“When an American asks me this question, it’s like a wall of ice crashing down between us.” my Moscow-born friend Galina said. The question is “How are you?”.
The answer Americans give, of course is, “Fine.” But when Russians hear this they think one of two things: you are experiencing a rare moment of fineness or you are lying.
Ask a Russian, “How are you?” and you will hear, for better or worse, the truth. I have experienced many painful minutes of silence after my grandmother made her stock response: “Terrible,” to which she might add, “Why? Because being old is terrible and I am very old.”
“‘Fine’ makes Russians think that Americans have no soul,” I explained recently to an American-born friend. “That they just want to go home, eat a frozen dinner in front of the TV, and wait out the hours before going to work to make money again.” He laughed, “You know, there’s something to that.”
The thing most Russians don’t realize is that, in English, “How are you?” isn’t a question at all, but a form of “hi”, like the Russian “privyet!”
Psychologists at the University of Michigan have shown that, while Russians are, indeed, easier to be depressed than Americans, their open acceptance of bad experiences might be healthier.
Recently, when I looked through a few American guides on traveling to Russia, I was disappointed to find that they all suggested that tourists adopt the American approach to “How are you”.When you ask a Russian “how are you” the Russian will ________.
| A．answer “fine” |
| B．tell you the truth |
| C．make no answer |
| D．get angry and walk away |
If an American answers “fine” to the question “how are you”, the Russian will think ______.
| A．he is not honest | B．he will go home |
| C．he likes watching TV | D．he is living a bad life |
We can infer Russians’ answer to “how are you” can make Americans feel ________.
| A．happy | B．angry |
| C．puzzled | D．touched |
London taxis, with their friendly drivers who actually know where they are going, are ranked best in the world, according to an annual taxi poll(调查).
The survey by travel website hotels.com found London taxis, despite being the most expensive, beat rivals across the globe to head the list for the third consecutive years, scoring a total of 59 percent in votes on several categories by travellers.
London taxi drivers were voted both friendliest and most knowledgeable. Drivers in the English capital must pass a rigorous examination called The Knowledge to earn their taxi licence.
New York’s yellow taxis came second in the list, scoring 27 percent which was up 10 percentage points from last year even though Manhattan’s cab drivers tied with Parisian taxi drivers as the rudest.
Travellers said New York had the most available taxis.
Cabbies in Rome were voted the worst drivers in the world with almost one in 10 travellers thinking the Italian capital had the world’s worst taxi drivers when it came to the quality of driving.
“Travelling by taxi is one of the first experiences that many travellers have upon arrival in a new city. In fact, the research found that cabs are by far the most popular method of travelling from the airport to their hotel,” a spokesman for hotels.com said in a statement.
The global poll scored city based taxis for their levels of cleanliness, value, quality of driving, knowledge of the area, friendliness, safety and availability.
Rounding out the top five were Tokyo with a total score of 26 percent, Berlin with 17 percent, and Bangkok famed for its tuk-tuks scoring 14 percent.
Madrid’s taxis were ranked sixth in the poll, followed by Copenhagen and Dublin with 11 percent and Frankfurt and Paris with 10 percent.
Taxis in Sydney fell short of the top 10, scoring badly in the areas of value for money, availability and knowledge of the area.
The survey for hotels.com, part of the Expedia group, was conducted among over 1,900 travellers between May 11-28 this year.What does the underlined word “rigorous” in the third paragraph mean _______?
| A．official | B．lawful | C．strict | D．important |
The writer introduced the result of the survey by _____.
| A．listing the ranks of the taxi service of the European cities |
| B．listing the ranks of the taxi service of the cities concerned |
| C．different kinds of reading forms and famous travel websites |
| D．interviewing the taxi drivers and travellers of the cities |
Rome’s taxi drivers are lack of _______.
| A．driving skills | B．good manners |
| C．the sense of cleanliness | D．the sense of safety |
What does the writer want to tell us?
| A．The global taxi drivers should be trained strictly. |
| B．The global taxi drivers should be given an exam. |
| C．The global taxi drivers have different driving skills. |
| D．The global big cities’taxis service is scored by a travel website. |
Franz Kafka wrote that “a book must be the ax (斧子) for the frozen sea inside us. ”I once shared this sentence with a class of seventh graders, and it didn’t seem to require any explanation.
