When families gather for Christmas dinner, some will stick to formal traditions dating back to grandma’s generation. Their tables will be set with the good dishes and silver, and the dress code will be Sunday best.
But in many other homes, this china-and-silver elegance has given way to a stoneware (粗陶)-and-stainless informality, with dresses assuming an equally casual-Friday look. For hosts and guests, the change means greater simplicity and comfort. For makers of fine china in Britain, it spells economic hard times.
Last week Royal Doulton, the largest employer in Stoke-on-Trent, announced that it is eliminating 1,000 jobs—one-fifth of its total workforce. That brings to more than 4,000 the number of positions lost in 18 months in the pottery (陶瓷) region. Wedgwood and other pottery factories made cuts earlier.
Although a strong pound and weak markets in Asia play a role in the downsizing, the layoffs in Stoke have their roots in earthshaking social shifts. A spokesman for Royal Doulton admitted that the company “has been somewhat slow in catching up with the trend” toward casual dining. Families eat together less often, he explained, and more people eat alone, either because they are single or they eat in front of television.
Even dinner parties, if they happen at all, have gone casual. In a time of long work hours and demanding family schedules, busy hosts insist, rightly, that it’s better to share a takeout pizza on paper plates in the family room than to wait for the perfect moment or a “real” dinner party. Too often, the perfect moment never comes. Iron a fine-patterned tablecloth? Forget it. Polish the silver? Who has time?
Yet the loss of formality has its down side. The fine points of etiquette (礼节) that children might once have learned at the table by observation or instruction from parents and grandparents (“Chew with your mouth closed.” “Keep your elbows off the table.”) must be picked up elsewhere. Some companies now offer etiquette seminars for employees who may be able professionally but inexperienced socially.
1. Why do people tend to follow the trend to casual dining?
A. Family members need more time to relax.
B. Busy schedules leave people no time for formality.
C. People prefer to live a comfortable life.
D. Young people won’t follow the etiquette of the older generation.
2. It can be learned from the passage that Royal Doulton is ______.
A. a seller of stainless steel tableware B. a dealer in stoneware
C. a pottery chain store D. a producer of fine china
3. The main cause of the layoffs in the pottery industry is ______.
A. the increased value of the pound B. the worsening economy in Asia
C. the change in people’s way of life D. the fierce competition at home and abroad
4. Formal table manners, though less popular than before in current social life, ______.
A. are still a must on certain occasions B. are certain to return sooner or later
C. are still being taught by parents at home D. can help improve personal relationships
Cities need to put efforts to deal with pollution and clear the air.
Chinese cities will need to put efforts to clear up the sky when a new department to improve regional air quality is set up by 2015，according to the latest plan released by the State Council.
Besides the existing pollution control program for CO2，regional emission caps(区域排放上限) for other certain chemicals will be established in the three key air polluting areas—the Yangtze River Delta，Pearl River Delta and the Beijing-Tianjin- Hebei region. Coal-consumption caps will also be tried out in some areas，according to the plan.
The plan is aimed at dealing with regional air pollution—such as acid rain and smog—which have become increasingly obvious in China in recent years and caused a severe threat to people’s health，Zhang Lijun，viceminister of environmental protection，said in an interview on Monday.
The air quality in a city affects the areas nearby because pollutants can travel in the sky，said Chai Fahe，vice-director of Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences.
“So efforts to reduce air pollution in a single city，targeting a certain pollutant(污染物) will not be enough，” Chai said.
Zhang said the country’s major industrial districts—the Yangtze River Delta，Pearl River Delta and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region—have recorded more than 100 misty days annually in recent years.
These three regions，home to at least 200 million people，occupy only 6.3 percent of the country’s area but consume 40 percent of the country’s coal and produce half of its steel，according to official figures.
Studies also show that the visibility(能见度) in eastern regions of China has dropped by 7 to 15 km compared to that in the early 1960s，as a result of air pollution.
Liaoning province，the Shandong Peninsula，Wuhan in Hubei province and its surrounding area，the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan region in Hunan province，the Chengdu-Chongqing region，and the western coast of the Taiwan Straits are also listed as areas to carry out such regional air pollution control programs，according to the plan.
