19.To deal with the problem in recent years, Straub and her workmates have to .

A. ask different kinds of families for help　　 B. limit the number of the exchange students

C. borrow much money to pay for the costs　 D. force some families to accept students

18.In the past, Straub’s job was easy, because American families .

A. needed more money to live　　　　　　　 B. had fewer children to support

C. had spare rooms to rent　　　　　　　　 D. were not as busy as now

17.Foreign teenagers come to American families with the purpose of _____.

A. finding their parents in America　　　　 B. finding good jobs in America

C. learning the culture of America　　　　　 D. enjoying the life of America

16.The worst thing in selective perception is that 　　　　.

A. perceived information runs against your desire　 B. facts can be totally ignored and distorted

C. importance of contradictory information can be overrated

D. the same information may not be dealt with in the same way

E

WASHINGTON?Laura Straub is a very worried woman.　 Her job is to find families for French teenagers who expect to live with American families in the summer.

It’s not easy, even desperate.

“We have many children left to place: 40 out of 75,” said Straub, who works for a Paris based foreign exchange programme called LEC.

When exchange programmes started 50 years ago, more families were willing to help others. For one thing, more mothers stayed home.

But now, increasing numbers of women work outside the home. Exchange student programmes have struggled in recent years to sign up host families for the 30,000 teenagers who come from abroad every year to have some courses for one year in the United States. as well as the thousands more who take part in summer programmes.

School systems in many parts of the US, unhappy about accepting non-taxpaying students, have also strictly limited the number of exchange students they accept. At the same time, the idea of hosting foreign students is becoming less exotic (异国情调的).

In searching for host families, who usually receive no pay, exchange programmes are increasingly broadening their requests to include everyone from young couples to the retired.

“We are open to many different types of families.” said Vickie Weiner, eastern regional director for ASSE, a 25-year-old programme that sends about 30,000 teenagers

on one-year exchange programmes worldwide.

For elderly people, exchange students “keep up young--they really do,” said Jean Foster, who is hosting 16-year-old Nina Porst from Denmark.

15.The underlined word “ignore” in Paragraph 4 means to 　　　　.

A. understand something　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. try to do something

C. pay no attention to something　　　　　　　　　 D. know something better

14.Observation of the same person by two people at the same time may differ because 　　　　.

A. their yardsticks are not the same　　 B. either of them may be slow to catch information

C. the time for observations is not long enough

D. each of them uses different language to express his or her impressions

13.While observing a particular person,　　　　 .

A. one is likely to take all aspects into consideration

B. one pays more attention to his or her advantages

C. children often differ from gown-ups in perception

D. one tends to choose certain cues to look for

12.In the Middle Ages the weight falling speed of a clock was kept by .

A. several bowls　 B. a system of wheels　 C. a system of pendulum　 D. several springs

D

When several different people look at the same person, it is not unusual for each of them to see different things; when you alone observe one behavior or one person at two different times, you may see different things. The following are but some of the factors that lead to these varying perceptions:

Each person’s perceptions of others are formed by his or her own cultural conditioning, education, and personal experience.

Sometimes perceptions differ because of what we choose to observe and how we deal with what we’ve observed. It is not necessarily true that person’s perception is based on observations of a particular person. Your observations may be totally controlled by some. Your observations may be totally controlled by what others have told you about this person; or you may focus primarily on the situation or role relationship. Most people do not use the same yardstick to measure their parents, their friends, and strangers.

Sometimes we see only what we want to see what may be obverse to others because of our own needs, desires, or temporary emotional states. This is a process known as selective perception. Selective perception is obviously more difficult when contradictory information is particularly obvious, but it can be done. We can ignore the stimulus-“He’s basically a good boy, so what I saw was not shoplifting.”　 We can reduce the importance of the contradictory information-“All kids get into mischief(顽皮). Taking a book from the bookstore isn’t such a big deal.” We call change the meaning of the contradictory information-“It wasn’t shoplifting because he was going to pay for it later.”...

11.If you visit Beijing Palace Museum, you 　　　　.

A. will see the old water clocks broken

B. will find the time shown by the old water clocks is wrong

C. can find the old water clocks still telling the time there

D. will find the old water clocks have gone