Question

THANK-you cards--heartfelt expressions of gratitude for gifts, services and general kindness--seem to be rare in an age when the Internet continues to reduce human interaction.

Although our society has changed greatly over the past century, the etiquette of thank-you notes has not.

While most people would agree that thank-you notes under these circumstances are a necessity, there are still those who forever postpone or are forgetful for unknown reasons.

And at no time of the year are thank-you notes more visible (or lacking) than June, the month of graduations, and the beginning of summer parties.

"It's a must-do thing. A real thank you does not come by e-mail. It comes in the mail in an envelope. And what comes out of an envelope is a beautiful thing to touch and to handle and to pass around for everyone to read," said etiquette expert Letitia Baldrige.

Don't think for a second that Baldrige is old-fashioned. Handwritten thank-you notes--any handwritten correspondence, for that matter- have taken on an air of extra importance and dignity (莊重) in this e-hyper (電子狂躁的) world.

Baldrige remains hopeful that the art may be enjoying a renaissance (復(fù)興,再生).

More than simply obeying rules of etiquette, thank-you cards are a sign of caring.

"They're more important now than ever," expert Peter Post says. "You are building a relationship. And part of building that relationship is that you acknowledge when someone has done something nice for you. "

"The payoff," Post says, "can be huge. The more we do it, the more it comes back to us, and it's a benefit to us all. It makes our world a little bit nicer place to live in. "

1.Nowadays thank-you cards seem to be rare mainly because ______.

A. people think that they are out of fashion

B. it is quicker to say thanks by e-mail

C. the Internet has reduced people's contact

D. people are too busy to remember these things

2.From the context, the word "etiquette" in the second paragraph probably means ______.

A. old objects for sale

B. rules for people to obey

C. hand-made articles

D. customs for polite behavior

3.The author implies in this article that ______.

A. old-fashioned people take a negative attitude to e-mails

B. the changing society is making people impolite and lazy

C. modern technology is driving people apart

D. the e-hyper world is not a nice place to live in

4.What’s Baldrige’s attitude towards handwritten thank-you cards?

A. Regretful to disappear

B. Promising to come back

C. Old-fashioned to keep

D. Unnecessary between friends

Answer 1