A lady named Mary from California flew to Japan, in her favourite jeans and a casual jacket, to give her first speech. Fourteen hours later, four perfectly dressed Japanese gentlemen greeted her at the airport. Smiling and bowing low, they handed her their business cards. With her bag in one hand, Mary took their cards with the other. She thanked them, glanced briefly at the cards, and put them into her jeans pocket quickly.
When the five of them arrived at the hotel, they invited Mary to tea in the lobby (大厅). While sipping tea, the gentlemen presented her with a small gift which she eagerly opened. She was thrilled with the gift and shouted excitedly, “Oh, it's beautiful！”
At this point, the four Japanese gentlemen stood up and, bowing only very slightly, said “Sayonara” and left immediately. Poor Mary was left astonished. What did she do wrong?
Everything! Her jeans were the first gaffe. Even if you're coming off a bicycle in Japan, you do not meet clients (客人) casually dressed. The second mistake was Mary's handling of their business cards rudely. In Japan, the business card is one of the most important communicative tools. It is always presented and accepted respectfully with both hands. However, Mary put their cards away much too quickly. In Japan, people use business cards as a conversation starter. You chat about each other's cards and work and do not put theirs away until they gently and respectfully place yours in safe keeping. Putting it carelessly into her jeans pocket was the ultimate disrespect.
Then, the fourth horror of horrors was that Mary should not have opened the gift in front of her clients. In a land where saving face is critical, it would be embarrassing to discover the gift they gave was not as nice as the one they received. What is worse, Mary hadn't even given them a gift!
1.Why did the four Japanese gentlemen leave Mary suddenly?
A. Because they had finished the task.
B. Because Mary had something more important to do.
C. Because they couldn't bear Mary 's behavior any longer.
D. Because Mary felt embarrassed.
2.What does the underlined word “gaffe” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?
A. ignorance B. carelessness
C. sadness D. mistake
3.The third mistake Mary made was that she ________.
A. kept her clients' cards in a wrong place
B. took her clients' cards with one hand
C. met her clients in jeans
D. used her own card as a conversation starter
4.What lesson can we draw from this story?
A. Think twice before you take any action.
B. When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
C. To save time is to lengthen life.
D. One false move may lose the game.
一家英语报社向中学生征文，主题是“十年后的我”、请根据下列要求和你的想象完成短文、
1、 家庭
2、 工作
3、 业余生活
注意：1、次数100左右；2、可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；3. 开头语已为你写好
I often imagine what my life will be like in the future.
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处错误，每句中最多有两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(Λ)，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线(＼)划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2．只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。
My dream school starts at 8:30 a. m and ends at 3:30 p. m. They are three lessons in the morning and two in the afternoon. We didn’t need to do so many homework. Therefore , we have more time with after-school activities. For example, we can do reading for one and a half hour and take exercise for one hour every day.
My dream school look like a big garden. There are all kinds of the flowers and trees around the Classroom buildings. We can lie on the grass for a rest, sit by the lake and listening music. The teachers here are kind and helpfully. They are not only our teachers but also our friends.
One morning, I was waiting at the bus stop, worried about __1.___ (be) late for school.
There were many people waiting at the bus stop, ___2.____ some of them looked very anxious and___3.__(disappoint) . When the bus finally came, we all hurried on board. I got a place next____4.__ the window, so I had a good view of the sidewalk. A boy on a bike ____5.___ (catch ) my attention. He was riding beside the bus and waving his arms. I heard a passenger behind me shouting to the driver, but he refused ____6.___(stop) until we reached the next stop. Still, the boy kept ____7.___(ride). He was carrying something over his shoulder and shouting. Finally, when we came to the next stop, the boy ran up to the door of the bus. I heard an excited conversation. Then the driver stood up and asked, “____8.___ anyone lose a suitcase at the last stop?” A woman on the bus shouted, “Oh, dear! It ‘s ____9.___ (I )”. She pushed her way to the driver and took the suitcase thankfully, Everyone on the bus began talking about what the boy had done, and the crowd of strangers ___10.__(sudden) became friendly to one another.
As a general rule, all forms of activity lead to boredom when they are performed on a routine(常规)basis. As a matter of fact, we can see this at work in people of all . For example, on Christmas morning, children are excited about with their new toys. But their soon wears off and by January those toys can be found put away in the basement. The world is full of stamp albums and unfinished models, each standing as a monument to someone’s interest. When parents bring home a pet, their child bathes it and brushes its fur. Within a short time, however, the of caring for the animal is handed over to the parents. Adolescents enter high school with great but are soon looking forward to . The same is true of the young adults going to college. And then, how many , who now complain (抱怨) about the long drives to work, drove for hours at a time when they first their driver’s license (执照)? Before people retire, they usually to do a lot of things, which they never had to do while working. But after retirement , the golfing, the fishing, the reading and all of the other pastimes become as boring as the jobs they . And , like the child in January, they go searching for new .
1.A. principle B. habit C. weaker D. power
2.A. parties B. races C. countries D. ages
3.A. working B. living C. playing D. going
4.A. confidence B. interest C. anxiety D. sorrow
5.A. same B. extra C. funny D. expensive
6.A. well-organized B. colorfully-printed C. newly- collectedD. half-filled
7.A. broad B. passing C. different D. main
8.A. silently B. impatiently C. gladly D. worriedly
9.A. promise B. burden C. right D. game
10.A. courage B. calmness C. confusion D. excitement
11.A. graduation B. independence C. responsibility D. success
12.A. children B. students C. adults D. retirees
13.A. carefully B. eagerly C. nervously D. bravely
14.A. required B. obtained C. noticed D. discovered
15.A. need B. learn C. start D. plan
16.A. great B. strong C. difficult D. correct
17.A. time B. money C. skills D. knowledge
18.A. only B. well C. even D. soon.
19.A. lost B. chose C. left D. quit
20.A. pets B. toys C. friends D. colleagues
Tips for cooking on a Tight Schedule
From my experience, there are three main reasons why people don’t cook more often: ability, money and time, ____ 1.__Money is a topic I’ll save for another day. So today I want to give you some wisdom about how to make the most of the time you spend in the kitchen. Here are three tips for great cooking on a tight schedule:
1. Think ahead. The moments when I think cooking is a pain are when I’m already hungry and there is nothing ready to eat. So think about of the coming week. When will you have time to cook? Do you have the right materials ready?____ 2.____
2. Make your time worth it. When you do find time to cook a meal, make the most of it and save yourself time later on. Are you making one loaf of bread? ___3.___ it takes around the same amount of time to make more of something. So save yourself the effort for a future meal.
3. ____4.____ This may surprise you, but one of the best tools for making cooking worth your time is experimentation. It gives you the chance to hit upon new ideas and recipes that can work well with your appetite and schedule. The more you learn and the more you try, the more ability you have to take control of your food and your schedule.
Hopefully that gives you a good start. ____5.___ and don’t let a busy schedule discourage you from making some great changes in the way you eat and live!
A. Try new things.
B. Ability is easily improved.
C. Make three or four instead.
D. Understand your food better.
E. Cooking is a burden for many people.
F. Let cooking and living simply be a joy rather than a burden.
G. A little time planning ahead can save a lot of work later on.
