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本文作者： 21ST

A

For many New Yorkers, the appeal of high-rise buildings on the east side of Central Park is that these buildings are convenient to the place they work. But if you ask them the names of their neighbors, they probably could not answer.

However, despite the common belief that living in a New York apartment building is living on one’s own, throughout the city there are many social buildings. These are places where it is normal for neighbors to have barbeques and wine-and-cheese parties, and where celebrating the birthday of a neighbor down the hallway is a regular event.

A recent poll (投票) showed that some 35% of those asked do socialize with their neighbors. How certain buildings become “social” is a mystery, but in many cases the social atmosphere develops organically at a young age – 20s through to 40s – and there is a mix of singles, couples, and families. Apparently it helps if the building is new and everyone who lives there has recently arrived. This makes it less challenging and more likely for people to start conversations with basic questions about where they come from and what kind of work they do. A simple question about the best place in the neighborhood to buy bread, wine, or coffee can be the start of a new friendship.

In some such buildings the presence of children and dogs leads to increased conversation and social activities among neighbors. Another part is having a common space where people who live in apartments can gather in the late afternoon for conversation or on a weekend for a picnic at tables under umbrellas. Some buildings have monthly dinners on the roof in the summer months and book discussion groups in the winter months. For many New Yorkers, a chance to sit down with people of different occupations, origins, and interests makes these social buildings attractive alternatives to being alone at the end of the day.

1. We can infer from the first two paragraphs that ______.

A. many New Yorkers can’t afford an apartment in a high-rise building

B. the idea that New Yorkers never know their neighbors might be wrong

C. the high-rise buildings near Central Park are very famous in New York

D. it’s a tradition for New Yorkers to celebrate birthdays with neighbors

2. According to the text, social buildings are where many New Yorkers ______.

a. go to look for jobs

b. celebrate a neighbor’s birthday

c. have parties or barbeques

d. hang out with their neighbors

e. have fun with their colleagues

A. a, b, c B. a, c, e C. b, c, d D. b, d, e

3. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the text?

A. More than half of those surveyed socialize with their neighbors.

B. Children and dogs play the most active role in social buildings.

C. Researchers know exactly the reasons why buildings become “social”.

D. People often start up friendships with simple questions about the neighborhood.

4. What is the main point of the text?

A. Social buildings are becoming common in New York.

B. It’s easier to make friends with neighbors in new buildings.

C. Young New Yorkers are more sociable than older generations.

D. There are certain ways to establish a friendship with neighbors in high-rise buildings.

B

The hit movie Notting Hill begins with a famous scene. Hugh Grant bumps into Julia Roberts and spills orange juice all over her. After the collision (碰撞), Grant repeatedly says: “I am so sorry. I am so sorry”.

His actions in this scene are very British. If Roberts’ character were from Britain then she would probably apologize repeatedly as well – even if the crash were not her fault. But this doesn’t happen in the film, as Roberts is from the US.

A report in The Telegraph last week said that three-quarters of British people apologize when they bump into someone in the street – regardless of whether they are responsible or not. In fact, we Britons use “sorry” in many situations. For example, if we mishear someone, we say “Sorry?” The person we are talking to will also apologize by replying: “No, I am sorry!” This can go on for up to five minutes as we compete over who is the most sorry.

Life is never as simple as “duibuqi” and “meiguanxi”.

How we use “sorry” has changed. Traditionally, “sorry” was used to express deep regret, but a survey in 2007 showed that we use it to mean anything from “what” to “whatever”.

Why are Britons so sorry? Mark Tyrell, a psychology writer in the UK, thinks that our apologetic tendencies are rooted in the British class system. We say sorry because historically the new middle classes in Britain had to apologize for not being working class, but also for not really being upper class. Another theory is that we apologize to avoid confrontation (对抗). For example, if you bump into someone they might get angry. To avoid this we instantly say “Sorry!”

True manners are about being considerate, and the modern day obsession (执着) with apologizing shows that we are perhaps not as thoughtful as we once were. The word has lost some of its meaning. Do you see my point? Sorry, it might just be a British thing…

By Sarah Marsh, 21st Century Teens staff

5. The author mentions a scene in the hit movie Notting Hill at the beginning to ______.

A. introduce different ways of saying sorry

B. give an example of British manners

C. show what kind of men are considered gentlemen in the UK

D. draw our attention to how and when British people say sorry

6. Which of the following statements might Mark Tyrell agree with?

A. Americans care less about manners than British people do.

B. The fact British people apologize so much is linked to the class system.

C. British people care too much about which social class they are from.

D. People shouldn’t apologize if they are not responsible.

7. We can conclude from the article that the author thinks ______.

A. it’s unnecessary for British people to be so polite

B. the obsession with apologizing shows Britons are truly sincere

C. Britons should stick to the traditional use of the word sorry

D. the change of how British people use sorry is because of language development

8. What is the main point of the article?

A. To explore the best way of saying sorry.

B. To introduce Britons’ overuse of sorry and why.

C. To suggest many British people lack traditional manners.

D. To show how saying sorry has changed over time.

C

When we go out traveling, we need either a map or GPS to point us in the right direction. But bumblebees (大黄蜂) have neither of these things, yet they still know the best route. Why is that?

It turns out that these hard-working little bees try many possible passages before picking out the best one and remembering it the next time they journey out. They learn from “trial and error”, according to a study by scientists from the University of London.

We use it all the time in our daily lives – trial and error is a helpful problem-solving method. It is the basic concept of “learning from your mistakes”. Most of the time, we fail on our first try, so we analyze the failure, make adjustments and try again. After repeating this a few times, we finally get things right.

This might sound a bit tiring, but it’s certainly effective and it works for bumblebees.

In the study, scientists set up five artificial (人造的) flowers in a field. Each one of them was fitted with motion-triggered (运动触发的) cameras and had landing platforms with drops of sucrose (蔗糖) in the middle to attract the bees.

At first, scientists noticed the bees’ flying routes were long and complex. But after they gained enough experience, they gradually got to their destination quicker. Every time a bee tried a new route that was shorter than the shortest route it had tried before, it was likely to use it again. Otherwise the new route would simply be given up and another one was tested.

“The speed at which they learn through trial and error is quite extraordinary for bumblebees, as this complex behavior was thought to be one that only larger-brained animals were capable of,” Professor Lars Chittka, leader of the study, told Sciencedaily.com.

In fact, the smart bumblebees don’t strain (费力) themselves trying every possible route. Normally, they would only try about 20 out of the 120 possible routes to visit the flowers.

More interestingly, scientists found that if they removed a flower, bees would continue looking at that location, even if it has been empty for a long time. “It seems bees don’t easily forget a fruitful flower,” Chittka said.