Tell a story and tell it well, and you may open wide the eyes of a child, open up lines of communication in a business, or even open people’s mind to another culture or race.

People in many places are digging up the old folk stories and the messages in them. For example, most American storytellers get their tales from a wide variety of sources, cultures, and times. They regard storytelling not only as a useful tool in child education, but also as a meaningful activity that helps adults understand themselves as well as those whose culture may be very different from their own.

“ Most local stories are based on a larger theme,” American storyteller Opalanga Pugh says, “ Cinderella(灰姑娘), or the central idea of a good child protected by her goodness, appears in various forms in almost every culture of the world.”

Working with students in schools, Pugh helps them understand their own cultures and the general messages of the stories. She works with prisoners too, helping them knowing who they are by telling stories that her listeners can write, direct, and act in their own lives. If they don’t like the story they are living, they can rewrite the story. Pugh also works to help open up lines of communication between managers and workers. “For every advance in business,” she says, “ there is a greater need for communication.” Storytelling can have a great effect on either side of the manager-worker relationship, she says.

Pugh spent several years in Nigeria, where she learned how closely storytelling was linked to the everyday life of the people there. The benefits of storytelling are found everywhere, she says.

“I learned how people used stories to spread their culture,” she says, “ What I do is to focus on the value of the stories that people can translate into their own daily world of affairs. We are all storytellers. We all have a story to tell. We tell everybody’s story.”

22.     What do we learn about American storytellers from Paragraph 2?

   A. They share the same way of storytelling.

   B. They prefer to tell the stories from other cultures.

   C. They learn their stories from the American natives.

   D. They find storytelling useful for both children and adults.

23.     The underlined sentence (Paragraph 4) suggests that prisoners can _____.

   A. start a new life                        B. settle down in another place

   C. direct films                            D. become good actors

24.     Pugh has practised storytelling with _____ groups of people.

   A. 2              B. 3               C. 4             D. 5

25.     What is the main idea of the text?

   A. Storytelling can influence the way people think.

   B. Storytelling is important to the growth of business.

   C. Storytelling is the best way to educate children in school.

   D. Storytelling helps people understand themselves and others.

Chinese girl looking for language exchanger
Posted Feb 10, 2012 16:25    by Sophia
Tag: Seeking Language partners  Guangzhou   Sex: Female    Race/Ethnicity: Chinese
I am a Chinese girl in my 20’s, can speak and write in English, but I’d like to make some improvement. People always look for making it better, right?
Meanwhile, I also like to meet more friends if we really have some topics to share.
And if you are in Guangzhou or visit here, I am more than willing to show you around in my spare time.
Reply to happycora@hotmail.com or call 15015704625
Tianhe nice apartment for share
Posted Feb 24, 2012 16:47     by Vivian
Tag: Seeking roommates     Guangzhou   Tianhe District     Up to 2000 RMB
I have a room available for rent in a shared apartment in Central Tianhe district.
The room has a big window with a nice view. The apartment itself is on the 22th floor of a new secure building on Tianhe Bei Lu, about 10 minutes walk from metro stations(地铁站) on lines 1 and 3, as well as buses and other transportation methods very close.
If you are interested, please feel free to phone me (Vivian) on 13145751201 (message preferred), or email me on vivian_liu2003@hotmail.com.
Business Interpreter/Guide
Posted Feb 26, 2012 08:46     by Sony
Tag: Business Services    Guangzhou   Baiyun District
Dear Foreign Friends, I am a professional interpreter, now looking for a Freelance interpreter job urgently. Please read my CV at below：
Name: Sony Song      Gender: Male      Age: 22 years old
Education: Studied English in Da Shan Foreign Language College
Birth: 9th Oct 1987, Luohe city, Henan province, China.
Ability: Speak fluent English, know Guangzhou city very well, can also guide you to Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Dongguan, Shunde, Macao, Hongkong, etc.
Contact Detail: E-mail/MSN: sonysong4@hotmail.com; cell phone: 15112015812
Looking for flat
Posted Mar 11, 2012 14:03     by Lucy
Tag: Apartments wanted     Guangzhou
Hello,
This is Lucy coming from Peru and looking for a short term flat, from 15th April until 30th April 2012. If somebody can give some information, send me pictures, price and address.
Email: lucitamaron@hotmail.com; cell phone: 13800013900
Thanks a lot in advance!
【小题1】If foreigner wants to learn some Chinese and make friends; he / she can call _________.

