Tears well up in people's eyes for a lot of reasons. A teardrop running down the cheek is the ultimate symbol of sadness, but people may also cry because they just cut an onion, or maybe they're trying to blink out an eyelash.
For the most part, tears help maintain healthy eyes. When you blink, basal (基底的) tears clean and smooth the eyes, which helps you to see clearly, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Moreover, reflex (反射性的) tears, or those that happen unconsciously, help clear the eyes of irritants (刺激物), including dust and the gas that's produced when a knife slices a raw onion, said Andre Silva, a doctoral student of psychology at the University of Minho in Portugal.
Emotions can also bring about tears in humans. These emotional tears can serve as a means of nonverbal communication. Silva said, “Babies cry to signal to their mothers that something's up. It's a pure attention call. Some people think that babies are capable of controlling adults by crying, but that idea is false and misleading, as a baby is not conscious of being tricky: In a way, we can consider these tears as being somewhere between basal tears and emotional tears.”
As people grow older, they begin to use their tears to express emotions, such as happiness or sadness. These tears may promote compassion and empathy in others. But beware of people who may use their tears to control others. “Some sensitive people may be easily controlled through the crying of others, and may easily shed tears that can also be used by others to control them,” he said.
So, emotional tears have both advantages and disadvantages. “They are a powerful communication device and a powerful manipulative (操纵别人的) device,” Silva said. Crying also makes it hard for some people to mask their feelings when they're in the middle of an extreme emotional state.
1. What's the function of reflex tears?| A．Reflecting our feelings. |
| B．Being used to affect others. |
| C．Serving as a means of interaction. |
| D．Clearing away harmful matters in the eyes. |
| A．Tears are usually used to pity others. |
| B．Babies burst into tears without tricks. |
| C．People mask their feelings when crying. |
| D．Blinking out an eyelash makes it easy to cry. |
| A．We ought to identify tears. |
| B．We should control babies, crying. |
| C．We need to smooth our eyes by emotional tears. |
| D．We can hardly fan others' sympathy by tears. |
| A．Why do people cry? |
| B．Why can tears control others? |
| C．How do people express emotions? |
| D．How can people make use of tears? |
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【推荐1】Facts about novel corona virus: Prevention and control
l Keep distance with people when talking
The novel corona virus can be transmitted via droplets and fly 1 to 2 meters in the air before falling to the ground. Droplets can be transmitted far longer when sneezing and coughing than speaking, so apart from keeping 1 to 2 meters of distance, also remember to wear a mask when you are close to someone else.
l Washing hands can reduce risk of getting infected
Please wash your hands promptly and properly after touching elevator buttons or using cash. Do not touch your nose or mouth or rub your eyes before washing your hands. Do not use smart phones while eating.
l Receiving delivered packages at home not dangerous
Though the virus might be attached to the packaging of delivered items, the possibility of transmission through express delivery is extremely low. Before going out to take your delivery, remember to wear a mask. After removing the packaging, please wash your hands.
l Sun exposure cannot kill the virus
The temperature of sun light cannot reach 56℃, and the ultraviolet rays in sunlight cannot reach the intensity of ultraviolet lamps, so the virus can’t be killed by the sunlight. If you want to go out to get some sun, please wear a mask and take other protective measures.
l Taking a hot bath or using air conditioning cannot kill the virus
Although the virus is vulnerable to heat. It can only be inactivated after exposure to a 56°C temperature for over 30 minutes.
l Woolen fabric doesn’t retain virus longer
It is believed that the virus prefers smooth, non-porous surfaces and stays on woolen fabrics for a shorter time. At home or before going out, it is not necessary to consider which kind of material has less chance to absorb the virus—choosing comfortable clothes is enough.
After returning home, please wash your hands, sterilize the clothes and dry the clothes.