The new plan also requires an improved air quality system，which will measure the pollution levels. “The current system，which only measures some major pollutants，cannot reflect the_truepicture.” said Chai.It will not be enough to reduce air pollution in a single city because ________.
| A．air pollution has been becoming more and more serious in recent years |
| B．air pollution like acid rain and smog is threatening people’s health |
| C．air pollutants in a city can travel in the sky and affect nearby areas |
| D．air pollutants stay in fixed places over the cities |
Suppose the visibility in eastern regions of China was 130 km in the early 1960s，the visibility there nowadays is ________.
| A．123 to 115 km | B．137 to 145 km |
| C．123 to 145 km | D．115 to 137 km |
The main purpose of the passage is ________.
| A．to inform readers of the damage caused by air pollution |
| B．to introduce the new plan to control air pollution |
| C．to provide official figures of air pollution levels |
| D．to point out the regions affected by air pollution |
What does the underlined phrase “the true picture” in the last paragraph mean?
| A．The major pollutants. |
| B．The key polluted areas. |
| C．The major polluted cities. |
| D．The pollution levels. |
I can remember the day my father came home from the war. As he walked up the front path of our home, he saw Mum and me and he dropped the suitcase.
I was only five years old so Dad made a fuss of me, then began making an even bigger fuss of my mother. This left me free to examine all the stuff lying around the broken suitcase, and I was quick to notice a newspaper advertisement displaying a new piano. When Dad saw me holding up the newspaper cutting, he smiled.
“Yes, that’s right,” he said. “I bought your mum a piano for ten pounds down and two pounds a week.”
A few moments later, a horse pulled a cart with a piano on top. Soon we all stared at it in our small lounger room. Mum had never been close to a piano before, except at the kindergarten I attended, and she used to say how wonderful it would be if the teachers could teach her to play.
After tea that night, Mum began to teach herself to play. She plinked the keys for about two hours and drove everybody in the street mad, until Dad gently said, “Enough is enough.”
From that day on, she would plink between doing the cooking and housework. Three months went by and Mum was now a skilled pianist, holding parties with all the neighbors gathering around to sing.
Although we were poor, Mum felt like a princess and was delighted at all the attention she was receiving.
At the height of Mum’s happiness, I began to notice that Dad was looking increasingly worried. It turned out that since returning from the war, he’d been unable to find a job. Then, a few weeks later, I observed two men taking Mum’s piano away. Mum sobbed in the kitchen. Suddenly, it all became clear to me: no job, no money, no piano.
Dad finally got a job. Mum was happy again as if he’d just win the lottery(彩票). Dad had to study to qualify as an account. Every night after dinner he’d place a stack of books on the kitchen table and study late into the night. Mum didn’t say much but I could tell she was proud of Dad.
Two years later, Dad bought Mum another piano. This time he paid cash for it.How did the author’s Dad buy the piano for his mum?
| A．He paid part of the bill regularly. |
| B．He earned it by winning a bet. |
| C．He paid cash for it. |
| D．He bought it as a big bargain. |
By saying “Enough is enough”, the author’s dad meant_______.
| A．practice makes perfect |
| B．it was time to stop practicing |
| C．he couldn’t bear being troubled |
| D．his wife played the piano well enough |
What happened to the author’s mum’s first piano?
| A．It was lost. |
| B．It was broken by one neighbor. |
| C．It was sold by his dad. |
| D．It was taken away. |
What made the author’s mum proud of his dad?
| A．His dad’s willingness to help cook. |
| B．His dad’s winning the lottery luckily. |
| C．His dad’s loyalty to his motherland. |
| D．His dad’s determination to rebuild his life. |
It’s good to make mistakes, and here is why．
First of all, mistakes are a clear sign that you are trying new things． It’s always good to try new things because when you are trying new things you are growing． If you never try anything new, how can you improve? How can you expand? The simple answer is “You can’t”． Look around you． With very few exceptions, either everything you see in your physical world or every single detail of every single thing is the result of someone trying something new．
Another good thing about mistakes is this: When you are making mistakes, you are learning． Consider this: Edison failed 10,000 times before he perfected the light bulb． When asked how it felt to fail that many times, he said that he hadn’t failed 10,000 times, but rather had learned 10,000 things that didn’t work．
Finally, when you make a mistake you are much closer to success． Why?
