Social Classes 　　 It is hard to get any agreement on the precise meaning of the term “social class”. In everyday life, people tend to have a different approach to those they consider their equals from that which they assume with people they consider higher or lower than themselves in the social scale. The criteria we use to “place” a new acquaintance, however, are a complex mixture of factors. Dress, way of speaking, area of residence in a given city or province, education and manners all play a part. 　　In ancient civilizations, the Sumerian, for example, which flourished in the lower Euphrates valley from 5000 to 2000 B. C., social differences were based on birth, status or rank, rather than on wealth. Four main classes were recognized. These were the rulers, the priestly administrators, the freemen （such as craftsmen, merchants or farmers） and the slaves. 　　In Greece, after the sixth century B.C., there was a growing conflict between the peasants and the landed aristocrats（贵族）, and a gradual decrease in the power of the aristocracy when a kind of “middle class” of traders and skilled workers grew up. The population of Athens, for example, was divided into three main classes which were politically and legally distinct. About one-third of the total were slaves, who did not count politically at all, a fact often forgotten by those who praise Athens as the nursery of democracy. The next main group consisted of resident foreigners, the “metics”, who were freemen, though they too were allowed no share in political life. The third group was the powerful body of “citizens”, who were themselves divided into sub-classes. 　　In ancient Rome, too, a similar struggle between the plebs, or working people, and the landed families was a recurrent feature of social life. 　　The medieval feudal system, which flourished in Europe from the ninth to the thirteenth centuries, gave rise to a comparatively simple system based on birth. Under the king there were two main classes—lords and “vassals”, the latter with many subdivisions. The vassal owed the lord fidelity（忠诚）, obedience and aid, especially in the form of military service. The lord in return owed his vassal protection and an assured livelihood. 　　In the later Middle Ages, however, the development of a money economy and the growth of cities and trade led to the rise of class, the “burghers” or city merchants and mayors. These were the predecessors（前身）of the modern middle classes. Gradually high office and occupation assumed importance in determining social position, as it became more and more possible for a person born to one station in life to more to another. This change affected towns more than the country areas, where remnants of feudalism lasted much longer. 　　With the break-up of the feudal economy, the increasing division of labour, and the growing power of the town burghers, the commercial and professional middle class became more and more important in Europe, and the older privileged class, the landed aristocracy, began to lose some of its power. 　　In the eighteenth-century one of the first modern economists, Adam Smith, thought that the “whole annual produce of the land and labour of every country” provided revenue to “three different orders of people: those who live by rent, those who live by wages, and those who live by profit”. Each successive stage of the industrial revolution, however, made the social structure more complicated. 　　Many intermediate groups grew up during the nineteenth-century between the upper middle class and the working class. There were small-scale industrialists as well as large ones, small shopkeepers and tradesmen, officials and salaried employees, skilled and un-skilled workers, and professional men such as doctors and teachers. Farmers and peasants continued in all countries as independent groups. 　　During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the possession of wealth inevitably affected a person’s social position. Intelligent industrialists with initiative made fortunes by their working-class parents. But they lacked the social training of the upper class, who despised them as the “new rich”. 　　They often sent their sons and daughters to special schools to acquire social training. Here their children mixed with the children of the upper classes, were accepted by them, and very often found marriage partners from among them. In the same way, a thrifty（节俭的）, hardworking labourer, though not clever himself, might save for his son enough to pay for an extended secondary school education in the hope that they would move into a “white-collar” occupation, carrying with it a higher salary and a move up in the social scale. 　　The tendency to move down in social class is less obvious, for a claim to an aristocratic birth, especially in Europe, has always carried a certain distinction, and people have made tremendous efforts to obtain for their children the kind of opportunities they had for themselves. In the twentieth century the increased taxation of higher incomes, the growth of the social service development of educational opportunity have considerably altered the social outlook. The upper classes no longer are the sole, or even the main possessors of wealth, power and education, though inherited social positions still carries considerable prestige. Many people today are hostile towards class distinctions and privileges and hope to achieve a classless society. The trouble is that as one inequality is removed, another tends to take its place, and the best that has so far been attempted is a society in which distinctions are elastic（可变的）and in which every member has fair opportunities for making the best of his abilities. Decide whether the following statements are true（T）or false（F） according to the information given in the passage. 2. Adam Smith’s eighteenth-century definition of class was invalidated by successive stages of the industrial revolution.

