I called a meeting with the parents of my student, Tommy. I wanted to talk with them about his schoolwork and behaviour(行为).Tommy was always an excellent student. How could I make his father and mother believe that their recent separation(分开) made his grades bad.?
Tommy’s mother came in and sat down. Then his father arrived. But they didn’t say even one word to each other. I told them about Tommy’s schoolwork and behaviour. I hoped to help them see what they were doing to their son. But it looked that my words didn’t work. I thought that maybe Tommy could tell them something himself.
I found Tommy’s paper in the back of his desk. Tommy has written some words on it many times. I gave the paper to Tommy’s mother. She read it and gave it to his father. He read it and his face became soft(柔和的). He reached for his wife’s hand. She smiled up at him. My eyes were with tears. He helped her with her coat and they left together.
I picked the paper up and looked at it again. It read: “Dear Mommy… Dear Daddy… I love you.”
【小题1】 Why did the teacher call a meeting with Tommy’s parents?

Once upon a time there lived a woman who had a bad temper(脾气). She  1 at everyone around her. For most of her life she believed the anger inside her was  2  else’s fault(过错).

She went to see a wise monk(高僧) to ask for  3  . The monk told her to take a large pot（罐子) from his kitchen, fill it with  4 , and stand outside on the sidewalk in front of his house. “It’s hot outside,” the monk said to her “When a person  5 , you must give him or her a glass of water. Do this until there is no 6  left inside you.”  7  she stood outside with a water pot and served water to walkers every day for the next several weeks.

Every morning she asked   8  if there was any anger inside her. And every morning the answer was, “yes.” So she continued  9 water. Until one afternoon when a man walked up, took the water pot out of her hand and drank the water up, and then  10 it onto the ground as he went on his way.

The woman was very  11 . Unable to control herself, she  12  the pot and threw it at the rude man. The pot broke into pieces over the back of his head and he fell to the ground, bleeding.

As the woman calmed down, she realized the mistake of what she had made and began to cry. She called 911 and  13  what had happened. A moment later an ambulance(救护车) and two police cars arrived and took the man away. Then one of the police officers walked over to the woman, who was  14 crying, and said, “ The city owes(欠) you a big ‘thank you.’ That man has been  15 our wanted list for over a year now. He is an important suspect in many murder cases and robberies.”

1.                A．pointed        B．laughed         C．smiled    D．screamed

2.                A．anybody        B．somebody       C．everybody D．nobody

3.                A．information     B．news           C．advice    D．message

4.                A．juice           B．water          C．milk D．coffee

5.                A．walks past       B．drives past      C．rides past D．runs past

6.                A．water          B．money         C．anger    D．energy

7.                A．Because        B．But            C．So   D．Unless

8.                A．herself         B．himself         C．itself D．themselves

9.                A．drinking        B．serving         C．selling    D．buying

10.               A．put            B．dropped        C．fell   D．threw

11.               A．happy          B．excited         C．surprised  D．angry

12.               A．gave up        B．picked up       C．put up D．cleared up

13.               A．spoke          B．told           C．reported  D．asked

14.               A．already         B．still            C．always D．never

15.               A．on            B．in             C．at    D．to

Social customs (习俗) and ways of behaving change all the time. Things that were considered impolite many years ago are now acceptable. Just a few years ago, it was considered to be impolite behavior for a man to smoke on the street. No man who thought of himself as being a gentleman would make a fool of himself by smoking when a lady was in the room.

Customs also differ from country to country. Does a man walk on the left or the right of a woman in your country? Or doesn’t matter? What about table manners (行为)?

The Americans and British people not only speak the same language but also share a large number of social customs. For example, in both America and England, people shake hands when they meet each other for the first time. Also most Englishmen will open a door for a woman or offer their seats to women, and so will most Americans. Promptness (准时) is important both in England and in America. That is, the dinner guest (客人) either arrive close to the time that has been made or calls up to explain his delay (耽误).

The important thing to remember about social customs is not to do anything that might make other people feel uncomfortable —especially if they are your guests. There is an old story about a man who gave a very formal dinner party. When the food was served (服务), one of the guests started to eat his peas with a knife. The other guests were amused or greatly surprised, but the host calmly picked up his knife and began eating in the same way. It would have been bad manners to make his guest feel foolish or uncomfortable.

1.The underlined phrase “make a fool of himself” in the first paragraph means        .

    A. make himself strong                      B. make himself rich

    C. make himself comfortable                 D. make himself seemed like a fool

2. If a dinner invitation is for six o’clock, the guest is supposed to arrive at        six.

    A. nearly or a minute or two later than         B. a quarter past

    C. a quarter to                             D. much later than

3.The last example in the passage shows       .

    A. the correct way to use a knife at table     

B. that it is good manners not to make your guest feel foolish or uncomfortable

C. that social customs and ways of behaving change too fast

D. that different counties have different customs

4.The best title of the passage is         .

    A. Different Customs                        B. Social Customs

    C. Customs Are Changing Fast                D. Different Countries, Different Customs