Usually, most women cannot keep a secret for longer than 47 hours, a new study shows. The study found that women like to tell others gossip(閑言碎語) as soon as they hear it. They will tell at least one other person in 47 hours and 15 minutes. They may tell their boyfriend, husband, best friend or mother the information at first.

3,000 women age between 18 and 65 took part in this study. The study found that four out of ten said that they couldn’t keep a secret. It also found that wine usually gave them a help hand to speak out secrets.

Usually English ladies heard three pieces of gossip a week, and they would tell at least one person. Six in ten said they would tell someone who had nothing to do with the secret, so the person about the secret couldn’t know. Three in ten said they had ideas to speak out the secret. Nearly half(45%) of them spoke out the secrets just for losing their pressure. However, two thirds of them said that they felt sorry after they passed on secrets. Three quarters of them said they could keep quiet about a secret. But over a quarter(27%) said they always forgot what they heard the following day.

41. The passage mainly tells us that ______.

   A. women can live longer than men

   B. women can keep a secret for longer time than men

   C. women are good at cooking than men

   D. women are not good at keeping a secret

42. A woman will pass on a secret in ______.

   A. less than 47 hours                               B. more than three days

   C. 47 hours and 15 minutes               D. the following day

43. Women will tell the following people gossip at first EXCEPT their ______.

   A. mother         B. husband     C. boyfriend   D. brother or sister

44. Which of the following is TRUE?

   A. More than 3,000 women took part in the study.

   B. After women drink wine, they may speak out secrets more easily.

   C. English ladies can keep a secret for a week.

   D. Women aged between 18 and 65 can keep a secret.

45. From the passage we know that ______.

   A. only a quarter of the women remembered what they heard the following day

   B. all the women felt sorry after they passed on secrets

   C. most of the women didn’t like to speak out others’ secrets

   D. women may tell someone who has nothing to do with the gossip

Before you go to another country it is a great help if you know the language and some of the customs of the country.
When people meet each other for the first time in Britain, they say, “How do you do? ”and shake hands. Usually they do not shake hands when they just meet or say goodbye. But they shake hands after they haven’t met for a long time or when they will be away from each other for a long time.
Last year a group of German students went to England for a holiday. Their teacher told them that the English people hardly shake hands. So when they met their English friends at the station, they kept their hands behind their backs. The English students had learned that the Germans shake hands as often as possible, so they put their hands in front and got ready to shake hands with them. It made both of them laugh.
【小題1】It is ____ if you know the language and some of the customs of the country.

A．not useful	B．not helpful
C．very helpful	D．very bad

【小題2】English people usually shake hands when they ______.

A．meet every time

B．meet for the first time

C．say goodbye to each other

D．say hello to each other

【小題3】Usually English people don’t shake hands _______.

A．when they will be away for a long time

B．when they say “How do you do? ”

C．when they just meet or say goodbye

D．a(chǎn)fter they haven’t met for a long time

【小題4】Which of the statement（陳述）is right?

A．German people shake hands as often as possible.

B．English people like shaking hands very much.

C．German people hardly shake hands.

D．Neither English people nor Germans like shaking hands.

【小題5】This story is about _______.

A．shaking hands

B．customs

C．languages

D．languages and customs

Before you go to another country it is a great help if you know the language and some of the customs of the country.
When people meet each other for the first time in Britain, they say “How do you do?” and shake hands. Usually they do not shake hands when they just meet or say goodbye. But they shake hands after they haven’t met for a long time or when they will be away from each other for a long time.
Last year a group of German students went to England for a holiday. Their teacher told them that the English people hardly shake hands. So when they met their English friends at the station,
they kept their hands behind their backs. The English students had learned that the Germans shake hands as often as possible, so they put their hands in front and got ready to shake hands with them. It made both of them laugh.
【小題1】It is ______ if you know the language and some of the customs of the country.

A．not useful

B．not helpful

C．very helpful

D．very bad

【小題2】English people usually shake hands when they ______.

A．meet every time	B．meet for the first time
C．say goodbye to each other	D．say hello to each other

【小題3】Usually English people don’t shake hands ______.

A．when they will be away for a long time	B．when they say “How do you do?”
C．when they just meet or say goodbye	D．a(chǎn)fter they haven’t met for a long time

【小題4】Which of the statements is RIGHT?

A．German people shake hands as often as possible.

B．English people shake hands as often as possible

C．German people hardly shake hands

D．Neither English people nor Germans shaking hands.

【小題5】The story is about ______.

A．shaking hands	B．languages
C．customs	D．languages and customs