“Sending thank-you notes is becoming a lost art,” mourns May Mitchell, a syndicated columnist known as “Ms Demeanor” and author of six etiquette(礼节) books. In her view, each generation, compared with the one before, is losing a sense of consideration for other people. “Without respect,” she says, “you have conflict.”

Ms. Demeanor would be proud of me: I have figured out a way to ensure that my children always send thank-you notes. And such a gesture is important, says Ms. Demeanor, because “a grateful attitude is a tremendous life skill, an efficient and inexpensive way to set ourselves apart in the work force and in our adult lives. Teach your children that the habit of manners comes from inside---it’s an attitude based on respecting other people.”

A few years ago, as my children descended like piranhas (一种南美淡水鱼，喜吞食或攻击) on their presents under the Christmas tree, the only attitude I could see was greed. Where was the appreciation of time and effort?

A thank-you note should contain three things: an acknowledgement of the gift (Love the tie with the picture of a hose on it); a recognition of the time and effort spent to select it (You must have shopped all over the state find such a unique item!); a prediction of how you will use your gift or the way it has enhanced your life (I’ll be sure to wear it to the next Mr. Ed convention!).

So, five years ago, in one of my rare flashes of parental insight, I decided that the most appropriate time to teach this basic courtesy is while the tinsel (装饰用光亮金属) is hot. To the horror of my children, I announced that henceforth every gift received will be an occasion for a thank-you note written immediately, on the spot.

I have reluctantly given my kids the green light to send e-mail thank-you notes; though hand-lettered ones (at least to me) still seem friendlier. But pretty much any thank-you makes the gift giver feel special—just as, we hope, the recipient feels. It’s a gesture that perfectly captures the spirit of the holidays.

41. 1.in Ms. Demeanor’s point of view, children born in the ______ is probably the least respectful generation.

42. 2. The phrase “set oneself apart” (Para. 2) means _______.

43. 3.According to the passage, a thank-you note may contain the following information EXCEPT “_______”.

44. 4.How did the author feel when she saw her children searching under the Christmas tree for their presents?

45. 5.Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE about the author?

recipient does.

You wake up in the morning，the day is beautiful and the plans for the day are what you have been looking forward to for a long time．Then the telephone rings，you say hello, and the drama starts．The person on the other end has a depressing(令人沮丧的) tone in his voice as he starts to tell you how terrible his morning is and that there is nothing to look forward to．Yon are still in a wonderful mood? Impossible!

Communicating with negative people can wash out your happiness．It may not change what you think，but communicating long enough with them will make you feel depressed for a moment or a long time．

Life brings ups and downs，but some people are stuck in the wrong idea that life has no happiness to offer．They only feel glad when they make others feel bad．No wonder they can hardly win others’pity or respect．

When you communicate with positive people，your spirit stays happy and therefore more positive things are attracted．When the dagger(匕首)of a negative person is put in you, you feel the heavy feeling that all in all，brings you down．

Sometimes we have no choice but to communicate with negative people．This could be a co-worker，or relative．In this case，say what needs to be said as little as possible． Sometimes it feels good to let out-your anger back to a negative person，but all this does is to lower you to that same negative level and they won’t feel ashamed of themselves about that．

Negativity often affects happiness without even being realized．The negative words of another at the start of the day can cling to(附着)you throughout the rest of your day，which makes you feel bad and steals your happiness．Life is too short to feel negative．Stay positive and avoid negativity as much as possible．

1.The purpose of the first paragraph is to           ．

2.How can negative people have effect on us?

3.Some negative people base their happiness on              ．

4.According to the passage， to reduce negative people’s influence on us，we are advised             ．

5.What can we learn about negativity?

It’s not easy growing up. Growing up can be a real “pain” for some of us. Sometimes we feel trapped, sometimes we feel sad, sometimes we are fearful, and sometimes we just don’t understand why we can’t stay young forever. But we should take a look back on all the hardships in life with a positive attitude and learn from them. We must overcome every obstacle one small step at a time. We should realize that all of our growing pains actually turn into growing gains!
Throughout our lives we are going to face many challenges and pains, but we should never let these obstacles keep us from following our dreams. We must overcome every obstacle one small step at a time.
As a young girl, my parents forced me to do so many things that I didn’t like. They made me learn to play the violin and then the piano. At that time I hated music and I also hated them. But looking back now, I am so glad that my parents encouraged me to take music lessons. Music has enriched(丰富) my life in so many ways. I now realize that my parents and teachers wanted me to have a better life than they did themselves.
We are all going to experience growing pains, but they are just part of our life. They might seem so huge at the time, but we must be strong. Think about how we would feel if we had no challenges and lived a life like that. Life would be really boring and meaningless. The future is ours! A little hard work and sweat never hurt anyone! If we realize that these pains are just small bumps(碰撞) on our road to success, we will realize that our growing pains are actually growing gains!

1. 1.

   The underlined word “obstacles” (in Paragraph 2) roughly means things that ______.

   1. A.
      are related to your studies
   2. B.
      you easily achieve
   3. C.
      make you happy
   4. D.
      make it difficult for you to do something
2. 2.

