B

People tend to become more personal and hide less of themselves when using email. Researchers from Open University in Britain have found in a recent study that there are good reasons for this.
The team of researchers asked 83 pairs of students, all strangers to each other, to solve a problem. They had to discuss this question: If only five people in the world could be saved from a world disaster, who should they be? The pairs of students had to talk over the problem either face to face or by computers. Dr. Johnson said, “They told their partners four times as much about themselves when they talked over the Internet as when they talked face to face. When the computers were fitted with cameras so that students could see each other, this limited the personal side of the conversation.”
Generally the information was not extremely personal. It was mainly about things such as where they went to school, or where they used to live. But some students discussed their love stories, and personal childhood experiences.
Dr Johnson believes that emailing encourages people to focus on themselves. And when they do this, they become more open, especially if there are no cameras. “If you cannot see the other person, it becomes easier to talk about yourself. This is because you are not thinking what the other person is thinking of you. So emailing has become the modern way of talking,” said Dr. Johnson. However, this style of talking is not entirely new. “In the 19th century people started to use the ‘telegraph’ to communicate. Now the same kind of thing has happened and people ended up speaking more freely.”
Dr. Johnson thinks that emailers need to know about these effects of emailing, especially when they start work in a company. “ If you don’t know about it, you could find yourself saying more about yourself than you wanted to.”
60. The subject discussed in this passage is _______.
A. how people open up when emailing               B. how people do research studies
C. how to communicate at work                         D. how to discuss and solve a problem
61. The reason that some couples talked freely about themselves is that _______.
A. they didn’t talk about very personal things       B. they couldn’t see each other
C. the cameras on the computers were turned on   D. they had to discuss a question
62. What does the underlined sentence refer to?
A. The telegraph.          B. The computer.          C. Emailing.          D. Face-to-face talk.
63. In the writer’s opinion, one should ______.
A. focus on oneself when emailing                            B. talk more freely in emails than usual
C. discuss any subject that one wants to                     D. consider how one uses email at work

It is widely known that any English conversation begins with The Weather. Such a fixation with the weather finds expression in Dr. Johnson’s famous comment that “When two English meet, their first talk is of weather.” Though Johnson’s observation is as accurate now as it was over two hundred years ago, most commentators fail to come up with a convincing explanation for this English weather-speak.

Bill Bryson, for example, concludes that, as the English weather is not at all exciting, the obsession with it can hardly be understood. He argues that “To an outsider, the most striking thing about the English weather is that there is not very much of it.” Simply, the reason is that the unusual and unpredictable weather is almost unknown in the British Isles.

Jeremy Paxman, however, disagrees with Bryson, arguing that the English weather is by nature attractive. Bryson is wrong, he says, because the English preference for the weather has nothing to do with the natural phenomena. “The interest is less in the phenomena themselves, but in uncertainty.” According to him, the weather in England is very changeable and uncertain and it attracts the English as well as the outsider.

Bryson and Paxman stand for common misconceptions about the weather-speak among the English. Both commentators, somehow, are missing the point. The English weather conversation is not really about the weather at all. English weather-speak is a system of signs, which is developed to help the speakers overcome the natural reserve and actually talk to each other. Everyone knows conversations starting with weather-speak are not requests for weather data. Rather, they are routine greetings, conversation starters or the blank “fillers”. In other words, English weather-speak is a means of social bonding.

1.The author mentions Dr. Johnson’s comment to show that______.

A.most commentators agree with Dr. Johnson

B.Dr. Johnson is famous for his weather observation

C.the comment was accurate two hundred years ago

D.English conversations usually start with the weather

2.What does the underlined word “obsession” most probably refer to?

A.A social trend.

B.An emotional state.

C.A historical concept.

D.An unknown phenomenon.

3.According to the passage, Jeremy Paxman believes that______.

A.Bill Bryson has little knowledge of the weather

B.there is nothing special about the English weather

C.the English weather attracts people to the British Isles

D.English people talk about the weather for its uncertainty

4.What is the author’s purpose of writing the passage?

A.To explain what English weather-speak is about.

B.To analyse misconceptions about the English weather.

C.To find fault with both Bill Bryson and Jeremy Paxman.

D.To convince people that the English weather is changeable.

 

Nothing was going right for Dr.Turner at the hospital. He made a mistake while operating on a patient. He felt sure he was no longer trusted and decided to change his job . One day he learned from the paper that a doctor was looking for a partner (合作者). The doc-tor, whose name was Johnson , lived in Thorby, a small town in the north of England.

A few days later Dr. Turner went to Thorby, and arrived at Dr.Johnson's home early in the afternoon. Though old and a little deaf, Dr.Johnson still had a good brain. He kept talking to the visitor about the town and its people. When they turned to the question of partnership,it was already seven in the evening. Dr. Johnson invited Dr . Turner to have dinner with him in a restaurant before catching the train back to London. Dr . Turner noticed that Dr. Johnson was fond of good food and expensive wines . They had an excellent meal. When the bill was brought, Dr. Johnson felt in his pocket." Oh, dear," he said. "I've forgotten my money." "That's all right,"Dr. Turner said."I'll pay the bill."As he did so,he began to wonder whether Dr. Johnson was worthy of trust.

1. Dr. Turner decided to leave his present job because        .

A. he had never been trusted      

B. it demanded too great skills

C. he believed it offered little hope for his future

D. he thought the hospital would like him to leave

2.The two doctors spent most of the afternoon talking about         .

A. things of no interest to Dr. Johnson 

B. things of no importance to Dr. Turner

C. health matters                  

D. food and drink

3.The story suggests that                .

A. Dr. Johnson did not  like Dr. Turner

B. the two doctors would become friends

C. the two doctors would not work together

D. Dr. Turner decided to stay at his present job

4.The words did so  in the last sentence mean                .

A. caught the train back to London   B. felt in his pocket

C. paid the bill                  D. said those words

 

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