A fellow speaker from California named Geri was excited about her first speech in Japan．To be comfortable on her long flight to Tokyo，she put on her favorite designer jeans and a casual jacket．Fourteen hours later, four perfectly dressed Japanese gentlemen greeted her at Narita Airport．Smiling and bowing low, they handed her their business cards．With her carry-on bag in one hand，Geri took their cards with the other．She thanked them，glanced briefly at the cards，and packed them safely into her back pocket．She then gave them her card．

    When the five of them arrived at the hotel，they invited Geri to tea in the lobby．While sipping tea，the gentlemen presented her with a small gift which she eagerly opened．One of Geri’s most charming qualities is her instinctive warmth．She was thrilled with the gift and，in typical Geri style，she squealed，“Oh，it’s beautiful!” as she gave each of the gentlemen a little hug．

    At this point，the four Japanese gentlemen stood up in union and，bowing only very slightly, mumbled “Sayonara” and promptly left．Poor Geri was left stunned． What did she do wrong?

    Everything! Her jeans was the first gaffe．Even if you’re coming off a bicycle in Japan，you do not meet c1ients casually dressed．The second mistake was Geri’s vulgar handling of their business cards．In Japan，the business card is one of the most important protocol tools．It is always presented and accepted respectfully with both hands． However, Geri put their cards away much too quickly．In Japan，people use business cards as a conversation starter．You chat about each other’s cards and work and do not put theirs away until they gently and respectfully place yours in safekeeping．Shoving it into her jeans pocket was the ultimate disrespect．

    Then，the fourth horror of horrors was that Geri should not have opened the gift in front of her clients．In a 1and where saving face is critical，it would be embarrassing to discover the gift they gave was not as nice as the one they received．What is worse，Geri hadn’t even given them a gift !

The four Japanese businessmen invited Geri to tea ______．

A．in the hotel lobby

B．in a hotel room

C．at a businessmen’s office

D．at the airport lounge

The word “gaffe” in the 4th paragraph can be replaced by ______．

A．disrespect

B．mistake

C．mischief

D．protocol

According to the passage，the Japanese consider it ______．

A．an honor to be given a hug by a lady

B．ill-mannered to say good-bye humbly

C．impolite to open a gift in front of the giver

D．unnecessary for a lady to be properly dressed

The third mistake Geri made was that she ______．

A．met her clients casually dressed

B．took her clients’ cards with one hand

C．kept her clients’ cards in a wrong place

D．used her own card as a conversation starter

Geri’s experiences tell us about ______．

A．differences in the handling of business cards

B．differences in the tastes and styles of fashion

C．gender differences in business communication

D．cultural differences in business communication

Early in World War II，the representatives of nine European governments fled to London．Nazi Germany had conquered much of Europe and had driven these  leaders from their homelands．Representatives of the United Kingdom and the  Commonwealth nations met in London with the leaders of nine European nations．On June 1 2，1 94 1，all these nations signed a declaration pledging to work for a free world，where people could live in peace and security．This pledge，usually called the Inter-Allied Declaration, was the first step toward building the UN．

    On October 30，l 943，representatives of the United Kingdom，China，the Soviet Union, and the United States signed the Moscow Declaration on General Security．This declaration approved the idea of establishing an international organization for preserving world peace．

    From August to October 1944，representatives of the United Kingdom，China， the Soviet Union，and the United States held a series of meetings at the Dumbarton Oaks estate in Washington D．C．The four nations succeeded in drawing up a basic plan，though they could not agree on some important questions．The plan’s main feature Was a Security Council on which the United Kingdom，China, France，the Soviet Union, and the United States would be permanently

 represented．

   In February 1945，Roosevelt, Churchill，and Stalin met at Yalta in the Crimea． The three leaders announced that a conference of United Nations would open in San Francisco on April 25，1945．This conference would use the plan worked out at the Dumbarton Oaks Conference to help prepare a charter for the UN．

    Delegates from 50 nations met in San Francisco for the United Nations Conference on International Organization．The conference opened on April 25, 1945，13 days after the death of Roosevelt and 12 days before the surrender of Germany．Victory over Japan Was still four months away．

