阅读下面四篇短文，从各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳选项。

    If you meet a British person in the street, it is very likely that he or she will apologize whether it is his or her fault (过错) or not.

    It seems that Britain is becoming a nation where everyone is saying sorry. Almost each person says sorry about eight times each day—and one in eight people apologize as many as 20 times a day.

    As you may have seen, the British apologize more often than members of other cultures. A research shows that in many cases, people's love of saying sorry in Britain goes a little further than it does for Americans. For example, about 15 British people would say ”sorry” while only 10 from the US would do this if they sneezed, if they corrected someone's mistake of if someone knocked into them.

    In the old days, “sorry” was used to express regret and sadness for having done something wrong. But now British people use the expression as a way of showing good manners. For example, they might say “sorry” instead of “excuse me”, “pardon”, “what” or “whatever”.

    People in Britain also use sorry when they share the same feeling with others—so they might say “sorry about the rain”.

    However, British people's use of “sorry” may make things very confusing (迷惑不清) and difficult for foreigners who are not familiar with their ways. But actually, people in Britain pay much attention to the feelings of others. This is the very reason why they apologize every day.

    Oxford is a city in the UK. It's in the west of the UK and it's famous for the University of Oxford. It's an old university--about 900 years old. It has a longer history than Cambridge University. It's the oldest university in the English speaking world.

    There are about 21,000 students and they are from all over the world. Many students go to school by bike. There are 38 colleges in the University of Oxford, but Cambridge University has only 31 colleges. There are 104 libraries in the University of Oxford. Bodleian Library is the second largest library in the UK. Stephen Hawking was a student of the University of Oxford. He's a great scientist. Clinton, the 42nd American President, was also a student of the university.

    Cats are the most popular pets among Americans. So it is not surprising there are many expressions about cats. Do you know any of them? Now let me tell you.

    Some cats like to catch small birds, like canaries. If someone feels excellent about himself, we say, "he looks like the cat that ate the canary."

    Sometimes, a cat likes to play with a small animal it catches. So if you play "cat and mouse" with someone, you change between different kinds of actions when facing another person. For example, a child might serve something sweet to her little brother, and then take it away when reaches for it.

    A cat will often catch a small animal and show it to its owner. The saying "that looks like something the cat dragged in" describes something in bad condition.

    A fat cat is a person with a lot of money.

    There are many other expressions about cats in America. How interesting! Which kind of cat are you, or which kind would you like to be? 

    Paper is one of the most important products ever invented by man.

    The invention of paper meant that more people could be educated because more books could be printed. Paper provides an important way to communicate with knowledge.

    Paper was first made in China about 2,000 years ago. In Egypt and the West, paper was not very commonly used before the year 1400. Paper was not made in southern Europe until about the year 1100. After that, the forestry countries like Canada, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and the United States became the most important in paper-making. Today Finland makes the best paper in the world. And it has the biggest paper industry in the world.

    When we think of paper, we think of newspapers, books, letters, envelopes, and writing paper. So paper plays an important role in our lives.

    Paper is very good for keeping you warm. Houses are often insulated(隔热) with paper. You have perhaps seen homeless men sleep on a large number of newspapers. They are insulating themselves from the cold. In Finland, in winter itis sometimes 4:0 degrees below zero. The farmer swear paper boots in the snow: Nothing could be warmer.

    For most people in the West, Valentine's Day(情人节) ends on February 15, but here in Japan it's not quite over until March 15. March 14-exactly one month after Valentine's Day--is White Day in Japan.

    To really understand what White Day is all about, you have to understand what Valentine's Day in Japan is like. Japanese Valentine's Day is all about men getting presents. Japanese women are usually too shy to show their love, though it might not be true today. Valentine's Day is a great chance to let women show their feelings. Men should return gifts to women on White Day.

    On both days, chocolate is the gift of choice. More often, the colour of the chocolate is white because of the name of the day. You can also buy flowers, candy or cookies.

    Does it sound good to you? Don't get too excited when you get chocolate from Japanese girls! They give chocolate not only to their loved ones, but also to men such as bosses( 老板) and male(男性的) friends.

    The Japanese first celebrated White Day in 1978. Now it is also celebrated in South Korea and Taiwan, China.

    Being street smart is an important skill tohave and a good way to take care of yourself.

    Always carry your phone with you, but do notlook at1 whileyou are walking. Being able to communicate or call for help is important, so keepa list of useful numbers. But put your phone away while you are walking so thatyou can keep your2 upand see what's going on around. If you do need to check your phone,3 andlook at it quickly.

    Don't wear earphones4 you are out. If you have to5 something when you're out, use only oneearphone or play it at a very low volume(音量).

    Travel with6 or family members when possible and never go anywherewith a stranger. It's7 tobe careful with strangers. Remember not to get into a stranger's car if they callyou over.

  8 darkand out-of-the-way places. Do not take short cuts through dark areas, even if itwill make your trip much faster. If you have to go to unsafe places, go9 someone you know or speak to someone over the phonewhile you are there.

    Run and shout if you feel unsafe. Run away asfast as you can towards a police station, hospital, or nearby business for10.Shout as loudly as you can to get the attention of people nearby.