1. What are you suggested to do when taking delivered packages?| A．Wear a mask. |
| B．Take a hot bath. |
| C．Open packages. |
| D．Dry the clothes. |
| A．the virus is vulnerable to heat |
| B．the virus can be transmitted via droplets |
| C．the virus prefers smooth, non-porous surfaces |
| D． the virus cannot be killed by the ultraviolet rays |
| A．a textbook |
| B．an advertisement |
| C．a travel brochure |
| D．a science magazine |
【推荐2】No one likes interruption. We are born to seek balance and order. No matter what it is that you are doing, being interrupted involves a forceful stop midway and then having to re-enter your former state, sometimes with great difficulty. Popular belief has it that interruption breaks the flow of your thinking and affects productivity negatively, and so it is advisable that you have an uninterrupted session of intensive work before your next break.
However, a Russian psychologist, Bluma Zeigarnik, might tell you otherwise. The connection between interruption and memory drew her attention when she was dining in a restaurant. She noticed how the waitresses had an amazing memory of the detailed orders yet to be paid for, but little memory of the orders that were already completed.
Back in her laboratory, she conducted studies in which subjects were required to complete various puzzles. Some of the subjects were interrupted during the tasks. All the subjects were then asked to describe what tasks they had done. It turns out that adults remembered the interrupted tasks 90% better than the completed tasks, and that children were even more likely to recall the uncompleted tasks. To put it another way, uncompleted tasks will stay on your mind until you finish them!
In comparison to tasks that were already finished and ones that we haven’t even started, half-done projects are highlighted in the mental to-do list our brains draw up for us. Zeigarnik described this finding in the late 1920s, which was later called Zeigarnik effect. One possible explanation is that with interrupted tasks, we are longing for them to be completed, in order to regain a sense of balance. Finishing them also means that we can finally clear up the mental backlog and give the space to more upcoming tasks.
Zeigarnik’s effect can be found everywhere, especially used in media and advertising. Have you ever wondered why cliffhangers work so well or why you just can’t get yourself to stop watching that series on Netflix? Ernest Hemingway once said about writing a novel, “It is the wait until the next day that is hard to get through.” So next time, when you are interrupted, appreciate it and take advantage of it to promote your productivity.
1. What is a common practice to finish a task?| A．Working in a focused period. | B．Working with uncommon breaks. |
| C．Working with a stop midway. | D．Working in an interrupted session. |
| A．Interruption recalls details. | B．Interruption betters memory. |
| C．Interruption breaks balance. | D．Interruption reduces efficiency. |
| A．The physical backlog. | B．The desire for balance. |
| C．The outside pressure. | D．The upcoming tasks. |
| A．Fashion shows. | B．Talk shows. | C．Online news. | D．TV series. |
【推荐3】Emotional intelligence is highly important in a teen’s development. There is considerable evidence pointing to its positive role in helping students deal with stress, develop relationships, and handle the transitions (过渡) facing them.
Emotional intelligence helps us manage negative emotions and our behaviors in response to them. So, does it impact on how teens and students perform academically? Some research does, in fact, suggest a relationship between emotional intelligence and academic achievement. In one study of education students at university, self-emotion appraisal (评价) and understanding of emotion were revealed to have positive significant linkages with their academic performance on assessments. Later studies support this finding, with Sanchez-Ruiz and colleagues finding that emotional intelligence predicted academic performance better than established personality and cognitive (认知的) ability for Cyprus university students.
But what about teens specifically? Interestingly, there is also cogent evidence to suggest that teens with EI are better able to make the transition from high school to higher education. Results of a study of 1,426 first-year students found significantly higher interpersonal, stress management, and adaptability skills among students who were academically successful in entering university. The authors’ conclusion was that emotional intelligence has a large impact on students’ ability to deal with challenges such as developing new relationships and learning to live more independently, amongst other factors.
It is worth noting that while the studies above do provide evidence for some benefits of emotional intelligence skills for students, they don’t necessarily indicate an academic consensus (共识). As with most areas in the field, much room for future research remains. So interpersonal and emotional management skills may play a key part in helping students better handle the challenging aspects of academic life.
