题目内容
When families gather for Christmas dinner, some will stick to formal traditions dating back to grandma’s generation. Their tables will be set with the good dishes and silver, and the dress code will be Sunday best.
But in many other homes, this china-and-silver elegance has given way to a stoneware (粗陶) and stainless informality, with dresses assuming an equally casual-Friday look. For hosts and guests, the change means greater simplicity and comfort. For makers of fine china in Britain, it spells economic hard times.
Last week Royal Doulton, the largest employer in Stoke-on-Trent, announced that it is eliminating 1,000 jobs-one-fifth of its total workforce. That brings to more than 4,000 the number of positions lost in 18 months in the pottery (陶瓷) region. Wedgwood and other pottery factories made cuts earlier.
Although a strong pound and weak markets in Asia play a role in the downsizing, the layoffs in Stoke have their roots in earthshaking social shifts. A spokesman for Royal Doulton admitted that the company “has been somewhat slow in catching up with the trend” toward casual dining. Families eat together less often, he explained, and more people eat alone, either because they are single or they eat in front of television.
Even dinner parties, if they happen at all, have gone casual. In a time of long work hours and demanding family schedules, busy hosts insist, rightly, that it’s better to share a takeout pizza on paper plates in the family room than to wait for the perfect moment or a “real” dinner party. Too often, the perfect moment never comes. Iron a fine-patterned tablecloth? Forget it. Polish the silver? Who has time?
Yet the loss of formality has its down side. The fine points of etiquette (礼节) that children might once have learned at the table by observation or instruction from parents and grandparents (“Chew with your mouth closed.” “Keep your elbows off the table.”) must be picked up elsewhere. Some companies now offer etiquette seminars for employees who may be able professionally but inexperienced socially.
67.Why do people tend to follow the trend to casual dining?
A. Family members need more time to relax.
B. Busy schedules leave people no time for formality.
C. People prefer to live a comfortable life.
D. Young people won’t follow the etiquette of the older generation
68.It can be learned from the passage that Royal Doulton is ________.
A. a seller of stainless steel tableware B. a dealer in stoneware
C. a pottery chain store D. a producer of fine china
69.The main cause of the layoffs in the pottery industry is ________.
A. the increased value of the pound
B. the worsening economy in Asia
C. the change in people’s way of life
D. the fierce competition at home and abroad
70.Formal table manners, though less popular than before in current social life, ________.
A. are still a must on certain occasions
B. are certain to return sooner or later
C. are still being taught by parents at home
D. can help improve personal relationships
67---70 BDCA
完形填空(共20小题;每小题1.5分,满分30分)
阅读下面短文,掌握其大意,然后从所给的四个选项中,选出最佳选项。
In the wake of Chicago’s worst ever winter, when all of the rooftops were loaded, many overloaded with snow…Robert McGrath saw his wife run out to the backyard garage to 1 some boxes.
Seconds later he heard the 2 !
Looking out he saw the 3 of the garage had caved in(下塌). McGrath did not 4 for hat or coat…He ran from the house, 5 a snow shovel, and called out for neighbors to 6 .
Yelling and 7 , with sweat freezing on his face---throwing snow and pulling away 8 ----he heard her voice and then saw her 9 . He kept digging, throwing and pulling…
And within minutes he had his wife in his arms and was 10 “Are you all right? Are you all right? I thought you were 11 .Oh baby, I love you so much!” She was 12 .
What Robert McGrath did not 13 was this: Mrs. McGrath had gone into the garage through one door and 14 through another. She was 15 in the house when she looked out and saw her husband digging and 16 orders and throwing planks of wood,feverishly trying to 17 her. She could not let her gallant(英勇) rescuer 18 . So she put her coat on again and went outside and 19 entered the garage through the 20 door--and allowed her husband to be her hero.
36 | A、fetch | B、put | C、1ay | D、fix |
37、 | A、overload | B、accident | C、crash | D、falling |
38、 | A、doors | B、roof | C、top | D、wall |
39、 | A、search | B、look | C、hesitate | D、stop |
40、 | A、snatched | B、grabbed | C、robbed | D、carried |
41、 | A、escape | B、run | C、help | D、move |
42、 | A、digging | B、working | C、complaining | D、crying |
43、 | A、bricks | B、stones | C、grass | D、boards |
44、 | A、hand | B、body | C、face | D、feet |
45、 | A、sobbing | B、questioning | C、tired | D、happy |
46、 | A、missing | B、hidden | C、crazy | D、hurt |
47、 | A、excited | B、finew | C、surprised | D、happy |
48、 | A、find | B、mind | C、know | D、care |
49、 | A、away | B、up | C、off | D、out |
50、 | A、safe | B、waiting | C、watching | D、anxious |
51、 | A、receiving | B、placing | C、giving | D、shouting |
52、 | A、pull | B、rescue | C、uncover | D、protect |
53、 | A、in | B、away | C、up | D、down |
54、 | A、finally | B、unexpectedly | C、quietly | D、carefully |
55、 | A、back | B、open | C、front | D、broken
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