We’d just finished John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men. When we read the end together out loud in class, my toughest boy, a star basketball player, wept a little, and so did I. “Are you crying?” one girl asked, as she got out of her chair to take a closer look. “I am,” I told her, “and the funny thing is I’ve read it many times.”
But they understood. When George shoots Lennie, the tragedy is that we realize it was always going to happen. In my 14 years of teaching in a New York City public middle school, I’ve taught kids with imprisoned parents, abusive parents, irresponsible parents; kids who are parents themselves; kids who are homeless; kids who grew up in violent neighborhoods. They understand, more than I ever will, the novel’s terrible logic—the giving way of dreams to fate (命运).
For the last seven years, I have worked as a reading enrichment teacher, reading classic works of literature with small groups of students from grades six to eight. I originally proposed this idea to my headmaster after learning that a former excellent student of mine had transferred out of a selective high school—one that often attracts the literary-minded children of Manhattan’s upper classes—into a less competitive setting. The daughter of immigrants, with a father in prison, she perhaps felt uncomfortable with her new classmates. I thought additional “cultural capital” could help students like her develop better in high school, where they would unavoidably meet, perhaps for the first time, students who came from homes lined with bookshelves, whose parents had earned Ph. Ds.
Along with Of Mice and Men, my groups read: Sounder, The Red Pony, Lord of the Flies, Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth. The students didn’t always read from the expected point of view. About The Red Pony, one student said, “it’s about being a man, it’s about manliness.”I had never before seen the parallels between Scarface and Macbeth, nor had I heard Lady Macbeth’s soliloquies (独白) read as raps (说唱), but both made sense; The interpretations were playful, but serious. Once introduced to Steinbeck’s writing, one boy went on to read The Grapes of Wrath and told me repeatedly how amazing it was that “all these people hate each other, and they’re all white.” His historical view was broadening, his sense of his own country deepening. Year after year, former students visited and told me how prepared they had felt in their first year in college as a result of the classes.
Year after year, however, we are increasing the number of practice tests. We are trying to teach students to read increasingly complex texts, not for emotional punch (碰撞) but for text complexity. Yet, we cannot enrich (充实) the minds of our students by testing them on texts that ignore their hearts. We are teaching them that words do not amaze but confuse. We may succeed in raising test scores, but we will fail to teach them that reading can be transformative and that it belongs to them.The underlined words in Paragraph 1 probably mean that a book helps to __________.
| A．realize our dreams | B．give support to our life |
| C．smooth away difficulties | D．awake our emotions |
Why were the students able to understand the novel Of Mice and Men?
| A．Because they spent much time reading it. |
| B．Because they had read the novel before. |
| C．Because they came from a public school. |
| D．Because they had similar life experiences. |
The girl left the selective high school possibly because__________.
| A．she was a literary-minded girl | B．her parents were immigrants |
| C．she couldn’t fit in with her class | D．her father was then in prison |
To the author’s surprise, the students read the novels__________.
| A．creatively | B．passively | C．repeatedly | D．carelessly |
The author writes the passage mainly to__________.
| A．introduce classic works of literature |
| B．advocate(倡导) teaching literature to touch the heart |
| C．argue for equality among high school students |
| D．defend the current testing system |
Mark and his brother Jason both were looking at the shining new computer enviously, Jason was determined not to go against their father's wishes but Mark was more adventurous than his brother. He loved experimenting and his aim was to become a scientist like his father.
“Dad will be really mad if he finds out you've been playing with his new computer.” Jason said, “He told us not to touch it.”
“He won’t find out,” Mark said. “I'll just have a quick look and shut it down.”
Mark had been scolded before for touching his father's equipment. But his curiosity was difficult to control and this new computer really puzzled him.
