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ON March 17 there will be an explosion of green across the World in celebration of St Patrick’s Day．The Irish traditionally wear green on this day, as the color is associated with Ireland．
But there are others, non-Irish，who use the occasion to make jokes about the Irish．They use the stereotype(成见)of the Irish as hot-tempered(脾气暴躁的)drinkers，who love to fight and will do anything to avoid a day's work．
However, today the Irish are more often admired for their musical talent and many other abilities．It’s no accident that many of today's most popular music groups，such as singer Enya and rock band U2，are Irish born and bred．Lonely Planet readers even ranked Ireland in 2007 as the friendliest country in the world．
So where did the negative Irish stereotype come from? From the 19th century when it was a bad time to be Irish．
Ireland then was poverty-stricken and starving．Many Irish moved to the United States to escape famine, but there they had to compete---occasionally with their fists for jobs and housing with other immigrant groups，such as the Italians．It was on the US’ streets that the Irish earned their reputation for street fighting．
The stereotype of the Irish as big drinkers may be unfair, but Ireland can boast(为……自豪) its fair share of famous drinks．It was the Irish after all who created one of the world’s best-loved beers，Guinness．
65．What is the story mainly about?
A．How the Irish earned their reputation．
B．The festival-St Patrick’s Day．
C．Jokes about the Irish people．
D．Famous Irish stereotype and the truth．
66．Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?
A．St Palrick’s Day is celebrated nowhere else but Ireland．
B．Modern Irish show no interest in drinking alcohol．
C．Part of the stereotype about the Irish is that they are lazy．
D．Irish people usually get hot-tempered when laughed at．
67．Where did the negative Irish stereotype come from?
A．From their everyday behavior toward other people．
B．From the behavior of Irish immigrants to America in the 19th century．
C．From the historical record of 19th century Ireland．
D．From most people’s impression of Irish people
When Chinese student Du Juan brought her American boyfriend home two years ago to use the toilet, her Japanese roommate became so upset that she shouted in English: "I hate you."
Du, then 21 and an undergraduate at Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts, was shocked. So was her boyfriend.
"Later I realized that she didn't literally mean what she said and that she was not aware of the full meaning of the word 'hate' in English," said Du. "It was more a problem with translation," she added.
Cultural differences can cause confusion about what words or even actions mean, an issue that has come to the forefront recently following the arrest of a Chinese doctoral degree student in New Jersey.
Zhai Tiantian, who studied at the Stevens Institute of Technology, has been accused of trying to set fire to a campus building and of making threats to a professor who gave him a low mark. No physical altercation took place but Zhai reportedly said something along the lines of "at worst, I will risk anything on the line." The professor called the campus police.
According to the indictment sheet（起诉书）, Zhai is facing the serious charge of making a terroristic threat.
For a few days, Chinese media mistranslated, or misunderstood, the charges and reported that Zhai was being charged with terrorism.
Some language experts have speculated（推测） that the disagreement between Zhai and the professor can also be chalked up to cultural and linguistic differences. "What Chinese people regard as acceptable speech may be regarded by Americans as threats," said Luo Gang, the Chinese Consulate's Overseas Chinese Affairs consul. "This is an unfortunate incident. Even though Zhai intended no harm, he has done himself a great deal of harm."
Du, now 23, said she supports Zhai's actions in fighting to save his academic career, but added he needs to learn more about communication in a foreign language.
"Chinese students in a foreign country must prepare more in terms of languages and conversation skills to avoid misunderstandings," she said.What does the underlined word “altercation” mean？
| A．fight | B．check | C．education | D．experiment |
By saying “It was more a problem with translation”, what does Du Juan mean?
| A．Translation was not the real problem, as Du Juan and her roommate can both speak English. |
| B．Du Juan can not understand what her roommate meant at all. |
| C．Her roommate didn’t know what “hate” really meant in daily conservation. |
| D．Her roommate spoke such poor English that she felt angry. |
Which of the following statements about Zhai Tiantian is true?
| A．He set fire to a campus building. |
| B．He argued with a professor because he received a low mark. |
| C．He has received a doctor’s degree at the Stevens Institute of Technology. |
| D．He is facing a serious charge because he murdered the professor. |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．Du Juan’s unpleasant experience abroad. |
| B．Confusion caused by translation. |
| C．Conservational skills in a foreign country. |
| D．Cultural differences between China and America. |
Believe it or not, optical illusion(错觉) can cut highway crashes.
Japan is a case in point. It has reduced automobile crashes on some roads by nearly 75 percent using a simple optical illusion. Bent strips, called chevrons（人字形标志）, painted on the roads make drivers think that they are driving faster than they really are, and thus drivers slow down.
