The airline lost your baggage. The hotel laundry(洗衣房) ruined your favorite shirt. The taxi driver overcharged you. When you're abroad, sometimes things go wrong. Now you can do something about it! Use these tips when you want to express an effective complaint in English.
No matter how unfair the situation, it's best to phrase your complaint politely. In English, you'll sound more polite if you use indirect language. Here are some examples:
“I'm sorry to bother you...” Starting a complaint like this puts the listener who may have heard many complaints that day at ease. Use this phrase if the situation isn't that serious. For example, "I'm sorry to bother you, but I wanted a baked potato, not fries."
“Can you help me with this?” Everyone would much rather be asked to do something than told! So try phrasing your complaint as a request for help: "Can you help me with this? My shirt came back from the laundry without buttons."
“I'm afraid there may be a misunderstanding.” This is a polite way of saying, "Your information is wrong. Please fix it now." You'll most likely use this phrase if you made reservations(预定) for a flight, hotel or restaurant, and when you arrive, it's not what you expected. For example, "I'm afraid there may be a misunderstanding. I requested a non-smoking room."
“I understand it's not your fault...” Often when you make a complaint, you deal with a person who was not directly responsible for the problem. But the problem isn't your fault, either! This phrase is helpful when you need swift action. Tell the person you're dealing with you understand they're not at fault and then directly state the problem: "I understand it's not your fault, but the airline promised they would deliver my baggage yesterday."
“Excuse me, but I understood that...” Using this phrase lets the person know you're well-informed and are suspicious they might be trying to take advantage of you. Don't say, "Hey! You're trying to cheat me!" Instead, start indirectly by stating what you know to be true: "I understood that the taxi ride to the airport was only 25 dollars." Then give them an opportunity to do the right thing.What’s the purpose of this passage?
| A．To give an introduction of life abroad. |
| B．To give suggestions on how to learn English. |
| C．To offer advice on giving complaints in English. |
| D．To offer guides to those who travel around the world. |
According to the passage, if we meet an unfair situation, we’d better .
| A．state our complaints politely |
| B．go for the police immediately |
| C．use indirect language to hurt people |
| D．fight against the one who is responsible |
Why should we start a complaint with polite phrases?
| A．Because the situation is never serious. |
| B．Because the listener may not speak English. |
| C．Because it can help solve the problem more easily. |
| D．Because we should be always in good manners abroad. |
Several effective complaints in English are mentioned above EXCEPT .
| A．“Can you help me with this?” |
| B．“I understand it's not your fault.” |
| C．“Hey! You’re trying to cheat me!” |
| D．“I'm afraid there may be a misunderstanding.” |
Recently, a professor of philosophy in the United States has written a book called MoneyandtheMeaningofLife. He has discovered that how we deal with money in our daytoday life has more meaning than we usually think. One of the exercises he asked his students to do is to keep a record of every penny they spend for a week. From the way they spend their money, they can see what they really value in life.
He says that our relation with others often becomes clearly defined when money enters the picture. You might have wonderful friendship with somebody and you think that you have a very good friend. But you will know him only when you ask him to lend you some money. If he does, it brings something to the relationship that seems stronger than ever before. Or it can suddenly weaken the relationship if he doesn't. This person may say that he has a certain feeling, but if it is not carried out in the money world, there is something less real about it.
Since money is so important to us, we consider those who possess a lot of it to be very important. The author interviewed some millionaires in researching his book.
Question: What is the most surprising thing you have discovered about being rich?
Answer: The most surprising thing is why people give me so much respect. I am nothing. I do not know much. All I am is rich.
People just have an idea of making more and more money, but what is it for? In his book, the professor uncovered an important need in modern society: to bring back the idea that money is an instrument rather than the end. Money plays an important role in the material world, but expecting money to give happiness may be missing the meaning of life.The author seems to believe that asking your friend to lend you some money ________.
| A．is a good way to test your friendship |
| B．will do harm to your friendship |
| C．will strengthen your friendship |
| D．is a good way to break off your friendship |
What can we learn about the millionaire from his answer in the interview?
| A．He does not feel that he is well educated. |
| B．He does not think that he is a very important person. |
| C．He does not think that being rich is worth so much attention. |
| D．He does not consider himself to be very successful. |
What does the American professor of philosophy want to explain in his book?
| A．Money is an end. | B．Money is a means. |
| C．Money is everything. | D．Money is unimportant. |
Which of the following might the author disagree with?
| A．Money is important in modern society. |
| B．The meaning of life does not completely lie in money. |
| C．Wealth will surely bring the owner happiness |
| D．Happiness is not necessarily the result of wealth. |
William Shakespeare is the most famous playwright (剧作家). Although he died in 1616, people still go to see his plays. Among the most popular are Ｒｏｍｅｏ ａｎｄ Ｊｕｌｉｅｔ, Ａ Ｍｉｄｓｕｍｍｅｒ Ｎｉｇｈｔ’ｓ Ｄｒｅａｍ and Ｈａｍｌｅｔ — the story of a prince who struggles to respond to the crimes around him.
