“You know, these cups bring to mind a tea quote(说法) I heard.” Mary’s aunt said.

She poured tea. There were four of them and there were four totally different cups on the table.

They took their tea cups.

“What quote?” Mary asked.

“Well, maybe I should rather say it is a story,” aunt said, “I heard that there was a wise teacher who took all his students for tea. They were surprised that all the cups on the table were different. Each of them took a cup and started drinking their tea, each looking at the cups of others. The teacher let them do that for a while and then said,‘ Do you notice your behavior? You are all looking at each other’s tea cup and I can see some of you with the broken ones are even envious(羡慕的) of the finer cups of others. Is this not so?’ ”

The students agreed, amused by their own behavior.

“You may have wondered why you all had different cups, but I put them here on purpose. You see they represent (代表) life itself. Life is like that tea and the cups are like the physical circumstances(状况) of your life. You all got the same thing in your cups — tea. And yet you can not truly enjoy it in your envy of another’s cup. It’s just the same with life. You forget to enjoy your own life when you concentrate on envying the circumstances of someone else’s life.

So now, close your eyes, and taste your own tea. Really taste it. And tell me — did it matter from which cup it came from?”

Aunt finished telling her short tea story and they all sat in silence for a while, tasting their tea. A sleepy fly buzzed(嗡嗡作响) past, a bird sang in the tree. And it really did not matter one bit from which tea cup they drank.

When the students found they had different tea cups, they_____________.

A. were satisfied with their own cup

B. were angry about the broken cups they had been given

C. asked the teacher to get new cups for them

D. were curious about the difference between the cups

From the text, we know that _____________.

A. the teacher prepared different tea cups for each student

B. the teacher should have given the students the same cups

C. the teacher made the tea cups different by mistake.

D. each student took their time to choose a cup they liked

According to the passage, by comparing the cups to the physical circumstances of people’s life, the teacher meant that people_______.

A. should try different ways of life

B. shouldn’t focus on envy others’ physical circumstances

C. can never change their physical circumstances

D. should work hard for a better life

In the passage the teacher’s message to the students was that _______.

A. life is hard and boring for everyone

B. it is strange to be envious of the lives of others

C. everyone should learn to enjoy his own life

D. people act differently in different circumstances

What can be the best title for the passage?

     A. More than tea in a cup                           B. The value of tea

       C. Tea vs cup                                            D. Enjoying tea with a broken cup

“You know, these cups bring to mind a tea quote(说法) I heard.” Mary’s aunt said.
She poured tea. There were four of them and there were four totally different cups on the table.
They took their tea cups.
“What quote?” Mary asked.
“Well, maybe I should rather say it is a story,” aunt said, “I heard that there was a wise teacher who took all his students for tea. They were surprised that all the cups on the table were different. Each of them took a cup and started drinking their tea, each looking at the cups of others. The teacher let them do that for a while and then said,‘ Do you notice your behavior? You are all looking at each other’s tea cup and I can see some of you with the broken ones are even envious(羡慕的) of the finer cups of others. Is this not so?’ ”
The students agreed, amused by their own behavior.
“You may have wondered why you all had different cups, but I put them here on purpose. You see they represent (代表) life itself. Life is like that tea and the cups are like the physical circumstances(状况) of your life. You all got the same thing in your cups — tea. And yet you can not truly enjoy it in your envy of another’s cup. It’s just the same with life. You forget to enjoy your own life when you concentrate on envying the circumstances of someone else’s life.
So now, close your eyes, and taste your own tea. Really taste it. And tell me — did it matter from which cup it came from?”
Aunt finished telling her short tea story and they all sat in silence for a while, tasting their tea. A sleepy fly buzzed(嗡嗡作响) past, a bird sang in the tree. And it really did not matter one bit from which tea cup they drank.
【小题1】 When the students found they had different tea cups, they_____________.

A．were satisfied with their own cup

B．were angry about the broken cups they had been given

C．asked the teacher to get new cups for them

D．were curious about the difference between the cups

【小题2】From the text, we know that _____________.

A．the teacher prepared different tea cups for each student

B．the teacher should have given the students the same cups

C．the teacher made the tea cups different by mistake.

D．each student took their time to choose a cup they liked

【小题3】 According to the passage, by comparing the cups to the physical circumstances of people’s life, the teacher meant that people_______.

A．should try different ways of life

B．shouldn’t focus on envy others’ physical circumstances

C．can never change their physical circumstances

D．should work hard for a better life

【小题4】 In the passage the teacher’s message to the students was that _______.

A．life is hard and boring for everyone

B．it is strange to be envious of the lives of others

C．everyone should learn to enjoy his own life

D．people act differently in different circumstances

【小题5】 What can be the best title for the passage?

A．More than tea in a cup	B．The value of tea
C．Tea vs cup	D．Enjoying tea with a broken cup

“You know, these cups bring to mind a tea quote(说法) I heard.” Mary’s aunt said.