1. What can be inferred from Paragraph 2?| A．Emotional intelligence is only helpful to negative emotions. |
| B．Our behaviors can’t be treated with our emotional intelligence. |
| C．Research on the function of emotional intelligence isn’t reliable. |
| D．Emotional intelligence is connected with academic performance. |
| A．Insufficient. | B．Specific. | C．Usual. | D．Convincing. |
| A．Emotional intelligence doesn’t adapt to teens yet. |
| B．More research is needed for emotional intelligence. |
| C．Emotional intelligence equals academic performance. |
| D．Interpersonal management counts in school examinations. |
| A．We Should Develop Our Emotional Intelligence |
| B．Emotional Intelligence Means a Lot to Educators |
| C．Emotional Intelligence is Important for Teenagers |
| D．We Need Further Study on Emotional Intelligence |
But since Avatar, 3D cinema has struggled. In 2010, several 3D movies bombed at the box office. And by late 2010, Some people said the technology was dead. Of course, this isn’t the first time Hollywood has struggled with new technology. Although sound was added to movies in the late 1920s, it took audiences time to get used to the new technology. But in the end, sound and color became the standard. James Cameron, director of Avatar, thinks we’re going through the same process with 3D.
Some say cinemas are charging too much for 3D movies. In the US, seeing a 3D movie can cost up to $7.5 more than seeing it in 2D. Also, a recent study at California State University found audiences don’t actually enjoy movies in 3D any more than in 2D. Walter Murch , a famous movie editor, wrote in 2011 that human beings have no ability to process 3D images. Watching a 3D movie confuses our brain and this is why some people get headaches.
But James Cameron disagrees. In fact, he recently predicted that in five years all movies will be in 3D. And there are signs that 3D is fighting back. More 3D movies were put on the market in 2012 than ever before. The Lion King 3D recently made over US $150 million at the box office, and Cameron’s Titanic 3D made even more.
Who knows what the future holds for 3D? Steven Spielberg recently said, ‘Tm hoping 3D gets to a point where people dorft notice it. Because then it just becomes another tool and helps tell a story.”
1. The underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 probably means that in 2010, 3D movies______
| A．were not successful | B．became popular |
| C．developed quickly | D．were of poor quality |
| A．Hollywood tends to absorb what is new |
| B．3D technology takes time to be accepted |
| C．Hollywood struggles with new technology |
| D．high technology helps to make better movies |
| A．bring moviemakers great profits |
| B．are more expensive than 2D movies |
| C．do great harm to people’s health |
| D．are unsuitable for people to watch |
| A．Avatar was the first 3D movie. |
| B．3D cinema has existed for years. |
| C．Titanic 3D has made the most money. |
| D．2012 witnessed the coming of 3D’s time. |
【推荐2】A student had to get his long hair cut off in a middle school in GuangDong Province. It was talked a lot among teachers and students.
In fact, all schools have their own rules. In most schools, boy students are not allowed to have long hair while girls are not allowed to dye their hair. And most school rules say that students should wear their school uniforms at school. And students must obey these rules so that they can get healthy development at school.
But some students have disagreements. They think that boy students having long hair doesn’t mean that they are not good students. They want to show their own personality. They think that they would look cool too if they had long hair and the hairstyles like their favorite stars.
A girl student thought that she would look much more beautiful if she had brown hair. So she had her dark hair dyed brown one day. When she went back to school the next day, the teacher was very angry with her. She said that she worked hard at her lessons and did well in every subject. She just didn’t know why the teacher didn't allow her to dye her hair while women teachers can.
It is not wrong for teenagers to love stars’ hairstyles or wear their favorite clothes. However, a school has its own rules for all the students to obey so that the school can be in good order. Students should not break the rules at school.
