The trip to the United State opened my eyes to the fact that there are a lot of similarities as well as differences between American youth and French youth.
The first difference is in appearance. Going around in the U.S., I found that American youth do not really care about their appearance. In the morning, they choose something in their closet and wear it with another thing, often of different colors and styles, without wondering whether their choices make them look strange. The reason behind this is that they don’t care what people look like, but are just interested in their ideas. I think it’s great, but it also causes problems. Since they don’t care about their appearance, they don’t really care about their weight. Often they get fat without realizing it.
There are differences in relationships too. When the American youth fall in love, they don’t really think of the future. Also, there are differences in the rules concerning behavior that is allowed. In some respects, the French are more accepting. For example, in America it is generally unacceptable to make physical display of love. Lovers, actually, can’t kiss or hold each other everywhere they want. People think that not showing love in public places is a way to respect others. On the contrary, the French youth can do almost everything they want.
As for other types of relationships, there are also big differences. Americans act differently from French people in front of unknown people. When an American girl, for example, arrives in front of people she has never met before, she will talk with them, trying to create a kind of tie between her and this new circle of people. The French girls will just think about rather than really do this kind of thing because they are too shy and lacking in self-confidence.
To finish, I noticed that in American classes, when pupils want to say or ask something, they just do it. In general, they don’t really care how the others will judge them. In France, it’s not the same case. If somebody wants to ask something, he/she will think about it before speaking up. I appreciate the freedom in Americans’ behavior, ideas, and ways of expressing themselves.The underlined word “respects” in the third paragraph probably means____.
A.approaches | B.aspects | C.honors | D.means |
When American youth fall in love with each other, they _________.
A.will not hold each other |
B.will rarely display their love in public |
C.will always think about their future |
D.will kiss wherever they like |
It can be inferred from the passage that French youth may think more about ______.
A.their relationship’s future | B.their public images |
C.their physical displays | D.their lover’s ideas |
The passage is mainly about the______ between American youth and French youth.
A.differences | B.friendship | C.similarities | D.relationships |
D
The following is a timetable in Shanghai Pudong International Airport.
Airline |
Flight Number |
Destination |
Departure |
Gate |
Air Canada |
137 |
Beijing |
10:12 a.m. |
24 |
Japanese Airlines |
320 |
Tokyo |
10:30 a.m. |
18 |
British Airways |
405 |
Paris |
11:00 a.m. |
20 |
Pan American |
226 |
London |
11:20 a.m. |
12 |
Pan American |
12 |
Beijing |
11:43 a.m. |
15 |
Air Canada |
178 |
Tokyo |
12:32 a.m. |
21 |
CAAC |
289 |
Hong Kong |
12:32 a.m. |
14 |
CAAC |
314 |
Moscow |
12:45 a.m. |
18 |
British Airways |
230 |
New York |
12:55 a.m. |
23 |
A man wants to take Flight 178 to Tokyo. Which gate should he go to?
A.14 | B.28 | C.21 | D.18 |
Lisa is at gate 23. Where is she going?
A.Paris | B.Beijing | C.Tokyo | D.New York |
Now it’s 11:40. Mary is at gate 20. Which airline’s plane will she take?
A.British Airways | B.Japanese Airlines |
C.Pan American | D.Air Canada |
Gate _______ is the busiest among all these gates.
A.23 | B.18 | C.24 | D.15 |
Which airline’s flights cover the longest route(行程)?
A.CAAC | B.Pan American | C.British Airways | D.Air Canada |
C
Have you ever been afraid to talk back when you were treated unfairly? Have you ever bought something just because the salesman talked you into it? Many people are afraid to support themselves. Dr. Robert Albert, author of Stand Up, Speak Out, and Talk Back,thinks it’s because their self-respect is low. “There s always a ‘superior’ (长辈) around ˉa parent, a teacher, a boss—— who knows better.” But Albert and other scientists are doing something to help people help themselves. They offer “assertiveness(维护) training” courses——A.T. for short. In the A. T. Course people learn that they have a right to be themselves. They learn to speak out and feel good about doing so. They learn to be aggressive (进攻的) without hurting other people. In one way, learning to speak out is to get rid of fear. A group taking an A. T. Course will help the timid (懦弱的) person to lose his fear. But A. T. uses an even stronger motive (动机)——the need to share. The timid person speaks out in the group because he wants to tell how he feels. Whether or not you speak up for yourself depends on your self-respect. If someone you face is more “important” than you, you may feel less of a person. You start to doubt your answers to problems. You can get to feel good about yourself. And once you do you can learn to speak out. The problem the writer talks about is that…
A.some people buy things they don t want |
B.some people are afraid to speak out for their rights |
C.there are too many superiors |
D.some people don t think enough of themselves |
The cause of the problem talked about in this passage is that .
