The British love to think of themselves as polite and everyone knows how fond they are of their “pleases"and “thank yous".Even the simplest business such as buying a train ticket requires__65  seven or eight of these.Another __66   of our good manners is the queue.New?comers to Britain could be forgiven for thinking that queuing rather than football was the__67 national sport.Finally,of course,motorists generally stop at crossings.But does all this mean that the British should consider themselves more polite than their European neighbours?I think not.

Take forms of address (称呼)for example.The average English person__68   he happens to work in a hotel or department store—would rather die than call a stranger “Sir" or“Madam".Yet in some European countries this is the most basic of common address.Our __69  “you" for everyone may appear more democratic,but it means that we are forced to seek out complicated ways to express __70  .I am all for returning to the use of “thee"and “thou"(Thee and thou are old?fashioned poetic words for“you");“you" would be__71   for strangers and professional relationships.

And of course,the English find touching and other shows of friendship truly terrifying.Have you noticed how the British __72   ever touch?Personlly, I find the Latin habit of shaking hands or a friendly kiss quite charming.Try kissing the average English person,and they will either take two steps backwards in horror;or,if their escape is__73   ,you will find your lips touching the back of their head.Now what could be__74  than that ?        

65.A.at least          B. at most         C. less than         D. not more than

66.A.signal            B. scene           C. sign              D. sight

67.A.true              B. original        C. superior          D. advanced

68.A.if                B. whether         C. when              D. unless

69.A.universal         B. unique          C. regular           D. normal

70.A.politeness        B. gratitude       C. democracy         D. consideration

71.A.ordered           B. reserved        C. offered           D. stocked

72.A.highly            B. mostly          C. hardly            D. nearly

73.A.confirmed         B. assured         C. jammed            D. blocked

74.  A. better         B. ruder           C. more polite        D. more frightening 

Our lives were supposed to be more flexible and family-friendly thanks to the technology at our fingertips. But in this age of BlackBerrys, recession pressures, working at home after hours and on weekends, family time may not be working out the way we thought.
Busy parents who expected more time with the kids are Finding that more work hours at home don't necessarily translate into quality time with them.
A new generation of parents needs to discover the meaning of "quality time," researchers say. “Personally, just given the life I lead, I think there is something to this idea of quality time- spending productive time with children vs. just being around,” says Peter Brandon, a professor at Carleton College. He says engaging or interacting with a child in activities such as reading or playing counts as quality time rather than "passive monitoring," such as washing the dishes while the child is watching TV.
“This time with children pays off,” Brandon says. He notes that good parent-child relationships result in children being happier and more successful, including at school.
As parents struggle to be more available to their kids, new research on work and family  schedules to be presented Friday at the meeting in Dallas includes a study that shows parents' availability is on the decline because more parents are in the workforce. Although parents today may be spending more time on child care, they are less available overall.
Working parents who spend less time with their children should try to make sure the time they do spend is communicating with them, vs. doing the dishes or spending more time on themselves, Brandon says “The trade-off is not necessarily taking away time from your kid,” he says "You're taking away time from other things”
【小题1】The first paragraph mainly intends to tell us that            .

Our lives were supposed to be more flexible and family­friendly thanks to the technology at our fingertips. But in this age of BlackBerrys, recession pressures, working at home after hours and on weekends, family time may not be working out the way we thought.

Busy parents who expected more time with the kids are finding that more work hours at home don't necessarily translate into quality time with them.

A new generation of parents need to discover the meaning of “quality time”， researchers say. “Personally, just given the life I lead, I think there is something to this idea of quality time—spending productive time with children vs. just being around，” says Peter Brandon, a professor at Carleton College. He says engaging or interacting with a child in activities such as reading or playing counts as quality time rather than “passive monitoring”， such as washing the dishes while the child is watching TV.

“This_time_with_children_pays_off，” Brandon says. He notes that good parent­child relationships result in children being happier and more successful, including at school.

As parents struggle to be more available to their kids, new research on work and family schedules to be presented Friday at the meeting in Dallas includes a study that shows parents' availability is on the decline because more parents are in the workforce. Although parents today may be spending more time on child care, they are less available overall.

Working parents who spend less time with their children should try to make sure the time they do spend is communicating with them, vs. doing the dishes or spending more time on themselves, Brandon says “The trade­off is not necessarily taking away time from your kid，” he says, “You're taking away time from other things.”

20．The first paragraph mainly intends to tell us that ________．

A．technology lets parents work at home

B．parents are satisfied with their work

C．technology makes our lives much easier

D．the family time is not always satisfying

21．We can learn from the third paragraph that ________．

A．some families are not experiencing quality time

B．it's enough for parents to stay with their children

C．parents enjoy engaging in work­at­home activities

D．working hours at home can transform into quality time

22．According to Brandon, the quality time means ________．

A．just being around with children

B．work time is separate from family time

C．spending interactive time with children

D．letting the children do whatever they want to do

23．The underlined sentence “This time with children pays off” means________．

A．the time with children is of little value

B．the time with children costs quite a lot

C．the time with children leads to good result

D．the time with children has a bad effect on them

24．What will the author most probably talk about in the next part of the passage?