Blaming the media for violence is misguided. To better understand the issue of violence and society, it is helpful to examine its historical roots. Certainly not all tribal societies were violent. For example» many native tribes in the American southwest were entirely peaceful. However for most tribal people throughout most of the world, war and violence have always been part of life. One of our oldest books, the Old Testament, tells of constant tribal wars among the peoples of the Middle East. Likewise, ancient texts such as the Greek Iliad 3 the Indian Bhagavad-Gita and the Nordic Beowul f all tell tales of war and violence. Certainly the peoples of ancient Babylonia. Greece• India, and Scandinavia were not influenced by the media, yet most of the earliest human records indicate that violence has been an ever-present part of human life. Since violence was with us long before modern media, it seems unlikely that controlling the media now would have much impact on stopping human violence.A comparison of violence in nations around the world indicates that there is no relationship between media violence and real violence. In the United States, in 1996, there were 9,390 gun-related deaths. In the same year, Japan had 15 gun-related deaths. Yet the level of violence on television in Japan is higher than that in the U.S. Japanese TV often depicts graphic violence that would not be allowed on U.S. television, and Japanese movie-goers see the same major Hollywood films that Americans see, but street crime is so rare in Tokyo that most people do not worry about it. In contrast, in American cities, people in general, and women in particular, are afraid to walk alone at night. Security is an ever-present concern in the U.S. , where citizens limit their lives in numerous ways to 【reduce the chances of joining】 the 11 »000 people who are killed by guns in America each year. However, the number of murders in the U.S. is small compared to Columbia, where, for example， 23,000 people were murdered in 1999. Columbians have much less exposure to media violence than either Americans or Japanese： they have fewer I'V stations and watch fewer films. Indeed, those committing murders in Columbia are often people from the countryside who have the least exposure to the media. Phus people who are not exposed to the media are often more likely to commit violent crimes than those exposed to it. Since C anada borders the U. S.，Canadians receive the same TV and radio programs that Americans receive, yet gun violence in Canada is nearly one hundred times lower than that in the U. S. Clearly there is no significant relationship between media violence and real life violence. We need to look elsewhere for solutions to real-life violence.The author uses Japanese. Columbian and Canadian examples to show that real-life violence and media violence _____.

Nancy Reagan:He was the Eternal Optimist I think they broke the mold(创新）when they made Ronnie. He was a man of strong principles and integrity(正直）。 He had absolutely no ego, and he was very comfortable in his own skin(处在自己的位置或角度）；therefore, he didn't feel he ever had to prove anything to anyone.He said what he thought and believed. He could move from being a sportscaster to moving pictures and TV,to being Governor of the largest state in the country for eight years and then to being President for eight years,and somehow remain the same wonderful man. Perhaps this was helped by his strong, unshakable religious beliefs. Ronnie always believed that God has a plan for each of us and that we might not know what it is now, but eventually we will. He never took off or landed in a plane without looking out the window and saying a silent prayer. I don't think many people knew this. He was the eternal optimist(永恒的乐观主义者）－the glass was always half full, not half empty. I think his faith and his comfort with himself accounts for that optimism.Since he felt that everything happens for a reason, he never saw things darkly.After he was shot and we almost lost him, he lay on his hospital bed staring at the ceiling and preying.He told me that he realized he could not pray just for himself,that it wouldn't be right,and that he also had to pray for John Hinckley(试图刺杀里根的刺客）。Hinckley's parents sent him a note and he wrote a nice one back to them. Later,Cardinal(大主教）Cooke visited Ronnie in the White House and said,"God was certainly siting on your shoulder that day."Ronnie replied,“Yes,l know,and I made up my mind that all the days I have left belong to Him." Ronnie was a very private man but also gregarious(随和的），and he loved seeing and meeting people. After being married to him for 52 years,l have so many memories. He was very sentimental and romantic and tender.On my birthday, he always sent my mother flowers to thank her for having me,and he wrote me beautiful,touching letters when we had to be apart. Some time ago,he went for a walk and passed a house with roses in front. He bent over to pick one,and the Secret Service agent(便衣保镖）reminded him it wasn't his house. He looked stricken and said,“But I want to give it to my lady."He picked it and brought it home to me. You cannot talk about Ronnie without mentioning his wonderful sense of humor. I think he could tell stories all day without repeating himself-a joy for people with him,but he also made use of it politically. If things got a little heated and tense,he would break the tension with a story(打破僵局）。