Everybody hates it, but everybody does it. A recent report said that 40％of Americans hate tipping. In America alone, tipping is a $16 billion-a-year industry. Consumers acting politely ought not to pay more than they have to for a given service. Tips should not exist. So why do they? The common opinion in the past was that tips both rewarded the efforts of good service and reduced uncomfortable feelings of inequality. And also, tipping makes for closer relations. It went without saying that the better the service, the bigger the tip.
But according to a new research from Cornell University, tips no longer serve any useful function. The paper analyzes numbers they got from 2,547 groups dining at 20 different restaurants. The connection between larger tips and better service was very weak. Only a tiny part of the size of the tip had anything to do with the quality of service.
Tipping is better explained, by culture than by the money people spend. In America, the custom came into being a long time ago. It is regarded as part of the accepted cost of a service. In New York restaurants, failing to tip at least l5% could well mean dissatisfaction from the customers. Hairdressers can expect to get l5%-20%, and the man who delivers your fast food $2. In Europe, tipping is less common. In many restaurants the amount of tip is decided by a standard service charge. In many Asian countries, tipping has never really caught on at all. Only a few have really taken to tipping.
According to Michael Lynn, the Cornell papers' author, countries in which people are more social or outgoing tend to tip more. Tipping may reduce anxiety about being served by strangers. And Mr. Lynn says, “In America, where people are expressive and eager to mix up with others, tipping is about social approval. If you tip badly, people think less of you. Tipping well is a chance to show off."
1. This passage is mainly about ________.
A. different kinds of tipping in different countries
B. the relationship between tipping and custom
C. the origin and present meaning of tipping
D. most American people hate tipping
2.Which of the following best explains the underlined phrase "caught on"?
A. become popular. B. been hated.
C. been stopped. D. been permitted
3.Among the following situations, in your opinion, who is likely to tip most?
A. A Frenchman just quarreled with the barber who did his hair badly in New York.
B. An American just had a wonderful dinner in a well known restaurant in New York.
C. A Japanese businessman asked for a pizza delivery from a Pizza Hut in New York.
D. A Chinese student enjoyed his meal in a famous fast food restaurant in New York.
4.We can infer from this passage that ________.
A. tipping is no longer a good way to satisfy some customers themselves
B. tipping is especially popular in New York
C. tipping in America can make service better now
D. tipping has something to
do with people's character
书面表达
假如你是李华，你的美国网友Tom想要了解一下你所在学校的校园布局，请你根据自己的校园给他写一封e-mail，描述一下你的学校，并简单表达你对学校的情感。
注意：1. 词数100字左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3. 开头语和结束语已为你写好，不计入总词数。
Dear Tom,
How are you and I miss you! I’d like to introduce the layout of my school to you. _______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Best wishes!
Yours,
Li Hua
写作
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处语言错误，每句中最多有两处，每处错误仅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（∧），并在其正下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（╲）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词正下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均限一词，请严格按照要求格式修改。
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
The person who has taught me most about the life is my grandmother. She was more than just a grandmother to me. When she died a few years before, I felt I lost a really good friend. She always looked very nice on her age. She did everything she could make me feel at home. She was imaginative and would spend hours telling me stories she has made up. I am sure it was because of her which I became a story writer. Apart from kept a young boy entertained, she taught me a large number of important thing on how to behave. I was rather impatient when I was a child and she taught me that good things happened if I could wait for it. She was a positive person but she also taught me how to look for the good in everything.
阅读下面材料，用不多于1个单词的正确形式填空
Once a farmer's donkey (驴) fell into a deep well. The animal cried loudly for hours, but the farmer couldn't figure out what to do 1. it. Finally, he decided that the animal was old and that the well needed to be covered anyway, so he 2. (think) the donkey wasn't worth saving.
Then, he invited some of his neighbors to come over and help 3. . They all took a shovel (铁铲) and began to put dirt into the well.
At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried 4. (pitiful). Then, to everyone's surprise, the donkey became quiet. A few shovel loads later, the farmer looked down into the well and was astonished at 5. he saw.
Each shovel of dirt hit its back, but the donkey was doing something 6. (amaze) . It was shaking the dirt off and taking a step up. 7. the neighbors continued to put more dirt on top of the animal, it would shake the dirt off and take one more step up.
