The New York Times recently reported that American teens are hugging practically everyone they see. Say goodbye to the greetings of the past, from the hands-off "What"s up!" to the handshake or high-five ². For young people across the country, hugging is the new "Hello".

    Girls are hugging girls. Boys are hugging boys. Girls and boys are hugging each other. And, like every major trend, there are lots of variations on the form. There"s the classic, full-body, arms-around-the-person bear hug, the casual one-armed side hug, the group hug and the hug from behind. There"s the handshake that turns into a hug and the hug that turns into a pat on the back.

    As trends go, this one seems pretty innocent. But some parents, teachers and school administrators are worried nonetheless. Will young people who aren"t as comfortable with physical contact feel peer pressured into hugging? Willkids who don"t receive hugs feel left Out ³? Could an extra-long hug slide into the more ominous territory of sexual harassment?

    In response to some of these concerns, some schools have set up new rules to limit or eliminate hugging. One school head has created a three-second limitation ⁴ for hugs at her school. A few schools have taken even more drastic measures, placing a ban on all forms of touching between students.

    A few important points are being left out of the discussion. While the US has traditionally been reserved about touching - saving hugs and kisses for relatives, romantic partners and very close friends - people in many other parts of the world have been greeting each other this way for ages.

    In Latin America or Western Europe, in countries like Spain,France, andItaly, a kiss on the cheek is common among women, as well as among women and men who are not romantically involved. The cheek-kiss varies by region.

    Sometimes it is just an air kiss blown past the face. In other places, the proper way of greeting is to deliver a kiss upon both cheeks, or sometimes even a triplet of kisses performed by kissing one cheek, then the other, then back to the first.

    Latin American men are more likely to shake hands when greeting other men,but in some countries likeTurkey, it"s not unusual for men who know each other well to exchange kisses on the cheek. Meanwhile, for the Maori people ⁵ ofNew Zealand, a traditional greeting called the "hongi" involves pressing nosestogether.

    So, from a global perspective, the new trend of teen hugging inAmericais not so "new" after all. People all around the world move in close to say hello,and Americans are just now joining in.

词汇：

touchy ["tʌtʃɪ] 易怒的；敏感的

harassment ["hærəsmənt] 骚扰

triplet ["trɪplət] 三个一组；三件一套

注释：

1.touchy的本意为“易怒的”“敏感的”，这里用来指“喜欢肢体接触的”，标题意味美国人越来越喜欢肢体接触了。

2.high-five:是美国文化手势的一种，并没有正式的中文名称，一般代表了“庆祝成功的击掌”，有时也写成“Give  me - five”。

3.feel left out:感到被排斥

4.three-second limitation:学校制定的将拥抱限制在三秒钟之内的规定

5.Maori people:毛利人（新西兰的土著）

Some parents,teachers and school administrators concern the new trend of hugging for thefollowing reasons EXCEPT____.

A:Some young people get involved into the trend due to peer pressure B:Those who don"t receive hugs feel left out C:There"s the danger that hugging slide into the more ominous territory of sexual harassment D:Diseases could be transmitted more easily through the extra-long body contact

HAV是（）

A:引起甲型肝炎的病毒，经粪-口传播 B:引起乙型肝炎的病毒，经多种途径传播 C:引起丙型肝炎的病毒，经血传播 D:常与乙型肝炎病毒重复感染的缺陷病毒，经血传播 E:引起戊型肝炎的病毒，经粪-口传播

Some people dislike fairy stories because they feel that they ______.

A:tempt people to be cruel to children B:show the primitive cruelty in children C:lend themselves to undesirable experiments with children D:increase a tendency to sadism in children

Some people think they have an answer to the troubles of automobile, crowding and dirty air in large cities. Their answer is the bicycle.
In a great many cities, hundreds of people ride bicycles to work every day. In New York City, some bike riders have even formed a group called Bike for a Better City. They claim that if more people rode bicycles to work there would be fewer automobile in the downtown section of the city and therefore less dirty air from car engines.
For several years this group has been trying to get the city government to help bike riders. For example, they want city to draw the bicycle lanes on some of the main streets, because when bike riders must use the same lanes as cars, there are accidents. Bike for a Better City feels that if there were special lanes more people would use bikes.
But no bicycle lanes have been drawn. Not everyone thinks it is a good idea-they say it will slow traffic. Some store owners on the main streets say that if there is less traffic, they will have less business. And most people live too far from downtown to travel by bike.
The city government has not yet decided what to do. It wants to keep everyone happy. Only on weekends, Central Park is closed to cars, and roads may be used by bicycles only. But Bike for a Better City says that this is not enough and keeps fighting to get bicycle lanes downtown.
The idea of special bicycle lanes is most favored by ______.

A:the city government B:some bike riders C:people living from downtown D:some store owners

Mr. Brown is 102 years old. He is leading a full and active life. Why has he (21) so long Many (22) would like to know the answer to the question. They are studying groups of old people all over the world and try to find why some very old people remain healthy (23) and spirit (精神) while (24) be come weak and iii in their 60s. They have observed, first of all, that doing (25) work is a way of life for all these long-lived people. They began their long days of physical labor (26) children and never seem to stop. Second, all these people come from (27) . The air has (28) oxygen (氧) and is pollution free, (29) makes the hearts stronger. Third, these people eat little animal meat. They like to have fresh vegetables, nuts (坚果) , grains, and (30) They never eat more food than their bodies need.

A:the others B:some others C:those people D:no people

Mr. Brown is 102 years old. He is leading a full and active life. Why has he (21) so long Many (22) would like to know the answer to the question. They are studying groups of old people all over the world and try to find why some very old people remain healthy (23) and spirit (精神) while (24) be come weak and iii in their 60s. They have observed, first of all, that doing (25) work is a way of life for all these long-lived people. They began their long days of physical labor (26) children and never seem to stop. Second, all these people come from (27) . The air has (28) oxygen (氧) and is pollution free, (29) makes the hearts stronger. Third, these people eat little animal meat. They like to have fresh vegetables, nuts (坚果) , grains, and (30) They never eat more food than their bodies need.

A:the others B:some others C:those people D:no people

Some people oppose the building of flats because

A:it is dangerous for children to play on the top of buildings B:they have to spend a lot of money and time on the journeys to work C:they believe people like to live in houses with gardens D:the disposal of rubbish remains a problem for those living in flats

Some American people thought that ______.

A:the government sometimes did things in favor of big corporations B:the country's industry was growing too rapidly C:shops should have the same price for the same kind of goods D:their country's wealth was both good and bad to the people