C
Paris has the Eiffel Tower; New York has the Statue of Liberty; and Brussels, the Manneken
Piss.
Think of the Belgian capital and, if anything, you think of the small peeing (撒尿) boy ____ a 60-meter-high bronze figure standing on a block, supplying a constant stream of water to the basin under him.
Some might laugh. But for Jacques Stroobants, the statue is up there with the best of them.
“I’m proud of him. People come from all around the world to see him,” says 60-year-old Stroobants with a fatherly glance at the little boy.
As the most famous landmark of Brussels, Manneken Piss has a very special place in the heart of Belgians.
The original Manneken Piss dates back to 1388, but the statue tourists see today dates from 1619 when the city built a second one after the original was destroyed.
Many stories go round Manneken Piss. Nobody knows why he was made. One story is that he saved Brussels by putting out the flames of a deadly fire with his well-aimed piss. But the most believable story is that the boy, the son of a wealthy man, was kidnapped. The father had a statue built in honor of the way his son was found-peeing against a tree.
Perhaps best-known for his naked beauty, the “peeing boy” has also been clothed in some of the finest clothes money can buy.
Stroobants has been changing his clothes for the last 29 years. On average, he has clothes on 300 days a year. And on special days, he pees beer.
A few of the ways he’s been dressed are; a football player, Mozart and an army general. Now, he has more than 600 pieces of clothes.
There is no strict charge for those wishing to provide clothes for the little boy. But certain conditions must be met.
“The clothes cannot include either advertising or political message,” said Stroobants, because they would cheapen the national treasure.
But Manneken Piss is still something local people can make money from ___ by selling all kinds of souvenirs.
72. Which of the following is NOT true about Maneken Piss?
A. It has a history of more than 600 years. B. It stands in Brussels.
C. It is best known for the clothes he wears. D. It is 60 meters high.
73. The Manneken Piss has a special place in the heart of Belgians because .
A. it’s good-looking with water running constantly
B. it brings joys to people who see it
C. it helps people make beer
D. it’s a symbol of the city.
74. We can learn from the passage that .
A. for most of the year, the boy is naked
B. Stroobants is probably in charge of taking care of the statue
C. people can provide any clothes for Manneken Piss
D. people make money by advertising Manneken Piss
75．Which of the following is not true according to the passage?
A. Tourists cannot provide clothes for the peeing boy.
B. The Manneken Piss has attracted many visitors.
C. The peeing boy is the national treasure of Belgium.
D. Local people make money by selling souvenirs.
Informal conversation is an important part of any business relationship. Before you start a discussion, however, make sure you understand which topics are suitable and which are considered taboos(禁忌) in a particular culture. Latin Americans enjoy sharing information about their local history, art, and customs. They expect questions about their family and are sure to show pictures of their children. Yon may feel free to ask similar questions of your Latin American friends. The French think of conversation as an art form, and they enjoy the value of lively discussions as well as disagreements. For them, arguments can be interesting — and they can cover pretty much or any topic — as long as they occur in a respectful and intelligent(智慧的) manner.
In the United States, business people like to discuss a wide range of topics, including opinions about work, family, hobbies, and politics. In Japan, China, and Korea, however, people are much more private. They do not share much about their thoughts, feelings, or emotions because they feel that doing so might take away from the harmonious(和谐的) business relationship they’re trying to build. Middle Easterners are also private about their personal lives and family matters. It is considered rude, for example, to ask a businessman from Saudi Arabia about his wife or children.
As general rule, it’s best not to talk about politics or religion(宗教) with your business friends. This can get you into trouble, even in the United States, where people hold different views. In addition, discussing one’s salary is usually considered unsuitable. Sports is typically a friendly subject in most parts of the world, although be careful not to criticize a national sport. Instead, be friendly and praise your host’s team.The author considers politics and religion ________.
| A．cheerful topics | B．taboos |
| C．rude topics | D．topics that can never be talked about |
Which is typically a friendly topic in most places according to the author?
| A．Sports. | B．Children. |
| C．Personal feelings. | D．Families. |
Why are people from Asia more private in their conversation with others?
| A．They don’t want to talk with others much. |
| B．They don’t want to have their good relationship with others harmed by informal conversation. |
| C．They are afraid to argue with their colleagues. |
| D．They want to keep their feelings to themselves. |
What shouldn’t you do when talking about sports with colleagues from another country?
| A．Praising your own country’s sports. |
| B．Criticizing your own country’s sports. |
| C．Praising the sports of your colleagues’ country. |
| D．Criticizing the sports of your colleagues’ country. |
“If there is one thing I’m sure about, it is that in a hundred years from now we will still be reading newspapers. It is not that newspapers are a necessity. Even now some people get most of their news from television or radio. Many buy a paper only on Saturday or Sunday. But for most people reading a newspaper has become a habit passed down from generation to generation.
