It’s really true what people say about English politeness: it’s everywhere. When squeezing past someone in a narrow aisle, people say “sorry”. When getting off a bus, English passengers say “thank you” rather than the driver. In Germany, people would never dream of doing these things. After all, squeezing past others sometimes can’t be avoided, and the bus driver is merely doing his job. I used to think the same way, without questioning it, until I started travelling to the British Isles and came to appreciate some more polite ways of communicating with people.

People thank each other everywhere in England, all the time. When people buy something in a shop, customer and retail assistant in most cases thank each other twice or more. In Germany, it would be exceptional to hear more than one thank you in such a conversation. British students thank their lecturers when leaving the room. English employers thank their employees for doing their jobs, as opposed to Germans, who would normally think that paying their workers money is already enough.

Another thing I observed during my stay was that English people rarely criticize others. Even when I was working and mistakes were pointed out to me, my employers stressed several times but none of their explanations were intended as criticism. It has been my impression that by avoiding criticism, English people are making an effort to make others feel comfortable. This also is shown in other ways. British men still open doors for women, and British men are more likely to treat women to a meal than German men. However, I do need to point out here that this applies to English men a bit more than it would to Scottish men! Yes, the latter are a bit tightfisted.

1.What is the author’s attitude towards English politeness?

A. He thinks it is artificial                B. He gives no personal opinion

C. He appreciates it                   D. He thinks it goes too far.

2.What can we learn about customers and retail assistants in Germany?

     A. A customer never says thank you to a retail assistant.

     B. It’s always a retail assistant who says thank you.

     C. They may say thank you only once.

     D. they always say thank you to each other.

3.We can learn from the last paragraph that Scottish men ___________.

     A. are more likely to be involved in a fighting.   

B. are more polite than English men.

     C. treat women in a polite way.         

D. are not so willing to spend money for women.

4.The author develops the text through the method of ____________.

   A. making comparisons            B. telling stories

   C. giving comments               D. giving reasons

 

Several hundred strangers received “love letters” from a young man on the street. The letter was written and given out by Yang Yang, a student majoring in human resources at Chongqing University of Science and Technology,who hoped to show his disappointment with job hunting.

    Yang’s story has caught media attention perhaps because it is similar to those of millions of recent graduates seeking jobs and struggling for survival in the country’s wealthiest cities. They have diplomas, rather than professional skills,and come to big cities in hopes of better lives, only to find low-paying jobs and poor living conditions.

They are China’s “ant tribe(蚁族)”, a term created by sociologist Lian Si from Peking University in his 2009 book, Ant Tribe. “They’re so similar to ants. They share small and narrow living areas. They’re intelligent and hard-working, yet nameless and underpaid.” The term also speaks to their helplessness in a world governed by the law of the jungle -- only the strongest survive.

A survey in Lian’s another book published this year, Ant Tribe II, found nearly 30 percent of “ants” are graduates of famous universities—almost three times last year’s percentage. Most had degrees in popular majors. In addition, 7.2 percent of "ants" have at least a master’s degree compared to 1.6 percent in 2009.

    An “ant’s” average monthly salary is l, 904 yuan, with about 64 percent of them earning less than 2,000 yuan a month.

  Another survey in the 2010 Annual Report on the Development of Chinese Talent found more than 1 million “ants” live in big cities.

   “Most ants are from rural families or small towns, and their experiences in universities didn’t arm them well enough to fight with competitors in big cities’ employment markets.” Professor Zhang Ming at Renmin University of China said.

The “ant tribe’s” embarrassing living situations have become a serious social problem, and the government should develop smaller cities to attract more graduates from big cities, Zhang

believed.

    However, “ants” expect more study and training opportunities in big cities, which keeps them positive despite their situations.

1.Yang’s story is introduced in order to_________.

A. analyze graduates’ difficulties in finding jobs

B. lead to the topic of the article—“ant tribe”

C. tell readers a story about those big cities

D. show a clever way of dealing with pressure

2. The “ants” fail to find high-paying jobs mainly because__________.

A. they have no diplomas from good universities

B. their majors do not meet the needs of society

C. those from rural areas are not treated equally

D. they do not have necessary professional skills

3. “Ant tribe” members are similar to ants in the following aspects EXCEPT that_________.

A. they live in narrow and small places in groups

B. they work hard but earn little for survival

C. they are in a world judged by the jungle law

D. they are pleased with being nameless and underpaid

4.Professor Zhang thought “ants” problems could be solved by__________.

A. creating more jobs for graduates in big cities

B. developing smaller cities to attract graduates

C. sending graduates to rural areas and small towns

D. training graduates to improve their ability

 

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