1. What aren’t boy students allowed to do in most middle schools according to this passage?| A．To have long hair. | B．To wear uniforms. |
| C．To like famous stars. | D．To show their own personalities. |
| A．Because she wanted to be cool. |
| B．Because she thought that she would look much more beautiful. |
| C．Because she wanted to make her teacher angry. |
| D．Because women teachers dyed their hair. |
| A．The students should be against them. |
| B．They are bad for students. |
| C．They can make schools in good order. |
| D．They can’t make students grow healthily. |
| A．Hair styles and clothes. | B．Schoolboys and schoolgirls. |
| C．Students and famous stars. | D．School rules. |
【推荐3】Teachers are one of the professions least at risk of being automated. A job that requires emotional intelligence and flexibility — in adapting lesson plans on the fly to a particular group of children, for example — is not one particularly well-suited to robots.
Artificial intelligence (AI), however, still deserves a role in the classroom. This is not as a replacement for teachers, but as a tool or an assistant that can aid them both in trying to close the gap in achievement between the rich and the poor and in making up for lost teaching time, for instance.
The principle of machine learning is to enhance humans’ existing capacities. The best AI apps promise to improve teachers’ knowledge of what their students need, how best they deliver the teaching, and which students require the most help — from a human teacher — to keep up with their learning. Besides, poor and unequal schooling, leaving too many children behind, is one of the deepest roots of inequality and low productivity. If AI can help target existing teaching resources better, the benefits could be incalculable.
Therefore, smart policy is urgent. There must be a focus on the teaching philosophy behind the programs, as well as ensuring that any decisions made by machine learning are under human control. In education, choices made by AI could set a direction for the rest of a child’s life.
These may be common concerns about AI, but education is particularly sensitive — especially the ownership and control of any data generated through the platforms. Schools, too, will need to prevent teachers, who already have plenty of responsibilities, from also having to keep up to date with thousands of apps. AI belongs in the classroom only so long as it enhances the humankind.
1. What role should AI play in the classroom?| A．An assistant to help teachers. | B．An aid to punish students. |
| C．A machine to replace teachers. | D．A tool to protect students. |
| A．It tells which teacher needs the most help. |
| B．It instructs teachers how to deliver speeches. |
| C．It provides ways for teachers to make money. |
| D．It helps balance the existing teaching resources. |
| A．Improving the humankind. |
| B．Setting a direction for education. |
| C．Preventing teachers from using apps. |
| D．Producing data through online platforms. |
| A．The Popularity of E-Teaching Apps |
| B．The Application and Flexibility of AI |
| C．Rules for Bringing AI into the Classroom |
| D．Approaches to Enhancing Teaching Online |
【推荐1】The traditional working day doesn't benefit night owls(夜猫子),with people who prefer to stay up late twice as likely to underperform at work as early birds ;a new study from Finland has6uggested.
Early risers tend to work better early in the morning, while evening types are the opposite. The researchers asked 5,881 individuals born in 1966 in northern Finland about their working life and health and questioned them about their sleep patterns in 2012 when they were 46 years old. The study participants were monitored over a period of four years.
Ten percent of the men and 12% of the women were "evening types", 72% of whom worked in day jobs,the researchers found. A quarter of people classified as evening types rated their own performance at work as poor. This was a significantly higher proportion(比例) than among early birds.
"If evening types have to work in the early morning, they won't rate their work ability as high as morning types. The opposite would be true as well. If normal business hours were 3 p.m. to 11 p.m., the early morning types would feel worse than evening types," said Kristen Knutson, an associate professor at Northwestern University.
Suzanne Hood, an associate professor at Bishop's University in Qucbec, Canada, said that night owls shouldn't be alarmed by the findings.
"Rating job performance doesn't necessarily tell you about the quality of the work in real terms," noted Hood. "Also, the study was observational—it doesn't mean that being a night owl makes you less able to work."
"For example, the employee who seems like a slow starter in the morning might be the person who's most able to work effectively into the evening to meet an important deadline," said Hood. "If there is some opportunity for flexibility in scheduling, allowing employees some control over what time of day they complete their work may help to optimize(优化) performance and productivity."