By the time he ended,the mood would have changed,and they got on with the business with no rancor(敌意）。 Ronnie always told his children,“If you go into a store and feel that the clerk is being rude,stop and think that she may have had a tough day,and put yourself in her shoes."I remember that he told his son,“A gentleman always does the kind thing."Yes,Ronnie could be stubborn-but always with a smile. He was deeply guided by the principle that the Soviet system was wrong. It made a tremendous impression when we went to Berlin and stood on a balcony to see the other side,There was not a soul on the street,and we thought how eerie(令人迷惑不解的）and disturbing that was.When we went to Checkpoint Charlie,and Ronnie was shown the line that people couldn't cross,he took his foot and put it over the line. He felt it was important to assert what was right. He got very stubborn and even mad when his advisers would take out a line he really believed from a speech. It was on that trip that he stood in front of the Berlin Wall and said,"Mr. Gorbachev,tear down this wall!” Ronnie felt this was his greatest accomplishment-finding a safe ending to the cold war.And his other great legacy,he felt,was giving our country back its optimism. At our last Kennedy Center Honors show,Walter Cronkite went back onstage at the end and brought out all the cast,performers and crew to salute us. By this time,the aisles(过道）were filled with ushers,and he gave a very touching tribute(颂词）。The audience then turned,faced us and sang Auld Lang Syne(友谊地久天长）。I had dissolved into tears by that time.But Ronnie called down,“Beats getting an Oscar."Only Ronnie could do that. When we were leaving the White House for the last time and walking toward the helicopter,he turned to me with his heartwarming grin. “Well, it's been a wonderful eight years,” he said. “All in all,not bad. Not bad at all. ” Decide the answer that best completes the following statements according to the information provided in the text. 5.When Reagan called down"Beats getting an Oscar",he meant that( ).

Social Classes 　　 It is hard to get any agreement on the precise meaning of the term “social class”. In everyday life, people tend to have a different approach to those they consider their equals from that which they assume with people they consider higher or lower than themselves in the social scale. The criteria we use to “place” a new acquaintance, however, are a complex mixture of factors. Dress, way of speaking, area of residence in a given city or province, education and manners all play a part. 　　In ancient civilizations, the Sumerian, for example, which flourished in the lower Euphrates valley from 5000 to 2000 B. C., social differences were based on birth, status or rank, rather than on wealth. Four main classes were recognized. These were the rulers, the priestly administrators, the freemen （such as craftsmen, merchants or farmers） and the slaves. 　　In Greece, after the sixth century B.C., there was a growing conflict between the peasants and the landed aristocrats（贵族）, and a gradual decrease in the power of the aristocracy when a kind of “middle class” of traders and skilled workers grew up. The population of Athens, for example, was divided into three main classes which were politically and legally distinct. About one-third of the total were slaves, who did not count politically at all, a fact often forgotten by those who praise Athens as the nursery of democracy. The next main group consisted of resident foreigners, the “metics”, who were freemen, though they too were allowed no share in political life. The third group was the powerful body of “citizens”, who were themselves divided into sub-classes. 　　In ancient Rome, too, a similar struggle between the plebs, or working people, and the landed families was a recurrent feature of social life. 　　The medieval feudal system, which flourished in Europe from the ninth to the thirteenth centuries, gave rise to a comparatively simple system based on birth. Under the king there were two main classes—lords and “vassals”, the latter with many subdivisions. The vassal owed the lord fidelity（忠诚）, obedience and aid, especially in the form of military service. The lord in return owed his vassal protection and an assured livelihood. 　　In the later Middle Ages, however, the development of a money economy and the growth of cities and trade led to the rise of class, the “burghers” or city merchants and mayors. These were the predecessors（前身）of the modern middle classes. Gradually high office and occupation assumed importance in determining social position, as it became more and more possible for a person born to one station in life to more to another. This change affected towns more than the country areas, where remnants of feudalism lasted much longer. 　　With the break-up of the feudal economy, the increasing division of labour, and the growing power of the town burghers, the commercial and professional middle class became more and more important in Europe, and the older privileged class, the landed aristocracy, began to lose some of its power. 　　