It was a strange-looking machine — one his dad had brought home from the laboratory where he worked. “It’s an experimental model," his father had explained, “so don’t touch it under any circumstances.” But his father's warning only made Mark more curious. Without any further thought, Mark turned on the power switch. The computer burst into life and seconds later, the screen turned into colors, shifting and changing and then two big white words appeared in the centre of the screen: “SPACE TRANSPORTER.” “Yes!” Mark cried excitedly, “It's a computer game. I knew it! Dad's only been pretending to work. He's really been playing games instead.”A new message appeared on the screen: “
ENTER NAMES
VOYAGER 1:…
VOYAGER 2:…
Mark's fingers flew across the keyboard as he typed in both of their names.
“INPUT ACCEPTED. START TRANSPORT PROGRAM. AUTO-RETRIEVE INITIATED( 自动回收程序已启动).”The screen turned even brighter and a noise suddenly rose in volume. “I think we'd better shut it off, Mark,” Jason yelled, reaching for the power switch. He was really frightened.But his hand never reached the switch. A single beam of dazzling white light burst out of the computer screen, wrapping the boys in its glow(光芒) , until they themselves seemed to be glowing. Then it died down just as suddenly as it had burst into life. And the boys were no longer there. On the screen, the letters changed.
“TRANSPORT SUCCESSFUL. DESTINATION ( 目的地)：MARS. RETRIEVE DATE: 2025.”Why did Mark touch the computer against his father's warning?
| A．He wanted to take a voyage. | B．He wanted to practice his skill. |
| C．He was so much attracted by it. | D．He was eager to do an experiment. |
Where did the boys' father most likely work?
| A．In an electronic factory. | B．In a computer company. |
| C．In a scientific research center. | D．In an information processing center. |
Mark thought “SPACE TRANSPORTER” on the screen was the name of______.
| A．a computer game | B．a company website |
| C．a software producer | D．an astronomer |
Why did Jason want to shut off the computer?
| A．He was afraid of being scolded. |
| B．He didn't like the loud noise and light. |
| C．He didn't want to play games any more. |
| D．He was afraid something dangerous might happen. |
What happened to the boys at the end of the story?
| A．They were blown into the air. |
| B．They were sent to another planet. |
| C．They were hidden in the strong light. |
| D．They were carried away to another country. |
Today, there’s hardly an aspect of our life that isn’t being upended by the tons of information available on the hundreds of millions of sites crowding the Internet, not to mention its ability to keep us in constant touch with each other via electronic mail. “If the automobile and aerospace technology had exploded at the same pace as computer and information technology,” says Microsoft, “a new car would cost about $ 2 and go 600 miles on a small quantity of gas. And you could buy a Boeing 747 for the cost of a pizza.”
Probably the biggest payoff, however, is the billions of dollars the Internet is saving companies in producing goods and serving for the needs of their customers. Nothing like it has been seen since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, when power-driven machines began producing more in a day than men could turn out in nearly a year. “We view the growth of the Internet and e-commerce as a global trend,” says Merrill Lynch, “along the lines of printing press, the telephone, the computer, and electricity.”
You would be hard pressed to name something that isn’t available on the Internet. Consider: books, health care, movie tickets, construction materials, baby clothes, stocks, cattle feed, music, electronics, antiques, tools, real estate, toys, autographs of famous people, wine and airline tickets. And even after you’ve moved on to your final resting place, there’s no reason those you love can’t keep in touch. A company called FinalThoughts.com offers a place for you to store “afterlife e-mails” you can send to Heaven with the help of a “guardian angel”.
Kids today are so computer literate that it in fact ensures the United States will remain the unchallenged leader in cyberspace for the foreseeable future. Nearly all children in families with incomes of more than $75,000 a year have home computers, according to a study by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Youngsters from ages 2 to 17 at all income levels have computers, with 52% of those connected to the Internet. Most kids use computers to play games (some for 30 hours or more a week), and many teenage girls think nothing of rushing home from school to have e-mail chats with friends they have just left.
