"Is there any mail for me?" you often ask when you return home at lunch or dinner time. If there is a letter, you read it eagerly, pleased that your friend or relative has thought of you. Other people respond as warmly as you do to a friendly letter. They are happy to be remembered. But if the letter you write makes them feel as if you yourself were with them, speaking in your own friendly way, they are especially pleased. You have given something of yourself. And to be yourself in a letter to a friend is an art you need to master.
14.Why are you pleased when you hear from your friend or relative?
Because you needn't write him a letter.
Because you can collect stamps.
Because you are remembered.
15.What kind of letter makes your friend especially pleased?
A long letter.
A short letter.
A letter in familiar language.
16.What is the title of this passage?
Mail.
How to Speak in a Friendly Way.
Write Me a Letter.
A man got into a train and found himself sitting opposite a woman who seemed to be about thirty-five years old. Soon they began talking to each other, and the man said to her, "Do you have a family?"
"Yes, I have one son," the woman answered.
"Oh, really?" said the man. "Does he smoke?"
"No, he's never touched a cigarette," the woman replied.
"That's good," the man continued. "I don't smoke either. Tobacco is very bad to one's health. And does your son drink wine?"
"Oh, no," the woman answered at once. "He's never drunk (酒醉的) a drop of it."
"Then I congratulate (祝贺，恭贺) you, ma'am," the man said. "And does he ever come home late at night?"
"No, never," his neighbor answered. "He goes to bed immediately after dinner every night."
"Well," the man said, "he's a wise young man. How old is he?"
"He's six months old today. But he'll grow up to be a gentleman," the woman replied proudly.
17.What are the man and the woman talking about?
What a young man shouldn't do.
The woman's son.
The man's son.
18.How does the woman feel about her son?
He will grow up to be a wise young man.
He is still too young to do anything bad.
He is a very good boy.
19.Where does the conversation take place?
On a train. At the woman's home. In the street.
20.Which of the following probably best describes the man's feeling at the end of the conversation?
Amused. Disappointed. Surprised.