    At the conference，some major disagreements arose between the Big Three (the United Kingdom，the Soviet Union，and the United States)and the smaller, less powerful nations．The Big Three believed they could guarantee future peace only if they continued to cooperate as they had during the war．They insisted that the Charter of the United Nations should give them the power to veto actions of the Security Council．The smaller nations opposed the veto power but failed to  defeat it．

    On June 26，1945，all 50 nations present at the conference voted to accept the charter. Poland had been unable to attend but 1ater signed the charter as an original member．The charter then had to be approved by the governments of the five permanent members of the Security Council and of a majority of the other nations that signed it．It went into effect on October 24，1945，a date celebrated every year as United Nations Day．

The passage is mainly concerned with ______．

A．how the Security Council was built

B．how the UN Charter went into effect

C．the founding of the United Nations

D．some major disagreements in the UN conferences

The Moscow Declaration was signed by ______．

A．3 nations

B．4 nations

C．9 nations

D．50 nations

At the Dumbarton Oaks Conference．it was agreed that the permanently represented nations at the Security Council were ______．

A．the Soviet Union，the UK，the US，and China

B．the Soviet Union，the UK，the US，China，and France

C．the Soviet Union，the UK，the US，China, and Poland

D．the Soviet Union，the UK，the US，Germany, and Japan

The issue of veto power was heatedly discussed at the conference held in ______.

A．Yalta

B．Moscow

C．Washington D．C．

D．San   Francisco

The UN Charter was officially effective on ______．

A．June 12，1945

B．April 25, 1945

C．June 26，1945

D．October 24，1945

A number of different aspects of life can influence mental health．In a mid-1970s study of people living in the United States，researchers identified critical areas that influence one’s mental health．These areas are working life，family life，and the social role that one occupies in the community．Negative experiences in these areas，such as an unreasonable boss or a turbulent family life，can reduce one’s overall sense of well-being．

    Another important influence on mental health is stress．In general，people experience stress when the demands placed on them exceed the resources they have available to meet those demands．Significant sources of stress include major life events，such as divorce，death of a spouse，loss of a job，and illness in the family．These events can overwhelm a person’s ability to cope and function effectively. In addition，one source of stress may lead to another, as when financial hardship follows job loss．People who experience unusually traumatic events，such as rape and natural disasters，may develop post-traumatic stress disorder．

    People may experience chronic stress when confronted with a continuing set of demands that reduce their ability to function．Examples of such demands include working long hours under difficult circumstances and caring for a chronically ill relative．Economic hardship，unemployment，and poverty can also produce chronic stress and undermine mental health．

    Some studies suggest that genetic factors may partly determine one’s level of happiness and mental health．People seem to display a characteristic level of well-being，with some people usually feeling happy and others typically feeling sad or unhappy．Researchers have found that although people’s moods change in response to both positive and negative events，the effect wears off over time．For example，people who win the lottery or receive an unexpected promotion may feel happier at first，but over time they return to their former characteristic level of mental health．Research suggests that one’s genetic background—that is，the genes inherited from one’s parents—explains more than half of the differences in people’s characteristic mood levels．Genes may also partly determine the range of ups and downs that people feel，including whether people have large mood swings or remain stable from day to day．

According to the passage，the major factors that may reduce one’s sense of  psychological well-being include all the following EXCEPT ______·

A．unstable marriage

B．genetic heritage

C．bad-tempered managers

D．lower social status

People experience stress when ______．

A．they have no accessible financial resources

B．they have no social resources at their disposal

C．they feel it hard to shirk family responsibility

D．they have to go beyond their ability to get a job done

Chronic stress may result from ______．

A．death of a spouse

B．lottery purchases

C．long-time hard work

D．failure to be promoted

From the last paragraph，it can be inferred that ______.

