There was a time when, if a lady got onto a crowded bus ortrain,a gentleman would immediately stand up and offer her his eat. Today a gentleman will probably look out ofthe window orhidebehind his newspaper. Either way, the lady willhave to stand until someone else gets off.
      You can't entirely blame men for this change in manners. The days are gone when women could be treated as the weaker sex. A whole generation of women has grown up demanding quality with men; not just equality in jobs or education,but insocial attitude. Hold a door open for some women and you'relikely to get an angry lecture on treating women as inferiors（低级)unable to open doors for themselves. Take a girl out for a mealandshe'll probably insist on paying her share of the bill.
      It is no wonder, then, that men have givenup some of the gestures (姿态) of politeness and consideration whichtheyused to show towards women. On the other hand,man's politeness is perhaps slowly being replaced by true consideration for the needs and feelings of women, so that men can see women as equal human beings.

37．The new generation of women demand ______ .

38．Some women are likely to get angry if a man holds a door open for them, because,______ .
      A．the man should not hold the door open
      B．the man treats the women as inferiors
      C．the man shows too much politeness
      D．men often offend (冒犯) women in this way

Have you ever noticed advertisements which say "Learna foreign language in six weeks, or your money back! Just send..." and so on? Of course, it never happens quite like that. The only language that is easy to learn is the mother tongue. Andthink how much practice that gets! Before the Second World Warpeople usually learnt a foreign language in order to read the literature of the country. Nowspeakingtheforeignlanguage iswhat most people want. Every year many millionsof people startlearning one.
      How do they do it? Some people try at home, with books and records or tapes; some use radio or television programmes; others go to evening classes.
      Itis clearly easier to learn the language in the country where itisspoken. However, most people cannot afford this, andformany it is not necessary. They need the language in order to do their work better. For example, scientists and doctors chiefly need to be able to read books and reports in the foreign language. No matter how the language is learnt, it is hardwork.Machines and good books will help, but they can not do the student's work for him.

How many words one uses cannot be measured exactly. However, Professor Seashore concluded that first-graders entered school with at least 24,000 words and add 5,000 each year so that they leave high school with at least 80,000. These figures are for recognition vocabulary, the words we understand when we read or hear them, which are more than our active vocabulary, the words we use in speaking and writing.
      Using the words you recognize in reading will help get them into your active vocabulary. In your reading, pay attention to these words, especially when the subject is one that you might well write or talk about. Underline or make a list of words that you feel a need for and look up the ones you are not sure of in a dictionary. And then before very long find a way to use some of them. Once you know how they are pronounced and what they mean, you can safely use them.

This is a true story. Rex White knows too many seamen's stories to want to add to them. Besides, this happened on land. It happened in Lytham,a town on the River Ribble, near to the place where the river flows into the Irish Sea. The shape of the trees along the Lytham beach road is proof of the great strength of the wind which comes in off the sea. It blows hard across the grass, the car-parks and the open road beside the river, and there is nothing to stop it. Rex White was a ship's pilot. It was his job to guide ships up the river, betweenbanksof sand,into the port of Preston. Mr White lived inavillage some kilometres from the coast, so he had to drive to Lytham and leave his car in one of the car-parks beside the river. Then he used to row out to the pilot boat, and await the particular ship that it was his duty to guide.
      Early one morning, Mr White returned to Lytham from a night on duty, to find that he could not start his car. He had driven from his village the evening before, and had left his car in the car-park as usual. He had rowed out to the pilot boat, and gone on board the S.S.Kilkenny, which was on her way from Ireland. Then, in the early hours of the following morning, he had returned to Lytham in the pilot boat,expecting to drive home to a cup of hot chocolate and a warm bed.But no matter what he did, he could not get the engine to start.
      It was a cold and windy night; there was no one about,and there was no garage open to which he could turn for help. He was just about to give up, and spend the rest of the night on the back seat of the car, when he had a bright idea. He pushed the car round so that it was facing in the direction of the wind, opened all four doors, pushedit along a short way, and then jumped in. The doors acted like sails, and in no time the wind had taken him right out of the car-park, and away down the beach road. When he tried the starter-switch once more, the engine roared to life immediately. All he had to do then was to stop the car and shut the doors.
      He went to bed later than usual, but he did not go without his cup of hot chocolate. Mr White was not a seaman for nothing.

Chess must be one of the oldest games inthe world.An Arab traveller in India in the year 900 wrote that it was played "long, long ago". Chess was probably invented in India, and it has beenplayed everywhere from Japan to Europe since 1400. The name"chess" is interesting. When one player is attacking the other's king, he says, in English, "check". When the king has been caught and cannot move anywhere, he says "check mate".These words comefrom Persian. "Shah mat" means "the king is dead". That is when the game is over, and one player has won.
      Such an old game changes very slowly. The rules have not always been the same as they are now. For example, at one timethe queen could only move one square at a time. Now she is the strongest piece on the board. It would be interesting to knowwhy this has happened! Chess takes time and thought, but itis a game for allkinds of people. You don't have to be a champion in order to enjoy it. It is not always played by two people sitting at the same table. The first time the Americans beat the Russianswas in a match played by radio. Some of the chess masters are ableto play many people at the same time. The record was when one man played 400 games! It is said that some people play chess bypost. This must make chess the slowest game in the world.