What’s clear is that, whether we like it or not, the Internet is an ever growing part of our lives and there is no turning back. “The Internet is just 20% invented,” says cyber pioneer Jake Winebaum. “The last 80% is happening now.”What can we learn from the Microsoft’s remark?
| A．Information technology is developing at an amazing speed. |
| B．Today’s cars and airplanes are extremely overpriced. |
| C．Information technology has reached the point where improvement is difficult. |
| D．There’s more competition in information technology industry than in car industry. |
According to the author, the biggest benefit of the Internet is that___.
| A．it speeds up profit making |
| B．it saves companies huge amounts of money |
| C．it brings people incredible convenience |
| D．it provides easy access to information |
The author gives the example of FinalThoughts.com to make the point that____.
| A．there are some genius ideas on the Internet |
| B．people can find good bargains on the Internet |
| C．almost anything is available on the Internet |
| D．people are free to do anything on the Internet |
What can we learn from the fourth paragraph?
| A．The U.S. will stay ahead in the information technology in years. |
| B．Many American children don’t study hard. |
| C．Studies show that boys are more computer literate than girls. |
| D．There is a link between income and computer ownership. |
What is the message the author intends to convey?
| A．The Internet is going to get firm hold of our lives some day. |
| B．Children should be well prepared for the challenges in the information age. |
| C．We should have a positive attitude towards the changes the Internet brings. |
| D．The Internet is going to influence our lives even more greatly. |
Salt plays an important role in our daily diet. Even a small reduction in salt in the diet can be a big help to the heart. A new study used a computer model to predict -how just three grams less a day would affect heart disease in the United States.
The result: Thirteen percent fewer heart attacks. Eight percent fewer strokes. Four percent fewer deaths. Eleven percent fewer new cases of heart disease. And two hundred forty billion dollars in health care savings. Researchers found it could prevent one hundred thousand heart attacks and ninety-two thousand deaths every year．
The study is in the New England Journal of Medicine. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo at the University of California San Francisco was the lead author. She says people would not even notice a difference in taste with three grams,or one-half teaspoon, less salt per day. The team also included researchers at Stanford and Columbia University. Each gram of salt contains four hundred milligrams of sodiu(钠), which is how foods may list their salt content．
The government says the average American man eats ten grams of salt a day. The American Heart Association advises no more than three grams for healthy people. It says salt in the American diet has increased fifty percent since the nineteen seventies, while blood pressures have also risen. Less salt can mean a lower blood pressure.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is leading an effort called the National Salt Reduction Initiative.The idea is to put pressure on food companies and restaurants. Critics call it government interference.
Mayor Bloomberg has already succeeded in other areas, like requiring fast food places in the city to list calorie information. Now a study by the Seattle Children's Research Institute shows that the calorie information on the menu can influence what parents order for their children. Ninety-nine parents of three to six year olds took part. Half had calories between the two groups for foods that the parents would have chosen for themselves. McDonald's menus clearly showing how many calories were in each food. Parents given the counts chose an average of one hundred two fewer calories when asked what they would order for their children. Yet there was no difference in calories between the two groups for foods that the parents would have chosen for themselves.
Study leader Pooja Tandon says even small calorie reductions on a regular basis can prevent weight gain over time.The study was published in the journal Pediatrics．Which of the following benefits does less salt diet in the passage NOT cover?
| A．The decrease of strokes | B．The prevention of weight gain |
| C．Fewer heart attacks | D．The drop in medical care cost |
It can be inferred from the passage that _______.
| A．Americans ate no more than 5 grams of salt per day in the 1970s |
| B．the American Heart Association suggests less than 3 grams of salt a day for everyone |
| C．the less salt one eats, the healthier he will be |
| D．all the heart diseases result from eating too much salt |
The National Salt Reduction Initiative aims to_______.
| A．inform people of the harm that salt does to health |
| B．attract the public attention to the problem |
| C．require fast food places to list salt information |
| D．put pressure on food companies and restaurants |
The underlined sentence "Yet there was no difference in calories between the two groups for foods that the parents would have chosen for themselves." implies that _______.
| A．Parents pay less attention to the amount of calories in their diet. |
| B．Parents set a good example to their children in daily diet. |
| C．Parents take less salt than before while taking meals. |
| D．Most parents are on a diet for their health. |
Which of the following might be the best title for this passage?
| A．Relationship between Salt and Health |
| B．Less Salt Can Mean Being More Healthy |
| C．A Survey on People's Regular Diet |
| D．Mayor Michael Bloomberg and His Health Project |