In the eighteenth-century one of the first modern economists, Adam Smith, thought that the “whole annual produce of the land and labour of every country” provided revenue to “three different orders of people: those who live by rent, those who live by wages, and those who live by profit”. Each successive stage of the industrial revolution, however, made the social structure more complicated. 　　Many intermediate groups grew up during the nineteenth-century between the upper middle class and the working class. There were small-scale industrialists as well as large ones, small shopkeepers and tradesmen, officials and salaried employees, skilled and un-skilled workers, and professional men such as doctors and teachers. Farmers and peasants continued in all countries as independent groups. 　　During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the possession of wealth inevitably affected a person’s social position. Intelligent industrialists with initiative made fortunes by their working-class parents. But they lacked the social training of the upper class, who despised them as the “new rich”. 　　They often sent their sons and daughters to special schools to acquire social training. Here their children mixed with the children of the upper classes, were accepted by them, and very often found marriage partners from among them. In the same way, a thrifty（节俭的）, hardworking labourer, though not clever himself, might save for his son enough to pay for an extended secondary school education in the hope that they would move into a “white-collar” occupation, carrying with it a higher salary and a move up in the social scale. 　　The tendency to move down in social class is less obvious, for a claim to an aristocratic birth, especially in Europe, has always carried a certain distinction, and people have made tremendous efforts to obtain for their children the kind of opportunities they had for themselves. In the twentieth century the increased taxation of higher incomes, the growth of the social service development of educational opportunity have considerably altered the social outlook. The upper classes no longer are the sole, or even the main possessors of wealth, power and education, though inherited social positions still carries considerable prestige. Many people today are hostile towards class distinctions and privileges and hope to achieve a classless society. The trouble is that as one inequality is removed, another tends to take its place, and the best that has so far been attempted is a society in which distinctions are elastic（可变的）and in which every member has fair opportunities for making the best of his abilities. Decide whether the following statements are true（T）or false（F） according to the information given in the passage. 3. The writer regards doctors and teachers as independent groups outside society.

The Value of Education Education is not an end, but a means to an end. In other words, we do not educate children only for the aim of educating them. Our purpose is to fit them for life. Life is varied; so is education. As soon as we realize the fact, we will understand that it is very important to choose a proper system of education. 　　In some countries with advanced industries, they have free education for all. Under this system, people, no matter whether they are rich or poor, clever or foolish, have a chance to be educated at universities or colleges. They have for some time thought, by free education for all, they can solve all the problems of a society, and build a perfect nation. But we can already see that free education for all is not enough. We find in such countries a far larger number of people with university degrees than there are jobs for them to fill. As a result of their degrees, they refuse to do what they think is "low" work. In fact, to work with one’ s hands is thought to be dirty and shameful in such countries. 　　But we have only to think a moment to understand that the work of a completely uneducated farmer is as important as that of a professor. We can live without education, but we should die if none of us grew crops. If no one cleaned our streets and took the rubbish away from our houses, we should get terrible diseases in our towns. If there were no service people, because everyone was ashamed to do such work, the professors would have to waste much of their time doing housework. 　　On the other hand, if all the farmers were completely uneducated, their production would remain low. As the population grows larger and larger in the modern world, we would die if we did not have enough food. 　　In fact, when we say all of us must be educated to fit ourselves for life, it means that all must be educated: firstly, to realize that everyone can do whatever job is suited to his brain and ability; secondly, to understand that all jobs are necessary to society and that it is bad to be ashamed of one’s own work or to look down upon someone else’s; thirdly, to master all the necessary know-how（技能）to do one’s job well. Only such education can be called valuable to society. （　）4. It is true that we could live without education but not without farmers.

