A woman from Japan was telling a friend about her trip to the United States.The woman had visited major businesses and investment companies in New York City and Chicago.

“I studied English before I left home，”she said.“But I still was not sure that people were speaking English.”

Her problem is easy to understand.Americans in business are like people who are in business anywhere.They have a language of their own.Some of the words and expressions deal with the special areas of their work.Other expressions are borrowed from different kinds of work such as the theater and movie industry.

One such saying is “get your act together”．

When things go wrong in a business，an employer may get angry.He may shout，“Stop making mistakes.Get your act together.”

Or，if the employer is calmer，he may say，“Let us get our act together.”

Either way，the meaning is the same.Getting your act together is getting organized.In business，it usually means to develop a calm and orderly plan of action.

It is difficult to tell exactly where the saying began.But，it is probable that it was in the theater or movie industry.Perhaps one of the actors was nervous and made a lot of mistakes.The director may have said，“Calm down，now.Get your act together.”

Word expert James Rogers says the expression was common by the late 1970s.Mister Rogers says the Manchester Guardian newspaper used it in 1978.The newspaper said a reform policy required that the British government get its act together.

Now，this expression is heard often when officials of a company meet.One company even called its yearly report，“Getting Our Act Together.”

The Japanese visitor was confused by another expression used by American business people.It is cut to the chase.

She heard that expression when she attended an important meeting of one company.One official was giving a very long report.It was not very interesting.In fact，some people at the meeting were falling asleep.

Finally，the president of the company said，“Cut to the chase.”

Cut to the chase means to stop spending so much time on details or unimportant material.Hurry and get to the good part.

Naturally，this saying was started by people who make movies.Hollywood movie producers believe that most Americans want to see action movies.Many of their movies show scenes in which the actors chase each other in cars，or in airplanes or on foot.

Cut is the director’s word for stop.The director means to stop filming，leave out some material，and get to the chase scene now.

So，if your employer tells you to cut to the chase，be sure to get to the main point of your story quickly.

1.After the woman visited the United States she might feel that ________.

A．her English was poor

B．it’s easy to master English

C．it’s difficult to make money

D．people there weren’t very friendly

2.In which situation could the words “get your act together” be used?

A．A task is completed successfully.

B．Players perform badly in a match.

C．Audience is satisfied with the actor’s performance in a movie.

D．Visitors make a tiresome and unpleasant trip to someplace.

3.According to the text，the expression “get one’s act together” ________.

A．was first used by a Japanese businesswoman

B．was forbidden to be used in the government policy

C．originally came from a yearly report of a company

D．was commonly read by readers in a newspaper in 1978

4.What do the sayings “get your act together” and “cut to the chase” have in common?

A．Their use.? B．Their meaning.

C．Their origin.? D．Their popularity.

D

Children start out as natural scientists, eager to look into the world around them. Helping them enjoy science can be easy; there’s no need for a lot of scientific terms or expensive lab equipment. You only have to share your children’s curiosity. Firstly, listen to their questions. I once visited a classroom of seven-year-olds to talk about science as a job. The children asked me “textbook questions” about schooling, salary and whether I liked my job. When I finished answering, we sat facing one another in silence. Finally I said, “Now that we’ve finished with your lists, do you have questions of your own about science?”

       After a long pause, a boy raised his hand, “Have you ever seen what a grassshopper（蚱蜢）eats? When I try eating leaves like that, I get a stomachache. Why?”

       This began a set of questions that lasted nearly two hours.

       Secondly, give them time to think. Studies over the past 30 years have shown that, after asking a question, adults typically wait only one second or less for an answer, no time for a child to think. When adults increase their “wait time” to three seconds or more, children give more logical, complete and creative answers.

       Thirdly, watch your language. Once you have a child involved in a science discussion, don’t jump in with “That’s right” or “Very good.” These words work well when it comes to encouraging good behavior. But in talking about science, quick going by saying “That’s interesting” or “I’d never thought of it that way before,” or coming up with more questions or ideas.

       Never push a child to “think”. It doesn’t make sense, children are always thinking, without your telling him what to do. What’s more, this can turn a conversation into a performance. The child will try to find the answer you want, in as few words as possible, so that he will be a smaller target for your disagreement.

       Lastly, show, don’t tell. Real-life impressions of nature are far more impressive than any lessons children can learn from a book or a television program. Let children look at their fingertips through a magnifying glass（放大镜）, and they’ll understand why you want them to wash before dinner. Rather than saying that water evaporates（蒸发）, set a pot of water to boil and let them watch the water level drop.

68.According to the passage, children are natural scientists, and to raise their interest, the most important thing for adults to do is ___________.

A.to let them see the world around

B.to share the children’s curiosity

C.to explain difficult phrases about science

D.to supply the children with lab equipment

69.Children can answer questions in a more logical, complete and creative way if adults _______.

A.ask them to answer quickly

B.wait for one or two seconds after a question

C.tell them to answer the next day

D.wait at least three seconds after a question

70.The author mentioned all of the following techniques for adults to share with their children’s curiosity EXCEPT that adults should _______________.

A.tell their children stories instead of reciting facts

B.offer their children chances to see things for themselves

C.be patient enough when their children answer questions

D.encourage their children to ask questions of their own

D

Like fine food, good writing is something we approach with pleasure and enjoy from the first taste to the last. And good writers, like good cooks, do not suddenly appear full-blown（成熟的）. Quite the opposite ,just as the cook as to undergo a particular training, mastering the skills of his trade, the writer must sit at his desk and devote long hours to achieving a style in his writing, whatever its purpose is — schoolwork, matters of business, or purely social communication. You may be sure that the more painstaking the effort, the more effective the writing, and the more rewarding.

There are still some faraway places in the world where you might find a public scribe（抄写员）to do your business or social writing for you, for money. There are a few managers who are lucky enough to have the service of that rare kind of secretary who can take care of all sorts of letters writing with no more than a quick note to work from. But for most of us, if there is any writing to be done, we have to do it ourselves.

We have to write school papers, business papers or home papers. We are constantly called on to put words to papers. It would be difficult to count the number of such words, messages, letters, and reports put into mails or delivered by hand, but the daily figures must be extremely large. What is more, everyone who writes expects, or at least hopes whatever he writes will be read from first word to last, not just thrown into some “letters-to-be-read” files or into the wastepaper basket. This is the reason we make efforts toward learning and practicing the skills of interesting, effective writing.

48. In this passage, good writing is compared to fine food because both______.

A. are enjoyable     B. are easy to learn       

C. are unnecessary to life      D. take a short time to prepare

49. According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. Writing skills are less important than experience.

B. A good writer should have his own way of writing.

C. A good writer should learn to write the same kind of article.

D. The more efforts one makes, the more money one can earn.

50. The authour thinks that the most important reason for us to practice writing skill is ______.

A. to learn about our life                            B. to attract others to read

C. to do daily reports easily                 D. to become good secretaries

51. The purpose of the author in writing his passage is to ______.

A. comment and blame                       B. introduce and describe

C. explain and persuade                      D. interest and inform