What do we really mean by being open? Being open is a kind of invitation to others to come in, to speak and to share. It is important for others to get to know how we think and feel. In this way, we will be understood and accepted by others. If we aren’t open with others, we won’t fully believe in ourselves or others.

  Here are a few ways for you to be more open. First, make your outside behavior the same as your inside feelings and thoughts. Second, share how you really feel about something instead of just opinions. Third, try to change your questions into statements (陈述句) and talk in the first person so that people will understand you more easily. For example, you might say, “I feel happy that you’re here.” instead of “Are you glad that you’re here?” Finally, try not to say, “I don’t know.” This usually means I don’t want to think about it any more.

  Remember also that it is not suitable to be open with everyone in every situation. You may want to be more open with close friends, but not with people you don’t know well, because you are not sure how someone else will use what they know about you. Besides, some people may not be used to too much openness. If we say everything we feel or think to them, they will feel very uncomfortable at times.

  In all, being open is a good way for us to get on well with other people, but we’d better keep the balance (平衡) between being open and not being too open.

  Long long ago, an elephant and a monkey   (1)  （live） in the same forest. But both of them were very proud. The elephant thought of   (2)  (he) strong, and the monkey felt himself quick. So one day they went to ask the old bird. But the bird didn’t give   (3)  (they) the answer at once. Instead he let them get some   (4)  (banana) on the other side of the river and bring them to him. So the elephant and the monkey went to the river, but the monkey couldn’t swim, so the elephant asked him to get on his back and swim   (5)  (cross) the river. After they got to the banana trees, the elephant found it hard   (6)  (reach) the bananas, but the monkey quickly climbed up the tree and  (7)  (pass) the bananas to the elephant.

Then they came back   (8)  (happy) to the old bird and showed him the bananas. “Now, you see, you two   (9)  (can) do the work

  (10)  (good) only when you helped each other.”

It’s necessary to discover what you are good at or not and what you like or dislike.

    Many students would be unhappy if they f (1) in a very difficult physics exam, but in f           (2) they have known a lot about themselves. They r (3) that they should not become engineers or physical scientists in the future. So failing can help a student to live a happier life if he or she draws something out of it. They may then decide on their aim（目标）and c (4) the kind of work that they would be fit for and they would like to do.

    You can’t be sure whether you like something u (5) you have tried it. If you

make a d            (6) that you would like to play the violin, you need to take more music classes b (7) you know if you are really interested in it.

    It is not e (8) to hope to be a violinist. You also have to stand（忍受）the hard practice before you become one. If you would enjoy being a great violinist, but hate the hard and

b (9) work, just give it up.

    It’s a good plan to try as many ideas as possible when you are still young. And then you will be able to find o (10) what your true interests are.

Holding doors open for people behind you, picking up litter, thanking people … these acts of kindness s  (1)  very small. But students at No.1 Middle School know that such small acts make the world a better place.

    Eighth-graders from this school, took part in the Random(随机的) Acts of Kindness Week f  (2)   March 31 to April 4. During the week, they tried their best to do kind things for others. Murray, an English teacher at the school, started the activity. Since she was little, she has always tried to do small acts of kindness in her daily life. “I believe the world is c  (3)   by small things,” she told the newspaper The Daily Times. Over the week, to her surprise, Murray also saw great changes in her class.

    Before that, she always needed to ask her students to push the chairs in or turn off the lights before they leave the classroom. Now, the students do those things by t  (4)  . “The teachers have a lot of work,” said Jordon, one of Murray’s students. He learned to care more about others. Eliza, another student, gave out more praise to others. “It makes them feel happy and successful,” she said. The activity made students feel that they can make a difference. Murray decides to continue to do at l  (5)  one act of kindness every week, however busy she is. She believes her acts can encourage others.

Chapter Two   Don’t Sleep in Large Places

It was night by the time she came to a town. Just outside the town, there was a large temple. It was very quiet.   (1)  .

“I will stay here tonight,” she thought.

The temple was quiet because only a goblin lived in it. But the girl did not know this.

Once inside the temple, she came near to the only room.  (2)  .

“Is anyone here?” she called quietly.