English is a vacuum cleaner language； it is able and willing to adopt any words it finds useful.Places,peoples, tongues from around lhe world all have become part of the English vocabulary. They give it flexibility and provide a certain sense of familiarity for people who speak it as a second or foreign language.According to the Oxford English Dictionary , English contains words from more than 350 living languages.“English is a free market,” says Allan Metacalf, author of 1 he World in So Many Words. "Guardians of other languages tend to become alarmed when they notice foreign words creeping in. They say, * I hat's a terrible thing； keep them out. Bui English is multicultural."Linguistic historians believe that English began to absorb other languages on a large scale in 1066. That was the year when King William. a Norman from what is now France, conquered England. That meant English speakers were ruled by French speakers. The English language had to make some changes.During the Renaissance, words flowed into English from Latin and Greek. The Age of Exploration introduced new terms from all corners of the world.And America changed everything. America began as an English-speaking land but its language has been and is still shaped by generations of immigrants. Each new group brings new ideas and new expressions. Irish, Italians* Germans, Eastern Europeans. Latinos, Africans^ Asians—all change English in some degree.Mass culture makes adoptions easier. Todaytwords like kungfu and chow are no longer odd Chinese words； they have gone mainstream.Then there are words invented or given new meanings when English needs them. Some words like e-mail .blurb and fax enter the mainstream. Others like laser begin life as acro- nyms(首字母缩略)for things that otherwise would be too difficult to say in everyday conversation.Of course,language cannot be separated from culture* and importation depends on the situation. It also depends on whether the word remains useful.Linguists predict that foreign words will flow into English even faster as more nonnative speakers reach global leadership positions. The pace will increase, but it still will be English,which always is ready to accept new words. This is because English is a practical language with a long tradition of borrowing.The best title for the passage would be

The Police and the intelligence Agents 　　American TV and movies once gave a tough and brutal picture of the American police, though now there are TV series which have cops as heroes and defenders of society. The police are grateful for the good publicity and their new image, especially in cities where there are black ghettos （聚居区）. White policemen are now careful of how they speak and behave towards their fellow black citizens. 　　The cop, or ordinary policeman, is a city or a State employee. He cannot arrest anyone outside his city or his State. He cannot even cross the border into a neighboring State in pursuit of a criminal. If the does, he can be charged with breaking the law of that State. The police who have to be really tough are those that operate in big cities, like New York, Chicago and Detroit, which have large ghettos and organized crimes. 　　Since the majority of criminals are armed, American cops have to use their guns more often than most policemen in other places and the car chases through the crowded streets of Manhattan, which are a favorite feature of gangster movies （警匪片）, are not so exaggerated. American cops get shot down, run over, stabbed, beaten up, and their wives are in constant fear that one day their men will not come home. 　　Many policemen do a lot to help children whose parents are criminals. They understand better than most citizens the awful misery of the ghettos. They feel sorry for the drug addicts, but often treat roughly the “pushers” who sell the drugs—when they can catch them. They have been accused of making no serious attempt to break up the various drug rings. They claim that such a task would be never-ending. 　　In big cities, the Police Commissioner （Head of the Force） is often appointed by Mayor and therefore senior police officers tend to be too closely linked to politics. Their ambitions sometimes tempt them to turn a blind eye or to accept bribes, which lowers the morale of the ordinary cop. The structure of the many different American police forces is said to be the most varied in the whole world. 　　The city police often come into conflict with the FBI—the Federal Bureau of Investigation. FBI men, who do not wear uniforms, have the right to cross State borders if they are pursuing a suspect. They are responsible to the US Department of Justice, and have their headquarters in Washington, D.C. The head of the FBI is chief domestic intelligence adviser to the President. The FBI men are more concerned with spies and agents hostile to the USA, radicals and Mafia（黑手党） bosses than they are with ordinary criminals, but they do keep a record of all crimes, which city and State police can consult if they wish. The FBI laboratory services, among the best in the world, are also available to local law enforcement agencies. The activities of the CIA—the Central Intelligence Agency—are now well known in every country in the world. The job of the CIA is to keep the Government informed of the activities of foreign agents and the secret preparations of hostile powers. CIA agents also work in countries where if is felt that aid, or the promise of aid, will maintain sympathy for the USA. Sometimes the CIA’s actions do just the reverse, and in many parts of the world including countries friendly to the USA, they are disliked and even feared. However, the CIA is just one of the many secret services which all countries use to protect themselves against possible enemies. 1. The car chases through the crowded streets of Manhattan are often seen in the movies but they are not true.