Now the American Automobile Association Foundations For Traffic Safety in Washington D.C. is planning to repeat Japan’s success. Starting next year, the foundation will paint chevrons and other patterns of stripes on selected roads around the country to test how well the patterns reduce highway crashes.
Excessive（过分） speed plays a major role in as much as one fifty of all fatal traffic accidents, according to the foundation. To help reduce those accidents, the foundation will conduct its tests in areas where speed-related hazards(危险) are the greatest-curves, exit slopes, traffic circles, and bridges.
Some studies suggest that straight, horizontal bars painted across roads can initially cut the average speed of drivers in half. However, traffic often returns to full speed within months as drivers become used to seeing the painted bars.
Chevrons, scientists say, not only give drivers the impression that they are driving faster than they really are but also make a lane（车道） appear to be narrower. The result is a longer lasting reduction of highway speed and the number of traffic accidents.The passage mainly discusses________.
| A．a new way of highway speed control |
| B．a new pattern for painting highway |
| C．a new way of training drivers |
| D．a new type of optical illusion |
On roads painted with chevrons, drivers tend to feel that________.
| A．they should avoid speed-related hazards |
| B．they are driving in the wrong lane |
| C．they should slow down their speed |
| D．they are coming near to the speed limit |
According to the foundation,____can cause serious traffic accident
| A． the straight, horizontal bars |
| B．greatest curves |
| C．exit slops , traffic circles, bridges |
| D． Over-speed driving |
The advantage of chevrons over straight, horizontal bars is that the former______.
| A．can keep drivers awake |
| B．can cut road accidents in half |
| C．will look more attractive |
| D．will have a longer effect on drivers |
The Americans automobile association foundation for traffic safety plans to____.
| A．try out the Japanese method in certain areas |
| B．change the road signs across the country |
| C．replace straight, horizontal bars with chevrons |
| D．repeat the Japanese road patterns |
2010 was a good year for American farmers. They earned about eighty-two billion dollars. That is almost one-third more than that they earned last year. And it is twenty-six percent higher than the ten-year average. Values for grain and oilseed crops are up about three percent from last year. The value of animal production is up by almost seven percent.
In 2011, farm exports are expected to break the all-time high set in 2008.The Agriculture Department says exports in 2011 could top one hundred and twenty-six billion dollars. The largest buyer of agricultural products is expected to be Canada. But farm exports to China are predicted to come within five hundred million dollars of Canadian purchases. Secretary Vilsack says countries in Southeast Asia and the Middle East are also buying more from American farmers.
Poor growing conditions overseas played an important part in higher prices for American crops in 2010.Charlotte Hebe brand is chief executive of the International Food and Agricultural Trade Policy Council in Washington. She said drought(干旱)conditions had a big effect over the summer. She said,“There were horrible weather problems, not just in Russia but also in some of the other former Soviet Union countries.”
Wheat prices rose after Russia stopped wheat exports,although Russia later eased the ban(禁令).“Wheat used to be America’s top crop. What’s interesting,though,is that wheat production has actually become less over the past few years because corn has become the most popular crop,”said economist Charlotte Hebebrand.
Corn is mostly fed to animals. But Miss Hebebrand said with the recent increase in wheat prices, American farmers might plant more wheat again. Corn and wheat are the two largest crops supported by the government.We know that compared to 2009,in 2010 American farmers——.
| A．planted less corn | B．planted morn crops |
| C．planted morn wheat | D．earned more money |
What does the Agriculture Department expect in 2011?
| A． Agriculture exports will continue to increase. |
| B． China will be the largest buyer of agriculture products |
| C． America will export food to every country around the world |
| D． Southeast Asian countries will start buying food from America |
What is implied in Paragraph 3?
| A． America farming also was greatly affected in 2010 |
| B． Russia was not the country most affected by drought in 2010 |
| C． Weather problems helped raise prices for American crops in 2010 |
| D． American crops were the most expensive around the world in 2010 |
We can infer that in the past few years American farmers——
| A． reduced crop exports |
| B． increased corn production |
| C． increased wheat production |
| D． increased investment in farming |
According to what Miss Hebebrand said, we know American farmers will ——
| A．stop feeding corn to animals |
| B．export most of their corn |
| C．try to increased wheat production |
| D．try to get more support from the governmet |
In America, when people say “man’s best friend”, they don’t mean another person. Instead, they are talking about a lovely animal：A dog! These words show the friendship between people and animals. Dogs and other pets can give happiness to people’s lives. Some people think of their pets as their children. A few even leave all their money to their pets when they die!