The nature of what is news may change. What basically makes news is what affects our lives — the big political stories, the coverage of the wars, earthquakes and other disasters, will continue much the same. I think there will be more coverage of scientific research, though. It’s already happening in areas that may directly affect our lives, like genetic(基因) engineering. In the future, I think there will be more coverage of scientific explanations of why we feel as we do — as we develop a better understanding of how the brain operates and what our feelings really are.
It’s quite possible that in the next century newspapers will be transmitted(传送) electronically from Fleet Street and printed out in our own home. In fact, I’m pretty sure that how it will happen in the future. You will probably be able to choose from a menu, making up your own newspaper by picking out the things you want to read — sports and international news, etc.
I think people have got it wrong when they talk about competition between the different media(媒体). They actually feed off each other. Some people once foresaw that television would kill off newspapers, but that hasn’t happened. What is read on the printed page lasts longer than pictures on a screen or sound lost in the air. And as for the Internet, it’s never really pleasant to read something just on a screen.What is the best title for the passage?
| A．The Best Way to Get News | B．The Changes of Media |
| C．Make Your Own Newspaper | D．The Future of Newspaper |
In the writer’s opinion, in the future, _______.
| A．more big political affairs, wars and disasters will make news |
| B．newspapers will not be printed in publishing houses any longer |
| C．newspapers will cover more scientific research |
| D．more and more people will watch TV |
What will probably be on in the newspaper made by yourself?
| A．Sports and international news. | B．A menu of important news. |
| C．The most important news. | D．What you are interested in. |
From the passage, we can infer _______.
| A．newspapers will win the competition among the different media |
| B．newspapers will stay with us together with other media |
| C．television will take the place of newspaper |
| D．the writer believe some media will die out |
The phrase “feed off” in the last paragraph means _______.
| A．depend on | B．compete with |
| C．fight with | D．kill off |
The number of speakers of English in Shakespeare’s time is estimated(估计) to have been about five million. Today it is estimated that some 260 million people speak it as a native language, mainly in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. In addition to the standard varieties of English found in these areas, there are a great many regional and social varieties of the language as well as various levels of usage that are employed both in its spoken and written forms.
In fact, it is impossible to estimate the number of people in the world who have acquired an adequate(足够的) working knowledge of English in addition to their own languages. The purpose for English learning and the situations in which such learning takes place are so varied that it is difficult to explain and still more difficult to judge what forms an adequate working knowledge for each situation.
The main reason for the widespread demand for English is its present-day importance as a world language. Besides serving the indefinite needs of its native speakers, English is a language in which some of important works in science, technology, and other fields are being produced, and not always by native speakers. It is widely used for such purposes as meteorological and airport communications, international conferences, and the spread of information over the radio and television networks of many nations. It is a language of wider communication for a number of developing countries, especially former British colonies. Many of these countries have multilingual populations and need a language for internal communication in such matters as government, commerce, industry, law and education as well as for international communication and for entrance to the scientific and technological developments in the West. What would be the best title for this passage?
| A．The Difficulties of Learning English |
| B．International Communications |
| C．The Standard Varieties of English |
| D．English as a World Language |
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．Some 260 million people in the world have an adequate working knowledge of English. |
| B．There are some 260 million native speakers of English in the world. |
| C．It is almost impossible to estimate the number of people with an adequate working knowledge of English. |
| D．People learn English for a variety of reasons. |
According to the passage, what is the main reason for the widespread use of English?
| A．It was popular during Shakespeare’s time. |
| B．It is used in former British colonies. |
| C．It serves the needs of its native speakers. |
| D．It is a world language that is used for international communication. |
What forms an adequate working knowledge of English?
| A．The ability to read a newspaper. |
| B．It is difficult to judge because it differs for each situation. |
| C．Being a multilingual. |
| D．Being a native speaker. |
What type of developing countries would be most likely to use English?
| A．Those geographically close to the United States. |
| B．Those interested in the culture of the United States. |
| C．Former colonies of Great Britain. |
| D．Countries where international conferences are held. |
A child who has once been pleased with a tale likes, as a rule, to have it retold in almost the same words, but this should not lead parents to treat printed fairy stories as formal texts. It is always much better to tell a story than read it out of a book, and, if a parent can produce what, in the actual situation of the time and the child, is an improvement on the printed text, so much the better.