Pretty soon everyone was surprised as the donkey stepped up over the edge of 8. well and ran off happily!
When life sometimes 9. ( put) dirt on you, the best way of getting out of the well is to shake the dirt off and take a step up. Each of your troubles is a stepping stone. You can get out of die deepest well just 10. never giving up!
完形填空
阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Dear Seth,
You are only three years old, and at this point in your life you can not read, much less understand what I’m going to tell you in this letter. But I’ve been thinking a lot about the life that you have _______ you, about my life so far as I _________ on what I’ve learned, and about my role as a dad in trying to prepare you for the _______ that you will face in the coming years.
Be thankful. You are at a wonderful _______ of life. You still have many wonderful stages of life, but they are not without costs and ________. I hope to help you along your path by sharing some of the best of ________ I’ve learned. As with any advice, take it with a grain of ________. What works for me _____ not work for you.
Life can be cruel. There will be people in your life ______ won’t be very nice. They’ll laugh at you because you’re different, or for no good ________. They might try to bully you ________ hurt you.
There’s not much you can do about these people except ________ to deal with them, and learn to choose friends who are kind to you, who _________ care about you and who make you feel good about yourself. When you find friends like this,________ them, treasure them, spend time with them, be kind to them and love them.
There will be _______ when you meet with disappointment instead of success. Life won’t always ________ the way you want. This is just another thing you’ll have to learn to deal with. But instead of letting these things get you down, push on, _______ disappointment and learn to persevere and to pursue your dreams _______ pitfalls. Learn to turn negatives into positives, and you will do much better in _______. You will also face heartbreak and abandonment by those you love. I hope you don’t have to face this too much, but it happens. Again, there is not much you can do but to heal, and to move on with your life. Let these pains become stepping stones to better things in life, and learn to use them to make you ________.
1.A. regardless of B. ahead of C. at the back of D. in the form of
2.A. reflect B. rely C. depend D. insist
3.A. errors B. mistakes C. truths D. trails
4.A. crossing B. house C. stage D. office
5.A. challenges B. troubles C. difficulties D. risks
6.A. where B. which C. that D. what
7.A. rice B. salt C. corn D. wheat
8.A. must B. can C. might D. should
9.A. who B. whom C. while D. whose
10.A. consequence B. reason C. result D. cause
11.A. but B. though C. or D. otherwise
12.A. to learn B. learn C. learning D. learned
13.A. exactly B. entirely C. truly D. absolutely
14.A. tend to B. hold onto C. turn to D. lead to
15.A. days B. months C. time D. weeks
16.A. turn out B. turn up C. turn on D. lead to
17.A. avoid B. reject C. refuse D. accept
18.A. against B. despite C. within D. beyond
19.A life B. study C. career D. family
20.A. richer B. kinder C. cleverer D. stronger
根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项，选项中有两项为多余选项。
Selfie
Social media and the mobile web have given rise to a strange phenomenon called the selfie．It refers to a picture of yourself, usually shared on any social networking website．
1. Some selfies are extreme close-ups, and others show part of an arm held straight outward．A few of them even feature the subject standing in front of a bathroom mirror．
Everyone takes selfies, but the younger crowd seems to be especially involved in the trend．Young people are relatively heavier digital users．They are interested in staying connected to their friends． 2.
There are also kinds of psychological factors driving people to take a selfie and upload it to a social networking site． 3. A quick and easy way to attract other's attention is to get "likes" and comments from friends．Secondly, it's human nature to show off your own great achievements．When you feel good about yourself or look good, it's far too easy to take out your phone and document it all through one or several selfies． 4.___ That's right．Sometimes people are bored at work, bored at school, bored at home and even bored on the toilet．Last but not least, social media is about being social! If that means uploading as many selfies as possible, then so be it．It's fun, and it's a cool way to sort of document your own life．
Finally, there are things to be mindful of when you're posting．It's easy to think you're sharing a photo with a few people．5. So don't post anything online, selfie especially．
A．There are lots of selfie styles．
B．The rise of selfies has become universal．
C．Social media, to some extent, is the driving force of their selfie activity．
D．The desire to take, post and get "likes" on selfies goes back to a biological behavior．
E．But the whole world of social media is public and every individual can get access to it．
F．There are also people who will take selfies because they have nothing else better to do．
G．The leading factor is that people want to get attention from as many people as possible．
