When women sit together to watch a movie on TV, at the same time they usually talk about a lot of subjects, including children, men, careers and what’s happening in their lives. When groups of men and women watch a movie together, the men usually end up telling the women to shut up. Men can either talk or watch the screen---they can’t do both---and they don’t understand that women can. Besides(此外), women think that the point of all getting together is to have a good time and develop relationships--not just to sit there like couch potatoes staring (盯著) at the screen.
During the ad breaks, a man often asks a woman to explain the plot(the story that is told in a novel or play or movie etc.) and tell him where the relationship between the characters is going. He is unable, unlike women, to read the small body language signals that show how the characters are feeling emotionally(情緒上). Since women originally spent their days with the other women and children in the group, they developed the ability to communicate successfully because they want to keep relationships. For a woman, speech continues to have such a clear purpose: to build relationships and make friends. For men, to talk is to connect to the facts.
Men see the telephone as a communication tool for sending facts and information to other people, but a woman sees it as a way of keeping relationship. A woman can spend two weeks on vacation with her girlfriend and, when she returns home, telephone the same girlfriend and talk for another two hours.
There is no convincing(令人信服的)evidence that social conditioning, the fact that girls’ mothers talked them more, is the reason why girls talk more than boys. Psychiatrist Dr. Michael Lewis, author of Social Behaviour and Language Acquisition, conducted experiments that found mothers talked to and looked at baby girls more often than baby boys. Scientific evidence shows parents reply to the brain differences of their children. Since a girl’s brain is better organized to send and receive speech, we talk to them more. As a result, mothers who try to talk to their sons are usually pointed to receive only short complaints in reply.
【小題1】While watching TV with others, women usually talk a lot because they ___________.

When I was 16 years old, a boy gave me an important gift. It was a smile.
It was the early autumn of my first year at a junior high school, and my old school was far away. As a result, no one knew who I was. I was very lonely, and afraid to make friends with anyone.
Every time I heard the other students talking and laughing, I felt my heart break. I couldn't talk about anyone with my problems. And I didn't want my parents to worry about me.
Then one day, my classmates talked happily with their friends, but I sat at my desk unhappily as usual. At that moment, a boy came into the classroom. I didn't know who he was. He passed me and then turned back. He looked at me, without a word, only a smile.
Suddenly, I felt the touch of something bright and friendly. It made me feel happy, lively and warm.
That smile changed my life. I started to talk with other students and made friends. Day by day, I became closer to everyone in my class. The boy with the lucky smile has become my best friend now.
One day I asked him why he smiled, but he couldn't remember smiling at me!
It doesn't matter because all the dark days have gone. I believe that the world is what you think it is. If you think it lonely, you might always be alone. So smile at the world and it will smile back.
11. Why was the smile an important gift?
A. Because the writer's old school was far away.
B. Because the writer didn't know who the boy was.
C. Because the smile didn't mean anything to the boy.
D. Because it made the writer feel happy, lively and warm.
12.The writer didn't talk to anyone in her new school about her problem because  .
A. she was always unhappy
B. she didn't have any friends there
C. she was in the first year at the junior high school
D. she didn't want her parents to worry about her
13. How did the smile change her life?
A. She started to make friends.
B. She became the best friend with the boy.
C. Her parents didn't worry about her any more.
D. She realized that she was lonely.
14. Where does she now think her feeling of unhappiness came from?
A. From her old school     B. From her parents.
C.. From herself.          D. From her classmates at the new school.
15. Who has become the writer’s best friend now?
A. The writer herself           B. The writer’s parents
C. The writer’s classmates     D. The boy with the smile

Where is Love? How can we find Love?
Once a little boy wanted to meet Love. He knew it was a long trip to where Love lived, so he got his things ready with some pizzas and drinks and started off. When he passed three streets, he saw an old woman sitting in the park and watching some birds. She looked very hungry. The boy gave her a pizza. She took it and smiled at him. The smile was so beautiful that he wanted to see it again, so he gave her a Coke. She smiled once again. The boy was very happy.
They sat there all the afternoon, eating and smiling, but they said nothing. When it grew dark, the boy decided to leave. But before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the old woman and gave her a hug. The woman gave him her biggest smile ever.
When the boy opened the door of his house, his mother was surprised by the look of joy(快樂(lè))on his face and asked what had made him so happy. “I had lunch with Love. She has got the most beautiful smile in the world.” At the same time, the old woman,s son was also surprised at his mother,s pleasure and asked why.
“I ate a pizza in the park with Love,” she said, “and he is much younger than I expected.”
If the world is full of love, we can enjoy a better life.
【小題1】When the little boy saw the old woman, she was   .

A father isn’t happy with his only son. He doesn’t think his son is clever.
One day, the father gives his son a task. He says, here is a coin. Go to buy one thing. That must be something to eat, something to drink, and something to plant.
“What can I buy with one coin? It is too hard!” Then a girl finds the boy is not happy and comes up to him. “Can I help you? ” The boy tells her that hard task. “I know what you can do, ” she says. “Go and buy a watermelon with this coin. ” It will give you everything your father wants.” The boy thanks the girl and then runs to buy a watermelon.
When the father sees the watermelon, he is very happy. “Good Job!” “In fact, that’s not my idea. A girl helps me”, says the boy. The father then says, “Honesty is more important than cleverness.”
根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容，選擇最佳答案。
【小題1】The father isn’t happy, because __________.