead of “No”. She   22   understood what the American boy had said, but she thought she should be modest. In the   23   , people will feel proud and  24    when they are praised . So if someone says the   25    you have cooked are very delicious, you should say, “Thank you.”

In our country we think being modest is a virtue (美德) and being proud is a bad thing , but in my opinion, being confident does not   26   being proud, so sometimes you should be confident   27   being modest.

   28   you are modest and say, “No, I’m afraid I can’t do it well”, while working in a western country, the others may think that you really cannot do it. If you often say “No”, you will certainly be looked down upon by   29  . When asking for a job, if one says something like “Yes, I can certainly do it” instead of “Let me have a try”, he or she will   30    get it. So in the west, you should be brave to show your self-confidence.

1.A. excited        B. surprised    C. relaxed          D. frightened

2.A. itself     B. herself      C. himself          D. themselves

3.A. heard      B. watched      C. listened to      D. looked at

4.A. Though     B. Although     C. Or               D. But

5.A. when       B. which        C. what             D. how

6.A. receive        B. accept       C. refuse           D. disagree

7.A. hardly     B. really       C. rarely           D. badly

8.A. east       B. south        C. west             D. north

9.A. dutiful        B. modest       C. shameful         D. confident

10.A. dishes        B. cups         C. glasses          D. bowls

11.A. think     B. say          C. ask              D. mean

12.A. as soon as    B. as well as   C. instead of       D. in spite of

13.A. Unless        B. Until        C. Whether          D. If

14.A. another       B. the other    C. the others       D. others

15.A. fail to   B. expect to    C. succeed in       D. believe in