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. |
While parents, particularly mothers, have always been attached to their infants (婴儿), societal conditions frequently made this attachment difficult to maintain (保持). First of all, the high infant death rate in the premodern times meant that such attachments often ended in hopelessness. Perhaps to prevent the sadness that infant death caused, a number of societal practices developed which worked against early attachment of mother and child.
One of these premodern attachment-discouraging practices was to leave infants unnamed until they had survived into the second year. Another practice that discouraged maternal (母亲的) attachment was tightly wrapping (包裹) infants. Wrapping effectively prevented the close physical interactions like stroking (抚摸) and kissing that are so much a part of modern mothers' and fathers' affection for their infants.
A third practice which had the same distancing effect was wet-nursing. Breast-feeding (母乳哺育) was not popular among the well-to-do in the early modern times; infants were often fed by wet nurses hired for the purpose. In some places, such as nineteenth-century France, city infants were sent to wet nurses in the country. Often a wet nurse would feed her own child first, leaving little milk for the city infant—who, in many cases, died. In Rouen, the death rate for children sent to a wet nurse was 35 percent.
68. Babies were unnamed until they were two so that _______.
A. an old social custom could be kept up B. maternal attachment could be maintained
C. they could have better chances to survive D. their parents would not be too sad if they died
69. Why were babies wrapped?
A. To protect them from the cold. B. To distance their mothers from them.
C. To make them feel more comfortable. D. To make it easy for their mothers to hold them.
70. Wet nurses were women who________.
A. babysat city infants B. fed babies of other families
C. sent their babies to the country D. failed to look after their babies
71. Which is the best title for the passage?
A. Societal Conditions in Premodern Times
B. Practices of Reducing Maternal Attachment
C. Poor Health Service and High Infant Death Rate
D. Differences between Modem and Premodern Parents
Millions of people visit Yosemite National Park every year to see the tall waterfalls and mountains. These mountains are a splendid sight when viewed form the valley floor. Lots of stores, hotels, and restaurants are needed to handle the crowds. Also, water, roads, and other service systems are part of the infrastructure (基础设施) that must be maintained.
Unfortunately, these systems are starting to break down. It’s not just in Yosemite but in national parks around the nation.
Yosemite is thirty years old according to Dennis Galvin, a National Park Service worker. The Park is not only old but worn out. Two or three times as many visitors come every year. That is too many visitors for the park to deal with.
Four years ago a storm washed out a water pipeline in the Grand Canyon. The National Park Service had to send water trucks to provide water for the visitors. Last month pipes almost broke again and roads had to be closed for a while.
Why hasn’t the National Park Service kept up the park repairs? There is a lack of money. The United States has 378 monuments, parks, and wilderness areas. Between three and four billion dollars are needed for repairs.
Yosemite is one national park that does have money for repairs. It has two hundred million dollars but cannot spend it any way it chooses. When the park workers started widening the road, they were forced to stop by the Sierra Club. The club claimed that the road work was damaging the Merced River that runs through the park.
A sierra Club lawyer, Julia Olson, feels that the infrastructure needs to be moved out of Yosemite. That way less pressure will be put on the already crowded park.
65.According to the text, the mountains in Yosemite look most splendid when they are appreciated from ______.
A. the bottom of the valleys B. the top of the mountains
C. the side of the mountains D. the edge of the valleys
66.National parks like Yosemite in the U.S. find it increasingly difficult to meet the need of
visitors because ______.
A. their transport management needs improving
B. they spend too much on their service systems
C. their service systems frequently go out of order
D. they need help from environmental organizations
67.The main problem of Yosemite National Park is its ______.
A. rundown water pipes B. overcrowdedness
C. lack of money D. narrow roads
68. According to the text, the Sierra Club is most likely to be ______.
A. an environmental groupB. an information center
C. a travel serviceD. a law firm
In modern society there is a great deal of argument about competition. Some value it highly, believing that it is responsible for social progress and prosperity. Others say that competition is bad; that it sets one person against another; that it leads to unfriendly relationship between people.
I have taught many children who held the belief that their self-worth relied（依赖）on how well they performed at tennis and other skills. For them, playing well and winning are often life-and-death affairs. In their single-minded pursuit(追求)of success, the development of many other human qualities is sadly forgotten.
However, while some seem to be lost in the desire to succeed, others take an opposite attitude. In a culture which values only the winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players, they strongly blame competition. Among the most vocal are youngsters who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society. Teaching these young people, I often observe in them a desire to fail. They seem to seek failure by not trying to win or achieve success. By not trying, they always have an excuse: “ I may have lost, but it doesn’t matter because I really didn’t try.” What is not usually admitted by themselves is the belief that if they had really tried and lost, that would meana lot. Such a loss would be a measure of their worth. Clearly, this belief is the same as that of true competitors who try to prove themselves. Both are based on the mistaken belief that one’s self-respect relies on how well one performs in comparison with others. Both are afraid of not being valued. Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to dissolve(缓解) can we discover a new meaning in competition.
