The teahouse is very popular in China.It is a place for the Chinese people to have tea.There are many other names for it, such as Chalou and Chating.Although the names are different, they have similar forms and contents.
Small teahouses existed long before in China.During the Song Dynasty, Chasi and Chafang were places where tea was sold.During the Qing Dynasty, the Manchu people from high society often spent their time in teahouses.As a result, teahouses became important meeting places for people from all walks of life.
To the Chinese people, teahouses are similar to the cafés in western countries.They are social places.People gather and spread all kinds of social information; customers taste tea and talk about news and daily things there.In order to attract customers, some teahouses build stages for shows like Chinese drumming, Storytelling and Beijing Opera.
The rise of teahouses is closely related with Chinese tea culture.After several thousand years of development, the teahouse has become a part of life for the Chinese people.Now, those who come to Beijing will be attracted to the famous teahouses to experience Chinese tea culture.
Choose the best answer A, B, C or D to complete each statement based on Passage A.
21.The teahouse is a place for the Chinese people to ______ tea.
A.process
B.buy
C.sell
D.drink
22.______ was a place to sell tea.
A.Chalou
B.Chafang
C.Chating
D.Chatan
23.Finally, teahouses became important meeting places for ______.
A.all kinds of people
B.important people
C.upper class
D.the Manchu people
24.The word “similar to” means ______.
A.different from
B.the same as
C.close to
D.related to
25.People come to teahouses not to ________.
A.share social information
B.taste tea
C.eat
D.chat
I'm in Paris, and a strangely quiet Paris it is. Nothing is going nowhere. If they're not on strike here, they're stuck in a traffic jam. It took me two hours to go two miles yesterday evening. And this morning many of the taxis, too, have joined in, leaving me with no alternative but to start walking. And it' s bitterly cold!
The strikes are serious protests about serious issues, but I'm struck, as so often on these occasions, by something much more mundane. People are once again talking to people; strangers are going out of their way to befriend strangers, allies for a week or two in their shared frustration. Parisian motorists, even, normally the most competitive of individualists, have been seen leaving notes in their parked cars saying where they are going and when they expect to leave in case anymore wants a lift.
Remove the technology of modem life, it seems, and we often start to be nice to one another again. Technology can isolate us, for all its benefits. It started, I guess, with the chimney. Before there were chimneys, we all had to huddle together in one room Just to keep warm, master and maid, cowman and son of the house. Then some unknown genius came up with the idea of the chimney, and the social stratification of society increased dramatically as all withdrew into their own quarters. Central heating, which is, more truthfully, decentralized heating, made it worse, and now we have our walkmans, our microwaves, or, if we' re really trendy, the Internet and e-mail. You can get by, these days, without actually speaking to anyone at all. Just the odd grunt to show that you' re alive !
I liked the survey which asked teenagers how they laid a table for a meal. Did they put the knife on the fight and the fork on the left, or did they put them both together？ And 40 percent said one and 20 percent the other, but 40 percent didn't know! They had never sat down at a table together but had always, as they say, been grazers, helping themselves from the fridge and carrying the food off to their own comer to munch on their own.
If progress means that we don' t need to talk to each other anymore, then I'm getting worried. You can' t begin to love and befriend your neighbors if you never talk to them, and vice versa, they can't love you. It becomes a recipe for a world of solitaries. But most of us weren't destined to be hermits. People need people to be truly people, as the Parisians, in spite of all their frustrations, are discovering again this week. "Try walking instead" was my motto for this morning, but perhaps the motto for us all this festive month might be "Turn it off, whatever it is, and try talking instead!"
According to the author, the advent of modem technology may NOT______.
A．isolate us from the test of the society.
B．enable us to enjoy a much more convenient life.
C．leave people alone so that they may become truly people.
D．help people become grazers who are used to helping themselves from the fridge and carrying the food off to their own comer to munch on their own.
Many people with ordinary jobs may dream of long holidays in foreign countries, but they know they couldn’t afford them even if they could get enough time off from the company.However, there are a few businesses which have started schemes to reward employees with long service by giving them a chance to fulfill such ambitions by providing both the time and the money.
One company gives every employee over 50 years old and who has been with them for 25 years, six months’ holiday on full pay.At the same time additional money can be made available by way of loans, to help them with projects they cannot otherwise offer.Most of the people who have already benefited from the scheme, have used the opportunity to travel to distant places like the Far East or South America and some have spent the money on their favorite hobbies, such as photography.
The cost of providing these special holidays is fairly high but the directors feel it is well worthwhile because the employees are greatly refreshed by their long break from the pressures and routines of their jobs.The only problems are that the people concerned tend to have key jobs which can be difficult to fill on a temporary basis for a relatively long time.Besides, some employees find it difficult to re-adjust to the old routine after such a long time away.In addition, one or two people may not feel secure at leaving their job in someone else’s hands.On balance, however, there is no doubt that the idea is beneficial to industrial relations and a wonderful reward for long service.
31.Many workers would like to ___________.
A.dream of long holidays at home
B.spend a long time in unusual places
C.buy a holiday away from home
D.have a long holiday after many years
32.One company____________.
A.gives money to employees over 25 years
B.lends staff money to go on holidays
C.allows long holidays to certain staff
D.arranges long holidays for old employees
33.Most of the employees in the scheme ____________.
A.take foreign trips
B.develop their hobbies
C.take up photography
D.enjoy leisure activities
34.The directors feel that _____________.
A.the staff get a lot of pleasures from the scheme
B.older staff are very enthusiastic about holidays
C.the scheme is more expensive than they expected
D.the scheme is beneficial to staff relations
35.One of the problems is that ________________.
A.it is difficult to fill a temporary job
B.some employees are afraid of their colleagues
C.it is difficult for some people to re-adjust to the old routine after a long break
D.employees don’t feel secure when they are away
