The other day I was shopping for Grandma when I realized I had no gift ideas at all. It was not a birthday gift or anything like that. It was simply sort of a hello gift. That is how we do things in my family. We don’t really give gifts for special occasions. Instead,we occasionally just give presents to each other to tell other people that we are thinking about them.

  That was why I wanted a gift for Grandma. But it was like my imagination had dried up. I have gone through all of the gift ideas in previous years,fruits,wines,cheeses,little handmade crafts,and anything else that you can give to a grandmother. I had even given her watches,and CDs. What else was there?

  I have always found gift ideas for men a little bit easier than for women,because for men,you can always get the usual things,such as video games,power tools and things like that. With a woman’s gift idea,however,you have to know more about her. You cannot just get someone a book or a CD. You have to know all about her taste in movies,music,and literature.

  My grandmother likes to read a lot,but what she likes is always pretty popular. I didn’t want to get her a book that she might not like,but I was running out of time. I needed a gift idea for this weekend and went to visit her. After all,I hadn’t seen her for a long time. I wanted to give her a gift so she would not feel ignored.

  Finally,I came up with the perfect gift idea. I made a collection of all the stories I had written in the past year. It wasn’t a typical gift idea like a bunch of flowers,but it really worked in the situation. You see,I am a writer and my grandma has always been my fan.

  Anyway,I had been learning about bookbinding recently,and had pretty much mastered the art. I figured that I would add a little bit of handmade artwork to the stories,bind it altogether,and give it to her. It took hours to complete,but it was well worth the effort. She absolutely loved it.

(   ) 1. The writer chose a gift for Grandma to________.

   A. celebrate a special family occasion

   B. please her during a weekend visit

   C. congratulate her on her birthday

   D. beg her pardon for ignoring her

(   ) 2. What gift did the writer finally decide to give his grandma?

   A. Gift watches.

   B. A bunch of flowers.

   C. Artwork made by hand.

   D. Stories written by himself.

(   ) 3. How does the writer feel about giving gifts to women?

   A. Interesting.

   B. Challenging.

   C. Time-wasting.

   D. Popular.

(   ) 4. We can learn from the passage that________.

   A. the writer is a successful novelist

   B. most people are particular about gifts

   C. the writer’s grandma has a good taste in art

   D. the writer’s family will give gifts on regular days

  I suppose that the most basic and powerful way to connect another person is to listen—just listen. Perhaps the most important thing we ever give each other is our attention and especially if it's given from the heart. When people are talking,there's no need to do anything but receive them. Listen to what they're saying. Care about it. Most times caring about it is even more impor?tant than understanding it. Most of us don't value ourselves or our love enough to know this. It has taken me a long time to believe in the power of simple saying "I'm so sorry. " when someone is in pain.

  One of my patients told me that when she tried to tell her story,people often interrupted to tell her that they once had something just like that happening to them. Her pain became a story about themselves. Eventually she stopped talk?ing to most people. We connect through listening. When we interrupt what someone is saying to let him know that we understand,we move the focus of attention to ourselves. When we listen,they know we care.

I have even learned to respond to someone crying by jujst listening. In the old days I used to reach for the handkerchiefs,until I realized that passing a person a handkerchief may be just another way to shut him down — to take them out of their experience of sadness. Now I just listen. When they have cried all they need to cry,they find me there with them.

This simple thing has not been that easy to learn. It certainly went against everything I had been taught since I was very young. I thought people listened only because they were too shy to speak or did not know the answer. But now I know that a loving silence often has far more power to heal than the kindest words.

1. What does the author value most in the communication with each other?

   A. Deep understanding.

   B. Saying "I'm sorry.”

   C. Attention from the heart.

   D. Doing nothing.

2. The woman patient stopped telling her story to most people because     .

   A. she didn't get enough respect from others

   B. she was discouraged by being often interrupted

   C. people often told her their own opinions

   D. people couldn't understand her sad situation

3. If you hand a handkerchief to someone crying,you may      .

   A. hurt his feelings

   B. make him embarrassed

   C. encourage him to continue to cry

   D. stop him from letting out his sorrow

4. It can be inferred from the passage that while communicating,         

   A. listening is a perfect way to respond to others

   B. people keep silent because they don't know the answer

   C. keeping silent means being too shy to speak

   D. it is easy to form the habit of listening silently

5. Which of the following might be the author's opinion about communication?

   A. Keep silent.

   B. Just listen.

   C. Be careful.

   D. Tell your own story.

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