Have you ever walked into a candy store with a young child and watched with delight as the store manager gave the youngster a small treat？ Or have you ever received a telephone call from a retailer asking you whether an item you purchased a month before was meeting your needs？ No doubt you noticed these gracious acts．
Business firms in this highly competitive decade are quick to institute programs designed to ensure product and service quality．But it's often the ''little things'' that help build a permanent tie between seller and buyer．
If you want to make those ''little things'' a high customer service priority（优先权），here are a few tips for you to follow．
Make a list of the simple, but gracious acts you can perform for your customers．It might include handing out key chains or other small gifts to customers after a purchase， or extending delivery service to elderly customers．Just be sure every item is realistic， economical and easy to carry out．
Training in the ''little things'' helps your people learn skills and attitudes．If you want your people to hand out small gifts of your business， be sure they're kept in stock．If you want your people to take extra time with customers， be sure you schedule enough staffing during peak business hours．If you want your people to follow up with customers on the telephone at the end of each month， be sure you drop the sales load a bit at that time．
Training in the ''little things'' doesn't end with a single activity．It must become part of everyday life in your business．Emphasize the importance of the ''little things'' by word and deed．Be sure everyone visibly practices the art of customer courtesy（礼貌）each day．Announce the power of the ''little things'' through every possible means．The more cheer leading you do about this topic， the more it will become deeply fixed in the workplace．
1.The underlined word ''gracious'' can most likely be replaced by _______．
A．surprising B．warmhearted
C．interesting D．kind
2.If you want your people to accompany customers much longer,_______．
A．be sure little things are kept in stock
B．be sure enough assistants are available during rush business hours
C．be sure you drop the sales load a bit at that time
D．be sure to let them follow up with you
3.The main idea of this passage is ________
A．how to train the employees in the business firm
B．the importance of ''little things'' in today's business
C．the necessity of giving away little things
D．praising employees who show courtesy to customers
Patricia Blues, 29, has a new aim in life: to keep drivers' hands on their steering wheels and off their cell phones．On November 2, 2007, Blues lived through a horrible experience．A motorist dialing a cell phone drove through a stop sign at 45 miles per hour and run into the side of Blues' car．Blues' 2-year-old daughter was killed immediately in the crash．
Blues has since dedicated her time to pushing for laws that would prevent this type of tragedy from happening again．
Cell phones are not the only distractions （分神） that cause accidents．Eating, changing CD, reading maps, talking to passengers, and just reaching for an object on the floor can be dangerous．Therefore, the emphasis should be on educating drivers to avoid all distractions．However, talking on cell phones might be easier to regulate than eating or changing music．At least 34 states have already passed laws to restrict cell phone use in moving cars．No state has banned it yet, but several U．S．cities have．Worldwide, 13 nations, including Australia, England, Germany, Japan and China have banned drivers' use of cell phones in moving cars．
To date, no scientific evidence has been published showing that talking on the phone affects driving safety．But according to a test by some high school students, "driving while on the phone does affect safety and probably shouldn't be done"．
1.What happened to Patricia Blues last November? ____．
A．She was seriously injured in a car crash
B．She lost her daughter in a road accident
C．She broke the traffic rules at a bus stop
D．Her vehicle was destroyed by a motorbike
2.The tragedy was caused by ____．
A．Blues' lack of driving experience
B．the motorist’s failure of seeing the stop sign
C．Blues' poor car conditions
D．the motorist's absence of mind while driving
3.Patricia Blues' new goal of life is to persuade the government ____．
A．to prohibit the carrying of cell phones in cars
B．to educate drivers to avoid all distractions
C．to ban talking on the phone while driving
D．to study harmful results of using cell phones
4.Which of the following is TRUE according to the text? ____．
A．Using cell phone while driving is easier to be controlled by law than other distractions
B．It is more important to make laws than educate drivers to be aware of driving safety
C．Driving while on the phone is firmly against only by some students from high school
D．It is extremely urgent for the cities with a large population to restrict using cell phones
“Long time no see” is a very interesting sentence．When I first read this sentence from an American friend’s email，I laughed．I thought it was a perfect __1___ of Chinglish．
Obviously，it is a word-by-word literal translation of the Chinese greeting with a __2____ English grammar and structure! Later on，my friend told me that it is a standard-American 3．I was too thrilled to believe her．Her words could not___4___me at all．So I did a___5___ on google．com．To my surprise，there are over 60 thousand web pages___6____ “long time no see”．This sentence has been__7____used in emails，letters，newspapers，movies，books，or any other possible place．Though it is __8____informal，it is part of the language that Americans use daily．__9___，if you type this phrase in Microsoft Word，the___10___will tell you that the grammar needs to be corrected ．
Nobody knows the 11of this Chinglish sentence．Some people believe that it came from Charlie Chan’s movies．In the 1930s，Hollywood moviemakers successfully 12a world-wide famous Chinese detective named “Charlie Chan” on wide screens．Detective Chan liked to teach Americans some Chinese wisdom __13__ quoting Confucius．“ Long time no see" was his trademark．Soon after Charlie Chan, “Long time no see” became a __14___ phrase in the real world __15___ the popularity of these movies．
Some people 16America to a huge melting pot（大熔炉）．All kinds of culture are___17___in the pot together，and they __18____the color and taste of each other．American Chinese，though a minority ethnic group in the United States，is also ___19____ some changes to the stew！Language is usually the first thing to be__20___in the mixed pot．
1.A．example B．sign C．word D．change
2.A．damaged B．learned C．perfected D．ruined
3.A．custom B．greeting C．habit D．proverb
4.A．encourage B．convince C．believe D．persuade
5.A．job B．research C．survey D．search
6.A．containing B．printing C．publishing D．expressing
7.A．deeply B．widely C．seldom D．hardly
8.A．plenty of B．lots of C．sort of D．lots of
9.A．Unfortunately B．Ironically C．Luckily D．Suddenly
10.A．software B．hardware C．speaker D．operator
11.A．use B．origin C．expression D．meaning
12.A．published B．did C．discovered D．created
13.A．with B．of C．by D．in
14.A．rare B．ordinary C．popular D．modern
15.A．as to B．thanks to C．but for D．in spite of
16.A．lead B．compare C．add D．owe
17.A．mixed B．cooked C．done D．joined
18.A．change B．lower C．reduce D．improve
19.A．putting B．contributing C．owing D．taking
20.A．used B．considered C．mentioned D．influenced
---- I’d like to take a week’s holiday．
---- _______, we’re too busy．
A．Don’t worry． B．Pardon me
C．Don’t mention it D．Forget it
Use your head; nothing taught by others can have the same effect on you as ___ is learned by yourself．
A．something B．that C．what D．it
---Excuse me, but I want to use your computer to type a report．
---You _____ have my computer if you don’t take care of it．
A．might not B．needn’t C．shouldn’t D．shan’t