London Art Gallery On the north side of Trafalgar, famous for its Admiral Nelson （“Nelson’s column”）, its fountains and its homes of pigeons, there stands a long, low building in classic style. This is the National Gallery, which contains Britain’s best-known collection of pictures. The collection was begun in 1824, with the purchase of thirty-eight pictures that included Hogarth’ s satirical “Marriage la Mode”series, and Titian’s “Venus and Adonis”. 　　The National Gallery is rich in paintings by Italian masters such as Raphael, Correggio, and Veronese, and it contains pictures representative of all European schools of art such as works by Rembrandt, Rubens, Van Dyck, Murillo, El Greco, and nineteenth century French masters. Many visitors are especially attracted to Velasquez’“Rokeby Venus”and Leonardo da Vinci’s“Virgin of the Rocks”. 　　On sunny days, students and other young people are often to be seen having a sandwich lunch on the portico （门廊；柱廊） of the Gallery overlooking Trafalgar Square. Admission to the Gallery is free, as is the case with other British national galleries and museums, which are maintained by money voted by Parliament. Bequests of pictures have been made to the galleries, at times on a generous scale, by private individuals. 　　Just behind the National Gallery stands the National Portrait Gallery, in which the visitors can see portraits of British monarchs since the reign of Richards II （1377—1399）, and of historical celebrities such as Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Cromwell. Many of the pictures are by well-known artists. 　　The National Gallery of British Art, better known as the Tate Gallery, was given to the nation by a rich sugar merchant, Sir Henry Tate, who had a taste for the fine arts. It overlooks the Thames, not far from the Houses of Parliament. English artists are naturally well represented here, and the Tate also has a range of modern works, including some sculptures, by foreign artists. This, of all the London galleries, is the young people’s gallery. It has been stated that three-quarters of its visitors are under twenty-five. 　　The Wallace Collection at Herford House was formed by Lord Herford and his half brothers, Sir Richard Wallace, who inherited the collection, which was given to the nation in 1897 by Richard’s widow. There is here a very fine display of weapons and armour, of pottery, miniatures（微型画）and sculptures. The first floor of the building contains an admirable assortment of Boucher’s pictures, besides excellent examples of the work of Fragonard, to mention only two artists. 　　On a summer day, a visit to Kenwood House in Kenwood, on the northern side of Hampstead Heath, is well worth while, for here is a small collection of paintings, some by famous painters, that can be viewed in a relatively short time. Afterwards, one can go out into the charming grounds. One may sun oneself on the turf（草皮）of the spacious lawns, or stroll by the lily-pond and then enter the little wood that half surrounds it. Kenwood House is maintained not by the government but by the Greater London Council. （　）4. The young visitors are often seen having a sandwich lunch at the entrance to the National Gallery.

Cinderella A rich man’s wife became sick, and when she felt that her end was drawing near, she called her only daughter to her bedside and said, “Dear child, remain pious and good, and then our dear God will always protect you, and I will look down on you from heaven and be near you.” With this she closed her eyes and died. The girl went out to her mother’s grave every day and wept, and she remained pious and good. When winter came the snow spread a white cloth over the grave, and when the spring sun had removed it again, the man took himself another wife. This wife brought tow daughters into the house with her. They were beautiful, with fair faces, but evil and dark hearts. Times soon grew very bad for the poor stepchild. “why should that stupid goose sit in the parlor with us?” they said, “if she wants to eat bread, then she will have to earn it. Out with this kitchen maid! “ They took her beautiful clothes away from her, dressed her in an old gray smock, and gave her wooden shoes. “just look at the proud princess! How decked out she is !” they shouted and laughed as they led her into the kitchen. There she had to do hard work from morning until evening, get up before daybreak, carry water, make the fires, cook, and wash. Beside this, the sisters did everything imaginable to hurt her, they made fun of her, scattered peas and lentils into the ashes for her, so that she had to sit and pick them out again. In the evening when she had worked herself weary, there was no bed for her. Instead she had to sleep by the hearth in the ashes. And because she always looked dusty and dirty, they called her Cinderella. One day it happened that the father was going to the fair, and he asked his tow stepdaughters what he should bring back for them. “beautiful dresses,” said the one. “pearls and jewels ,” said the other. “and you, Cinderella ,”he said, “what do you want ?” “Father, break off for me the first twig that brushes against your hat in your way home.” So he bought beautiful dresses, pearls, and jewels for his two stepdaughters. In his way home, as he was riding through a green thicket, a hazel twig brushed against him and knocked off his hat. Then he broke off the twig and took it with him. Arriving home, he gave his stepdaughters the things that they had asked for, and gave Cinderella the twig from the hazel bush. Cinderella thanked him, went to her mother’s grave, and planter the branch on it ,and she wept so much that her tears fell upon it and watered it. It grew and became a beautiful tree. Cinderella went