牛津版（深圳·广州）初中英语九年级上册Module 4 Unit 8 同步练习（2）

—Because I have to go home to look after my sick mother.

    Many books have been written about “the art of giving”. And we also know that it's hard to give people a gift,  1 a personal one. If we want to make it better, we should understand who you will give the gift to and their likes and 2.

    As is often the case, some little kids think they don't get enough gifts 3 some old people think they get too many gifts.Different people like different kinds of gifts. Some presents are never too  4. For example, when a little child just gives his or her mother a leaf from a tree,it is enough to make her very happy.

    Gift giving is different in different  5. Here are some of their likes. In Japan, people sometimes give special gifts. But they are not opened. Later, the same gift may be given away to someone   6 , because many people have enough things and don't want too many gifts themselves.In Canada, a tree can help remember a person. In the USA, some people ask their families and friends to give money to charity rather than buying them gifts. In Sweden, doing something for someone is the best gift. People don't need to 7 too much money. Instead, making a meal for him or her is enough.

    To make things easier, some people would rather just give money.In some cultures, however, 8 money can make people uncomfortable. “When someone gives me money, it just makes me think they're lazy,” says John Wilson. “In England, we have a saying：It's the thought that counts. When someone gives me money,I feel they don't think it about at all. I prefer to receive a gift    9 has some thought behind it.”

    Different people have very different thoughts  10  this subject! So maybe the art of giving is difficult! What do you think?

A

    Min Sun, with another name of Ziqian, was a famous man in the State of Lu during the Spring and Autumn Period. He was a student of Confucius. Among all students of Confucius, he was compared with Yan Yuan.

    Min Sun's mother died very early. Later his father took another wife,who gave birth to two sons. The stepmother mistreated Min Sun—in winter,while two younger brothers wore warm clothes made of cotton, Min Sun only wore clothes made of reed catkins（芦花）.

    One day, he followed his father to go out. When pulling the chariot（马车）, Min Sun felt so cold that he dropped the rope onto the ground. Then his father beat him. Just then the reed catkins flew out from the broken clothes and his father knew that Min Sun was mistreated. He was very angry.

    After the father returned home, he wanted to divorce（休掉） his wife. Min Sun fell on his knees and begged his father to forgive his stepmother. He said, “If Mother stays at home, only I myself have to stand cold.But if you divorce Mother, all three children have to suffer from cold.”

    His father was deeply moved and took Min Sun's advice. The stepmother heard of this, felt sorry and knew her mistakes. From then on, she treated Min Sun as her own son.