A charge made against fairy tales is that they harm the child by frightening him or making him sad thinking. To prove the latter, one would have to show in a controlled experiment that children who have read fairy stories were more often sorry for cruelty than those who had not. As to fears, there are, I think, some cases of children being dangerously terrified by some fairy story. Often, however, this arises(出现) from the child having heard the story once. Familiarity with the story by repetition turns the pain of fear into the pleasure of a fear faced and mastered.
There are also people who object to fairy stories on the grounds that they are not objectively true, that giants, witches, two-headed dragons, magic carpets, etc. do not exist; and that, instead of being fond of the strange side in fairy tales, the child should be taught to learn the reality by studying history. I find such people, I must say so peculiar(奇怪的) that I do not know how to argue with them. If their case were sound, the world should be full of mad men attempting to fly from New York to Philadelphia on a stick or covering a telephone with kisses in the belief that it was their beloved girl-friend.
No fairy story ever declared to be a description of the real world and no clever child has ever believed that it was. The author considers that a fairy story is more effective when it is _______.
| A．repeated without any change | B．treated as a joke |
| C．made some changes by the parent | D．set in the present |
According to the passage, great fear can take place in a child when the story is _______.
| A．in a realistic setting | B．heard for the first time |
| C．repeated too often | D．told in a different way |
The advantage claimed(提出) for repeating fairy stories to young children is that it _______.
| A．makes them less fearful |
| B．develops their power of memory |
| C．makes them believe there is nothing to be afraid of |
| D．encourages them not to have strange beliefs |
The author’s mention of sticks and telephones is meant to suggest that _______.
| A．fairy stories are still being made up |
| B．there is some misunderstanding about fairy tales |
| C．people try to modernize old fairy stories |
| D．there is more concern for children's fears nowadays |
One of the reasons why some people are not in favor of fairy tales is that _______.
| A．they are full of imagination |
| B．they just make up the stories which are far from the truth |
| C．they are not interesting |
| D．they make teachers of history difficult to teach |
A characteristic of American culture that has become almost a tradition is to respect the self-made man — the man who has risen to the top through his own efforts, usually beginning by working with his hands. While the leader in business or industry or the college professor occupies a higher social position and commands greater respect in the community than the common laborer or even the skilled factory worker, he may take pains to point out that his father started life in America as a farmer or laborer of some sort.
This attitude toward manual(体力的) labor is now still seen in many aspects of American life. One is invited to dinner at a home that is not only comfortably but even luxuriously (豪华地) furnished and in which there is every evidence of the fact that the family has been able to afford foreign travel, expensive hobbies, and college education for the children; yet the hostess probably will cook the dinner herself, will serve it herself and will wash dishes afterward, furthermore the dinner will not consist merely of something quickly and easily assembled from contents of various cans and a cake or a pie bought at the nearby bakery. On the contrary, the hostess usually takes pride in careful preparation of special dishes. A professional man may talk about washing the car, digging in his flowerbeds, painting the house. His wife may even help with these things, just as he often helps her with the dishwashing. The son who is away at college may wait on table and wash dishes for his living, or during the summer he may work with a construction gang on a highway in order to pay for his education.From paragraph 1, we can know that in America _________.
A. people tend to have a high opinion of the self-made man
B. people can always rise to the top through their won efforts
C. college professors win great respect from common workers
C. people feel painful to mention their fathers as labors.According to the passage, the hostess cooks dinner herself mainly because _________.
| A．servants in American are hard to get |
| B．she takes pride in what she can do herself |
| C．she can hardly afford servants |
| D．It is easy to prepare a meal with canned food |
The expression “ wait on table” in the second paragraph means “_________”.
| A．work in a furniture shop | B．keep accounts for a bar |
| C．wait to lay the table | D．serve customers in a restaurant |
Which of the following may serve as the best title of the passage?
| A．A Respectable Self-made Family | B．American Attitude toward Manual Labor |
| C．Characteristics of American Culture | D．The Development of Manual Labor |