姜紅偉　周蓮芳

(A)

Friendship Differences友誼的差異

男人女人都要交友，但男性朋友和女性朋友間的交流和依賴(lài)程度是迥然不同的。一般人們不在意這類(lèi)事情，但心理學(xué)家經(jīng)過(guò)研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，這種差異是十分明顯，絕對(duì)沒(méi)有錯(cuò)的。

Betty and Harold have been married for years. But one thing still puzzles old Harold. How is it that he can leave Betty and her friend Joan sitting on the sofa, talking, go out to a ballgame, come back three and a half hours later, and theyre still sitting on the sofa? Talking?

What in the world, Harold wonders, do they have to talk about?

Betty shrugs, “Talk? Were friends.”

Researching this matter called friendship, psychologist Lillian Rubin spent two years interviewing more than two hundred women and men. No matter what their age, their job, their sex, the results were completely clear: women have more friendships than men, and the difference in the content and the quality of those friendships is “marked and unmistakable”.

More than two-thirds of the single men Rubin interviewed could not name a best friend. Those who could were likely to name a woman. Yet three-quarters of the single women had no problem naming a best friend, and almost always it was a woman. More married men than women named their wife/husband as a best friend, most trusted person, or the one they would turn to in time of emotional distress. “Most women,” says Rubin, “identified at least one, usually more, trusted friends to whom they could turn to in a troubled moment, and they spoke openly about the importance of these relationships in their lives.”

“In general,” writes Rubin in her new book, “womens friendships with each other rest on shared emotion and support, but mens relationships are marked by shared activities. For the most part,” Rubin says, “interactions between men are emotionally controlled-good fit with the social requirements of manly behavior.”

“Even when a man is said to be a best friend,” Rubin writes, “the two share little about their innermost feelings, whereas a womans closest female friend might be the first to tell her to leave a failing marriage, it wasnt unusual to hear a man say he didnt know his friends marriage was in serious trouble until he appeared one night asking if he could sleep on the sofa.”

Notes:

1.shrug: v. & n. 聳肩 2.psychologist: n. 心理學(xué)家

3.marked: adj. 明顯的 4.unmistakable: adj. 不會(huì)錯(cuò)的

5.emotional: adj. 情感上的 6.distress: n. 悲痛

7.identify: vt. 鑒定 8.innermost: adj. 內(nèi)心深處的

1. What old Harold cannot understand or explain is the fact that ____.

A. he is treated as an outsider rather than a husband

B. women have so much to share

C. women show little interest in ballgames

D. he finds his wife difficult to talk to

2. Rubins study shows that for emotional support a married woman is more likely to turn to ____.

A. a male friend B. a female friend

C. her parents D. her husband

3. According to the text, which type of behavior is NOT expected of a man by society? ____.

A. Ending his marriage without good reason

B. Spending too much time with his friends

C. Complaining about his marriage trouble

D. Going out to ballgames too often

4. Which of the following statements is best supported by the last paragraph? ____.

A. Men keep their innermost feelings to themselves

B. Women are more serious than men about marriage

C. Men often take sudden action to end their marriage

D. Women depend on others making decisions

（B）

A Brother Like That

我也要做這樣的哥哥

愛(ài)是奉獻(xiàn)，而不是索取。能夠把愛(ài)奉獻(xiàn)給自己的親人是非常開(kāi)心的。讀了下面的故事，你一定會(huì)有更深切的感受。

A friend of mine named Paul received an expensive car from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a street urchin was walking around the shining car. “Is it your car, Paul?” he asked.

Paul answered, “Yes, my brother gave it to me for Christmas.” The boy was surprised. “You mean your brother gave it to you and it didnt cost you anything. Boy, I wish.” He hesitated.

Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to wish he had a brother like that. But what the boy said surprised Paul greatly.

“I wish,” the boy went on. “That I could be a brother like that.” Paul looked at the boy in surprise, and then he said again, “would you like to take a ride in my car?”

“Oh, yes, Id love that.”

After a short ride, the boy turned and with his eyes shining, said, “Paul, would you mind driving in front of my house?”

Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the boy wanted. He would show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big car.

But Paul was wrong again. “Will you stop where those two steps are?” the boy asked.

He ran up the steps. Then in a short while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled brother. He sat him down on the step and pointed to the car.

“There he is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didnt cost him a cent. And some day Im going to give you one just like it. Then you can see for yourself all the nice things in the Christmas window that Ive been trying to tell you about.”

Paul got out and lifted the boy to the front seat of his car. The shining-eyed older brother climbed in beside him and three of them began an unforgettable holiday ride.

Notes:

1. urchin: n. 頑童 2. hesitated: vi. 猶豫

3. crippled: adj. 殘疾的

1. From the story we can see the urchin ____.

A. wished to give his brother a car

B. wanted Pauls brother to give him a car

C. wished he could have a brother like Pauls

D. wished Paul could be a brother like that

2. The urchin asked Paul to stop his car in front of his house ____.

A. to show his neighbors the big car

B. to show he had a rich friend

C. to let his brother ride in the car

D. to tell his brother about his wish

3. We can infer(推斷) from the story that ____.

A. Paul couldnt understand the urchin

B. the urchin had a deep love for his brother

C. the urchin wished to have a rich brother

D. the urchins wish came true at last

Key(1)