Most people know that a wedding ring is symbolic of the bond of love and commitment between two people.But not everyone knows about the history behind this small yet powerful symbol.The history of the wedding ring goes back not just hundreds but thousands of years.No other currently practiced wedding tradition has been around as long.
The Egyptians were the first recorded civilization to use the wedding ring.In Egyptian hieroglyphics(象形文字)a circle represented eternity.Once a woman accepted the ring she became the “property” of the person who gave it to her and she was in a sense “his.” The first wedding ring could have been made of braided grass or hay(which would have been changed often), ivory, bone, or leather.Eventually, metal was used, but the first wedding bands were crude(未加工的)and rough.However, the sentiment remained the same-eternal commitment and love.
The Egyptians wore the wedding ring on the left hand because it was believed that a vein in the left hand went straight to the heart
.This tradition is still commonly practiced today in most parts of the world largely for practical purposes(most people are right handed.)It is worn on the fourth finger of the left hand.But there are some countries and groups which do not follow this tradition.In the Jewish faith, the wedding ring is put on the index finger.Roman Catholics traditionally wore their wedding band on the right hand, and in many countries and regions in Europe some people still follow this tradition.
It is interesting to note that in the long history of the wedding ring that it is only in the last century that men have begun to wear them.However, now both men and women show their love and commitment by exchanging rings on their wedding day.
Once you begin shopping for rings you may be amazed by the choices that await you.There are several different types of metals:traditional gold, white gold, platinum, and titanium.You can have an inscription put on the inside of the band if you like.Some people are even choosing a tattoo band.The styles vary from a simple, yet elegant band to an elaborate ring covered with jewels.If you do not buy the wedding and engagement rings as a set you will want to be sure the styles are compatible.Choose carefully because this choice will need to stand the test of eternity.
(1)
What’s the best title for this passage?
[ ]
A.
History of rings
B.
Interesting facts about rings
C.
Different beliefs about rings
D.
The meaning of the rings.
(2)
What may the word “eternity” in paragraph 2 probably mean?
[ ]
A.
Elegance
B.
Marriage
C.
Wedding
D.
Foreverness
(3)
Which is NOT true according to the passage?
[ ]
A.
The meaning of the rings remained unchanged.
B.
One should be careful of choosing a ring in a shop from different kinds.
C.
Jewish are so faithful to their beliefs to wear rings on the fourth finger.
D.
Now most people in the world still follow Roman Catholics traditionally.
(4)
What can we infer from the passage?
[ ]
A.
Men were looked upon by women for thousands years.
B.
Only women have the right to make themselves beautiful.
C.
women wore rings thousands of years earlier than men.
D.
You can have an inscription put on the inside the band.
Odland remembers like it was yesterday working in an expensive French restaurant in Denver.The ice cream he was serving fell onto the white dress of a rich and important woman.
Thirty years have passed, but Odland can't get the memory out of his mind, nor the woman's kind reaction.She was shocked, regained calmness and, in a kind voice, told the young Odland,“It's OK.It wasn't your fault.”When she left the restaurant, she also left the future Fortune 500 CEO with a life lesson:You can tell a lot about a person by the way he or she treats the waiter.
Odland isn't the only CEO to have made this discovery.Rather, it seems to be one of those few laws of the land that every CEO learns on the way up.It's hard to get a dozen CEO's to agree about anything, but most agree with the Waiter Rule.They say how others treat the CEO says nothing.But how others treat the waiter is like a window into the soul.
Watch out for anyone who pulls out the power card to say something like,“I could but this place and fire you,”or“I know the owner and I could have you fired.”Those who say such things have shown more about their character than about their wealth and power.
The CEO who came up with it, or at least first wrote it down, is Raytheon CEO Bill Swanson.He wrote a best-selling book called Swanson's Unwritten Rules of Management.
“A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter, or to others, is not a nice person,”Swanson says.“I will never offer a job to the person who is sweet to the boss but turns rude to someone cleaning the tables.”
(1)
What happened after Odland dropped the ice cream onto the woman's dress?
[ ]
A.
He was fired.
B.
He was blamed.
C.
The woman comforted him.
D.
The woman left the restaurant at once.
(2)
Odland learned one of his life lessons from ________.
[ ]
A.
his experience as a waiter
B.
the advice given by the CEOs
C.
an article in Fortune
D.
an interesting best-selling book
(3)
According to the text, most CEOs have the same opinion about ________.
