Workplaces all over the UK are preparing for Christmas and all the traditions and customs that come with it. But will this Christmas be a cause of happiness and celebration, or of disappointment and embarrassment?

At this time of year, colleges show their appreciation of each other by doing a “Secret Santa”. Secret Santa involves people who work together buying gifts for each other without saying who they are from.

Co-workers all write their names on pieces of paper, then organize a lottery in which each worker picks a colleague’s name at random. He then has to buy a present for that colleague, usually on a small budget of five or ten pounds.

Since the givers are unknown, the quality of presents can vary greatly. In an Internet survey of Secret Santa presents, the gifts that people received range from tickets to the opera to an air freshener for a car.

Another common workplace tradition is the office Christmas party, at which workmates put on their best clothes and enjoy lots of free wine.

Most parties go without a hitch, but sometimes the alcohol cause party-goers to behave in a way that they later regret.

The BBC invited people to share their most embarrassing Christmas office party stories, and received hundreds of funny ones. For example, a man split his trousers while dancing; a drunken lady spent the whole night with the edge of her dress folded into her pants, and later looked at photos that proved it at work.

But the funniest story must be that of Stuart Vanies, who got so drunk that he put his boss’s head into the toilet. Unsurprisingly, he was fired the very next day.

1. How many Christmas traditions are mentioned?

A．One.

B．Two.

C．Three.

D．Four.

2. We learn from this article that for Christmas ____________________.

A．few people buy presents for their colleagues in Britain

B．British workers write their names on the presents they give their colleagues

C．people usually give their colleagues presents of high quality

D．British workers buy their presents based on an agreed budget

3.The underlined phrase “without a hitch” in the sixth paragraph means _______________.

A．quite smoothly	B．without a result
C．with some difficulty	D．quite unexpectedly

4.The examples in the last two paragraphs are to ______________________.

A．show that most British people enjoy drinking wine

B．advise readers not to drink wine at parties

C．prove that funny things often happen at office Christmas parties

D．criticize the bad habits of the British

 

Attitude is an internal(内在的) state that influences the choices of personal action made by the individual(个人). Some researchers consider that attitudes come from differences between beliefs and ideas; others believe that attitudes come from emotional states. Here, we focus on the effects of attitudes upon behavior, that is, upon the choices of action made by the individual.

The kinds of actions taken by human beings are obviously influenced greatly by attitudes. Whether one listens to classical music or rock, whether one obeys the speed limit while driving, whether one encourages one’s husband or wife to express his or her own ideas-all are influenced by attitudes. These internal states are acquired(获得) throughout life from situations one is faced with in the home, in the streets, and in the school.

Of course, the course of action chosen by an individual in any situation will be largely determined by the particulars of that situation. An individual who has a strong attitude of obeying laws may drive too fast when he is in a hurry and no police cars in sight. A child who has a strong attitude of honesty may steal a penny when she thinks no one will notice. But the internal state which remains unchanged over a period of time, and which makes the individual behave regularly in a variety of situations, is what is meant by an attitude.

Attitudes are learned in a variety of ways. They can result from single events, as when an attitude toward snakes is acquired by an experience in childhood at the sudden movement of a snake. They can result from the individual’s experiences of success and pleasure, as when someone acquires a positive attitude toward doing crossword puzzles by being able to complete some of them. And frequently, they are learned by copying other people’s behavior, as when a child learns how to behave toward foreigners by observing the actions of his parents. Regardless of these differences, there is something in common in the learning and modification(修正) of attitudes.

1.According to the passage, attitudes         .

A. come from different situations in one’s life

B. are largely affected by one’s behavior

C. remain unchanged in one’s daily life

D. could be chosen according to one’s will

2.The author uses the examples in Paragraph 3 to show         .

A. people often make mistakes when they are not noticed

B. people with good attitudes may sometimes do bad deeds

C. particulars of a situation may influence an individual’s action

D. an individual may change his or her attitude fairly easily

3.Which of the following is TRUE about the learning of attitudes?

A. Attitudes are only learned through one’s success.

B. Attitudes learned in danger will last no more.

C. Copying others’ behavior is not a good idea.

D. Attitudes can be learned from one’s parents.

4.What would be the best title for the passage?

A. Differences of Attitudes.                  B. Nature(本质) of Attitude.

C. Choices of Attitudes.                      D. Changes of Attitude.

 

Have you ever thought about what determines the way we are when we grow up? Remember the TV program Seven Up? It started following the lives of a group of children in 1973. We first meet them as wide-eyed seven-year-olds and catch up with them at seven-year intervals: nervous 14-year-olds, serious 21-year-olds and then grown-ups.

Some of the stories are inspiring, others sad, but what is interesting in almost all the cases is the way in which the children’s early hopes and dreams are shown in their future lives. For example, at seven, Tony is a lively child who says he wants to become a sportsman or a taxi driver. When he grows up, he goes on to do both. How about Niki? She says, “I would like to find out about the moon.” And she goes on to become a space scientist. As a child, soft-spoken Bruce says he wants to help “poor children” and ends up teaching in India.

