From Mr. Ward Hoffman.

   Sir, I was halfway through Professor Raj Persaud's article “What's the tipping point"

(Financial Times Weekend, April 9-l0) when it occurred to me that what I was reading was not ironic(讽刺的). If Prof Persaud wants to know why Americans tip in restaurants, he need only ask the first American he meets in London.

   Americans tip in restarts for one reason, and one reason only: we tip to supplement (补贴) the salary of restaurant workers. Quality of service does not enter into it, beyond the fact that one may tip a bit less for poor service, or a little more for good service.

   Not tipping at all in a non-fast-food restaurant is not a choice. In the US, one used to tip about 15 per cent for dining in a family-style restaurant or in an up-market (高档的) restaurant. Here, in San Francisco Bay area restaurants, we me encouraged to tip 20 per cent or more, to help restart workers live in this very expensive area.

   After eating at an Italian restart in my city, I left a tip of 20 per cent on the non-tax part of our dinner bill. It was expected. There is nothing more complicated (复杂的) than that about Americas tipping in restaurants.

Ward Hoffman, 

Palo Alto, CA 94306, US

*                *                  *

From Mr. Philip McBride Johnson.

    Sir, I agree with most of Raj Persaud's opinion about the doubtful value of tipping, but with one exception(例外). Tips can be very useful when one is a repeat customer or diner.

It is only when the tipper is a stranger and likely to remain so that the system does not work to his or her advantage. But frequent a hotel or a restaurant, always tip a bit more, and the difference in service and treatment will ha easily felt.

Phfiip McBnde Johnson,

Great Falls, VA 22066, US

68. What can we learn from Hoffrnan's letter?

     A. Quality of service determines tipping in the US.

     B. Americans don't tip in non fast-food restaurants.

     C. Tipping in US upmarknt restarts is unnecessary.

     D. How to tip in the United States is not complicated.                               

69. Johnson's letter shows ________.

     A. a stranger in a restaurant is likely to tip a bit more

     B. diners receive better service if they frequent a restaurant

     C. repeat dinners may get good service ifthay tip a bit more

     D. the tipping system works to the advantage of new customers           

70. From tbe two letters, we can learn Professor Raj Persaud ______ .

     A. feels doubtful about the value of tipping

     B. believes tipping improves quality of service

     C. wats to ask Hoffman about tipping m the US

     D. thinks tipping a bit mom one can get good service                     

71. The two letters most probably appears in a ______.

     A. notice             B. handbook      C. book review    D. newspaper          

Earlier this year I traveled to Turkana in Kenya. I was there to take pictures of the “broken food system”.

As a special visitor, I was greeted with songs and dances. The locals used to sing and dance all the time but now Turkana is silent and has been for some years. No one is singing or dancing any more because they have no food, nothing to celebrate. Many of them are surviving on a little corn a day and water, which they can get just every two days.

I met Tede Lokapelo, a local farmer who described the experience of a six-year drought(干旱). Tede used to have 200 goats, but now he has only seven left. He told me that this drought has taught him a hard lesson: It is too difficult to keep animals. He lives on animals. His traditional way of life has been completely destroyed now. Without the food aid(援助) they got, Tede is certain that they would starve because there are no other ways to feed themselves left.

Sadly, the same can be heard in almost any developing country around the world. Almost one billion people go to bed hungry each night. The food system is broken. In Turkana, not enough rain has fallen since 2005. They measure(测量) rainfall not in days or weeks but in minutes. More and more people are being forced to rely on food aid, but people like Tede don’t want food aid. They want to work and develop their country. It’s our responsibility(责任) to change the situation so that they can support themselves.

Drought is impossible to avoid but famine(饥荒) is manmade, and unless enough money is provided to develop a basic infrastructure(基础设施) for people in the area, thousands more lives are sure to be lost.

1. Why do people in Turkana no longer sing or dance any more?

A. Because they have no time.                    

B. Because they are tired of them.

C. Because they are always hungry.           

D. Because they have other interesting things to do.

2.During the drought Tede had experienced, ______of his goats were killed.

A. 200                B. 193                 C. 7                     D. 6

3. Which of the following is NOT true about Tede Lokapelo?

A. He was a farmer in Kenya.                                

B. He has never received any food aid.

C. His traditional way of life ha s been changed.

D. He found it hard to raise animals after the drought.

4.What’s the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A. To show drought is serious in the world.

B. To tell readers the serious situation of food shortage(短缺).

C. To ask more people to give food aid to people in Kenya.

D. To make it clear what is the right way to help people suffering from drought.

 

A policeman was questioning 3 blondes who were training to become detectives. To test their skills in recognizing a suspect, he shows the first blonde a picture for5 seconds and then hides it.

“This is your suspect, how would you recognize him?"

The first blonde answers, "That's easy, we'll catch him fast because he only has one eye!" The policeman says, "Well...uh...that's because the picture shows his profile."

Slightly confused by this ridiculous response, he flashes the picture for 5 seconds at the second blonde and asks her, "This is your suspect, how would you recognize him?"

The second blonde giggles, flips her hair and says, "Ha! He'd be too easy to catch because he only has one ear!"

The policeman angrily responds, "What's the matter with you two? Of course only one eye and one ear are SHOWING because it's a picture of his profile!! Is that the best answer you can come up with?"

Extremely frustrated at this point, he shows the picture to the third blonde and in a very testy voice asks "This is your suspect, how would you recognize him?" He quickly adds, "Think hard before giving me a stupid answer."

The blonde looks at the picture intently for a moment and says, "Hmmmm…the suspect wears contact lenses."

The policeman is surprised and speechless because he really doesn't know himself if the suspect wears contacts or not. "Well, that's an interesting answer...wait here for a few minutes while I check his file and I’ll get back to you on that." He leaves the room and goes to his .office, checks the suspect's file in his computer, and comes back with a beaming smile on his face. "Wow!  I can't believe it...it's TRUE! The suspect does in fact wear contact lenses. Good work! How were you able to make such an acute observation?"

"That's easy," the blonde replied. "He can't wear regular glasses because he only has one eye and one ear."

1.Why did the policeman show a picture to the three blondes?

A.To inquire about their relationship with the suspect.

B.To test their potential of being detectives.

C.To train them as qualified police officers.

D.To show the skills in recognizing a suspect.

2.What's the policeman's attitude towards the first blonde's answer?

A.Angry.          B.Puzzled.         C.Embarrassed.     D.Satisfied.

3.What did the second blonde think of the task?

A.Demanding.      B.Easy.            C.Ridiculous.       D.Confusing.

4.How did the third blonde know that the suspect wore contact lenses?

A.By coincidence.

B.By random guess.

C.By logical and reasonable analysis.

D.By checking the file in the computer.

 

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