to this tree three times every day, and beneath, it she wept and prayed. A white bird would throw down to her what she had wished for. Now it happened that the king proclaimed a festival that was to last three days. All the beautiful young girls in the land were invited, so that his son could select a bride for himself. When the two stepsisters heard that they too had been invited, they were in high spirits. They called Cinderella, saying, “comb our hair for us. Brush our shoes and fasten our buckles. We are going to the festival at the king’s castle .” Cinderella obeyed, but wept, because she too would have liked to go to the dance with them. She begged her stepmother to allow her to go. “you. ,Cinderella?” she said, “you ,all covered with dust and dirt, and you want to go to the festival? you have neither clothes nor shoes, and yet you want to dance!” However, because Cinderella kept asking, the stepmother finally said, “I have scattered a bowl of lentils into the ashes for you. If you can pick them out again in two hours, then you may to with us .” The girl went through the back door into the garden, and called out, “you tame pigeons, you turtledoves, and all you birds beneath the sky, come and help me to gather: The good ones go into the pot, The bad ones go into your crop. Two white pigeons came in through the kitchen window, and then the turtledoves, and finally all the birds beneath the sky came whirring and swarming in, and lit around the ashes. The pigeons nodded their heads and began to pick, pick ,pick, pick. And the others also began to pick, pick, pick, pick. They gathered all the good grains into the bowl. Hardly one hour had passed before they were finished, and they all flew out again. The girl took the bowl to her stepmother, and was happy, thinking that now she would be allowed to go to the festival with them. But the stepmother said, “no, Cinderella, you have no clothes, and you don’t know how to dance. Everyone would only laugh at you .” Cinderella began to cry, and then the stepmother said, “you may go if you are able to pick two bowls of lentils out of the ashes for me in one hour,” Thinking to herself, “she will never he able to do that. “ The girl went through the back door into the garden, and called out, “you tame pigeons, you turtledoves, and all you birds beneath the sky, come and help me to gather: The good ones go into the pot, The bad ones go into you crop. Two white pigeons came in through the kitchen window, and then the turtledoves, and finally all birds beneath the sky came whirring and swarming in, and lit around the ashes. The pigeons nodded their heads and began to pick, pick, pick, pick. And the others also began to pick, pick, pick, pick. They gathered all the gook grains into the bowls. Before a half hour had passed they were finished, and they all flew out again. The girl took the bowls to her stepmother, and was happy, thinking that now she would be allowed to go to the festival with them. But the stepmother said, “it’s no use. You are not coming with us, for you have no clothes, and you don’t know how to dance. We would be ashamed of you .” with this she turned her back on Cinderella ,and hurried away with her tow proud daughters. Now that no one else was at home, Cinderella went to her mother’s grave beneath the hazel tree, and cried out: Shake and quiver, little tree, Throw gold and silver down to me . Then the bird threw a gold and silver dress down to her, and slippers embroidered with silk and silver. She quickly put on the dress and went to the festival. Her stepsisters and her stepmother did not recognize her. They thought she must be foreign princess, for she looked so beautiful in the golden dress. They never once thought it was Cinderella, for they thought that she was sitting at home in the dirt, looking for lentils in the ashes. The prince approached her, took her by the hand, and danced with her. Furthermore, he would dance with no one else. He never let go of her hand, and whenever anyone else came and asked her to dance, he would say, “she is my dance partner.” She danced until evening, and then she wanted to go home. But the prince said, “I will go along and escort you,” for he wanted to see to whom the beautiful girl belonged. However, she eluded him and jumped into the pigeon coop. the prince waited until her father came, and then he told him that the unknown girl had jumped into the pigeon coop. The old man thought, “Could it be Cinderella?” He had them bring him an ax and a pick so that he could break the pigeon coop apart, but on one was inside. When they got home Cinderella was lying in the ashes, dressed in her dirty clothes. A dim little oil-lamp was burning in the fireplace. Cinderella had quickly jumped down from the back of the pigeon coop and had run to the hazel tree. There she had taken off her beautiful clothes and laid them on the grave, and the bird had taken them away again. Then, dressed in her gray smock, she had returned to the ashes in the kitchen. The next day when the festival began anew, and her parents and her stepsisters had gone again, Cinderella went to the hazel tree and said: Shake and quiver, little tree, Throw gold and silver down to me. Then the bird threw down an even more magnificent dress than on the preceding day. When Cinderella appeared at the festival in this dress, everyone was astonished at her beauty. The prince had waited until she came, then immediately took her by the hand, and danced only with her. When others came and asked her to dance with them, she said, “she is my dance partner .” When evening came she wanted to leave, and the prince followed her, wanting to see into which house she went. But she ran away from him and into the garden behind