71. What does this passage mainly talk about?
A. Competition helps to set up self-respect.
B. Opinions about competition are different among people.
C. Competition is harmful to personal quality development.
D. Failures are necessary experience in competition.
72. Why do some people favor competition according to the passage?
A. It pushes society forward. B. It builds up a sense of duty.
C. It improves personal abilities. D. It encourages individual efforts.
73. The underlined phrase “the most vocal” in Paragraph 3 means __________.
A. those who try their best to win
B. those who value competition most highly
C. those who are against competition most strongly
D. those who rely on others most for success
74. What is the similar belief of the true competitors and those with a “desire to fail”?
A. One’s worth lies in his performance compared with others.
B. One’s success in competition needs great efforts.
C. One’s achievement is determined by his particular skills.
D. One’s success is based on how hard he has tried.
75. Which point of view may the author agree to?
A. Every effort should be paid back.
B. Competition should be encouraged.
C. Winning should be a life-and-death matter.
D. Fear of failure should be removed in competition.
“My kids really understand solar and earth-heat energy,” says a second-grade teacher in Saugus, California. “Some of them are building solar collectors for their energy course.” These young scientists are part of City Building Educational Program (CBEP), a particular program for kindergarten through twelfth grade that uses the stages of city planning to teach basic reading, writing and math skills, and more.
The children don’t just plan any city. They map and analyze（分析）the housing, energy, and transportation requirements of their own district and foretell its needs in 100 years. With the aid of an architect（建筑师）who visits the classroom once a week, they invent new ways to meet these needs and build models of their creations. “Designing building of the future gives children a lot of freedom,” says the teacher who developed this program. “They are able to use their own rich imagination and inventions without fear of blame, because there are no wrong answers in a future context. In fact, as the class enters the final model-building stage of the program, an elected ‘official’ and ‘planning group’ make all the design decisions for the model city, and the teacher steps back and becomes an adviser.”
CBEP is a test of activities, games and imitations that teach the basic steps necessary for problem-solving: observing, analyzing, working out possible answers, and judging them based on the children’s own standards.
63. The Program is designed ______________.
A. to direct kids to build solar collectors
B. to train young scientists for city planning
C. to develop children’s problem-solving abilities
D. to help young architects know more about designing
64. An architect pays a weekly visit to the classroom ____________.
A. to find out kids’ creative ideas B. to discuss with the teacher
C. to give children lectures D. to help kids with their program
65. Who is the designer of the program?
A. An official. B. An architect. C. A teacher.D. A scientist.
66. The children feel free in the program because ______________.
A. they can design future buildings themselves
B. they have new ideas and rich imagination
C. they are given enough time to design models
D. they need not worry about making mistakes
If you want to be a success, study at the University of Waikato is right for you. The university is internationally recognized for its excellence and achievements. It will help you develop advanced research skills. As a university student you can get first-class research facilities (设施) with trained teachers to help, support and advise you in your study. We pride ourselves on our high standards, our research success and our international recognition. For further information: inf@waikato.ac.nz.
Degree
We offer a wide choice of bachelor’s degrees (学位) for international students, which includes: Arts, Communication Studies, Social Sciences, etc. Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Education are only for New Zealand citizens, for further information: deg@waikato.ac.nz.
Tuition Fees(学费)
Tuition fees are different from department to department, generally from $5,000 to $6,000 a year. For further information: tui@waikato.ac.nz.
Accommodation(住宿)
You can have a room in a 4-bedroom flat, which will cost about $100 a month with other regular living costs of about $150 a month for one person. For further information: acc @ waikato. ac.nz
Health
The Student Health Service provides excellent medical services for students. The Medical Centre is open five days a week, including student holidays with four doctor's and nurses to meet your medical needs. For further information: heal@waikato.ac.nz.
Sports
The Centre is a great place to have sports activities. Trained exercise teachers can help you work out a training plan and keep you active. The sports hall has volleyball, basketball and indoor football courts and a swimming pool as well. There are also a large number of sports clubs at Waikato. For further information: sport@ waikato.ac.nz
68. If you want to get more information about arts, you can write to ______.
A. sport@waikato.ac.nz B. heal@waikato.ac.nz
C. deg@waikato.ac.nz D. inf@waikato.ac.nz
69. You have to pay at least ______ a year if you study at the University of Waikato.
A. $5,250 B. $8,000 C. $9,000 D. $11,000
70. According to the text, what will you do if you are ill during Christmas holidays?
A. Go to a hospital nearby. B. Buy some medicine in a drug store.
C. See a doctor at the school medical centre. D. Try to get help from your classmates.