America is a mobile society. Friendships between Americans can be close and real, yet disappear soon if situations change. Neither side feels hurt by this. Both may exchange Christmas greetings for a year or two, perhaps a few letters for a while — then no more. If the same two people meet again by chance, even years later, they pick up the friendship. This can be quite difficult for us Chinese to understand, because friendships between us flow more slowly but then may become lifelong feelings, extending(延伸) sometimes deeply into both families.
Americans are ready to receive us foreigners at their homes, share their holidays, and their home life. They will enjoy welcoming us and be pleased if we accept their hospitality (好客) easily.
Another difficult point for us Chinese to understand Americans is that although they include us warmly in their personal everyday lives, they don’t show their politeness to us if it requires a great deal of time. This is usually the opposite of the practice in our country where we may be generous with our time.
Sometimes, we, as hosts, will appear at airports even in the middle of the night to meet a friend. We may take days off to act as guides to our foreign friends. The Americans, however, express their welcome usually at homes, but truly can not manage the time to do a great deal with a visitor outside their daily routine. They will probably expect us to get ourselves from the airport to our own hotel by bus. And they expect that we will phone them from there. Once we arrive at their homes, the welcome will be full, warm and real. We will find ourselves treated hospitably.
For the Americans, it is often considered more friendly to invite a friend to their homes than to go to restaurants, except for purely business matters. So accept their hospitality at home!Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A.Friendships between Americans usually last for all their lives. |
B.Americans always show their warmth even if they are very busy. |
C.Americans will continue their friendships again even after a long break. |
D.Friendships between Americans usually extend deeply into their families. |
From the last two paragraphs we can learn that when we arrive in America to visit an American friend, we will probably be ______.
A.offered a ride to his home |
B.treated hospitably at his home |
C.treated to dinner in a restaurant |
D.warmly welcomed at the airport |
A suitable title for this passage would probably be “______”.
A.Americans’ and Chinese’s views of friendships. |
B.Friendships between Americans. |
C.Friendships between Chinese. |
D.Americans’ hospitality . |
How many people have I met who have told me about the book they have been planning to write but have never yet found the time? Far too many .
This is Life , all right , but we do treat it like a rehearsal (排演) and , unhappily ,we do miss so many of its best moments.
We take jobs to stay alive and provide homes for our families always making ourselves believe that this style of life is merely a temporary state of affairs along the road to what we really want to do . Then , at 60 or 65 , we are suddenly presented with a clock and several grandchildren and we look back and realize that all those years waiting for real life to come along were in fact real life.
In America they have a saying much laughed at by the English :“ Have a nice day ”they speak slowly and seriously in their shops , hotels and sandwich bars . I think it is a wonderful phrase , reminding us , in effect , to enjoy the moment : to value this very day .
How often do we say to ourselves , “I’ll take up horse-riding (or golf , or sailing ) as soon as I do get a higher position ,”only to do none of those things when I do get the higher position .
When I first became a reporter I knew a man who gave up a very well paid respectable job at the Daily Telegraph to go and edit a small weekly newspaper . At the time I was astonished by what appeared to me to be his completely abnormal (反常的) mental state . How could anyone turn his back on Fleet Street in central London for a small local area ? I wanted to know .
Now I am a little older and possibly wiser , I see the sense in it . In Fleet Street the man was under continual pressure . He lived in an unattractive London suburb and he spent much of his sitting on Southern Region trains.
60. The first paragraph of the passage tell us that___________________.
A. we always try to find some time to write a book
B. we always make plans but seldom fulfill them
C. we always enjoy many of life’s best moments
D. we always do what we really want to do
61.The underlined phrase “ turn his back on ”( Paragraph 6 ) most probably means______________.
A. leave for B. return to C. give up D. rely on
62. What is probably the best title for the passage ?
A. Provide Homes For Our Family B. Take Up Horse-riding
C. Value This Very Day D. Stay Alive
四、阅读理解(共20小题。每小题2分;满分40分)
第一节阅读下列短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
In the course of working my ways through school , I took many jobs I would rather forget . But none of these jobs was as dreadful (可怕的)as my job in an apple plant. The work was hard ; the pay was poor ; and, most of all , the working conditions were terrible.
First of all , the job made huge demands on my strength . For ten hours a night , I took boxes that rolled down a metal track and piled them onto a truck . Each box contained twelve heavy bottles of apple juice. I once figured out that I was lifting an average of twelve tons of apple juice every night .
I would not have minded the difficulty of the work so much if the pay had not been so poor. I was paid the lowest wage of that time — two dollars an hour. Because of the low pay , I felt eager to get as much as possible . I usually worked twelve hours a night but did not take home more than $ 100 a week.
But even more than the low pay , what made me unhappy was the working conditions . During work I was limited to two ten—minute breaks and an unpaid half hour for lunch .Most of my time was spent outside loading trucks with those heavy boxes in near-zero-degree temperatures. The steel floors of the trucks were like ice, which made my feet feel like stone. And after the production line shut down at night and most people left , I had to spend two hours alone cleaning the floor.