There was no answer, so she went into the room. Inside the room, there was only a mat on the floor, a light near the window, and a large paper screen.

The girl wanted to sleep, but she also wanted to draw some cats. She drew them on the paper screen. She drew cats of every kind.

  (3)  .Then she remembered the nun’s words: Don’t go into large places at night. Go only into small ones.

“This room is very large. And I am alone. I’ll hide myself.”

She looked around the room and saw a large box. She opened the box and looked inside. It was empty.

“Good,” she thought. “I can hide in this box.”

… ….

从下面四个选项中选出能填入文中的正确句子，并把正确的选项写在相对应的横线上。

A. After that, she lay down and went to sleep

B. There was only one light in one of the rooms 

C. She knocked on the door, but no one came

D. Then she suddenly heard a terrible noise

A. The goblin killed the girl.                 B. The cats saved the girl.

C. The rat slept in the box.              D. The girl became a cat.

It was already 7:30 and I was late again for the dinner out with my wife，Eleanor. We had agreed to meet at the r  (1)  at seven o’clock. I felt a little a  (2)  , but to my relief(宽慰), I had a good excuse: A business meeting had run over and I had w  (3)  no time getting to the dinner.

When I arrived, Eleanor was very angry. “I am sorry, I didn’t m  (4)   to be late, but it was not available,” I said. Then I told her about the business meeting. However, my explanation seemed to make things even w  (5)  , which started to drive me mad as well.

Several weeks later, when I d  (6)  these with my friend Ken Hardy. He smiled, “you made a classic mistake. You’re stuck in your own way of thinking. You didn’t want to be late. But that’s not the p  (7)  . What is important is your communication is how your lateness affected Eleanor.” He said that I paid special attention to the intention(目的) while Eleanor to the r  (8)  . Thus, both of us felt misunderstood and c  (9)  .

Thinking more about Ken’s words, I gradually got the real c  (10)  of such disagreement. It’s what I did really matters!

Table manners are very different in every country. For example, when you are in England you must not lift your soup plate to your mouth. This is very impolite. But when you are in Japan this is completely normal. Lifting your plate to your mouth in Japan is a traditional way of drinking your soup. And also in Japan you don’t have to worry about making a noise when you drink it. It just shows that you really like the food! But it is not the same in Britain, so you shouldn’t make a noise when eating there.

In Britain, people don’t put their hands or arms on the table during the meal. But in Mexico, guests keep their hands on the table all the time. In fact, you should watch what your hands do very carefully. In Arab countries, it is impolite when you eat with your left hand, so don’t do it!

In all the cultures it is impolite to speak when you are eating.

In Ukraine you should not start eating first; you should wait for all the others to start eating with you. You also have to say “please” and “thank you” every time you ask for and get something. If you don’t like some food, don’t make faces and don’t say: “Yuk! I hate that!”

The best way to avoid making mistakes in other countries is to watch the host and try to do as he does.

任务一：根据短文内容回答问题

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任务二:按要求完成下列各题

Customs and habits are usually not the same in every country.

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In New York City public school.176 different languages are spoken among more than one million students.For 160,000 children, English is not their first language．New York’s Department of Education makes learning   (1)  （更好）for these students by providing dual﹣language（双语）programs．Students are taught in two languages，English and   (2)  （另一个，另一种）one，such as French，German or Japanese，Math，social studies，science and all other regular courses are taught in both languages.And they learn about the   (3)  （文化）of the other country．

Milady Baez，a headmaster，says these dual﹣language programs will help children succeed in the future．“The jobs of the future   (4)  （要求）that our students know more than one language．They’re going to travel   (5)  （在国外）and communicate with people from all over the world．This will open doors for them.”

Shuya Zhang   (6)  （教）a dual﹣language class．She says, “America started economic relationships with China.Lots of factories were   (7)  （建造）．companies moved to China．They need people with both language skills.”

Anna，a Russian girl came to America   (8)  （当......时）she was two years old．She says the Russian-English program keeps her connected to her heritage and her parents happy．

Nowadays，more and more   (9)  （外国人）come to China．Perhaps in the future your school will also provide them with the dual-language program．