But if the lives of all the children had followed this pattern, the program would be far less interesting than it actually was. It was the children whose childhood did not prepare them for what was to come that made the program so interesting. Where did their ideas come from about what they wanted to do when they grew up? Are children influenced by what their parents do, by what they see on television or by what their teachers say? How great is the effect of a single important event? Many film directors, including Steven Spielberg, say that an early visit to the cinema was the turning point in their lives. Dr. Margaret McAllister, who has done a lot of research in this area, thinks that the major factors are parents, friends and their wider society.

What does the text mainly discuss?

A. New ways to make a TV program interesting.

    B. The importance of TV programs to children.

    C. Different ways to make childhood dreams come true.

    D. The influence of childhood experience on future lives.

What does the underlined word “influenced” mean in the last paragraph?

    A. Impressed.     B. Improved.        C. Affected.          D. Attracted.

What are the examples in Paragraph 2 meant to show?

    A. Many people’s childhood hopes are related to their future jobs.

    B. There are many poor children in India who need help.

    C. Children have different dreams about their future.

    D. A lot of people are very sad in their childhood.

Spielberg’s story is meant to show that _______.

    A. going to a movie at an early age helps a child learn about society

    B. a single childhood event may decide what one does as a grown-up

    C. parents and friends can help a child grow up properly

D. films have more influence on a child than teachers do

My boss’s daughter was studying in the Philippines. He asked me if my husband and I could take care of her. He thought his daughter would be able to improve her English communication skills in this way.

After days of thinking, we agreed. He then brought her here and left after 3 days. I thought that my boss’s daughter was well-mannered, but that was wrong.

After a month of staying in the Philippines, she started to show her true colors. When my husband asked her what she wanted for breakfast, she answered him in a rude way. From then on, we experienced fights at home. There was a time when we didn’t talk to her for a week as a punishment of not being good to us. What I hated most was that she didn’t care about other people’s feelings. She ate ahead of us when we were still working and didn’t leave anything for us. So we had to separate her food from ours to avoid such a problem.

The worst thing about her was that she shouted at us. I was wondering if she did this to her parents. We told this to her parents, but unfortunately I didn’t think that solved the problem. This situation lasted for almost 8 months. Our patience was tested during that time.

We tried to teach her everything we could to make her a better person, but I guess 8 months may not to be enough. We even tried to understand her and adjust for her, but it didn’t work. I just hope that she learned something from us and from other Filipinos.

1.This passage is mainly about the writer’s experience of               .

A. trying to please her boss

B. changing a girl’s bad behavior

C. improving her communication skills

D. dealing with a teenage girl staying in her house

2.Why did the boss want his daughter to stay with the writer ?

A. Because he was too busy to take care of his daughter

B. Because he wanted his daughter to take a holiday there

C. Because he wanted his daughter to improve her English in this way

D. Because he wanted the writer to teach his daughter good manners .

3.What do the examples in paragraph 3 tell us ?

A. The daughter wasn’t behaving well.

B. The writer and her husband were careless.

C. The writer and her husband hated children.

D. The daughter tried her best to make others happy.

4.The underlined word “that” in paragraph 4 refers to                .

A. being patient with her

B. her parents punishing her

C. asking her parents about her

D. telling her parents about her behavior

5.After reading the passage , we learn that                .

A. the writer had known the daughter was hard to deal with

B. the daughter learnt to behave well in the end

C. the writer didn’t enjoy the daughter’s stay

D. the daughter hated dealing with others

 

Have you ever thought about what determines the way we are when we grow up? Remember the TV program Seven Up? It started following the lives of a group of children in 1973. We first meet them as wide-eyed seven-year-olds and catch up with them at seven-year intervals: nervous 14-year-olds, serious 21-year-olds and then grown-ups.
Some of the stories are inspiring, others sad, but what is interesting in almost all the cases is the way in which the children’s early hopes and dreams are shown in their future lives. For example, at seven, Tony is a lively child who says he wants to become a sportsman or a taxi driver. When he grows up, he goes on to do both. How about Niki? She says, “I would like to find out about the moon.” And she goes on to become a space scientist. As a child, soft-spoken Bruce says he wants to help “poor children” and ends up teaching in India.
But if the lives of all the children had followed this pattern, the program would be far less interesting than it actually was. It was the children whose childhood did not prepare them for what was to come that made the program so interesting. Where did their ideas come from about what they wanted to do when they grew up? Are children influenced by what their parents do, by what they see on television or by what their teachers say? How great is the effect of a single important event? Many film directors, including Steven Spielberg, say that an early visit to the cinema was the turning point in their lives. Dr. Margaret McAllister, who has done a lot of research in this area, thinks that the major factors are parents, friends and their wider society.
【小题1】What does the text mainly discuss?

A．New ways to make a TV program interesting.

B．The importance of TV programs to children.

C．Different ways to make childhood dreams come true.

D．The influence of childhood experience on future lives.

【小题2】 What does the underlined word “influenced” mean in the last paragraph?

A．Impressed.

B．Improved.

C．Affected.

D．Attracted.

【小题3】 What are the examples in Paragraph 2 meant to show?

A．Many people’s childhood hopes are related to their future jobs.

B．There are many poor children in India who need help.

C．Children have different dreams about their future.

D．A lot of people are very sad in their childhood.

【小题4】Spielberg’s story is meant to show that _______.

A．going to a movie at an early age helps a child learn about society

B．a single childhood event may decide what one does as a grown-up

C．parents and friends can help a child grow up properly

D．films have more influence on a child than teachers do