A．people’s moods are sometimes unstable

B．people cannot escape from negative events

C．Success may produce a long-term effect on people’s mental health

D．parents are partly responsible for their children’s distinctive moods

According to the passage，people’s characteristic mood levels may be affected ______．

A．physically

B．biologically

C．gradually

D．abruptly

Postage stamps are labels affixed to letters or parcels to indicate that a specified amount of postage has been prepaid for delivery．Stamps are usually issued by a government or an agency representing a government，such as a national post office．The collecting and study of postage stamps and related items such as postcards is known as philately, a word derived from Greek meaning，literally, “love of what is free of further tax．’’Stamp collecting is one of the most popular hobbies in the world．

     From the earliest years of the hobby，most philatelists have preferred to collect stamps by country，specializing in the issues of one or more nations．Since about the mid-1950s，however, many philatelists have become interested in topical collecting，acquiring stamps illustrating certain themes or subjects．Among the wide range of pictorials are stamps devoted to sports，art and music，aviation，birds and flowers，and telecommunications．

     One of the attractions of stamp collecting is the ease of starting a collection．With access to enough incoming mail，especially from abroad，a person call build a collection without any expense．Literally tens of thousands of stamps，however, including many of the older issues，are priced very cheaply．

    Little special equipment is required．A collector needs only an album to house the collection and a pair of stamp tongs with which to handle them．Stamps and accessories can be purchased easily．Nearly every city has one or more professional stamp dealers．Thousands of other dealers operate exclusively by mail or on the Internet．

     When collectors have accumulated a number of valuable stamps，they must take precautions for safe storage，preferably in a bank safety deposit box．If the stamps are in mint(崭新的)condition，they should not be overlapped；through changes in humidity, overlapping stamps may stick together and become seriously damaged．Collectors also should keep accurate written inventories of all their philatelic material．

In the 1st paragraph，“philately” is a term dealing with ______．

A．postage delivery

B．postage taxing and pricing

C．a study of postage items

D．a study of postcard collecting

According to the passage，stamps can be classified ______．

A．by face value

B．by issue

C．chronologically

D．thematically

One of the charms of stamp collecting is that it can be started ______．

A．without any technical means

B．without too much time spent

C．without too much space needed

D．without necessarily big investment

According to the passage，the new stamps should avoid ______．

A．humidity

B．burglary

C．being duplicated

D．being catalogued

The writer’s suggestion made in the last paragraph is basically ______．

A．misleading

B．impractical

C．ambiguous

D．operational

If ambition is to be well regarded，the rewards of ambition must be worthy of the sacrifices on ambition’s behalf. If the tradition of ambition is to have vitality, it should be widely shared，and it especially must be highly regarded by such people as the educated．who are themselves admired． However it is the educated who have claimed to have given up ambition as an ideal．What is odd is that they have perhaps benefited most from ambition，though the ambition may be more that of their parents and grandparents than of their own．

     Certainly, people do not seem less interested in success now than formerly．In fact，the signs of success such as summer homes，European travel and BMWs  have never ceased to be sought after．What has happened is that people cannot confess fully to their dreams，as easily and openly as once they could，lest they be thought to be aggressive，materialistic or vulgar．Instead，what has often confused us are those fine hypocritical spectacles：the critic of American materialism in possession of a Southampton summer home；the publisher of radical books who takes his meals every day in five-star restaurants；the journalist promoting participatory democracy in all phases of life，who sends his own children to expensive private schools．For such people and many more perhaps not so exceptional，the motto is，“Succeed at all costs but avoid appearing ambitious．’’

    Ambition has been attacked from various angles；its public defenders are few and unimpressive，though they are not extremely unattractive．As a result，the support for ambition as a healthy impulse，a quality to be admired by the young，is probably lower than it has ever been in the United States．This does not mean, however，that people are no longer ambition-driven，but only that，no longer openly honored，ambition has become something smartly concealed．

According to the passage，in order to keep the vitality of the tradition of  ambition the successful people themselves must ______．

A．highly value it

B．make some sacrifices

C．benefit from it

D．make some contributions

Such items as summer homes，European travel and BMWs are listed to prove that ______．

A．these items are commonly used to measure success

B．these items are openly honored and admired by the public

C．people are as interested in success as they have ever been

D．people are more motivated to seek after these items than before

People tend not to make their ambitions fully known ______．

A．to avoid appearing professionally oriented

B．to avoid appearing snobbish and sophisticated

C．for fear that they might end up in failure or disappointment

D．for fear that they might be considered as distasteful and greedy

The critic，the publisher and the journalist are mentioned in the 2nd paragraph to show that they are ______.

A．selfish

B．corrupted

C．hypocritical

D．materialistic

The author’s attitude towards ambition as all ideal is ______．

A．satirical

B．negative

C．appreciative

D．unbiased