1. What do we learn about the study from Finland?| A．It lasted from 1966 to 2012. |
| B．It was conducted mainly in the lab. |
| C．72% of participants were early birds. |
| D．A minority of participants were night owls. |
| A．Objective. | B．Worried. |
| C．Supportive. | D．Unconcerned. |
| A．Starting early in the morning. |
| B．Choosing different work schedules. |
| C．Following normal business hours. |
| D．Finishing one's work later than usual. |
| A．Night Owls Tend To Perform Badly At Work |
| B．Early Birds Are More Likely To Gain Advantages |
| C．Are You A Night Owl? Blame It On Your Genes |
| D．Which Do You Prefer, Morning Type Or Evening Type? |
【推荐2】On New York City's Upper West Side，there is an office，inside which you'll find a laptop with 100-year-old grandmother Eileen Wilkinson.She may live across the country in Washington State，but thanks to her grandson，Mike Matthews—who is a social media professor at New York University—she's now sharing words of wisdom(智慧) for free.
“You can be anything you want，”Wilkinson said.“Don't complain about anything.You do something about it.”
Over the past three months，hundreds of people have stopped by，chatting with Wilkinson like they were old friends.“She gets great pleasure from meeting New Yorkers and they're so open about their lives.”Matthews said.
A music student asked for advice on a performance.Others were curious about the life in 1917.
One boy said he was already planning his next visit.“She's so wise.”he said.“And she really does not look 100.She looks like she's in her middle 80s.”
Wilkinson spent most of her life as a housewife and mother.She says truly listening gives her advice-giving ability a personal touch.And she's honest.
Wilkinson hosts live Facebook chats and has an Instagram account.“It works both ways because I get great joy out of talking to them，”she said.Wilkinson's not slowing down soon，bringing new meaning to the saying，“The road to Grandma's house is never long.”She says her secret to long life is living a good，clean life.
1. What do some New Yorkers come to Eileen Wilkinson's office to do?| A．Chat with her. |
| B．Surf the Internet. |
| C．Meet their old friend. |
| D．Ask advice on social media. |
| A．Her life experience. |
| B．Her honesty. |
| C．Her truly listening. |
| D．Her hard work. |
| A．Set up a chat room. |
| B．Spread her secret to long life. |
| C．Continue to share her wisdom. |
| D．Make her life simple and meaningful. |
| A．A special housewife. |
| B．A wise grandmother. |
| C．A popular adviser. |
| D．A good listener. |
The island is mountainous and covered in trees. The water around the island is transparent like glass. When I first visited it, there was mist rising from the trees. The little harbor looked mysterious and remote: tall palm trees, a few shops and restaurants, no cars, motorcycles or bikes.
It is not by chance that the island has kept its natural beauty. Once, it was privately owned and the owners always wanted to keep it in its natural state. In 1963, Port Cros became a national park. The park directors made some rules to protect the island. They didn’t allow any new building projects. There is only one hotel and no camping is allowed. Visitors can’t use mountain bikes or smoke on the island. Sailing boats that visit the island mustn’t damage the bottom of the sea or pollute the water around it.
When we arrived, we started walking to the beach of Port-Man, which was the furthest beach from the port. It took us two hours and when we arrived, the beach was deserted. It seemed that we were the only people on the island. Time seemed to stop. It was so beautiful that we stayed there all day. I visited there again last summer. Nothing had changed. The island still looked magical and mysterious, still with few tourists. It must be wonderful to stay the night on the island, I thought. After all the visitors have gone, the island must be so quiet—a real paradise (天堂)!
1. The author got to know Port Cros at first due to _____.
| A．some tourist brochures |
| B．his wife’s introduction |
| C．his first visit there |
| D．some TV programs |
| A．Foreign visitors are not allowed to visit it. |
| B．Nothing has been built in the park there. |
| C．Only bikes can be used on the island. |
| D．Sailing boats mustn’t pollute the water. |
| A．it was very sunny |
| B．there were few visitors there |
| C．it took them a whole day to walk to Port-Man |
| D．the island was deserted and he stayed there for a whole night |
【推荐1】The Jewish(犹太人）family-had-just finished supper and the woman had placed the dishes in the sink.The kitchen was quite damp and even gloomier than in the main room.It was their third apartment since the start of the war,they had abandoned the other two in a hurry.The woman came back into the room and sat down again at the table.The 3-year-old boy sat with his back straight,his eyes fixed on his father,but it was obvious that he was so sleepy that he could barely sit up.