Shakespeare, who was born in 1564, was an actor as well as a writer. Most of his ideas for plays were taken from history, people’s conversation, ancient stories, and also from other writers. He wrote not only about kings and queens and princes, but also about friends and ordinary people. He wrote about the cruelty of war and the bravery of heroes, as well as about jealousy, joy, hate, ambition and love. His stories live on. The tragedy Ｒｏｍｅｏ ａｎｄ Ｊｕｌｉｅｔ was reborn as the musical Ｗｅｓｔ Ｓｉｄｅ Ｓｔｏｒｙ and more recently as the movie Ｒｏｍｅｏ ａｎｄ Ｊｕｌｉｅｔ with the wonderful performance of Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes.
He invented a number of great characters: powerful magicians, thrilling witches, smart women and both wise and wicked men. He also invented some great phrases. If you’ve ever said, “Oh, for goodness sake!” you can thank Shakespeare for that. “To be, or not to be: that is the question,” Hamlet says. “Good night, good night. Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it is morrow,” says Juliet to her Romeo.
Don’t be surprised if you don’t understand everything when reading Shakespeare or watching one of his plays because the meanings of many words have changed over the years. And Shakespeare’s characters speak in poetry, so their speeches can be complicated.
It does help to find out a little bit about the story before reading a Shakespeare play. It’s worth the effort. As Shakespeare wrote, “All the world is a stage.” And in his plays you’ll find that an entire world is waiting for you.Shakespeare created the following characters EXCEPT ________.
| A．Juliet | B．Hamlet | C．Claire Danes | D．Romeo |
From Paragraph 3 we can learn that ________.
| A．most of the characters created by Shakespeare were negative ones |
| B．most of the phrases used today were invented by Shakespeare |
| C．“Oh, for goodness sake!” is what Juliet says to Romeo |
| D．Shakespeare contributed greatly to the development of English |
Which of the following is a reason why it’s difficult to understand some of Shakespeare’s plays?
| A．There are many new words in his plays. |
| B．He wrote his plays using uncommon words. |
| C．The characters in his plays speak in poetry. |
| D．Most of the words in his plays are outdated. |
We can infer from the passage that ______.
| A．most of Shakespeare’s plays have been made into films |
| B．language changes with the development of society |
| C．Shakespeare made lots of money from his works |
| D．it is more useful to read Shakespeare’s works than to watch them |
Say sorry to your wife---it may help her live longer, according to scientists.
“Sorry” may be the hardest word, but scientists say it could be one of the healthiest. Researchers have discovered that women who receive an apology for hurtful behavior suffer less stress and possible damage to their heart than those who don’t.
It is said that the heartbeat of a wronged woman returns to normal 20 percent quicker after a well-timed “sorry” than without it. But for men, their heartbeat takes longer to recover, according to the research.
The research was undertaken by American scientists using 29 men and 59 women whose diastolic blood pressure was measured throughout an experiment. Diastolic blood pressure
is a measure of pressure in the blood vessels( 血管 ) between heartbeats---if it is continuously high it can increase the chances of heart attacks.
The men and women were asked to undertake a difficult mathematical task. They were told they had five minutes to complete it but were disturbed after a minute and told rudely to carry out the task more quickly. They were disturbed twice more before five minutes had passed and told to speed up. Finally they were told, “ You’re obviously not good enough.” Two minutes later researchers said sorry to half of the men and women.
The researchers found that, on average, the women’s diastolic blood pressure dropped back to normal 20 percent---quicker if they received an apology from the researchers, while the men’s took 20 percent longer to return to normal. One of the researchers said, “Results indicates that the effects of apology and forgiveness on women are greater.” The term “sorry” is considered as one of the healthiest words because it _________.
| A．is the most powerful |
| B．can cure heart disease |
| C．helps people forget hurtful behavior |
| D．can reduce pressure and damage to the heart |
We can know from Paragraph 3 _________.
| A．women’s hearts beat faster than men’s |
| B．women are quicker at making apologies |
| C．men can forgive others’mistakes more easily than women |
| D．men stay angry for a longer time than women after receiving an apology |
Which of the following is the RIGHT time order for events in the study?
a. Half of them received apologies.
b. They were disturbed a minute later.
c. They were told that they weren’t good enough.
d. They were asked to finish a math task in five minutes.
e. They were disturbed two more times during the study.
| A．d-b-c-e-a | B．d-c-b-a-e | C．d-b-e-c-a | D．d-c-b-e-a |
The research confirmed (证实) that _________.
| A．men are unwilling to apologize to others for their mistakes |
| B．men’s chances of getting heart attacks are higher than women’s |
| C．women can benefit more from receiving apologies than men |
| D．people can also get healthy benefits from giving apologies |
A long time ago, in an Italian city, the people there built a tower which was admired by everyone passing through. A little further down the road, in a neighboring city, they had built a tower of similar beauty. The two towers were equally well known. The people of the second city, envious (妒忌的) and filled with pride, planned to destroy the neighboring tower so it wouldn’t take attention away from their own. One night, they came to the tower and began to quietly undermine its foundations(地基).
