I am beginning to wonder whether my grandmother isn’t right when she complains, as she frequently does, that children nowadays aren’t as well-behaved as they used to be. Whenever she gets the opportunity, she recounts in detail how she used to be told to respect the elders and betters. She was taught to speak only when she was spoken to, and when she went out on her own, she was reminded to say 'please' and 'thank you'. Children in her day, she continues, were expected to be seen and not heard, but these days you are lucky if you ever hear parents telling their children to mind their p’s and q’s.

       If you give her the chance, she then takes out of her drawer the old photograph album which she keeps there, and which she never tires of displaying. Of course when you look at pictures of her parents, you feel sure that, with a father as stern-looking as that, you too would have been "seen and not heard". He had a lot of neatly cut hair, long side-whiskers and a big moustache. In the photographs, he is always clutching (抓住) his coat with one hand, while in the other he holds a thin walking stick. Beside him sits his wife, with their children around her: Granny and her elder brothers. It always occurs to me that perhaps those long, stiff, black clothes were so clumsy to a little girl, that she hadn’t enough breath left to be talkative, let alone mischievous (淘气的). It must have been a dull and lonely life too, for she stayed mainly at home during her childhood, while her brothers were sent away to school from an early age. Despite their long black shorts and their serious expressions in the photographs, I always suspect that their lives were considerably more enjoyable than hers. One can imagine them telling each other to shut up or mind their own business, as soon as their parents were out of sight.

       Going to see Granny on Sundays used to be a terrible experience. We would always be warned in advance to be on our best behavior, since my mother made a great effort to show how well brought up we were, in spite of our old, comfortable clothes, our incomprehensible (to Granny) slang, and our noisy games in the garden. We had to change into what Granny described as our "Sundays best" for lunch, when we would sit uncomfortably, kicking each other under the table. We were continually being ordered to sit up straight, to take our elbows off the table, to wait till everybody had been served, not to wolf down our food, nor to talk with our mouths full. At length we would be told to ask to be excused from the table and ordered to find quiet occupations for the rest of the day. We were always very bad-tempered by the evening, and would complain angrily all the way home.

       Yet though we hated the Sunday visit, we never questioned the rules of good manners themselves. I remember being greatly shocked as a child to hear one of my friends telling her father to shut up. I knew I could never have spoken like that to my father and it would never have occurred to me to do so.

       However, my childhood was much freer than Granny’s. I went to school with my brother and I played football with him and his friends. We all spoke a common language, and we got up to the same mischief. I would have died if I had had to stay indoors, wear a tight dress, and sew.

       But I do sometimes look wistfully (惆怅地) at an old sampler which hangs in the hall, which was embroidered (刺绣) by an even more distant relative—my great-great-aunt, of whom, regrettably, no photograph remains. It was done as an example of her progress in learning. The alphabet is carefully sewn in large colored childish letters from A to Z, and below it a small verse reads:

                     Mary Saunders is my name,

                     And with my needle I worked the same,

                     That by it you may plainly see

                     What care my parents have for me.

       It must have taken that little five-year-old months and months of laborious sewing, but, in a circle in a bottom corner of the sampler, there is a line: "Be Ever Happy".

50. The writer’s grandmother will complain that ______.

  A. children used to be mischievous

  B. children behave worse than they did in the past

  C. children are often reminded of what to do

  D. children are very badly behaved

51.Visiting Granny on Sundays was a terrible experience because ______.

  A. the writer was not so well raised as she was required to pretend

  B. Granny continually warned the writer to be on her best behavior

  C. Granny was always describing the writer’s "Sunday best"

  D. the writer was always blamed for not behaving well

52. From Paragraph 4, we can infer that the writer ______.

  A. seldom spoke to her father in the way her friend did

  B. was never questioned about the rules of good manners

  C. never doubted the value of the strict rules at that time

  D. was worried that her friend’s father would be shocked

53. The writer looked wistfully at the sampler, because______.

  A. it was embroidered by a relative.

  B. she wished she could sew herself.

  C. it called to mind the values of good old days.

  D. she had no photographs of Mary Saunders.

54. By sewing "Be Ever Happy" in the sampler, Mary Saunders ______. 

  A. suggested she was unhappy then

  B. indicated happiness was hard to gain

  C. expected we would find happiness in sewing

  D. hoped happiness would be everlasting

Have you ever received a gift that was so clearly, not your taste that you wondered if perhaps it had been handed to you by mistake? Worse, have you ever given a present and watched your friend look as though she had opened the wrong box? Maybe she responded with a polite “Why, thank you,” but you knew you had missed the mark. Why do presents sometimes go wrong? And what do your choices (good and bad) reflect about your personal qualities?

Choosing the right is an art, I believe. It calls for empathy－the ability to put yourself into someone else’s head and heart. We’re all able to do this; in fact, we’re born with a kind of natural empathy. After the earliest period of childhood, however, it needs to be strengthened－by our parents, teachers, friends. When it isn’t, we’re not able to understand other people’s feelings as sharply. This can show in the gifts we select, and so can many other emotional qualities.