   How does the author now feel when remembering what her parents did for her in the past?

   1. A.
      She is fearful
   2. B.
      She is grateful
   3. C.
      She feels trapped
   4. D.
      She feels hateful
3. 3.

   We can know from the last paragraph that _____________.

   1. A.
      life without challenges is dull
   2. B.
      life needs no pains but sunshine and happiness
   3. C.
      we should give up faced with challenges as the future is ours
   4. D.
      we shouldn’t easily pay a little hard work in growing up
4. 4.

   The purpose of the passage is to tell readers____________.

   1. A.
      life is full of hardships
   2. B.
      growing pains can turn into growing gains in a positive way
   3. C.
      everyone is painful in growing up
   4. D.
      everyone should do what they don’t like when young

阅读下面短文，并根据短文后的要求回答（请注意问题后的字数要求）

[1]China will change the world as much as the world changes China, if the country continues its opening up.

[2]How could it not? The rest of the world cannot remain unaffected by the culture of one-fifth of humanity. As China strengthens its economy, allows its citizens more overseas travel and participates in global efforts, the West surely will learn more about Chinese ways.

[3]And once it does, its people might choose to adot some of them.

[4]It might surprise Chinese that Westerners            . When I announced my Beijing job to American friends, family and neighbors, they were very curious and mostly uninformed about China．

[5] Our media carries little news about China except during unusual circumstances, which typically are times of stress between the two countries．We hear about arguments with China over climate change, Taiwan and Tibet, but that doesn' t tell average Americans anything about average Chinese．

[6]Most American- don't know that Chinese weddings feature firecrackers; that Chinese parents make extraordinary sacrifices for their children; that Chinese diners eat off plates smaller than any on a Western table; that favorite Chinese drinks include hot soy milk and the potent white-grain alcohol, baijiu; and that elderly Chinese sometimes walk down streets backwards to keep their balancing skills sharp．

[7]Westemers will learn as they and the Chinese increasingly mingle（接触）．As they do there' s no telling which Chirac customs will take root in foreiffl soil．but some of them surely will．

[8] Maybe we' 11 see baijiu and green tea served at baseball stadiums along with beer and soda pop．That wouldn' t make the game any less American．

[9] Meanwhile, I hope China continues to take in what the world has to offer and transform it into something typically Chinese．To think that exposure to Western ways weakens China, instead of strengthens it, assumes the country' s culture is fragile．That' s a surprising attitude for any Chinese to take．

1.What does the passage mainly tell us? (within 10 words)

2.Fill in the blank in Paragraph 4 with proper words. (within 6 words)

3.What an attitude should we Chinese take towards Western culture according to the author? (within 20 words)

4.Which sentence in the text is the closest in meaning to the following one?

In that case, some of the Chinese way of life will, possibly, be accepted by the westerners.

5.Translate the underlined sentence in Paragraph 7 into Chinese.

A study involving 8,500 teenagers from all social backgrounds found that most of them are ignorant when it comes to money. The findings, the first in a series of reports from NatWest that has started a five-year research project into teenagers and money, are particularly worrying as this generation of young people is likely to be burdened with greater debts than any before.

University tuition fees are currently capped at £3,000 annually, but this will be reviewed next year and the Government is under enormous pressure to raise the ceiling.

In the research, the teenagers were presented with the terms of four different loans but 76 per cent failed to identify the cheapest. The young people also predicted that they would be earning on average £31.000 by the age of 25, although the average salary for those aged 22 to 29 is just £17,815. The teenagers expected to be in debt when they finished university or training, although half said that they assumed the debts would be less than £10.000. Average debts for graduates are £12,363.

Stephen Moir, head of community investment at the Royal Bank of Scotland Group which owns NatWest, said. "The more exposed young people are to financial issues, and the younger they become aware of them, the more likely they are to become responsible, forward-planning adults who manage their finances confidently and effectively."

Ministers are deeply concerned about the financial pressures on teenagers and young people because of student loans and rising housing costs. They have just introduced new lessons in how to manage debts. Nikki Fairweather, aged 15, from St Helens, said that she had benefited from lessons on personal finance, but admitted that she still had a lot to learn about money.

1. Which of the following can be found from the five-year research project?

A. Students understand personal finances differently. 

B. University tuition fees in England have been rising.

C. Teenagers tend to overestimate their future earnings.

D. The students' payback ability has become a major issue.

2. The phrase "to raise the ceiling" in paragraph 2 probably means "______".

A. to raise the student loans                B. to improve the school facilities

C. to increase the upper limit of the tuition  D. to lift the school building roofs

3. According to Stephen Moir, students _______.

A. are too young to be exposed to financial issues

B. should learn to manage their finances well

C. should maintain a positive attitude when facing loans

D. benefit a lot from lessons on personal finance

4. What can we learn from the passage?

A. Many British teenagers do not know money matters well

B. Teenagers in Britain are heavily burdened with debts.

C. Financial planning is a required course at college.

D. Young people should become responsible adults.