Most people buy a lot of gifts just before Christmas.But some people think we buy too much.They have started a special day called Buy Nothing Day.They don’t want anyone to go shopping on that day.
Buy Nothing Day is November 29.It’s 25 days before Christmas.It’s after Thanksgiving and often the first day of Christmas shopping.At this time, we see ads in Newspapers and on TV telling us to“buy, buy, buy!”
The idea for Buy Nothing Day started in Vancouver, British Columbia.Now people all over the world celebrate Buy Nothing Day.In California, parents and children get together to read stories, sing songs, and paint pictures.The children talk about why they don’t need a lot of toys.This year, in Manchester, England, people dressed up in costumes to tell people that we buy too much.
In Albuquerque, New Mexico, high school students wanted to tell other students about Buy Nothing Day.They organized a spaghetti dinner to give people information about Buy Nothing Day.They asked restaurants in the neighbourhood to donate the food.They made posters and talked to other students about it.The dinner was a big success, and many students agreed not to buy anything on November 29.The students at high school liked the idea of this new tradition.Next year, they want to have another dinner to tell more people about Buy Nothing Day!
(1)
Which of the following is NOT the day for people to celebrate Buy Nothing Day?
[ ]
A.
November 29.
B.
25 days before Christmas
C.
After Thanksgiving
D.
The first day after Christmas
(2)
When do people usually have a Christmas rush?
[ ]
A.
Before Thanksgiving.
B.
On Christmas.
C.
Before Christmas.
D.
Anytime.
(3)
How do people celebrate Buy Nothing Day?
[ ]
A.
In California, parents and children get together to play games.
B.
In England, people celebrated by performing plays.
C.
In Mexico, high school students dressed up.
D.
They bought nothing and persuaded others not to.
(4)
What did the students do in New Mexico for the day?
Odland remembers like it was yesterday working in an expensive French restaurant in Denver.The ice cream he was serving fell onto the white dress of a rich and important woman.
Thirty years have passed, but Odland can't get the memory out of his mind, nor the woman's kind reaction.She was shocked, regained calmness and, in a kind voice, told the young Odland,“It's OK.It wasn't your fault.”When she left the restaurant, she also left the future Fortune 500 CEO with a life lesson:You can tell a lot about a person by the way he or she treats the waiter.
Odland isn't the only CEO to have made this discovery.Rather, it seems to be one of those few laws of the land that every CEO learns on the way up.It's hard to get a dozen CEO's to agree about anything, but most agree with the Waiter Rule.They say how others treat the CEO says nothing.But how others treat the waiter is like a window into the soul.
Watch out for anyone who pulls out the power card to say something like,“I could but this place and fire you,”or“I know the owner and I could have you fired.”Those who say such things have shown more about their character than about their wealth and power.
The CEO who came up with it, or at least first wrote it down, is Raytheon CEO Bill Swanson.He wrote a best-selling book called Swanson's Unwritten Rules of Management.
“A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter, or to others, is not a nice person,”Swanson says.“I will never offer a job to the person who is sweet to the boss but turns rude to someone cleaning the tables.”
(1)
What happened after Odland dropped the ice cream onto the woman's dress?
[ ]
A.
He was fired.
B.
He was blamed.
C.
The woman comforted him.
D.
The woman left the restaurant at once.
(2)
Odland learned one of his life lessons from ________.
[ ]
A.
his experience as a waiter
B.
the advice given by the CEOs
C.
an article in Fortune
D.
an interesting best-selling book
(3)
According to the text, most CEOs have the same opinion about ________.
Our boat floated on, between walls of forest too thick to allow us a view of the land we were passing through, though we knew from the map that our river must from time to time be passing through chains of hills which crossed the jungle plains.Nowhere did we find a place where we could have landed:where the jungle did not actually spread right down into the river, banks of soft mud prevented us going ashore.In any case, what would we have sailed by landing?The country was full of snakes and other dangerous creatures, and the jungle was so thick that one would be able to advance only slowly, cutting one’s way with knives the whole way.So we stayed in the boat, hoping we reached the sea, a friendly fisherman would pick us up and take us to civilization.