Our boat floated on, between walls of forest too thick to allow us a view of the land we were passing through, though we knew from the map that our river must from time to time be passing through chains of hills which crossed the jungle plains.Nowhere did we find a place where we could have landed:where the jungle did not actually spread right down into the river, banks of soft mud prevented us going ashore.In any case, what would we have sailed by landing?The country was full of snakes and other dangerous creatures, and the jungle was so thick that one would be able to advance only slowly, cutting one’s way with knives the whole way.So we stayed in the boat, hoping we reached the sea, a friendly fisherman would pick us up and take us to civilization.
We lived on fish, caught with home-made net of string(we had no hooks), and fruits and nuts we could pick up out of the water.As we had no fire, we had to eat everything, including the fish, raw I had never tasted raw fish before, and I must say I did not much enjoy the experience; perhaps sea fish which do not live in the mud are less tasteless.After eating my raw fish, I lay back and dreamed of such things as fried chicken and rice, and ice-cream.In the never-ending damp heat of the jungle, ice-cream was a particularly frequent dream.
As for water, there was a choice:we could drink the muddy river water, or die of thirst.We drank the water.Men who had just escaped what had appeared to be certain death lose all worries about such small things as diseases caused by dirty water.In fact, none of us suffered from any illness as a result.
One day we passed another village, but fortunately nobody saw us.We did not wish to risk being taken prisoners a second time:we might not be so lucky to escape in a stolen boat again.
(1)
What they could see in the boat was only ________.
[ ]
A.
high wall
B.
villagers from time to time
C.
vast land
D.
heavy woods
(2)
They couldn’t land because ________.
[ ]
A.
the mud on the shore was too soft
B.
the forest was too thick to let them go through
C.
they could not find the mark on the map
D.
they could not find anyone to lead them out of the forest
(3)
The passage infers that the forest was ________.
[ ]
A.
rich of fruits and animals to be served as food
B.
not very thick as they could advance slowly by cutting the branches
C.
full of various dangerous beings
D.
full of ancient trees
(4)
The most proper title for this passage might be ________.
[ ]
A.
Escape
B.
Scenes of a River
C.
How to Survive on a boat
D.
A New Experience
阅读理解:
Our boat floated on, between walls of forest too thick to allow us a view of the land we were passing through, though we knew from the map that our river must from time to time be passing through chains of hills which crossed the jungle plains.Nowhere did we find a place where we could have landed:where the jungle did not actually spread right down into the river, banks of soft mud prevented us going ashore.In any case, what would we have sailed by landing?The country was full of snakes and other dangerous creatures, and the jungle was so thick that one would be able to advance only slowly, cutting one’s way with knives the whole way.So we stayed in the boat, hoping we reached the sea, a friendly fisherman would pick us up and take us to civilization.
We lived on fish, caught with home-made net of string(we had no hooks), and fruits and nuts we could pick up out of the water.As we had no fire, we had to eat everything, including the fish, raw I had never tasted raw fish before, and I must say I did not much enjoy the experience; perhaps sea fish which do not live in the mud are less tasteless.After eating my raw fish, I lay back and dreamed of such things as fried chicken and rice, and ice-cream.In the never-ending damp heat of the jungle, ice-cream was a particularly frequent dream.
As for water, there was a choice:we could drink the muddy river water, or die of thirst.We drank the water.Men who had just escaped what had appeared to be certain death lose all worries about such small things as diseases caused by dirty water.In fact, none of us suffered from any illness as a result.
One day we passed another village, but fortunately nobody saw us.We did not wish to risk being taken prisoners a second time:we might not be so lucky to escape in a stolen boat again.
(1)
What they could see in the boat was only ________.
[ ]
A.
high wall
B.
villagers from time to time
C.
vast land
D.
heavy woods
(2)
They couldn’t land because ________.
[ ]
A.
the mud on the shore was too soft
B.
the forest was too thick to let them go through
C.
they could not find the mark on the map
D.
they could not find anyone to lead them out of the forest.
(3)
The passage infers that the forest was ________.
[ ]
A.
rich of fruits and animals to be served as food
B.
not very thick as they could advance slowly by cutting the branches
C.
full of various dangerous beings
D.
full of ancient trees
(4)
The most proper title for this passage might be ________.