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

Old Japanese living alone can now hire a "family" for lunch and a few hours’pleasant talk. Just give them a ring and ask for, say, a daughter, son-in-law and grandchild. They will show up at your door, and greet you happily as if they hadn’t seen you for years.
Some 15 couples have so far hired "families". "We have nearly 80 people on the waiting list."Said the president of the company that offers such services. "What is common about these senior citizens is that they are eager for human love. We are helping them make their dreams come true."
Where once big families with three or more generations living together were common, now numbers are reducing fast. In cities there are very few indeed. Many old people seldom see their families. This may be because the children’s bosses have sent them to a distant city, even abroad, or just because busy family members can not find time to visit their parents.
"We have seen many cases in which parent-children relations are not in a happy state," company president continues. "When a son finally visits his parents after a long while, it is often just to ask for money or for them to let him have their property(财产) early." Loneliness is not a one-way street. "One young mother came to us to ask about grandparents," he adds.
The company is now developing into other fields. Their services include providing "employee" for businessmen to scold and "lovers" for young people unlucky in love. Company’s "lovers" for hire is not a service to be misunderstood, company president makes clear. "You shouldn’t think about our lover too romantically(浪漫地) ,"he said, "She’s there to act as an adviser on how to find a girlfriend./
Old people in Japanese hire family members

A:to ask for help when they are ill B:to realize their big-family dreams C:to seek love and comfort D:to strengthen parent-children relations

Are you a good reader Good readers know that reading isn’t just about knowing words— it’s a way of thinking. Here are some tips that may be of some help.
Think before you read. Before you read the text, ask yourself the questions that why you are reading it and what you want to get from it. These will help you choose what words you need to know and what words you can skip or scan.
Think while you are reading. Can you get the meaning of the text without looking up new words in a dictionary A text will often give examples that may help you understand some words. For example: Many large Russian cities, such as Chelyabinsk and Irkutsk, have taken steps to protect their culture. The words "Chelyabinsk’ and "Irkutsk’ may be new to us, but the sentences before and after it tell us what they are.
Think after you read. What is the main idea of the text Is the text too easy or too hard for you
If you practice reading and thinking in this way, you will become a better reader and you will learn better and faster.
We can learn from the passage that______.

A:Reading is just a way of knowing new words B:A good reader must learn more new words C:A good reader can think before, while and after reading D:Reading takes a lot of time

Miggi grows the best vegetables in the village. He grows fruits too-big, sweet apples and oranges. And what else Well, the biggest and the prettiest flowers.
Things grow in Miggi’s garden all through the year. He cuts some flowers for his sitting room table; and of course, he eats some fruits and vegetables. But he sells everything else in the market, Miggi is not a poor man.
He knows a few other gardeners; but he does not have any friends. You might ask, "What is that Why doesn’t he have friend" I will tell you. People do not understand him. And they do not understand his garden. "Why not" you will ask. "It’s a very good garden, isn’t it" It is a wonderful garden. Miggi plants things in spring, summer, autumn and winter. After that he does very little work. He sits in the garden with his small radio. And eve rything grows.
People ask, "How does Miggi grow these wonderful things He waters the plants some- times, but he doesn’t do anything else. He just sits under an orange tree with his radio. He listens to music nearly all day!" and that is all quite true. People cannot understand it, and so they don’t like it very much.
Miggi likes music. But what about the garden Who does the work I will tell you an- other true thing: the music does the work. All plants love music; and Miggi knows that. Do you want big vegetables and the loveliest flowers Well, just give your plants a lot of music.
People think that______.

A:Miggi’s garden is better than theirs B:Miggi works harder than they C:Miggi knows how to grow vegetables well D:The radio helps Miggi to grow everything well in his garden

A:introduce Halloween to readers. B:ask readers to offer money to help poor children. C:show the fact that plastic electric pumpkins will replace the real ones. D:welcome people to U.S.A to celebrate Halloween.

For chronically ill patients, giving up the hope that they will get better may actually lead to more happiness, U.S. researchers suggest.
"Hope is an important part of happiness, but there’s a dark side of hope. Sometimes, if hope makes people put off getting on with their life, it can get in the way of happiness," Dr. Peter A. Ubel from the University of Michigan Health System said in a university news release.
He and his colleagues studied patients who’d just had a colostomy (结肠造口术), which means their colons (结肠) were removed and they had to have howe1 (肠) movements in a pouch (小袋) outside the body. At the time of the surgery, some patients were told the procedure was reversible and they’d have a second operation in a few months to reconnect their bowels. Other patients were told the colostomy was permanent.
The patients were followed for six months, and the researchers found that those without hope of regaining normal bowel function were happier than those with reversible colostomies.
"We think they were happier because they got on with their life. They realized the cards they were dealt, and recognized that they had no choice but to play with those cards," Ubel said. "The other group was waiting for their colostomy to be reversed. They contrasted their current life with the life they hoped to lead, and didn’t make the best of their current situation. "
The study, published in the November edition of Health Psychology, also may explain why people whose spouse dies often recover better emotionally over time than those who get divorced, the researchers said.
That’s because people whose husband or wife dies have closure (结束), while those who get divorced may still have hope for some chance of making up, they explained.

A:They had just survived an accident. B:They had just had an operation. C:They had just injured their colons. D:They had just made some pouches.

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A:They had just survived an accident. B:They had just had an operation. C:They had just injured their colons. D:They had just made some pouches.

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A:They had just survived an accident. B:They had just had an operation. C:They had just injured their colons. D:They had just made some pouches.