THE BRONTE FAMILY

Tuesday the twelfth was my birthday. I  16 a day of cake and presents  17__     it turned into a day of mystery(神秘). Someone sent a bottle with a letter and a treasure map   18 . It said there was a treasure of over 20 million dollars. I didn’t know if it was a trick(恶作剧) or if I should   19  it. If it was   20  , it would be the best present I had ever got. I decided to  21 . Two of my friends came and we rented a truck.   22 , I thought about turning back twice during this trip, but I didn’t think it was a 23 decision for me to make. I   24 to give this trip twice the effort(努力) I had been putting in. This would take all my trust in order for me to find the  25  .
“The map says you have to turn when you see a large stone with a red circle,” said one of them.
“What do we do after the turn?” I asked   26 .
“It says we should see a tree. We are   27  to turn 20 meters north of it and dig.　
We got there and dug. We had   28  at first digging but we got better and worked very   29 . My trousers were dirty but I kept digging   30  I hit something. It was a large metal box. We   31  the lock and looked inside. There was a letter. It read:
　　“The lesson you have learned will be very   32  . If you put as much   33 in anything you do as you did in finding the   34  , you will have found the key to making over 20 million dollars.”
　　This was a trick from my parents. I thought I would never forget this   35    birthday present.

阅读下面短文，从短文后所给各题的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

My parents operated a small restaurant in Seattle．It was open twenty-four hours a day, six days a week．And my first real job，when I was six years old，was  21  the diners’ shoes．My father had done it when he was young，so he taught me  22  to do it efficiently，telling me to  23  to reshine the shoes if the customer wasn’t  24  .

Working in the restaurant was a cause of great   25   because I was also working for the good of the family．But my father  26  that I had to meet certain standards to be part of the team．I  27  to be punctual，hard-working，and polite to the  28  ．

I was  29  paid for the work I did at the restaurant．One day I made the mistake of advising Dad that he  30  give me $10 a week．He said，“OK．How about you paying me for three meals a day you have here? And  31  the times you bring in your friends for free soft drinks?” He  32  I owed him about $40 a week．

I remember returning to Seattle after being  33  in the US Army for about two years．I had just been promoted to Captain at that time．And full of pride，I walked into my parents’ restaurant，but the  34  thing Dad said was，“How about your  35  up tonight?” I couldn’t  36  my ears! I am an officer in the Army! But it didn’t   37 as far as Dad was concerned，I was just  38   member of the team．I reached for the mop(拖把)．Working for Dad has taught me the devotion to a  39  is above all．It has nothing to do with  40  that team is involved in a family restaurant or the US Army．_{w.w.*w.k.&s.5*u.c.om}

A. cleaning             B. shining                     C. removing                 D. keeping

A. why                   B. what                        C. when                       D. how

A. offer                         B. refuse                      C. love                         D. learn

A. interested            B. annoyed                   C. relaxed                  D. satisfied

A. fun                    B. pride                        C. trouble                            D. effort

A. got it right             B. kept it a rule             C. made it clear      D. took it for granted

A. had                    B. tended                      C. hated                       D. managed

A. family                   B. workers                    C. customers                 D. friends

A. never                    B. always                            C. seldom                  D. ever

A. must                    B. should                      C. might                       D. could

A. at                        B. before                      C. around                            D. for

A. worked out       B. found out                 C. put out                     D. thought out

A. alone                   B. away                        C. outside                     D. off

A. usual                   B. last                          C. next                         D. first

A. washing _{w.w.*w.k.&s.5*u.c.om}                                  B. taking                      C. cleaning                   D. moving

A. ignore                 B. follow                      C. believe                  D. understand

A. happen                B. care                         C. go                           D. matter

A. no                       B. other                        C. some                        D. another

A. team                    B. family                      C. leader                      D. restaurant

A. why                    B. whether                    C. when                       D. How