The next morning, the tower was leaning(倾斜) slightly ,but nobody noticed. The same happened for the following few days, until a little girl who was passing by pointed up at the tower and said: “ I think the tower is going to fall down.” And everyone around looked closely, and could see that she was right .Nervousness spread through the city. And they tried many methods to try to straighten the tower, but nothing seemed to work. That was, until one day when the same little girl was walking up again, and she put her arm on the side of the tower to rest. She felt the tower shaking slightly. When she took her hand off it, the movement stopped. And when she put it back on again, the same thing happened. The girl spent a while doing this, until she was completely certain of what she had discovered: “ The tower is ticklish ( 怕痒的) ！” She ran to get some plants, and she planted them right next to the tower. Now if the tower leant over any further it would be tickled by the leaves of those plants. Being a ticklish tower, it would then return to where it had been. In this way, the girl managed to make sure that the tower didn’t fall down, but still kept it leaning a little.
The fact that it was leaning made it even more famous, and this taught a fine lesson to the envious people of the neighboring city.Why did the people of the second city plan to destroy the neighboring tower?
| A．Because the tower blocked the way of their tourists. |
| B．Because the tower had the same building style as theirs. |
| C．Because they hoped that the tower could lean slightly. |
| D．Because they hoped that visitors just liked their own tower. |
The underlined word“undermine”（in Paragraph1）probably mean “_________”．
| A．test | B．raise | C．damage | D．strengthen |
When local people heard the news that their tower was going to fall down, they were _________.
| A．very anxious |
| B．very happy |
| C．very ashamed of themselves |
| D．angry at the people in the neighboring city |
What lesson can we learn from the practice of the envious people in the neighboring city?
| A．All that ends well is well. |
| B．Every dog has his day. |
| C．A bad beginning makes a bad ending. |
| D．A friend is never known till a man has need. |
The Jungle Book
Lost in the jungles of India as a child and adopted into a family of wolves, Mowgli is brought up on a diet of Jungle Law, loyalty, and fresh meat from the kill. Regular adventures with his friends and enemies in the jungles improve this child’s strength and cleverness and stir every reader’s imagination.
Price: $ 7.79
ISBN-13: 978-1613820742
Average Customer Review: ★★★★☆
A Stolen Life
The first work of its kind—Jaycee Dugard’s personal life story, her own story of being kidnapped (绑架) in 1991. When Jaycee was eleven years old, she was kidnapped from a school bus stop. She was missing for more than eighteen years, and gave birth to two daughters during her imprisonment (监禁).
Price: $ 19.79
ISBN-13: 978-1442344983
Average Customer Review:★★★★★
While We’re Far Apart
Five-time Christy Award winner Lynn Austin is called as “one of the style’s best historical fiction novelists”. Set in Brooklyn, New York, during World War Ⅰ，while a motherless girl longs for her daddy and a young lady hopes for a second chance at love, this tale explores the uncertainty that stays in people.
Price:$ 6.00
ISBN-10: 0764204971
Average Customer Review:★★★★☆
The Fashion Police
The Fashion Police was in the second place in the Chapter One Promotions Novel Competition 2010 and nominated (提名) Best Novel with Romantic Elements 2010 by The Romance Reviews. It is a strange comedy-mystery, combining murder and with romance.
Price: $ 12.73
ISBN-13: 978-1451555653
Average Customer Review: ★★★☆☆If you are interested in personal life stories, then you can choose the book _________.
| A．A Stolen Life | B．The Jungle Book |
| C．The Fashion Police | D．While We’re Far Apart |
The ISBN of the book that is most popular among the readers is _______.
| A．ISBN-13: 978-1613820742 | B．ISBN-13: 978-1442344983 |
| C．ISBN-10: 0764204971 | D．ISBN-13: 978-1451555653 |
What makes the book The Fashion Police distinguish itself from others?
| A．It wins the award Christy Award five times. |
| B．It is a great book on violence and family education. |
| C．It is nominated Best Novel with Romantic Elements 2010. |
| D．It has many elements borrowed from stories of true policemen. |
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