Because when all is said and done, you will have tried some number of things before you succeeded． Every time you make a mistake you eliminate one of those things and are one step closer．
But this all doesn’t mean that you should go ahead without considering the consequences of a mistake． Quite the contrary, when you try something new you have to be willing to set some reasonable limits so that in the event that it doesn’t work out the way you want it to, you will be in a position to try again．
We all have limited resources in the form of time and money so don’t blow them all on one approach to a problem． Realize that it probably won’t be perfect the first time and allocate （分配） these resources appropriately so you can learn, make corrections, and try it again． Only by accepting and using your mistakes in this way can you make significant advances in your business and your career．
There is an old saying that goes, “If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not trying hard enough．”
So go forth and make mistakes． And learn． And grow． And prosper（成功）．From the second paragraph, we can conclude that _______．
| A．mistakes are unnecessary for development |
| B．we are afraid of trying new things |
| C．it’s common for people to make mistakes |
| D．mistakes are better than not trying |
According to the article, one thing you should pay attention to about making mistakes is ．
| A．avoiding making the same mistakes |
| B．accepting the punishment willingly |
| C．taking consequences into account |
| D．trying things out one by one |
What would the writer probably suggest we say to ourselves when we make a mistake?
| A．Never mind, I can always try again． |
| B．I’d better stay out of trouble． |
| C．Ok! Now I can learn something． |
| D．Look at this mess． Anyone would be upset． |
Baby girls make their way directly for dolls as soon as they can crawl（爬）, while boys will head for the toy cars, a study has shown． The findings, the first to show differences in very young babies, suggest there is a biological basis to their preferences．
Psychologists Dr． Brenda Todd from City University London carried out an experiment involving 90 infants aged nine months to 36 months． The babies were allowed to choose from seven toys． Some were typically boys' toys: a car, a digger, a ball and a blue teddy． The rest were girls’ toys: a pink teddy, a doll and a cooking set． They were placed a meter away from the toys, and could pick whichever toy they liked． Their choice and the amount of time they spent playing with each toy were recorded．
Of the youngest children （nine to 14 months）, girls spent significantly longer playing with the doll than boys, and boys spent much more time with the car and ball than the girls did． Among the two-and three-year-olds, girls spent 50 percent of the time playing with the doll while only two boys briefly touched it． The boys spent almost 90 percent of their time playing with cars, which the girls barely touched． There was no link between the parents’ view on which toys were more suitable for boys or girls, and the children’s choice．
Dr． Brenda Todd said: “Children of this age are already exposed to much socialization． Boys may be given ‘toys that go’ while girls get toys they can care for, which may help shape their preference． But these findings agree with the former idea that children show natural interests in particular kinds of toys． There could be a biological basis for their choices． Males through evolution have been adapted to prefer moving objects, probably through hunting instincts（本能）, while girls prefer warmer colors such as pink, the color of a newborn baby．”Baby boys and girls have different toy preferences probably because ．
| A．baby boys are much more active |
| B．baby girls like bright colors more |
| C．there is a natural difference between them |
| D．their parents treat them differently |
What can we infer from Paragraph 3 ?
| A．Nine-month-old baby boys don’t play with dolls at all． |
| B．Two-year-old baby girls sometimes play with cars and balls． |
| C．Parents should teach their babies to share each other’s toys． |
| D．The older the babies are, the more obvious their preference is． |
Both baby boys and baby girls like to play with _________ according to the study．
| A．a teddy | B．a car | C．a doll | D．a ball |
We may read this article in a section of a newspaper．
| A．health | B．science | C．culture | D．entertainment |
Apple Seeds
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Circulation: 1 Year, 12 Issues
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Product Description: News China Magazine is the English edition of China Newsweek． The magazine covers the latest Chinese domestic news in politics, business, society, environment, culture, sports and travels, etc． It is the first comprehensive news magazine for readers interested in China．What do we know about Apple Seeds?
| A．The soft cover enables it to be read and kept long． |
| B．It can be purchased as an award for your children． |
| C．It offers the biggest discount among all the magazines． |
| D．The magazine is going to surprise you for many years． |
Tom wants to beautify his house, so he may choose _________ ．
| A．Apple Seeds | B．Better Life | C．Humor Times | D． News China |
What kind of people may buy News China ?
| A．People who have an interest in personal lifestyle of the Chinese． |
| B．People who have a strong sense of humor and love to laugh． |
| C．People who want to enlarge the knowledge of their kids． |
| D．People who are interested in China’s politics, business and culture． |
Which magazine may best help relieve your work stress?
| A．Apple Seeds | B．Better Life | C．Humor Times | D． News China |
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