Think back to the presents you’ve given over the past year, the time and effort you put into your selection, how much you spent, your thoughts while you were shopping, and your feelings when the receiver opened the package. Keep in mind that what you choose displays your inner world. Of course, you may express yourself differently with different friends, relatives, and other people you know.

We live in a society where exchanging presents is an important part of communication. Ignoring the tradition won’t make it go away. If you really dislike such a tradition, tell your friends ahead of time.

63.The underlined expression “you had missed the mark” means “you had failed to_________ ”.

A. make her feel better                     B. receive a present in return   

C. get the expected effect               D. keep your friendship

64. Which of the following is the main idea of the second paragraph?

A. Selecting the right gift is an ability people are born with.

B. Choosing gifts requires one to understand the receivers.

C. Emotional changes influence one’s choice of gifts.

D. Natural empathy needs to be strengthened.

65. In the third paragraph, the author tells us that _____________.            .

A. one learns from what he did in the past

B. one should spend more time choosing gifts

C. the choice of gifts reflects one’s emotional qualities

D. attention should be paid to the receivers’ responses

66. The best title for this passage is “___________”.

A. Message in a Gift                       B. Ways of Choosing Gifts

C. Exchanging Presents                     D. An Important Tradition

   Have you ever received a gift that was so clearly not your taste that you wondered if perhaps it had been handed to you by mistake? Worse, have you ever given a present and watched your friend look as though she had opened the wrong box? Maybe she responded with a polite "Why, thank you," but you knew you had missed the mark. Why do presents sometimes go wrong? And what do your choices (good and bad) reflect about your personal qualities?

    Choosing the right gift is an art, I believe. It calls for empathy — the ability to put yourself into someone else's head and heart .We're all able to do this; in fact, we're born with a kind of natural empathy. After the earliest period of childhood, however, it needs to be reinforced (加强)—by our parents, teachers, friends. When it isn't, we're not able to understand other people's feelings as sharply. This can show in the gifts we select, and so can many other emotional (情感的) qualities.

   Think back to the presents you’ve given over the past year, the time and effort you put into your selection, how much you spent, your thoughts while you were shopping, and your feelings when the receiver opened the package. Keep in mind that what you choose displays your inner world. Of course, you may express yourself differently with different friends, relatives, and other people you know.

   We live in a society where exchanging presents is an important part of communication. Ignoring the tradition won't make it go away. If you really dislike such a tradition, tell your friends ahead of time.

60.  The underlined expression "you had missed the mark" means "you had failed to _____'.

    A. make her feel better                        B. keep your friendship

    C. receive a present in return                        D. get the expected effect

61. Which of the following is the main idea of the second paragraph?

   A. Natural empathy needs to be reinforced.

   B. Emotional changes influence one's choice of gifts.

   C. Selecting the right gift is an ability people are born with.

   D. Choosing gifts requires one to understand the receivers.

62. In the third paragraph, the author tells us that________..

    A. attention should be paid to the receivers' responses

    B. one learns from what he did in the past

    C. the choice of gifts reflects one's emotional qualities

    D. one should spend more time choosing gifts

 63. The best possible title for this passage is “_______”.

    A. Ways of Choosing Gifts                          B. An Important Tradition

    C. Exchanging Presents                              D. Message in a Gift

   Have you ever received a gift that was so dearly, not your taste that you wondered if perhaps it had been handed to you by mistake? Worse, have you ever given a present and watched your friend look as though she had opened the wrong box? Maybe she responded with a polite "Why, thank you," but you knew you had missed the mark. Why do presents sometimes go wrong? And what do your choices (good and bad) reflect about your persona] qualities?

Choosing the right gift is an art, I believe. It calls for empathy -- the ability to put yourself into someone else's head and heart We're all able to do this; in fact, we're born with a kind of natural empathy. After the earliest period of childhood, however, it needs to be reinforced (加强)--by our parents, teachers, friends. When it isn't, we're not able to understand other people's feelings as sharply. This can show in the gifts we select, and so can many other emotional (情感的) qualities.

   Think back to the presents you’ve given over the past year, the time and effort you put into your selection, how much you spent, your thoughts while you were shopping, and your feelings when the receiver opened the package. Keep in mind that what you choose displays your inner world. (Y/course, you may express yourself differently with different friends, relatives, and other people you know.

   We live in a society where exchanging presents is an important part of communication. Ignoring the tradition won't make it go away. If you really dislike such a tradition, tell your friends ahead of time.

60.  The underlined expression "you had missed the mark" means "you had failed to _____'.

   A. make her feel better            B. keep your friendship

   C. receive a present in return   D. get the expected effect

61. Which of the following is the main idea of the second paragraph?

   A. Natural empathy needs to be reinforced.

   B. Emotional changes influence one's choice of gifts.

   C. Selecting the right gift is an ability people are born with.

   D. Choosing gifts requires one to understand the receivers.

62. In the third paragraph, the author tells us that________..

    A. attention should be paid to the receivers' responses

    B. one learns from what he did in the past

    C. the choice of gifts reflects one's emotional qualities

    D. one should spend more time choosing gifts

 63. The best possible title for this passage is “_______”.

    A. Ways of Choosing Gifts                     B. An Important Tradition

    C. Exchanging Presents                         D. Message in a Gift