3 . Contact between adolescents (between the ages of 15 and 19) and their peers (同龄人) is a universal characteristic of all cultures. However, the nature and the degree of such contact ________ a great deal. In American contemporary society, adolescents spend much more time with their peers than with ________ or adults.

This pattern of age segregation (隔离) in American society did not become usual until the beginning of the industrialized society. Changes in the ________separated children from adults, with adults working and children attending school. The dramatic increase of mothers in the workplace has ________ contributed to (促成) the reduction in the amount of time adolescents spend with adults. School reform efforts during the nineteenth century, which ________ age-segregated schools and grades, have reduced the amount of time adolescents spend with younger children. Finally, the changes in population are considered a(n)________that may have contributed to the emergence of adolescent peer culture. From 1955 to 1975, the adolescent ________ increased dramatically, from 11 percent to 20.9 percent. This increase in the number of adolescents might be a contributing factor to the ________ in adolescent peer culture in terms of growth in size as well as in terms of its impact on society’s other cultures.

Research ________ the view that adolescent s spend a great deal of time with their peers. Reed Larson and his colleagues examined adolescents’ daily ________ and found that they spend more time talking to their friends than engaging in any other activity. In a typical week, ________, high school students will spend twice as much time with their peers as with adults. This gradual withdrawal (退出) from adults begins in ________ adolescence. In sixth grade, adults (excluding parents) account for only 25 percent of adolescent social ________ . Another important characteristic of adolescent peer________ is its increasingly autonomous (自治的) function. While childhood peer groups are conducted under the close supervision (监管) of parents, adolescent peer groups typically make an effort to ________ adult supervision and usually succeed in doing so.

4 . Travel Manners

Every culture has its own unwritten list of behavior that is acceptable. Every society also has its taboos, or types of behavior that are considered a violation (违反) of good manners.

The word taboo comes from the Tongan language and is used in modern English to describe verbal and nonverbal behavior that is forbidden or to be avoided.    1    They tend to be specific to a culture or country, and usually form around a group’s values and beliefs. What is considered acceptable behavior in one country may be a serious taboo in another.

Verbal taboos usually involve topics that people believe are too private to talk about publicly, or relate to one’s manner of speaking. In many cultures, for example, it is considered bad manners to discuss subjects such as sex or religion in public. In some countries, the volume of one’s voice may annoy people.    2    

    3    . For example, one of the biggest differences among many Western, Asian, and African cultures is the use of eye contact. In the US, people make eye contact when they talk to others. If a person avoids eye contact, others might think they are being dishonest or unconfident. In many Asian and African cultures, however, children are taught to lower their eyes when talking to their elders, or those of higher rank, as a way to show respect.

Certain gestures made with the hands can have very different meanings depending on the country you are in. Crossing your middle finger over your forefinger is the sign for good luck in many western countries.    4    . Also, in some Asian countries, moving your hands a lot while talking, or ‘talking with your hands’, is considered unsuitable.

Behavior that is acceptable and non-offensive in one culture can be highly offensive in another. When visiting a foreign country, be aware of some of the basic differences, as this will help to ensure a more enjoyable trip.

6 . Not so long ago one could set one’s watch by the arrival of the post. I live in a quiet street in north-west London, so that used to mean two deliveries a day at fixed time. Now of course there is one, arriving at an unpredictable hour, and containing nothing one would ever miss a heartbeat for. The only certainty today is that there will be no personal letters.

What destructively efficient times we live in! Now of course it’s all emails and texts and tweets. But for Christmas there appears to be hope. Having failed to write letters during the rest of the year, we are now catching up, sending greetings to those we barely contact from January to November. Is it guilt that leads to this outpouring? Perhaps a little. But I think we also recognize the greater integrity involved when we touch pen to paper and bother to lick a stamp. In our busy lives we manage to send a message that says “I still have time for you.”

Seasonal greetings may be one of the last great traditions to fall. Earlier this month I was honoured to be part of an extraordinary event in which the true worth of letters was given with the full celebrity support. At a small church in the Notting Hill area of London, some actors read letters by the famous and the not-so famous. Among them, there was the Christmas letter of a British postal worker named Chris Barker and his wife-to-be Bessie Moore. It was 1944, so Barker was fighting in Greece and Moore was escaping bombs in London. Christmas appeared to be both an irrelevance and a vital tie for both of them, and while they regretted not being together they celebrated the ability of the letter to connect them.