The man was smoking a cigarette.His eyes were blood-shot and he kept blinking in a funny way.This blinking had begun soon after they fled the second apartment.
It was late,past ten o'clock and they could have gone to sleep,but first they had to play the game that they had been playing every day for two weeks.Even though the man tried his best and he moved very quickly,the fault was his and not the child's.The boy was.marvelous.Seeing his father put out his cigarette,he opened his blue eyes even wider.The woman,who didn't actually take part in the game, stroked the boy's hair.
“We'll play the key game just one more time only today.Isn't that right?"she asked her husband.
He didn't answer because he was not sure.They were still two or three minutes off. He arose and walked towards the bathroom door.Then the woman called out softly,“Ding-dong."At the sound of the bell ringing so musically from his mother's lips,the boy jumped up from his chair and ran to the front door,which was separated from the main room by a narrow corridor.
“Who's there?"he asked.
The woman,remaining in her chair,shut her eyes tight as if feeling a sudden, sharp pain.
“I'll open up in a minute,I'm just looking for the keys,"the child called out. Then he ran back to the main room,making a lot of noise with his feet.He ran in circles around the table,pulled out one of the sideboard drawers,and slammed it shut.
“Just a minute,I can't find them,I don't know where Mama put them,"he yelled,then dragged the chair across the room,climbed onto it,and reached up to the top of the shelf.
“I found them!”he shouted triumphantly.Then he got down from the chair, pushed it back to the table,and calmly walked to the door and opened it.
“Shut the door,darling,"the woman said softly."You were perfect.”
The child didn't hear what she said.He stood in the middle of the room,staring at the closed bathroom door.
“Shut the door, the woman repeated in a tired flat voice.Every evening she repeated the same words,and every evening he stared at the closed bathroom door.
At last it opened.The man was pale and his clothes were streaked with lime and dust.He stood there,eyes blinking in that funny way.
“Well?How did it go?"asked the woman.
“I still need more time.He has to look for them longer.I slip in sideways all right,but then...It's so tight in there that when I turn...And he's got to make more noise-he should stamp his feet louder."
The child didn't take his eyes off him.
“Say something to him,"the woman whispered.
＂You did a good job,little one,"he said mechanically.
“That's right,”the woman said,“you're really doing a wonderful job,darling. You act just like a grown-up.And you do know that if someone should really ring the doorbell when Mama is at work,everything will depend on you?And what will you say when they ask you about your parents?”
“Mama's at work.”
“And Papa?"He was silent.
“And Papa?"the man screamed in terror.The child turned pale.
“And Papa?”the man repeated more calmly.
“He's dead,”＂the child answered and threw himself at his father,who was standing right beside him,but already long dead to the people who would really ring the bell.
