单选题
(D)

THANK-you cards--heartfelt expressions of gratitude for gifts, services and general kindness--seem to be rare in an age when the Internet continues to reduce human interaction.
Although our society has changed greatly over the past century, the etiquette of thank-you notes has not.
While most people would agree that thank-you notes under these circumstances are a necessity, there are still those who forever postpone or are forgetful for unknown reasons.
And at no time of the year are thank-you notes more visible (or lacking) than June, the month of graduations, and the beginning of summer parties.
"It's a must-do thing. A real thank you does not come by e-mail. It comes in the mail in an envelope. And what comes out of an envelope is a beautiful thing to touch and to handle and to pass around for everyone to read," said etiquette expert Letitia Baldrige.
Don't think for a second that Baldrige is old-fashioned. Handwritten thank-you notes--any handwritten correspondence, for that matter- have taken on an air of extra importance and dignity (庄重) in this e-hyper (电子狂躁的) world.
Baldrige remains hopeful that the art may be enjoying a renaissance (复兴,再生).
More than simply obeying rules of etiquette, thank-you cards are a sign of caring.
"They're more important now than ever," expert Peter Post says. "You are building a relationship. And part of building that relationship is that you acknowledge when someone has done something nice for you. "
"The payoff," Post says, "can be huge. The more we do it, the more it comes back to us, and it's a benefit to us all. It makes our world a little bit nicer place to live in. "
单选题 Nowadays thank-you cards seem to be rare mainly because ______.
  • A. people think that they are out of fashion
  • B. it is quicker to say thanks by e-mail
  • C. the Internet has reduced people's contact
  • D. people are too busy to remember these things
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 只要认识reduce(减少)和interaction(相互交流)，并详细阅读本文第1句，就能找出正确答案。reduce human interaction和reduce people’s contact意思相近。
单选题 From the context, the word "etiquette" in the second paragraph probably means ______.
  • A. old objects for sale
  • B. rules for people to obey
  • C. hand-made articles
  • D. customs for polite behavior
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] etiquette意思是“礼仪，礼节”，根据该词在本文中使用的情况(共出现3次)，很快可排除选项A)和C)，再和写感谢信这种礼貌的举止联系起来，即可判断D)为正确答案。
单选题 You are expected to write a thank-you note when ______.
  • A. you have received a wedding gift
  • B. you have attended your son's graduation ceremony
  • C. you have hosted a summer party
  • D. you have found something beautiful to read
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 详读本文第1段和第4段，根据一般常识，即可排除选项B)、C)和D)。参加你儿子的毕业典礼，由你主办夏日聚会，等等，都不需要你回写感谢信。只有收到结婚礼物，才用得着写感谢信。
单选题 The author implies in this article that ______.
  • A. old-fashioned people take a negative attitude to e-mails
  • B. the changing society is making people impolite and lazy
  • C. modern technology is driving people apart
  • D. the e-hyper world is not a nice place to live in
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 这是一道推断题。做这一类题，通常需要大概读懂全文，才能找出正确答案。详读第3段和第6段，即可排除A)、B)、D)三个选项。在文中，modem technology指的就是the Internet，而且reduce interaction和drive people apart的意思相近，故C)为正确答案。
单选题 What is the author's main purpose of writing this article?
  • A. To remind people to express heartfelt thanks.
  • B. To criticize people's forgetfulness.
  • C. To suggest building a new relationship.
  • D. To emphasize the importance of e-mail.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 提醒我们经常向别人表示由衷的感谢这个意思贯穿全文，而thank you在本文中出现的频率相当高，故很容易找出正确答案。