-It’s my treat today. Is there any particular meal you would like to have?
-   you choose is all right with me.

At railway stations all across Britain next week, groups of students will gather with their backpacks to wait for the trains that will carry them home for Christmas. This is as large a movement of human beings as before, but with more contradictory traffic flows, so that trains filled with the young pass each other travelling in every direction.
At first, I went home every weekend with my washing, but then those visits became less regular. How did I let my parents know I was coming? They had no phone. Perhaps I wrote to them ("Expect me with dirty shirts this Friday afternoon"), but more likely I didn't let them know, and just turned up or didn't turn up, not understanding that my parents' dashed hopes of seeing me were a greater casualty of my carelessness than a spoiled tea.
And in all this I suspect I was typical, at least of young men. As for our fathers and mothers, none of them talked of "empty-nest syndrome", even though its implication that the principal human duty is to protect and feed the young would have suited their generation better than ours. Then, the feelings of loss went without a name. Today, it's a condition with remedies, which will make parents feel more enjoyable in their life. The Mayo Clinic, for example, suggests you try to maintain regular contact with your children through "visits, phone calls, emails, texts or video chats". If you feel depressed, lean on loved ones or your mental health provider. Above all, stay positive: "Thinking about the extra time and energy you might have to devote to your marriage or personal interests after your last child leaves home might help you adapt to this major life change."
What can’t be denied, however, is that children often leave home. In modern societies, this is what they do. Christmas is the very time they can be depended on to return. For the non-religious, that may be this season’s true comfort and significance.
【小题1】The main reason for the busy traffic across Britain next week is that         .

A person named Bernard Jackson today is a free man, but he has many bitter memories. He spent five years in prison after a jury (陪审团) wrongly convicted (判处……有罪) him of raping two women. At Jackson’s trial, although two witnesses testified that Jackson was with them in another location at the time of the crime, he was convicted anyway. Why? The jury believed the testimony (证词) of the two victims, who positively identified Jackson as the man who had attacked them. The court eventually freed Jackson after the police found the real criminal.
Many factors influence the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. For instance, witnesses sometimes see photographs of several suspects before they try to identify the person they saw in a group of people. They can become confused by seeing many photographs of similar faces. The number of people in the group, and whether it is a person or a photograph, may also affect a witness’s decision. People sometimes have difficulty identifying people of other races. The questions the police ask witnesses also have an effect on them.
Many people believe that police officers are more reliable than ordinary people. Psychologists decided to test this idea, and they discovered that it is not true. Two psychologists showed a film of crimes to both police officers and civilians. The psychologists found no difference between the police and the civilians in correctly remembering the details of the crimes.
Despite all the possibilities for inaccuracy, courts cannot leave out eyewitness testimony from a trial. American courts depend almost completely on eyewitness testimony to resolve (决定) court cases. Sometimes it is the only evidence to a crime, such as rape. Furthermore, eyewitness testimony is often correct. Although people do sometimes make mistakes, and convict innocent people, more importantly, eyewitness testimony has rightly convicted a larger number of guilty people.
American courts depend on the ability of the twelve jurors, and not the judges, to determine the accuracy of the witness’s testimony. It is their responsibility to decide if a certain witness could actually see, hear and remember what happened.
【小题1】Bernard Jackson was found guilty and sentenced 5 years’ prison because          .

A．it can be relied on to detect criminals in all cases.

B．it is sometimes the only way to resolve court cases.

C．it is sometimes the only clue for police investigation.

D．it is more reliable than physical evidences to a crime.

任务型阅读(共10小题，每小题1分, 满分10分)

根据所读内容在文章后图表中的空格里填入最恰当的单词。注意：每空1个单词。

Unique Tradition from UK

Boxing Day

This holiday, which is observed on December 26, is a unique part of the Christmas season in Great Britain, as well as other Commonwealth nations. Boxing Day comes from a tradition that began in the Middle Ages more than 800 years ago. On this day, English churches would open their ‘alms box’ and distribute its contents to needy members of the community. It was also a day for servants to celebrate the holidays with their families, having usually worked the day before. Today, Boxing Day is one of the twenty-two paid holidays received by most working Brits. Most people now spend Christmas Day with their family and reserve Boxing Day for exchanging gifts with friends. Although the government shuts down for the day, cinemas and theatres are open.

Queen’s Telegram

In the United States, if you make it to the ripe old age of 101 or 102, Willard Scott will wish you happy birthday on national television. In England, the queen herself will send her congratulations. This fairly new custom is known as "the Queen’s Telegram" and assures centenarians (people at least 100 years old) that they will receive a birthday telegram from the queen on their one-hundredth birthday. The telegram is so longed for by some Brits that one 98-year-old woman was recently proven to have faked her age by two years just to receive the telegram.

High Tea

High tea was first enjoyed by the English working class during the 1700s. This ritual (仪式) began as a practical attempt to hold off hunger pains between breakfast and supper, as eating just two daily meals was common at the time. It was called “high” tea because it was usually taken sitting on top stools in a tea shop or standing at a counter or buffet table. Today, high tea has become a more elegant and popular tradition that is practiced in fine hotels and restaurants around the world.

Public Houses

Visiting a pub is one of Britain’s oldest forms of entertainment. The idea for the first public houses was brought to Britain thousands of years ago by conquering Roman army. The first pubs served only wine, but after the discovery of hops（啤酒花） in the fourteenth century, pubs began to serve mainly beer and ale（麦芽酒）, as they do today.

British pubs operate between 11 a.m. and 11 p.m. every day except Sunday, when they must close at 10:30 p.m. The drinking age in Britain is eighteen, but fourteen-year-olds may enter a pub unaccompanied if they order a meal.

Unique Tradition from UK

When we think of leadership, we often think of strength and power. But what are these really, and how do they operate?

Leadership today is not about forcing others to do things. If this is even possible, it is short-term, and tends to backfire. If you order someone to do something against their will, they may do it because they feel they must, but the anger they feel will do more harm in the long-term.

Meanwhile, they will also experience fear. Fear causes the thinking brain to shut down, making the person unable to function at his or her best. If they associate you with this emotion of fear, they will become less functional around you, and you will have succeeded in making a very good employee or partner unable to perform effectively.

The way we influence people in a lasting way is by our own character, and our understanding and use of emotion. We can order someone to do something, which may be part of the work day; or we can employ them at the emotional level, so they become fully devoted to the projects and provide some of their own motivation. Today’s work place is all about relationships. Anyone works harder in a positive environment where he is recognized and valued. Everyone produces just a bit more for someone they like. Leaders understand the way things work. They know the pay check is not the single most motivating factor in the work life of most people.

The true strength of leadership is an inner strength that comes from the confidence of emotional intelligence — knowing your own emotions, and how to handle them, and those of others. Developing your emotional intelligence is the single best thing you can do if you want to develop your relationships with people around you, which is the key to the leadership skills.

1.When will an employee have a feeling of anger in the work place? (Within 7 words)

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2.If an employee fears his boss, what will his performance be like? (Within 2 words)

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3.How can a leader make his employees work harder? (Within 12 words)

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4.What does the word “those” refer to in the last paragraph? (Within 4 words)

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5.What is the key to developing a leader’s relationships with his employees? (Within 4 words)

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