A．How to spend more time at home.

B．How to do the dishes in a proper way.

C．How to spend more time in working at home.

D．How to take away time in a much proper way.

Our lives were supposed to be more flexible and family-friendly thanks to the technology at our fingertips. But in this age of BlackBerrys, recession pressures, working at home after hours and on weekends, family time may not be working out the way we thought.
Busy parents who expected more time with the kids are Finding that more work hours at home don't necessarily translate into quality time with them.
A new generation of parents needs to discover the meaning of "quality time," researchers say. “Personally, just given the life I lead, I think there is something to this idea of quality time- spending productive time with children vs. just being around,” says Peter Brandon, a professor at Carleton College. He says engaging or interacting with a child in activities such as reading or playing counts as quality time rather than "passive monitoring," such as washing the dishes while the child is watching TV.
“This time with children pays off,” Brandon says. He notes that good parent-child relationships result in children being happier and more successful, including at school.
As parents struggle to be more available to their kids, new research on work and family  schedules to be presented Friday at the meeting in Dallas includes a study that shows parents' availability is on the decline because more parents are in the workforce. Although parents today may be spending more time on child care, they are less available overall.
Working parents who spend less time with their children should try to make sure the time they do spend is communicating with them, vs. doing the dishes or spending more time on themselves, Brandon says “The trade-off is not necessarily taking away time from your kid,” he says "You're taking away time from other things”

1. 1.

   The first paragraph mainly intends to tell us that        .

   1. A.
      technology lets parents work at home
   2. B.
      parents are satisfied with their work
   3. C.
      technology makes our lives much easier
   4. D.
      the family time is not always satisfying
2. 2.

   We can learn from the third paragraph that        .

   1. A.
      some families are not experiencing quality time
   2. B.
      it's enough for parents to stay with their children
   3. C.
      parents enjoy engaging in work-at-home activities
   4. D.
      working hours at home can transform into quality time
3. 3.

   According to Brandon, the quality time means       .

   1. A.
      just, being around with children
   2. B.
      work time is separate from family time
   3. C.
      spending instructive time with children
   4. D.
      letting the children do whatever they want to do
4. 4.

   The underlined sentence “This time with children pays” off means        .

   1. A.
      the time with children is of little value
   2. B.
      the time with children costs quite a lot
   3. C.
      the time with children leads to good result
   4. D.
      the time with children has a bad effect on them
5. 5.

   What will the author most probably talk about in next part of the passage?

   1. A.
      How to spend more time at home
   2. B.
      How to do the dishes in a proper way.
   3. C.
      How to spend more time on working at home.
   4. D.
      How to take away time in a much proper way.

                                       The British love to think of themselves as polite, and everyone knows how fond they are of their “pleases” and “thank you”, Even the simplest business such as buying a train ticket requires __11__ seven or eight of these. Another __12__ of our good manners is the queue. New-comers to Britain could be forgiven for thinking that queuing rather than football was the __13__ national sport. Finally, of course, motorists generally stop at crossings. But does all this mean that the British should consider themselves more polite than their European neighbors? I think not.

    Take forms of address (称呼) for example. The average English person － __14__ he happens to work in a hotel or department store － would rather die than call a stranger “Sir” or “Madam”. Yet in some European countries this is the most basic of common address. Our __15__ “you” for everyone may appear more democratic, but it means that we are forced to seek out complicated ways to express __16__. I am all for returning to the use of “thee” and “thou” (Thee and thou are old-fashioned poetic words for “you”); “you” would be __17__ for strangers and professional relationships.

    And of course, the English find touching and other shows of friendship truly terrifying. Have you noticed how the British __18__ ever touch? Personally. I find the Latin habit of shaking hands or a friendly kiss quite charming. Try kissing the average English person, and they will either take two steps backwards in horror, or, if their escape is __19__. you will find your lips touching the back of their head. Now what could be __20__ than that?

11、A. at least             B. at most             C. less than                  D. not more than

12、A. signal               B. scene                C. sign                        D. sight

13、A. true                 B. original            C. superior                   D. advanced

14、A. if                     B. whether            C. when                       D. unless

15、A. universal          B. unique              C. regular                    D. normal

16、A. politeness         B. gratitude           C. democracy               D. consideration

17、A. ordered            B. reserved           C. offered                    D. stocked

18、A. highly              B. mostly              C. hardly                     D. nearly

19、A. confirmed               B. assured             C. jammed                   D. blocked

20、A. better                      B. ruder                C. more polite              D. more frightening