A.some people have a low self-respect |
B.there is always someone around who “knows better” |
C.salesmen talk people into buying things they don’t want |
D.people don t share enough |
The A.T. Course often
A. make people distrust their own answers
B. make things more favorable for “superiors”
C. help people know as much as their “superiors”
D. help people become more importantOne thing the A . T. Course don t do is to .
A. share the need of people
B. show they have a right to be themselves
C. help people overcome fear
D. help people to help themselves even if others sufferA good title for this passage could be .
A.The Need to Share |
B.Talk Back When Necessary |
C.One Way to Build Self-Respect |
D.One Way to Train Speaking Ability |
B
What is language for? Some people seem to think it's for practicing grammar rules and learning lists of words—the longer the lists,the better. That's wrong. Language is for the exchange(交流)of ideas and information. It's meaningless knowing all about a language if you can't use it freely. Many students I have met know hundreds of grammar rules, but they can't speak correctly or fluently. They are afraid of making mistakes. One shouldn't be afraid of making mistakes when speaking a foreign language. Native speakers make mistakes and break rules, too. Bernard saw once wrote, "Foreigners often speak English too correctly." But the mistakes that native speakers make are different from those that Chinese students make. They're English mistakes in the English language. And if enough native speakers break a rule, it is no longer a rule. What used to be wrong becomes right. People not only make history, they make language. But a people can only make its own language. It can't make another people's language. So Chinese students of English should pay attention to grammar, but they shouldn't overdo(做过头)it. They should put communication first. Language is used to ________.
A. express oneself B. practice grammar rules
B. talk with foreigners only D. learn lists of wordsGenerally, when an American or an Englishman speaks English, he ________.
A.never makes mistakes | B.often makes mistakes |
C.can't avoid making mistakes | D.always makes mistakes |
"Foreigners often speak English too correctly. "This sentence means that ________.
A.foreigners speak correct English |
B.foreigners speak incorrect English |
C.foreigners speak English according to the grammar rules |
D.foreigners never make mistakes when they speak English |
If too many native speakers break a rule, ________.
A.what they use will become right | B.they are against the law |
C.they should say sorry to others | D.they will become heroes |
When we speak a foreign language, we should ________.
A.speak in Chinese way | B.speak by the rules |
C.speak to native speakers | D.not be afraid of making mistakes |
A
The nervous-looking young man had waited for a few moments outside the jeweler's shop before he got enough courage to enter.He was warmly greeted by a young assistant. James felt a rush blood to his face as he explained he would bring in his future wife to choose a birthday present.The assistant listened carefully and told him he'd better buy a necklace. He wasn't used to buying jewelry and was a little worried about overspending. After some discussion as to reasonable price and type(类型), the assistant showed him dozens of necklaces and helped him to choose. At last James chose one and left the shop promising to return at five o'clock. When, half an hour later, James did return to the shop with his future wife, Laura, the assistant acted as if she had never seen him before. When she was asked to show them some necklaces, she first brought out some inexpensive ones for them to choose and then gave them the one she had prepared. A choice was soon made and they went away, satisfied. James would certainly come back to buy what he wanted when he got married.A good title(题目)for this passage is ________.
A.A Clever Assistant | B.Buying a Birthday Present |
C.How to Choose a Necklace | D.A Brave Young Man |
Why did the young man look nervous?
A.Because he had never bought jewelry before. |
B.Because he would get married. |
C.Because he didn’t have enough money to buy a satisfying present. |
D.Because he feared he would be laughed at by shop assistants. |
The word "overspending" in this passage means ________.
A.spending too much money |
B.spending too much time |
C.spending more time than be planned |
D.spending too much time and too much money |
When James told the assistant why he wanted to buy a present, his
face________.
A.turned pale | B.turned black | C.turned yellow | D.turned red |
James would come back to buy what he wanted because ________.
A.the necklace was good |
B.Laura liked the necklace |
C.the assistant knew how to satisfy the people who came to buy things |
D.the assistant who served James was very beautiful |
Technology: Taking the good without the bad?
Very soon, unimaginably powerful technologies will remake our lives.This could have dangerous consequences, especially because we may not even understand the basic science underlyi ng them.There’s a growing gap between our technological capability and our basic scientific understanding.We can do very clever things with the technology of the future without necessarily understanding some of the science underneath, and that is very dangerous.
The technologies that are particularly dangerous over the next hundred years are nanotechnology (纳米技术), artificial intelligence and biotechnology.The benefits that they will bring are beyond doubt.But they are going to be very, very dangerous.I’m working in the field of artificial intelligence.I have a model design for something that might be 50,000 million times smarter than the human brain.Target date is 2010.The only thing that's not possible in the film Terminator(终结者) is that the people win.If you're fighting against technology w hich is 50,000 million times smarter than you, you probably will not win.
Nanotechnology.We've all heard of the grey glue problem, that self-replicating nanotech devices might keep on copying until the world has become sticky glue.And certainly in biotechnology, we've really got a big problem because it's converging with nanotechnology and IT.Once you start mixing nanotech with organisms and you start feeding nanotech-enabled bacteria, we can really go an awful lot further than the Borg in Star Trek(星际迷航).And those superhuman organisms might not like us very much.
Eventually these technologies will become routine.That’s a threat to humanity.I don’t think it’s possible to slow it down.So what we need to do is accelerate the scientific research and try to get some extra tools.The problems facing us in the future are getting bigger and bigger.I think if we don’t get some proper science done, the future is hopeless indeed.From the text, we know that the author’s greatest concern is.
A.our lack of technological understanding of the process involved |
B.our lack of technological capability |
C.creating technology without really understanding the basic science |
D.Our refusal to face the consequences of the technology we create |
It can be inferred from the text that the author.
A.thinks people overvalue the capabilities of technology |
B.is not optimistic that artificial intelligence will always be used positively |
C.thinks that we should take science fiction movies more seriously |
D.believes artificial intelligence is the greatest threat we face technologically |
Why does the author say it is not possible in the film Terminator that the humans win?
A.Because the power of the technology is exaggerated(夸大). |
B.Because the strength of the machines is much greater. |
C.Because machines with that much intelligence can easily defeat humans. |
D.Because human beings are not courageous enough to win the battle. |