阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。
If you study abroad, it’s necessary to mix with the locals. This allows you
1.(test) your language skills and find out more about the local culture. Having lived abroad for three years, I’m able to put forward a list of tips to help you make friends in a foreign country.
Firstly, say yes to everything within reason. Obviously, if you don’t feel 2. ease, you can choose not to do anything. However, don’t put off trying something new. The group of students from your class who invite you out for a coffee might end up 3.(be) your friends for life!
Secondly, develop a 4. (entire) new hobby. Join a dance class, a walking club or learn to cook the local food—the 5.(possibility) are endless!
Thirdly, get out of the house! Hours 6.(spend) on the computer chatting with your family back at home surely make you even homesick. Just get out and explore the exciting place you live in.
Lastly, be 7.(confidence) when you are surrounded by people speaking 8. unfamiliar language. Even if you may find 9. difficult to involve yourself in conversations, you should try to make your voice heard. Once you open your mouth and begin to speak, it’s likely 10. you will find everyone wants to know more about you.
As I was sitting in a coffee shop in a town, a man entered and sat beside me.
He _____ his order saying, “Two cups of coffee, one on the wall.” I heard this order with ______ and observed that he was served with one cup of coffee but he ______ two. The waiter ______ a piece of paper on the wall saying A Cup of Coffee.
____ I was still there, two other men entered and ______ three cups of coffee, two on the table and one on the wall. The waiter did the ______; he pasted a piece of paper on the wall saying, A Cup of Coffee.
It seemed that this gesture was a ______ in this town.
The next day while I was ______ my coffee in the same coffee shop, a man _____ entered. As he seated himself, he looked at the _____ and said, one cup of coffee from the wall. The waiter served the poorly-dressed man with ______. The man had his coffee without paying. The waiter took _____ a piece of paper from the wall and threw _____ in the dust bin.
I was deeply moved by the great ______ for the needy shown by this town. Coffee is not a necessity of life. ______, when we take pleasure in any blessing, maybe we need to think about those who cannot ______ to have it.
I also admire the waiter, who is playing a _____ role to get the communication going between the affording and the ______ with a smile on his face. The poorly-dressed man entered the coffee shop without having to ______ his self-pride. He simply looked at the wall, placed an order for himself, and enjoyed his coffee with dignity.
1.A. prepared B. approved C. placed D. commanded
2.A. curiosity B. agreement C. shock D. satisfaction
3.A. left for B. packed for C. paid for D. applied for
4.A. read B. wrote C. drew D. posted
5.A. While B. Since C. Because D. Although
6.A. begged B. ordered C. demanded D. required
7.A. special B. familiar C. different D. same
8.A. habit B. performance C. behavior D. practice
9.A. enjoying B. making C. mixing D. preparing
10.A. in ruins B. in relief C. in rags D. in trouble
11.A. door B. wall C. counter D. waiter
12.A. shame B. dignity C. pleasure D. disappointment
13.A. in B. off C. on D. up
14.A. one B. each C. it D. this
15.A. pride B. sympathy C. respect D. ignorance
16.A. Thus B. Therefore C. However D. Instead
17.A. admit B. afford C. support D. subscribe
18.A. strict B. mean C. stubborn D. generous
19.A. rich B. sick C. needy D. elderly
20.A. lower B. limit C. save D. spare
Building the thinking habit is important because it helps you live with a purpose. How can we build the thinking habit? Here are some tips.
※ Be curious.
Curiosity is powerful. 1. It also helps you recognize the ideas when they come. Curiosity is an important attitude to have in building the thinking habit.
※ Read widely.
If you want to come up with good ideas, you need to feed your mind with good ideas.2. This will give you fresh, new ideas. Don’t just read from the fields you are familiar with. Read from other fields as well.
※ Read actively
Not only should you read widely, but also you should read actively. Find some ideas and think about how you can use them. My favorite way to do this is by highlighting the book I read. I will then put the actionable ideas in my idea journal.3.
※ Keep an idea journal.
When you find a good idea, don’t just keep it in your mind. Instead, write it down to catch the idea.4. Keeping an idea journal makes you more alert lo new ideas. You will quickly recognize them because you already have the habit of catching ideas.
※ 5.
Of course, it doesn’t do you much good if you just write down ideas. Take time to read these ideas every now and then. In my case, I mark the ideas that I consider important and review them regularly. This often opens the way to new ideas.
A. Go over your ideas
B. Design your own ideas
C. One way to do that is to read.
D. It makes you like finding new ideas.
E. Otherwise, the idea might be gone forever.
F. This helps me get the most out of the book.
G. In this way, others ran also benefit from your ideas.
Meeting people from another culture can be difficult. From the beginning, people may send the wrong signal. Or they may pay no attention to signals from another person who is trying to develop a relationship.
Different cultures emphasize (强调) the importance of relationship building to a greater or lesser degree. For example, business in some countries is not possible until there is a relationship of trust. Even with people at work, it is necessary to spend a lot of time in "small talk", usually over a glass of tea, before they do any job. In many European countries -- like the UK or France -- people find it easier to build up a lasting working relationship at restaurants or cafes rather than at the office.