1. What does the underlined sentence in Para.5 mean?| A．The family needed to practise the game for another 2 or 3 minutes. |
| B．There was still 2 or 3 minutes left before someone knocked at the door. |
| C．They would become too sleepy to play the game 2 or 3 minutes later. |
| D．The father needed 2 or 3 more minutes before the kid opened the door. |
| A．Because he needed to drown out the noise caused by his father. |
| B．Because he was too little and just couldn't control his footsteps. |
| C．Because he was too anxious to find the key to open the door with. |
| D．Because he met many barriers on his way to where the key was. |
| A．She was angry because her son didn't close the door as he had been told to. |
| B．She felt anxious because she knew her husband would be annoyed at the boy again. |
| C．She was disappointed because the boy's movement betrayed again where her husband was. |
| D．She was impatient because she was asked to repeat these words again and again every evening. |
| A．A Scary Night | B．The Key Game |
| C．My Father Is Dead | D．An Innocent Boy |
GALAXIES (星系) OF THE UNIVERSE |
The Milky Way is only one galaxy among a few hundred million galaxies in our universe (each with hundreds of billions of stars). Galaxies are huge groupings of stars, planets, gas and dust. Our sun is in the Milky Way, which measures about 100,000 light years across. That long thin milky bright shape across the middle of the night sky consists of about hundreds of billions of stars in our galaxy. Our galaxy is a spiral (螺旋式的) one, but there are other types. |
 SPIRAL GALAXIES: There are galaxies that have spiral arms that appear from the center. Our solar system is located on one of the arms of the Milky Way. Our galaxy has a huge black hole at its center that billions of stars circled around. |
 ELLIPICAL GALAXIES: There are galaxies shaped like a huge egg. The stars in these galaxies tend to be very ancient. Furthermore, the old stars in elliptical galaxies tend to be yellow and reddish, which based on our understanding of the star evolution, means they are smaller, darker stars. |
 IRREGULAR GALAXIES: There are many other shapes of galaxies that aren’t spiral or elliptical. They all fit into the irregular category. They are smaller than spiral galaxies. Like the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, they have rather unusual-looking shapes. |
1. What can we learn about the Milky Way?
| A．There are only stars inside it. | B．It’s the biggest spiral galaxy in the universe. |
| C．There is a black hole at its center. | D．It takes 100,000 years to get there from Earth. |
| A．Distance from the sun. | B．Size. | C．The number of stars. | D．Shape. |
| A．The Whale Galaxy — shaped like a whale and similar to the Milky Way in size. |
| B．The Cigar Galaxy — a long and narrow galaxy that looks like an ashy cloud. |
| C．Cynus A (3C 405) — the brightest egg shape we can observe. |
| D．The Sunflower Galaxy — a galaxy with multiple arms spreading from its bright heart. |
【推荐3】Chopsticks，or Kuaizi in Chinese，are used to eat Asian food. The earliest evidence of a pair of chopsticks made of bronze was found in the Ruins of Yin near Anyang，Henan Province，dating back to about 1，200 B. C..
Chopsticks are round on the eating end which stands for heaven，and the other end is square which stands for earth. This is because keeping enough food supply is the greatest concern between heaven and earth in Chinese culture.
There is no single standard for the use of chopsticks，hut better keep some rules in mind while eating with them. Playing with chopsticks is considered impolite and rude，just like playing with a fork in a western environment. Besides，chopsticks are not used to move bowls or plates or to play with one's food. Chopsticks are not supposed to stab(戳)，either. Exceptions include tearing larger items apart such as vegetables. Also，chopsticks should not be left standing up in a howl of food. Any stick-like object pointing upward looks like the incense sticks that some Asians use as offerings to family members who have died. In addition，never tap chopsticks on the edge of one's bowl. as beggars are believed to make this noise to attract attention. Moreover，chopsticks should not be chewed on，or stay in one's mouth for too long.
Today，chopsticks serve many other functions. For example，you can buy a pair of chopsticks as a gift for a newly-married couple as their wedding gift. In Chinese，“chopsticks”reads“kuaizi”,which means having sons soon. Skillful craftsmen paint beautiful scenery on chopsticks to make them look like fine artwork. Additionally，it has been said that using chopsticks improves one's memory，increases finger flexibility(灵活性) and can be useful in learning and improving skills such as Chinese character writing and brush painting.
1. We may probably find this passage in .| A．a poster | B．a magazine | C．a travel guide | D．an advertisement |
| A．Traditional rules for using chopsticks. |
| B．Different standards to use chopsticks. |
| C．Some exceptions to use chopsticks. |
| D．Cultural backgrounds for using chopsticks. |
| A．chopsticks can help keep enough food supply. |
| B．stabbing food with chopsticks is never allowed in China. |
| C．standing chopsticks up in a bowl of food is traditionally accepted. |
| D．Chinese brush painting learners may benefit from using chopsticks. |