the house. A beautiful tall tree stood there, on which hung the most magnificent pears. She climbed as nimbly as a squirrel into the branches, and the prince did not know where she had gone. He waited until her father came, the said to him, “the unknown girl has eluded me, and I believe she has climbed up the pear tree.” The father thought, “could it be Cinderella?” he had an ax brought to him and cut down the tree, but no one was in it. When they came to the kitchen, Cinderella was lying there in the ashes as usual, for she had jumped down from the other side of the tree, had taken the beautiful dress back to the bird in the hazel tree, and had put on her gray smock. On the third day, when her parents and sisters had gone away, Cinderella went again to her mother’s grave and said to the tree: Shake and quiver, little tree, Throw gold and silver down to me. The time the bird threw down to her a dress that was more splendid and magnificent than any she had yet had, and the slippers were of pure gold. When she arrived at the festival in this dress, everyone was so astonished that they did not know what to say. The prince danced only with her, and whenever anyone else asked her to dance, he would say, “she is my dance partner .” When evening came Cinderella wanted to leave, and the prince tried to escort her, but she ran away from him so quickly that he could not follow her. The prince, however, had set a trap. He had had the entire stairway smeared with pitch. When she ran down the stairs, her left slipper stuck in the pitch. The prince picked it up. Ti was small and dainty, and of pure gold. The next morning ,he went with it to the man, and said to him, “no one shall be my wife except for the one whose foot fits this golden shoe .” The two sisters were happy to hear this ,for they had pretty feet. With her mother standing by, the older one took the shoe into her bedroom to try it on. Then her mother gave her a knife and said, “cut off your toe. When you are queen you will on longer have to go on foot .” The girl cut off her toe, forced her foot into the shoe, swallowed the pain, and went out to the prince. He took her on his horse as his bride and rode away with her. However, they had to ride past the grave, and there, on the hazel tree, sat the two pigeons, crying out: Rook di goo, rook di goo ! There’s blood in the shoe. The shone it too tight, This bride is not right! Then he looked at her foot and saw how the blood was running from it. He turned his horse around and took the false bride home again, saying that she was not the right one, and that the other sister should try on the shoe. She went into her bedroom, and got her toes into the shoe all right, but her hell was too large. Then her mother gave her a knife, and said, “cut a piece off you heel. When you are queen you will no longer have to go on foot.” The girl cut a piece off her heel, forced her foot into the shoe, swallowed the pain, and went out to the prince. He took her on his horse as his bride and rode away with her. When they passed the hazel tree, the two pigeons were sitting in it ,and they cried out: Rook di goo, rook di goo ! There’s blood in the shoe. The shone it too tight, This bride is not right! He looked down at her foot and saw how the blood was running out of her shoe, and how it had stained her white stocking all red. Then he turned his horse around and took the false bride home again. “this is not the right one, either,” he said. “don’t you have another daughter?” “NO,” said the man. “there is only a deformed little Cinderella from my first wife, but she cannot possibly be the bride.” The prince told him to send her to him, but the mother answered, “oh, no, she is much too dirty. She cannot be seen.” But the prince insisted on it, and they had to call Cinderella. She first washed her hands and face clean, and then went and bowed down before the prince, who gave her the golden shoe. She sat down on a stool, pulled her foot out of the heavy wooden shoe, and put in into the slipper, and it fitted her perfectly. When she stood up the prince looked into her face, and he recognized the beautiful girl who had danced with him. He cried out, “she is my true bride.” The stepmother and two sisters were horrified and turned pale with anger. The prince, however, took Cinderella onto his horse and rode away with her. As they passed by the hazel tree, the two white doves cried out: Rook di goo, rook di goo! No blood’s in the shoe. The shoe’s not too tight, This bride is right! ! After they had cried this out, they both flew down and lit on Cinderella’s shoulders, one on the right, the other on the left, and remained sitting there. When the wedding with the prince was to be held, the two false sisters came, wanting to gain favor with Cinderella and to share her good fortune. When the bridal couple walked into the church, the older sister walked on their right side and the younger on their left side, and the pigeons pecked out one eye from each of them. Afterwards, as they came out of the church, the older one was on the left side, and the younger one on the right side, and then the pigeons pecked out the other eye from each of them. And thus, for their wickedness and falsehood, they were punished with blindness as ling as they lived. （　）5. Cinderella kept begging her stepmother to allow her to go to the festival but the latter created a lot of difficulties for her.

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 Un 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 clients casually dressed. The second mistake was (Jeri 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 land 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 word “gaffe” in the 4th paragraph can be replaced by