Talk and silence may also be different in some cultures. I once made a speech in Thailand. I had expected my speech to be a success and start a lively discussion; instead there was an uncomfortable silence. The people present just stared at me and smiled. After getting to know their ways better, I realized that they thought I was talking too much. In my own culture, we express meaning mainly through words, but people there sometimes feel too many words are unnecessary.
Even within Northern Europe, cultural differences can cause serious problems. Certainly, English and German cultures share similar values; however, Germans prefer to get down to business more quickly. We think that they are rude. In fact, this is just because one culture starts discussions and makes decisions more quickly.
People from different parts of the world have different values, and sometimes these values are quite against each other. However, if we can understand them better, a multicultural environment will offer a wonderful chance for us to learn from each other.
1.In some countries, eating together at restaurants may make it easier for people to___________.
A. get to know each other B. share the same culture
C. develop closer relations D. keep each other company
2.What does the author want to show us by mentioning his experience in Thailand?
A. Too many words are of no use.
B. The English prefer to make long speeches.
C. People from Thailand are quiet and shy by nature.
D. Even talk and silence can be culturally different.
3.According to the text, how can people from different cultures understand each other better?
A. By accepting different habits.
B. By recognizing different values.
C. By sharing different ways of life.
D. By speaking each other's languages.
4.What is the text mainly about?
A. Cross-cultural differences
B. Multicultural environment
C. How to build up a relationship
D. How to understand each other
Parents should stop blaming themselves because there’s not a lot they can do about it. I mean the teenager problem, the one I want to talk about as a specialist. Whatever you do or however you choose to deal with it, at certain times a wonderful, reasonable and helpful child will turn into a terrible animal.
I’ve seen friends deal with it in all kinds of different ways. One strict mother insisted that her son, right from a child, should stand up whenever anyone entered the room, open doors and shake hands like a gentleman. I saw him last week when I dropped in on them. Sprawling himself (懒散地躺) on the sofa in full length, he made no attempt to turn off the loud TV he was watching as I walked in, and his greeting was no more than a quick glance at me. His mother was ashamed. “I don't know what to do with him these days,” she said. “He’s forgotten all the manners we taught him.”
He hasn’t forgotten them. He’s just decided that he’s not going to use them. She admitted that she would like to come up behind him and throw him down from the sofa onto the floor.
Another good friend of mine let her two daughters climb all over the furniture, reach across the table, stare at me and say, “I don’t like your dress; it’s ugly.” One of the daughters has recently been driven out of school. The other has left home.
“Where did we go wrong?” her parents are now very sad. Probably nowhere much. At least, no more than the rest of that unfortunate race, parents.
1.Who is probably the author of the text?
A. A doctor for mental health problems.
B. A headmaster of a middle school.
C. A parent without teenage children.
D. A specialist in teenager studies.
2.What does the underlined word “it” in the second paragraph refer to?
A. The advice that parents want their children to follow
B. The change from good to bad that’s seen in a child
C. The opinion that a child has of his parents
D. The way that parents often blame themselves
3.What we can infer about the parents from the second example?
A. They pay no attention to the two daughters.
B. They feel helpless to do much about the two daughters.
C. They have come to hate the two daughters gradually.
D. They are too busy to look after the two daughters.
4.What is the author's opinion about the sudden change in teenage children?
A. Parents have no choice but to try to accept it.
B. Parents are at fault for the change in their children.
C. Parents should work more closely with school teachers.
D. Parents should pay still more attention to the change.
Kitchen Products Thai Will Make Your Life a Lot Easier
♦ Hanging Trash Bag
Speaking of clever bag that will change your world, how many times have you cut off loads of vegetables and tried to clean up the messy waste, only to make half of it accidentally drop on the floor? This hanging trash bag attachment makes clean-up super easy, so you’ll never end up with smelly chopped (切碎的) onions all over your floor again.
Available on Amazon, $ 6.99
♦ Dream Farm Spoon
How many times have you struggled for just that last little bit of something out of a jar or dish? This all-purpose cooking spoon helps scrap (刮擦) the edges of any pan, bowl, or strangely-shaped container with zero effort, so you’ll always get that last bit, every time.
Available on Amazon, $20.40
♦ Flex Pot Clip
For those of us who’d rather not balance our serving spoon or wooden spoon on the edge of the pot unsteadily, or rest it on the counter where it’ll definitely make a mess, allow me to introduce you to the Flex Pot Clip. Attach it to the edge of your pot so you can keep your counters clean and your hands free. It’s heat-resistant and dishwasher safe!
Available on Amazon, $7.88
♦ Reusable Silicone Lids
These are useful to cover your food before putting it in the fridge if you often have leftovers. These silicone lids are flexible, reusable, arid airtight, allowing you to leave your food right in its original dish or bowl and keep it fresh for days. They’re clear, eco-friendly, and super easy to store, since they hardly take up any space.
Available on Amazon, $15.97
1.What is the use of the Hanging Trash Bag?
A. To reduce waste of food. B. To make containers clean.
C. To collect kitchen waste. D. To make food easy to store.
2.Where can you fix a Flex Pot Clip?
A. On the edge of a pot. B. In a dishwasher.
C. On the counter. D. In a comer.
3.Which of the following products can make the food remain fresh?
A. Flex Pot Clip. B. Hanging Trash Bag.
C. Dream Farm Spoon. D. Reusable Silicone Lids.