Animals can help people, too. Dogs can be taught to become the “eyes”for a blind person or “ears”for a deaf people. Scientists have found that pets help people live longer! They make people happier, too. Because of that, animals are brought into hospitals for “visit”.
Americans hold “Be---Kind-to-Animals Week”in the first week of May.
Pets shows are held during the week. Even if you don’t live in America, you, too, can do this. How? First, think about how animals make your life richer. If you have a pet, take more time this week to play with it. Remember to give it delicious food. Also, be sure to keep your pet from those unwanted babies.
If you don’t have a pet, be kind to animals around you. For example, if you see a street dog, don’t kick(踢)it or throw things at it. Instead, just leave it alone, or beter yet, make friends with it. If others around you do bad things to an animal, try to shop them. As people, we must protect animals who can’t speak for themselves.“A few even leave all their money to their pets when they die!”means that__________
| A．pets have the right (权力) to inherit (继承) money. |
| B．money can give pets happiness. |
| C．it’s the best way to spend money. |
| D．some pets are taken as children. |
Why are dogs brought to hospitals?
| A．Because they are ill and need to see doctors. |
| B．Because they can make the patients happier. |
| C．Because they can find out the problems of the patients. |
| D．Because doctors can do experiments (实验) on them. |
What’s the most popular activity in the “Be-Kind-to-Animals Week”?
| A．Holding a pet show in the week. |
| B．Playing with pets the whole week. |
| C．Cooking delicious food for pets. |
| D．Making friends with other people’s pets. |
What’s the passage mainly about?
| A．A lot of people are interested in dogs. |
| B．Dogs can help people do many things. |
| C．Pets are lovely and need care and protection. |
| D．We have done a lot of things for pets. |
The words“ man’s best friends”shows____________.
| A．the friendship between people. |
| B．the friendship between people and animals. |
| C．the friendship between animals. |
| D．the friendship between men and women |
That cold January night, I was growing sick of my life in San Francisco. There I was, walking home at one in the morning after a tiring practice at the theatre. With opening night only a week ago, I was still learning my lines. I was having trouble dealing with my part-time job at the bank and my acting at night at the same time. As I walked, I thought seriously about giving up both acting and San Francisco. City life had become too much for me.
As I walked down empty streets under tall buildings, I felt very small and cold. I began running, both to keep warm and to keep away from any possible robbers (抢劫犯). Very few people were still out except a few sad-looking homeless people under blankets.
About a block from my apartment (公寓房间), I heard a sound behind me. I turned quickly, half expecting to see someone with a knife or a gun. The street was empty. All I saw was a shining streetlight. Still, the noise had made me nervous, so I started to run faster. Not until I reached my apartment building and unlocked the door did I realize what the noise had been. It had been my wallet falling to the sidewalk.
Suddenly I wasn’t cold or tired anymore. I ran out of the door and back to where I’d heard the noise. Although I searched the sidewalk anxiously for fifteen minutes, my wallet was nowhere to be found.
Just as I was about to give up the search, I heard the garbage truck (垃圾车) pull up to the sidewalk next to me. When a voice called from the inside, “ Alisa Camacho?” I thought I was dreaming. How could this man know my name? the door opened, and out jumped a small red-haired man with an amused look in his eye. “Is this what you’re looking for?” he asked, holding up a small square shape.
It was nearly 3 A.M. by the time I got into bed. I wouldn’t get much sleep that night, but I had gotten my wallet back. I also had gotten back some enjoyment of city life. I realized that the city couldn’t be a bad place as long as people were wiling to help each other.How did the write feel when she was walking home after work?
| A．Cold and sick |
| B．Fortunate and helpful |
| C．Satisfied and cheerful |
| D．Disappointed and helpless |
From the first paragraph, we learn that the write was busy ______.
| A．solving her problem at the bank |
| B．taking part in various city activities |
| C．learning acting in an evening school |
| D．preparing for the first night show |
On her way home the writer _______.
| A．lost her wallet unknowingly |
| B．was stopped by a garbage truck driver |
| C．was robbed of her wallet by an armed man |
| D．found some homeless people following her |
In the fifth paragraph, why did the writer say she was dreaming?
| A．Someone offered to take her back home. |
| B．A red-haired man came to see her. |
| C．She heard someone call her name |
| D．Her wallet was found in a garbage truck. |
From the text, we can infer that the writer _________.
| A．would stop working at night |
| B．would stay on in San Francisco |
| C．would make friends with cleaners |
| D．would give up her job at the bank. |