She poured tea. There were four of them and there were four totally different cups on the table.

They took their tea cups.

“What quote?” Mary asked.

“Well, maybe I should rather say it is a story,” aunt said, “I heard that there was a wise teacher who took all his students for tea. They were surprised that all the cups on the table were different. Each of them took a cup and started drinking their tea, each looking at the cups of others. The teacher let them do that for a while and then said,‘ Do you notice your behavior? You are all looking at each other’s tea cup and I can see some of you with the broken ones are even envious(羡慕的) of the finer cups of others. Is this not so?’ ”

The students agreed, amused by their own behavior.

“You may have wondered why you all had different cups, but I put them here on purpose. You see they represent (代表) life itself. Life is like that tea and the cups are like the physical circumstances(状况) of your life. You all got the same thing in your cups — tea. And yet you can not truly enjoy it in your envy of another’s cup. It’s just the same with life. You forget to enjoy your own life when you concentrate on envying the circumstances of someone else’s life.

So now, close your eyes, and taste your own tea. Really taste it. And tell me — did it matter from which cup it came from?”

Aunt finished telling her short tea story and they all sat in silence for a while, tasting their tea. A sleepy fly buzzed(嗡嗡作响) past, a bird sang in the tree. And it really did not matter one bit from which tea cup they drank.

1. When the students found they had different tea cups, they_____________.

A．were satisfied with their own cup

B．were angry about the broken cups they had been given

C．asked the teacher to get new cups for them

D．were curious about the difference between the cups

2.From the text, we know that _____________.

A．the teacher prepared different tea cups for each student

B．the teacher should have given the students the same cups

C．the teacher made the tea cups different by mistake.

D．each student took their time to choose a cup they liked

3. According to the passage, by comparing the cups to the physical circumstances of people’s life, the teacher meant that people_______.

A．should try different ways of life

B．shouldn’t focus on envy others’ physical circumstances

C．can never change their physical circumstances

D．should work hard for a better life

4. In the passage the teacher’s message to the students was that _______.

A．life is hard and boring for everyone

B．it is strange to be envious of the lives of others

C．everyone should learn to enjoy his own life

D．people act differently in different circumstances

5. What can be the best title for the passage?

A．More than tea in a cup	B．The value of tea
C．Tea vs cup	D．Enjoying tea with a broken cup

 

It is impossible not to make a mistake at some point in your life. We may as well accept that something will go wrong and we will be to blame. It is therefore sensible to work out some strategies for apologizing, and the best way to apologise is by letter. This way you can take care over every word you write—which you can’t do if you say sorry to someone in person .

We all say or do something that we wish we hadn’t said or done. You may say something that accidentally hurts someone, or you may provide a service which doesn’t come up to the standards that a client or customer expected.

You may feel that it was a genuine mistake which couldn’t be avoided. Rather than dwell on the mistake, you should quickly try to remedy （补救） the problem. An effective letter of apology is an important part of that process.

For the content of the letter, just remember TABS—Timing, Action, Brevity, Sincerity.

The timing of a letter of apology is vital—it must be sent as soon as possible. Any delay in sending the letter will only compound （使……更坏） the problem. In this case “Better late than never” is not the best motto! The longer you wait before writing a letter of apology, the more it will seem that you have been forced into writing it.

Although it is important to recognize what has gone before, it is also essential to detail the action you plan to take to put right whatever it was you did wrong. Research has shown that some indication that you have thought what future action you plan to take is always well received.

A letter of apology should be brief and the word “sorry” should appear no more than twice. Indicate that you are aware you are using it a second time “once again, I am so sorry for…”or “as I said earlier, I am really sorry about ….”. Finally, the tone of the letter has to be sincere. In fact the combination of all the above factors will help in this respect.

And don’t think that letters are out of date in the email-oriented 21st century. An apology email can be worse than no apology at all!

1. The underlined expression “rather than dwell on the mistake” in the third paragraph means you __________.

A. don’t waste time worrying about it             B. consider the problem

C. forget about what happened                      D. analyze who was at fault

2. What kind of advice does the text suggest about apologizing?

  A. It’s a good idea to send several emails to apologize and show you mean it.

B. It’s a good idea to write a letter of apology as soon as something goes wrong.

  C. Write a long letter apologizing several times to make your point.

  D. Wait to see how they react to your letter before planning to do anything.

3. In the author’s opinion, __________is the most important when writing a letter of apology.

A. brevity                       B. action                      C. timing                      D. sincerity

4. What kind of things do you NOT apologize for?

A. Services that are not as good as they should be.       B. Genuine mistakes made by your friends.

C. Car accidents while traveling around                D. Causing offence or hurt to others.

5. How can timing compound problems?

A. If you write immediately, they will be suspicious.

B. If you leave it for a few days, they will know it was your idea to write.

C. Waiting for a few days before you write will show your sincerity.

D. Waiting too long will make it worse because they won’t believe you mean it.