I stayed on the job for five months , all the while hating the difficulty of the work, the poor money , and the conditions under which I worked . By the time I left , I was determined never to go back there again.
56. Why did the writer have to take many jobs at that time ?
A. To pay for his schooling B. To save for his future
C. To support his family D. To gain some experience
57. The following facts describe the terrible working conditions of the plant EXCEPT_____.
A. loading boxes in the freezing cold B. having limited time for breaks
C. working and studying at the same time D. getting no pay for lunch time
58.What is the subject discussed in the text?
A. The writer’s unhappy school life.
B. The writer’s eagerness to earn money.
C. The writer’s experience as a full-time worker.
D. The writer’s hard work in an apple plant.
59. How is the text organized?
A. Topic — Argument — Explanation
B. Opinion— Discussion — Description
C. Main idea — Comparison —Supporting examples
D. Introduction— Supporting examples — Conclusion
Michael, a typical American, stays home on workday. He plugs into his personal computer terminal in order to connect with the office. After work he puts on his headphones, watches a movie on his home video recorder or plays baseball on the computer. On many days, Michael does not talk to any other human beings, and he does not see any people except the ones on television. Michael is imaginary, but his life style is very possible. The inventions of modern technology seem to be cutting us off from contact with our fellow human beings.
The world of business is one area which technology is isolating us. Experts say, for example, that many people will soon be able to work at home. With access to a large central computer, employees such as office clerks, insurance agents and accountants could do their jobs at display terminals in their own homes. They would never have to actually see the people they’re dealing with. In addition, the way employees are paid will change. Workers’ salaries will be automatically paid into their band accounts, making paper checks unnecessary. No workers will stand in line to receive their pay or cash their checks. Personal banking will change, too. Customers will deal with machines to put in or take out money from their accounts.
Another area that technology is changing is entertainment. Music, for instance, was once a group experience. People listened to music at concert halls or in small social gatherings. For many people now, however, music is an individual experience. Walking along the street or sitting in their living rooms, they wear headphones to build a wall of music around them. Movie entertainment is changing, too. Movies used to be social events. Now, fewer people are going out to see a movie. Many more are choosing to wait for a film to appear on television or are borrowing videotapes to watch at home. Instead of laughing with others, viewers watch movies in their own living rooms.
46. The sentence,“Michael is imaginary, but his life style is very possible”means _______.
Michael is a person full of imagination and he can make his dreams come true.
Michael is not a real person but the life style does exist.
Michael has ambitions but he can’t make his dreams come true.
Michael is a person full of imagination and his style is common nowadays.
47. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?
Clerks will be able to worn play baseball on the computer.
One can listen to music without disturbing others.
One can borrow books from libraries at home.
48. What will the author most probably discuss after the last paragraph?
A.Games and sports. | B.Personal banking. |
C.Music and films. | D.International business. |
49. What is the main idea of the passage?
We may no longer need to communicate with other human being.
Modern technology seems to be separating human being.
We any no longer need to work in the office.
Modern technology makes it possible for us to work and entertain ourselves at home.
The Vienna-based researchers showed that dogs will stop doing a simple task when not rewarded if another dog, which continues to be rewarded, is present.
The experiment consisted of taking pairs of dogs and getting them to present a paw for a reward.On giving this “handshake” the dogs received a piece of food.One of the dogs was then asked to shake hands, but received no food.The other dog continued to get the food when it was asked to perform the task.
The dog without the reward quickly stopped doing the task, and showed signs of anger or stress when its partner was rewarded.
To make sure that the experiment was really showing the interaction between the dogs rather than just the frustration of not being rewarded, a similar experiment was conducted where the dogs performed the task without the partner.Here they continued to present the paw for much longer.
Dr Frederike Range from the University of Vienna says this shows that it was the presence of the rewarded partner that was the greater influence on their behaviour.
“The only difference is one gets food and the other doesn’t, they are responding to being unequally rewarded.” she said.
The researchers say this kind of behaviour, where one animal gets frustrated with what is happening with another, has only been observed in primates(灵长类) before.
Studies with various types of monkeys and chimpanzees show they react not only to seeing their partners receiving rewards when they are not, but also to the type of reward.
The dog study also looked at whether the type of reward made a difference.Dogs were given either bread or sausage, but seemed to react equally to either.Dr Range says this may be because they have been trained.
57.The dogs refused to give the paw when they_______.
A.found another dog was given nothing
B.felt they were not treated equally
C.were aware they received less food
D.were given too much reward
58.What would the dogs do if they presented their paw alone?
A.They would go on with the performance much longer.
B.They would be too shy to present their paw.
C.They would miss their partners.
D.They would compare what they got with that of others.
59.According to the passage, compared with dogs, monkeys and chimpanzees ______.
A.pay no attention to the type of reward
B.only like to play interesting games
C.pay attention to the type of reward as well as whether they are rewarded
D.care more about how they are rewarded
60.Which of the following can best summerise the passage?
A.Animals’ various ways to show anger
B.Dogs are more envious than man
C.Most animals want to be be rewarded for their work
D.Animals also have a sense of fairplay