Dear Maggie,
I’ve just realized I haven’t written to you for a month. How have you done with yourself since I last see you? In your last letter you said you were thinking of ask for a new job. I’d love to hear what was happened. I’d have phoned, but I may have lost your number. I remember writing it up somewhere and I haven’t been able to find them. Anyway, why I’m writing is tell you I’m having a party next Friday. Whether you’d like to come, I suggest you give me a ring and I’ll give you all the details. I hope you’ll be able to come and looking forward to hearing from you.

Dear Maggie,

I’ve just realized I haven’t written to you for a month. How have you done with yourself since I last see you? In your last letter you said you were thinking of ask for a new job. I’d love to hear what was happened. I’d have phoned, but I may have lost your number. I remember writing it up somewhere and I haven’t been able to find them. Anyway, why I’m writing is tell you I’m having a party next Friday. Whether you’d like to come, I suggest you give me a ring and I’ll give you all the details. I hope you’ll be able to come and looking forward to hearing from you.

Hear to me carefully. What I‘m saying is very important.

[1]Listening is one of the most important skills we can ever learn and an essential part of communication; not only does it help you to build close relations with other people, it’s also away of showing respect for others, When people feel respected, it’s very easy to build long, happy relationships , We all know people who are really had listeners, They love the sound of their own voices so much that you can’t get a chance to speak ,What’s important is active listening; paying attention, and then demonstrating your understanding of a conversation by repeating key points in your responses, People just want to feel like they are understood, Here are some ways to improve you listening skills.

[2]never talk over people

This shows a real lack of respect ,By talking over someone what you’re basically saying is “I don’t care what you’re saying—what I have to say is more important”.

[3]Don’t finish other people’s sentences.

I used to do this a lot thinking I was helpfully finishing people’s sentences for them, Wrong, Research has shown by doing this you are discouraging the other person because you are taking control of the conversation, so bite you tongue !

[4]Paraphrase（改述）

If you want to show that you have really understood someone, then paraphrasing is a great too1, All you have to do is repeat back to someone what they have just said , before you comment yourself, Here’s an example：“So Barney ,what I’m hearing is that results are the number one objective for you fight now and we need to find some fast solutions for you?”

[5]Listen actively

Focus on active listening instead of passive listening , The difference is that active listening means you engage and respond to the other person based on what they have said while passive listening is simply the act of listening           

[6]Maintain eye contact

By looking at the other person in the eye , you are proving that you’ re interested in what they’re saying , This also keeps you focused and less distracted (思想不集中的)

1.What is main idea of the passage?(no more than 10 words)

2.Why is listening an essential part of communication?(no more than 15 words)

3.What does the underlined phrase in Paragraph 3 mean in English?

4.Fill in the blank in Paragraph 5 with proper words to complete the sentence(no more than 10 words)

5.What does the writer advocate to do for your listening skills according to the text?(no more than 3 words for each)

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When my brother and I were young, my mom would take us on Transportation Days.

It goes like this: You can't take any means of transportation more than once. We would start from home, walking two blocks to the rail station. We'd take the train into the city center, then a bus, switching to the train, then maybe a taxi. We always considered taking a horse carriage in the historic district, but we didn't like the way the horses were treated, so we never did. At the end of the day, we took the subway to our closest station, where Mom's friend was waiting to give us a ride home—our first car ride of the day.

The good thing about Transportation Days is not only that Mom taught us how to get around. She was born to be multimodal (多方式的). She understood that depending on cars only was a  failure of imagination and, above all, a failure of confidence—the product of a childhood not spent exploring subway tunnels.

Once you learn the route map and step with certainty over the gap between the train and the platform, nothing is frightening anymore. New cities are just light­rail lines to be explored. And your personal car, if you have one, becomes just one more tool in the toolbox—and often an inadequate one, limiting both your mobility and your wallet.

On Transportation Days, we might stop for lunch on Chestrut Street or buy a new book or toy, but the transportation was the point. First, it was exciting enough to watch the world speed by from the train window. As I got older, my mom helped me unlock the mysteries that would otherwise have paralyzed my first attempts to do it myself: How do I know where to get off? How do I know how much it costs? How do I know when I need tickets, and where to get them? What track, what line, which direction, where's the stop, and will I get wet when we go under the river?

I'm writing this right now on an airplane, a means we didn't try on our Transportation Days and, we now know, the dirtiest and most polluting of them all. My flight routed me through Philadelphia. My multimodal mom met me for dinner in the airport. She took a train to meet me.

1. According to the writer, what was the greatest benefit of her Transportation Days?

A．Building confidence in herself.

B．Reducing her use of private cars.

C．Developing her sense of direction.

D．Giving her knowledge about vehicles.

2. The underlined word “paralyzed”(in Para.5) is closest in meaning to “________”．

A．displayed      B．justified       C．ignored       D．ruined

3. Which means of transportation does the writer probably disapprove of?

A．Airplane.      B．Subway.       C．Train.        D．Car.