Abbreviations(缩写) are now widely used in our daily lives. Here are some of them. Are you familiar with them?

R.S.V.P. stands for a French phrase, “répondez, s'il vous pla?t,” which means “please reply.” If R.S.V.P. is written on an invitation, it means the invited guest must tell the host(主人) whether or not they plan to attend the party as soon as possible. Because the hosts who are planning a dinner party or a wedding need to know how many people to count on and how much food and drink to buy. More important, though, it is polite to reply someone who was nice enough to invite you, even if it is to say that you are sorry that you will not be able to attend.

B.Y.O.B. has been used first in the early 1970s to mean “bring your own bottle (of wine)”, although in present-day it is just as likely to mean “bring your own booze” or “bring your own beer”. It was used by small restaurants that was not allowed to sell wine. But now B.Y.O.B. is often placed on an invitation to tell the guests that the host will not be providing wine and that guests are welcome to bring their own.

R.I.P stands for “rest in peace” in English, The phrase was not found before the 8th century. It became ubiquitous(普遍现象) on the tombs of Christians in the 18th century, Now, it is always written on tombstones to express the wish of forever rest and peace to someone who has died.

P.K. means “Player Killing” originally. The word P.K. is now also used in China and Taiwan as a verb(动词). In fact, there may actually be no player killing. It is most used in 1v1 situations like 1v1 basketball, 1v1 chess, 1v1 footrace and so on. P.K. can also be used in situations where one team is against another in a 1 team vs 1 team competition like in the NBA, soccer, baseball and so on.

1.If you receive a party invitation with R.S.V.P., you ______.

A. have to go to the party B. should reply as soon as possible

C. have to buy some food D. should make plans for the party

2.R.I.P. is used to someone who ______.

A. holds a party B. likes drinking beer C. has been dead D. joins in a game

3.______ will be used when there is a competition between two teams.

A. R.S.V.P. B. B.Y.O.B. C. R.I.P D. P.K.

4.The writer wants to introduce some foreign ______to us by writing this passage.

A. cultures B. histories C. science D. stories

Mark Twain was an American writer. He liked to tell funny stories, and he also liked to play jokes. One day, a friend of his lost his wallet and asked Twain to pay his train ticket for him.

Twain said, "I'm sorry, but it happens that I have very little money with me.I don't have enough money to buy two tickets."

The friend was very sad.

"But," said Twain, "You can get on the train with me and, when the conductor comes through the train to collect (收) the tickets, you can hide under my seat." The friend agreed to this plan. But when the conductor came through the train, Twain gave him two tickets. One is for himself and the other is for his friend under the seat.

Then in a loud voice, so that everyone in the train could hear him easily, Twain explained (解释), "My friend is a very strange man. When he rides on a train, he doesn't like to sit on the seat. He likes to lie on the floor under the seat."

Of course, everybody then looked at the poor man under the seat and laughed at him.

1.Who used to write funny short stories?

A. Lu Xun B. Mark Twain C. Shakespeare D. Luo Guanzhong

2.Mark Twain was _________.

A. a great German writer B. a great American writer

C. a great English writer D. a great American lawyer

3.______ lay on the floor under the seat instead of sitting on the seat.

A. Mark Twain B. The conductor C. A stranger D. A friend of Mark Twain's

4.A friend asked Twain to buy train ticket for him because _________.

A. he lost his wallet

B. he had very little money and could not pay the ticket.

C. Twain owed his money, and then he wanted to get it back.

D. he did not want to pay the ticket himself.

5.Which of the following is right?

A. Twain bought only one ticket for himself.

B. Twain bought two tickets.

C. Twain did not ask his friend to get on the train.

D. Twain asked his friend to take his seat.

Today we are developing a new idea—Money is the measure of all things. More and more, people are being judged by what they own, and not by their good qualities. This is certainly true among many people in China.

According to a survey that was done in 2013, China is the most materialistic(物欲的) country in the world. Twenty-three percent of Chinese said they measured success by the things they owned (cars, homes, jewelry, designer clothes) compared with just 21 percent in America, 20 percent in Canada, and 16 percent in Britain.

This love of materialistic has spread into schools where some kids like to show off their Apple Watches, iPhone7 and expensive running shoes. Some poorer students now feel worried by their richer classmates and sad by their poor families. In some cases this has affected their performance in school.

But having rich parents doesn’t automatically(自动地) bring good grades and having poor parents doesn’t certainly bring bad grades. It is hard wok that is the key to success, not the cost of your running shoes. And hard work is what develops good characters, not money, that should be the measure of all things.

1.What is the measure of all things for many people in China?

A. Success. B. The good quality. C. The good grades. D. Money.

2.According to the survey, how many Chinese judged success by the things they owned?

A. 23% of Chinese. B. 21% of Chinese. C. 20% of Chinese. D. 16% of Chinese.

3.Why do some students like showing off expensive things in school?

A. Because their families are very rich.

B. Because of the worship of materialism.

C. Because expensive things can bring good grades.

D. Because they are good at all kinds of subjects.

4.What can we infer from the passage?

A. Poor students can hardly get good grades.

B. Rich students have the worship of materialism.

C. We should correct the worship of materialism.

D. Canadians have the least the worship of materialism in rate.

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