To understand how Americans think about things, it is necessary to understand "the point". Americans mention it often: "Let's get right to the point." They will say, "My point is…" "What's the point of all this?"

    The "point" is the idea or piece of information that Americans suppose is, or should be, at the center of people's thinking, writings, and spoken comments. Speakers and writers are supposed to "make their points clear", meaning that they are supposed to say or write clearly the idea or piece of information they wish to express.

    People from many other cultures have different ideas about the point. Africans traditionally tell stories that express the thoughts they have in mind, rather than stating the point clearly. Japanese traditionally speak indirectly, leaving the listener to figure out what the point is. Thus, while an American might say to a friend, "I don't think that coat goes very well with the rest of your outfit," a Japanese might say, "Maybe another coat would look even better than the one you have on." Americans value a person who "gets right to the point". Japanese are likely to consider such a person insensitive if not rude.

    The Chinese and Japanese languages are characterized by vagueness and ambiguity. The precision and directness Americans associate with "the point" cannot be achieved, at least not with any grace, in Chinese and Japanese. Speakers of those languages thus have to learn a new way of reasoning and expressing their ideas if they are going to communicate satisfactorily with Americans.

根据短文内容，选择最佳答案，并将选定答案的字母标号填在题前括号内。

    By May, after three months, I had lost22pounds and reached my goal of 115 pounds. My friends would say “Alice, you look great!” or “How did you lose so much weight?” Those compliments made me feel good and confident.

    Soon I dropped to110 pounds. A few of my friends told me that I needed to stop dieting, because I was starting to look sick. They brought me a present—— a bag of chocolates, which I later gave to my sister. My mother would come to my room, with tears in her eyes, and have long chats about how harmful this diet was and begged me to stop. My dad would leave worried messages on my cell phone at school, telling me that it would do serious harm to my body.

    By mid-June, when school was coming to an end, I was down to an only alive state of 95 pounds. All of a sudden, I knew I had to do something. I guessed the number itself scared me. I recalled my doctor. He told me about a girl who was 95 pounds and was at the risk of dying. I knew I was putting my life at risk, but for what? To make those who love me worried? Was it worthwhile to be thin?

    Now I realize that models in magazines, TV and movies are not realistic. The price to pay for the “perfect body” is living with a dangerous and sometimes deadly eating disorder. And there are more important things to think about than how thin you are.

    Welcome to one of the largest collections of footwear(鞋类)in the world that will make you green with envy. Here at the Footwear Museum you can see exhibits from all over the world. You can find out about shoes worn by everyone from the Ancient Egyptians to pop stars.

    Room 1

    The celebrity(名人)footwear section is probably the most popular in the entire museum. Started in the 1950s there is a wide variety of shoes and boots belonging to everyone from queens and presidents to pop stars and actors! Most visitors find the celebrities" choice of footwear extremely interesting.

    Room 2

    Most of our visitors are amazed-and shocked-by the collection of “special purpose” shoes on exhibition here at the Museum of Footwear. For example, there are Chinese shoes made of silk that were worn by women to tie their feet firmly to prevent them from growing too much！

    Room 3

    As well as shoes and boots, the museum also exhibits shoe­shaped objects. The variety is unbelievable. For example, there is a metal lamp that resembles(类似于) a pair of shoes, and Greek wine bottles that look like legs！

    The Footwear Library

    People come from all over the world to study in our excellent footwear library. Designers and researchers come here to look up information on anything and everything related to the subject of footwear.

    When the telephone rings late at night, most women guess it must be one of only four or five people calling. A sister? Maybe. An emergency? Possibly. A mother? Probably not at that time of night. Much more probably it is a close female friend calling to tell you that she is heartbroken because she has split up with her boyfriend again or perhaps simply that a good movie has just started on TV.

    At a time when families are spread far and wide and marriages often end in divorce, friendships are becoming more and more important. Erika, a 32-year-old lawyer, is strengthened by her ten year friendship with her married friend Jane. "I was very sick one night, so I called Jane at about 3：00 a. m. to talk about it," she says. "She was very supportive and even came over to take me to the doctor's."

    As American TV shows like Friends have become more popular, many of us are beginning to see the value of such friendships.TV shows like this tell us that our romantic relationships may not last, but we need to keep in touch with our close friends if we want to survive.

    With Erika's family 200 miles away, it is Jane who keeps a spare set of keys to Erika's apartment and waters her plants whenever she is away. "Having Jane around gives me a certain amount of freedom. It is not the kind of thing that you could ask anyone to do, but she knows I would do the same for her. "Jane, who may move to a different city soon, is worried about leaving such a support system of friends. "My friends have more to do with my life than my parents and, therefore, I don't have to spend a lot of time explaining things to them. Friends are more up to date with what is happening."

    In most people's opinion, the tiger is not an animal that we would ordinarily think of as being chicken. However, one tiger, which lives in an English zoo, turned out to be more cowardly (胆小的) than his keepers could ever have imagined.

    Tanvir, a two-year-old Bengal tiger, got stuck at the top of a new 5m-high activity tower in the zoo, after climbing it for the first time.

    The wooden tower had been designed to provide mental exercise for Tanvir by testing his ability of dealing with troublesome situations, but after climbing it in just a few seconds, he lost his courage when it came to coming back down. Tanvir went on to spend nearly two days at the top of the tower trying to collect the courage to attempt to get down.

    A spokesperson for the zoo said that several days before Tanvir had taken half an hour to get down a lower tower only 1.5m high, and the taller tower had clearly been too much challenging for him.

    "Every time he got to the edge, he looked out, put a paw over, and thought, 'no, I cannot make it!" 'laughed Samantha Cordrey, Tanvir's keeper. In the end Tanvir's hunger defeated his fear, and after almost 48 hours he made his way down. Burying himself in a big meal just like a hungry pig, Tanvir seemed to forget such a shameful experience for a while.

    It appears that his experience would not be the worst in Tanvir's life if he continued to act like a chicken. It is not known whether he will take courage to go back up his exercise tower again.

    The whole episode (插曲) only serves to show the difficulties faced by zoo staff in creating environments that will improve animals' living ability in enclosed space.

    Warford is an optometrist (验光师) in Florida. He has seen an increase in "computer vision syndrome (电脑视力综合症)"in children. "A lot more children come into the office either because their parents have noticed that they have headaches or red or watery eyes or discomfort, or because their nearsightedness appears to be increasing and they're worried," he says.

    Dr. Watford says part of the problem is that children may be more likely to pay no attention to early warning signs than adults. "Even if their eyes start to feel uncomfortable or they start to get a headache, they're less likely to tell their parents, because they don't want to have the game or whatever taken away," he explains.

    He says another part of the problem is that people blink (眨眼) less often when they use digital devices. He says, "A person who uses an electronic device blinks about one third as much as we normally do in everyday life. And that can result in the front part of the eye drying and not staying protected like normal."

    Eye doctors offer suggestions like the 20 /20 /20 rule. That means every twenty minutes look away twenty feet or more for at least twenty seconds from whatever device you're using.

    Other suggestions include using good lighting and spending less time looking at screens. Many experts say children should spend no more than two hours a day using digital devices—with no screen time for children under two.

    But not all eye doctors have noticed an increase in problems in children. Dr. David Hunter, for instance, says, "While it is possible to develop fatigue looking at screens for a long time, there's certainly no proof that it actually causes any damage to the eyes."