Unlike today, it was all they had. Today, the temptations of Skype and e-card threaten to prevent our trip to the posting box. But Christmas cards continue to connect us. They offer a reminder that we have not died in the course of the year, and that we still value the personal touch. They will not be enough to rescue the world’s digitally challenged postal systems, but they may just be enough to make up for our digitally challenged souls.

The need to feed a growing population is putting much pressure on the world’s supply of water. With 97% of the world’s water too salty to be drunk or used in agriculture, the worldwide supply of water needs careful management, especially in agriculture.     1     the idea of a water shortage seems strange to someone fortunate enough to live in a high rainfall country, many of the world’s agricultural industries       2     (experience) constant water shortages.

Although dams can be built to store water for agricultural use in dry areas and dry seasons, the costs of water redistribution are very high. Not only is there the cost of the engineering itself, but there is also an environmental cost to be considered. One typical example is       3     where valleys are flooded to create dams, houses are lost and wildlife homes destroyed. Besides, water may flow easily through pipes to fields, but it cannot be transported from one side of the world to     4    . Each country       5     therefore rely on the management of its own water to supply its farming requirements.

This is particularly       6     (trouble) for countries with agricultural industries in areas dependent on irrigation. In Texas, farmers’ overuse of irrigation water     7    (result) in a 25% reduction of the water stores. In the Central Valley area of southwestern USA, a huge water engineering project provides water    8     farming in dry valleys, but much of the water use is being poorly managed.

Saudi Arabia’s attempts     9     (grow) wheat in desert areas have seen the pumping of huge quantities of irrigation water from underground reserves. Because there is no rainfall in these areas, such reserves can only decrease, and it is believed that fifty years of pumping       10     (see) them run dry.

8 . Did you ever have to say “no” to somebody? Such as a classmate asking to have breakfast with you? New research suggests that, at least socially, a rejection shouldn’t include an —___________. In other words, saying you are sorry doesn’t make the person being rejected feel any better. ___________, it might make the rejected person feel worse. That is ___________.Many people consider it to be good manners to say they are sorry when they ___________ a request.

Gili Freedman is doing some related research at Dartmouth College. For her research, she asked over 1,000 people to respond to different ___________ of social rejection. In one instance, the researchers asked people for their ___________ after a person named Taylor asked to join a co-worker who went out to lunch every Friday. And Taylor was told “no”. But in some cases, the person rejecting Taylor ___________ an apology. In other cases, the people doing the rejection did not say they were ___________. People were asked how they would ___________ if they were being turned down, just as Taylor was. Most said they would be more ___________ by a rejection with an apology than a rejection without an apology.

Gili Freedman said the reason is that apologies make people feel like that the rejection was ___________ — even when they felt-like it was not okay. Rejection without an apology lets them express their feelings of ___________, hurt or anger more easily. Freedman also said that an apology often makes the person ___________ feel better — even as it makes the person being rejected feel worse.

However, her research deals only with ___________ communication. A business situation might be very ___________. “If a manager rejects a job interviewee or a boss must tell an employee that he or she is being fired from a job,” Freedman said, “reactions to apologies maybe another case.”

10 . Challenging work that requires lots of analytical thinking, planning and other managerial skills might help your brain stay sharp as you age, a study published Wednesday in the journal Neurology suggests.

Researchers from the University of Leipzig in Germany gathered more than 1,000 retired workers who were over age 75 and assessed the volunteers’ memory and thinking skills through a series of tests. For eight years, the scientists asked the same group to come back to the lab every 18 months to take the same sorts of tests.

Those who bad held mentally stimulating (刺激), demanding jobs before retirement tended to do the best on the tests. And they tended to lose cognitive (认知) function at a much slower rate than those with the least mentally challenging jobs. The results held true even after the scientists accounted for the participants’ overall health status.

“This works just like physical exercise,” says Francisca Then, who led the study. “After a long run, you may feel like you’re in pain, you may feel tired. But it makes you fit. After a long day at work — sure, you will feel tired, but it can help your brain stay healthy.”

It’s not just corporate jobs, or even paid work that can help keep your brain fit, Then points out. A waiter’s job, for example, that requires multitasking, teamwork and decision-making could be just as stimulating as any high-level office work. And “running a family household requires high-level planning and coordinating (协调),” she says. “You have to organize the activities of the children and take care of the bills and groceries.”

Of course, our brains can decline as we grow older for lots of reasons — including other environmental influences or genetic factors. Still, continuing to challenge yourself mentally and keeping your mind busy can only help.