5．In ancient Egypt，the pharaoh（法老） treated the poor message runner like a prince when he arrived at the palace，if he brought good news．However，if the exhausted runner had the misfortune to bring the pharaoh unhappy news，his head was cut off．
Shades of that spirit spread over today's conversations．Once a friend and I packed up some peanut butter and sandwiches for an outing．As we walked light-heartedly out of the door，picnic basket in hand，a smiling neighbor looked up at the sky and said，"Oh boy，bad day for a picnic．The weatherman says it's going to rain．"I wanted to strike him on the face with the peanut butter and sandwiches．Not for his stupid weather report，for his smile．
Several months ago I was racing to catch a bus．As I breathlessly put my handful of cash across the Greyhound counter，the sales agent said with a broad smile．"Oh that bus left five minutes ago．"Dreams of head-cutting!
It's not the news that makes someone angry．It's the unsympathetic attitude with which it's delivered．Everyone must give bad news from time to time，and winning professionals do it with the proper attitude．A doctor advising a patient that she needs an operation does it in a caring way．A boss informing an employee he didn't get the job takes on a sympathetic tone．Big winners know，when delivering any bad news，they should share the feeling of the receiver．
Unfortunately，many people are not aware of this．When you're tired from a long flight，has a hotel clerk cheerfully said that your room isn't ready yet？When you had your heart set on the toast beef，has your waiter merrily told you that he just served the last piece？It makes you as traveler or diner want to land your fist right on their unsympathetic faces．
Had my neighbor told me of the upcoming rainstorm with sympathy，I would have appreciated his warning．Had the Greyhound salesclerk sympathetically informed me that my bus had already left，I probably would have said，"Oh，that's all right，I'll catch the next one．"Big winners，when they hear bad news，deliver bombs with the emotion the bombarded（被轟炸的） person is sure to have．
21．In Paragraph 1，the writer tells the story of the pharaoh toB．
A．make a comparison
B．introduce a topic
C．describe a scene
D．offer an argument
22．In the writer's opinion，his neighbor wasC．
A．friendly
B．warm-hearted
C．not considerate
D．not helpful
23．From"Dreams of head-cutting!"（Paragraph 3），we learn that the writerA．
A．was mad at the sales agent
B．was reminded of the cruel pharaoh
C．wished that the sales agent would have bad dreams
D．dreamed of cutting the sales agent's head that night．
分析 本文屬于議論文閱讀，作者通過這篇文章主要向我們描述了好消息使人高興，壞消息令人氣憤的主題，但是對(duì)于壞消息的傳達(dá)是需要技巧的，表現(xiàn)出真誠(chéng)的同情遺憾能讓聽到消息的人不那么惱怒，幸災(zāi)樂禍則會(huì)刺激他們．
解答 21．B．推理判斷題．作者態(tài)度、目的題．把握整體文意，本文主要圍繞"好消息使人高興，壞消息令人氣憤"來論述，所以第一段應(yīng)該是本文作者用于引入主題的段子，因此文章舉法老的例子是為了引出主題；故選B．
22．C．推理判斷題． 根據(jù)文章第二段"I wanted to strike him on the face with the peanut butter and sandwiches not for his stupid weather report for his smile"我想打他用花生醬三明治的臉．不是因?yàn)樗薮赖奶鞖鈭?bào)告而是因?yàn)樗奈⑿�，可知作者認(rèn)為他的鄰居是不體貼的；故選C．
23．A．細(xì)節(jié)理解題．根據(jù)文章第三段"As I breathlessly put my handful of cash across the Greyhound counter，the sales agent said with a broad smile．"Oh that bus left five minutes ago"敘述了"作者趕車時(shí)的不幸經(jīng)歷"，"當(dāng)售票員告訴他不幸消息，所以他會(huì)很惱怒，幾乎要發(fā)瘋了"，故選A．
點(diǎn)評(píng) 考察學(xué)生的細(xì)節(jié)理解和推理判斷能力，做細(xì)節(jié)理解題時(shí)一定要找到文章中的原句，和題干進(jìn)行比較，再做出正確的選擇．在做推理判斷題不要以個(gè)人的主觀想象代替文章的事實(shí)，要根據(jù)文章事實(shí)進(jìn)行合乎邏輯的推理判斷．
