When we credit the successful people with intelligence, physical strength or good luck we are making excuses for ourselves because we fall______in all three.

Ten minutes later

______, he remains very modest.

These melodious folk songs are generally ______ to Smith, a very important musician of the century.

The word hospice is hundreds of years old

The young artist had not expected to find such an ideal attic in that ______ building, which had been abandoned several years earlier by a sewing machine manufacturer.

Franklin D

Fewer and fewer of today's workers expect to spend their working lives in the same field,______the same company.

Can you imagine! He offered me $ 5,000 to break my contract. That's______. Of course I didn't agree. I would take legal action.

By cutting down trees we ______ the natural home of birds and animals.

The use of money is not limited to high civilizations; actually many primitive peoples have ______ moneys of their own.

In the past most pilots have been men, but today the number of women______ this field is climbing.

______springs not out of true and deep admiration, but more often out of a self-seeking wish to identify with someone important or famous.

No matter what he said to you

In a recent survey

The famous actress was imposed heavy______for non-payment of taxes.

All normal human beings are______at least to a degree—they get a feeling of warmth and kinship from engaging in group activities.

What professor Clinton mentioned just now was a virtually extinct Caucasian language spoken ______ in Turkey.

Americans usually consider themselves a friendly people. Their friendships, however, tend to be shorter and more casual than friendships among people from other cultures. It is not uncommon for Americans to have only one close friend during their lifetime, and consider other "friends" to be just social acquaintances. This attitude probably has something to do with American mobility and the fact that Americans do not like to be dependent on other people. They tend to "compartmentalize (划分) friendships, having "friends at work", "friends on the softball team", "family friends", etc. Because the United States is a highly active society, full of movement and change, people always seem to be on the go. In this highly changed atmosphere, Americans can sometimes seem brusque (无礼的) or impatient. They want to get to know you as quickly as possible and then move on to something else. Sometimes, early on, they will ask you questions that you may feel very personal. No insult is intended; the questions usually grow out of their genuine interest or curiosity, and their impatience to get to the heart of the matter. And the same goes for you. If you do not understand certain American behavior or you want to know more about them, do not hesitate to ask them questions about themselves. Americans are usually eager to explain all about their country or anything "American" in which you may be interested. So much so in fact that you may become tired of listening. It doesn't matter because Americans tend to be uncomfortable with silence during a conversation. They would rather talk about the weather or the latest sports scores, for example, than deal with silence. On the other hand, don't expect Americans to be knowledgeable about international geography or world affairs, unless those subjects directly involve the United States. Because the United States is not surrounded by many other nations, some Americans tend to ignore the rest of the world. The general topic of the passage is ______.