We lived on fish, caught with home-made net of string(we had no hooks), and fruits and nuts we could pick up out of the water.As we had no fire, we had to eat everything, including the fish, raw I had never tasted raw fish before, and I must say I did not much enjoy the experience; perhaps sea fish which do not live in the mud are less tasteless.After eating my raw fish, I lay back and dreamed of such things as fried chicken and rice, and ice-cream.In the never-ending damp heat of the jungle, ice-cream was a particularly frequent dream.
As for water, there was a choice:we could drink the muddy river water, or die of thirst.We drank the water.Men who had just escaped what had appeared to be certain death lose all worries about such small things as diseases caused by dirty water.In fact, none of us suffered from any illness as a result.
One day we passed another village, but fortunately nobody saw us.We did not wish to risk being taken prisoners a second time:we might not be so lucky to escape in a stolen boat again.
(1)
What they could see in the boat was only ________.
[ ]
A.
high wall
B.
villagers from time to time
C.
vast land
D.
heavy woods
(2)
They couldn’t land because ________.
[ ]
A.
the mud on the shore was too soft
B.
the forest was too thick to let them go through
C.
they could not find the mark on the map
D.
they could not find anyone to lead them out of the forest
(3)
The passage infers that the forest was ________.
[ ]
A.
rich of fruits and animals to be served as food
B.
not very thick as they could advance slowly by cutting the branches
C.
full of various dangerous beings
D.
full of ancient trees
(4)
The most proper title for this passage might be ________.
[ ]
A.
Escape
B.
Scenes of a River
C.
How to Survive on a boat
D.
A New Experience
阅读理解:
Our boat floated on, between walls of forest too thick to allow us a view of the land we were passing through, though we knew from the map that our river must from time to time be passing through chains of hills which crossed the jungle plains.Nowhere did we find a place where we could have landed:where the jungle did not actually spread right down into the river, banks of soft mud prevented us going ashore.In any case, what would we have sailed by landing?The country was full of snakes and other dangerous creatures, and the jungle was so thick that one would be able to advance only slowly, cutting one’s way with knives the whole way.So we stayed in the boat, hoping we reached the sea, a friendly fisherman would pick us up and take us to civilization.
We lived on fish, caught with home-made net of string(we had no hooks), and fruits and nuts we could pick up out of the water.As we had no fire, we had to eat everything, including the fish, raw I had never tasted raw fish before, and I must say I did not much enjoy the experience; perhaps sea fish which do not live in the mud are less tasteless.After eating my raw fish, I lay back and dreamed of such things as fried chicken and rice, and ice-cream.In the never-ending damp heat of the jungle, ice-cream was a particularly frequent dream.
As for water, there was a choice:we could drink the muddy river water, or die of thirst.We drank the water.Men who had just escaped what had appeared to be certain death lose all worries about such small things as diseases caused by dirty water.In fact, none of us suffered from any illness as a result.
One day we passed another village, but fortunately nobody saw us.We did not wish to risk being taken prisoners a second time:we might not be so lucky to escape in a stolen boat again.
(1)
What they could see in the boat was only ________.
[ ]
A.
high wall
B.
villagers from time to time
C.
vast land
D.
heavy woods
(2)
They couldn’t land because ________.
[ ]
A.
the mud on the shore was too soft
B.
the forest was too thick to let them go through
C.
they could not find the mark on the map
D.
they could not find anyone to lead them out of the forest.
(3)
The passage infers that the forest was ________.
[ ]
A.
rich of fruits and animals to be served as food
B.
not very thick as they could advance slowly by cutting the branches
C.
full of various dangerous beings
D.
full of ancient trees
(4)
The most proper title for this passage might be ________.