Living in a culture that is different from your own can be both an exciting and challenging experience. The following are six cultural differences between China and the US to help promote mutual understanding.
Chinese people do not have the same concept of privacy as Americans do. They talk about topics such as ages, income or marital status, which Americans think is annoying and disturbing.
Family
In China, elders are traditionally treated with great respect while the young are cared for. In America, the goal of the family is to encourage independence, particularly that of the children. Unlike the Chinese, older Americans seldom live with their children.
Friends
Chinese people have different meanings to define friends. Just hanging out together time to time is not friendship. Friendship means lifelong friends who feel it deeply necessary to give each other whatever help might seem required. Americans always call people they meet friends, so the definition of friends is general and different. There are work friends, playing friends, school friends and drinking friends.
Money
As is well known,the Chinese like to save. They are always conservative when they are planning to spend money. It is different in the US, where far fewer families are saving money for emergencies and education than their Chinese counterparts（对应面）.
Education
Chinese people value education and career more than Americans, who in turn put more emphasis on good character and faith.
Team VS Individual
Basically China values the community and the US values the individual. If you achieve something in the US, it’s because you are great. While in China, if you achieve something it’s because the team, or family, or company is great. Everything you do gets attributed to the greater whole, while in America individual merits （功绩）are celebrated.
1.Which is the most appropriate word to show the first cultural difference?
A. Privacy. B. Income. C. Age. D. Marriage.
2.Which is true according to the passage?
A. American parents seldom live with their children.
B. There is no friendship between American people drinking together.
C. Chinese people are usually generous with money to spend.
D. Americans value good character and faith in terms of education.
3.Which one is similar to the underlined phrase?
A. is attached to B. brings in
C. is promoted to D. results in
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
India now leads the world in smartphone growth. It saw a 55% increase in the number of smartphones in 2014. The number of Web users increased by 37%. Smartphones were the source of 65% of its Internet traffic and 41% of its e-commerce, according to a report by the analyst Mary Meeker, titled “Internet Trends 2015”.
India’s Internet boom has started. Within three or four years, almost every adult in India will own a smartphone. They will be used to order goods, read news, monitor crop growth and so on.
Indian adults will be very interested in these devices just as young Americans are. 87% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 who own smartphones say they never separate from these: “My smartphone never leaves my side.” Four out of five say that the first thing they do on waking is to reach for their smartphones. And three fifths believe that in the next five years everything will be done on mobile devices.
In the business world, the rise of mobile platforms is dramatically transforming many industries all over the world. What Indian software developers have to do is to start thinking about solutions to old problems by using all the features of these new devices. They need to take advantage of the unique properties of smartphones and tablets. As Indian software developers and enterprises master the smartphone, they will be able to export their solutions to the rest of the world.
This will make possible a new tech revolution that is greater than what created India’s IT industry in the 1980s and 1990s. We can expect the rapid transformation of India when a billion people become connected and have equal access to information and services.
1.Loads of numbers are used in Paragraph 1 to show ________.
A. India’s smartphones increase most rapidly in the world
B. India has the most advanced IT industry in the world
C. India will be a superpower pretty soon
D. India will export new smartphones to the rest of the world
2.What will most young Americans do first the moment they wake up?
A. Read news. B. Shop online.
C. Get their smartphones. D. Check e-mails.
3.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. India is the largest mobile maker in the world.
B. Indian farmers will probably use smartphones to monitor crop growth.
C. Indian software developers have made great profits by selling their products abroad.
D. India saw a great boom in IT industry some 30 years ago.
4.Which can be the best title of the text？
A. More people，more smartphones
B. No dream, every Indian owns a smartphone
C. At hand, India’s next tech revolution
D. A small smartphone, a big use
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
A man enters a store to buy milk. He walks out of the store with milk. That is all—milk. At the same time, a woman enters the same grocery store also to buy milk. She buys it. But, she also buys chicken and lemons to make dinner that night. She also gets a bottle of wine for drinks with friends and a birthday card for her husband’s niece. And that is the difference between the female and male brains simply explained in a grocery store. Generally speaking, men do one thing at a time. Women do many. Doing many things at one time is often called “multi-tasking,” a very popular word these days.
Now scientific research supports this theory about male and female brains. A recent study has confirmed what we have known all along—men and women think differently.
Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania studied brain images of 949 people aged from 8 to 22 years old. They found that male brains have more connections on one side of the brain, or hemisphere. In the female brain, they found more activity and connections between the right and left sides of the brain. The left side of the brain is known as the side of “reason”. The right hemisphere is known as the “creative” side.
Regina Verma is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. She co-wrote the report. She says when women are asked to do something complicated they might use different parts of the brain. But men generally use just one.
As a result, men generally deal directly with a problem. There is a strong connection between the “understanding” and the “action” parts of their brains. Women, however, might include other parts of the brain, like the part connected with “reason” and the part connected with sensitivity when solving a problem. Women take a less direct path to find a solution.
Thanks for your listening. I’m your announcer Anna Matteo.
1.From Paragraph 1, we can learn that women ________.
A. are more hard-working than men
B. are more multi-tasking than men
C. are more careful than men
D. go shopping more than men
2.When asked to do something complicated, men __________.
A. only use the “reason” side of the brain
B. only use the “creative” side of the brain
C. use different parts of the brain
D. use one part of the brain
3.What can be inferred from the passage?
A. Men like doing something difficult.
B. Men take a less direct path to find a solution.
C. Women usually deal with a problem indirectly.
D. Women brains have more connections on one side.
4.The main purpose of the passage is to tell us ________.
A. that men and women really do think differently
B. who want to go shopping more, men or women
C. why women want to do many things at one time
D. that men and women all like to drink milk
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Is traditional fairytales good all the time? Recent research found one in five parents have abandoned those old classics such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and Hansel and Gretel and they’re in favor of more modern books.
One third of parents said their children have been left in tears after hearing the terrible details of Little Red Riding Hood. The survey of 2,000 adults was carried out to mark the launch of the hit US drama GRIMM, which starts tonight at 9:00 pm on Watch, and sees six series based on traditional fairytales. The research found a quarter of parents wouldn’t consider reading a fairytale to their child until they had reached the age of five, as they cause too many awkward questions. And 52 percent of the parents said Cinderella didn’t send a good message to their children as it portrays (描绘) a young woman doing housework all day. Similarly, Goldilocks and the Three Bears was also a tale likely to be left on the book shelf as parents felt it condones (宽恕) stealing.
Steve Hornsey, General Manager of Watch, said: “Bedtime stories are supposed to relax the children and send them off to sleep soundly. But as we see in GRIMM, fairytales can be dark and dramatic tales so it’s understandable that parents worry about reading them to young children. As adults we can see the innocence in fairytales, but a five year old with an over active imagination could think they are true. Despite the dark nature of classic fairytales, as we see in GRIMM, good will defeat evil and there is always a moral to the story.”
Though half of parents said traditional tales are more likely to have a strong moral message than a lot of modern kids’ books, two thirds of mums and dads said they were no longer appropriate to soothe youngsters before bed. On the contrary, they might give their children nightmares.
1.Why aren’t some traditional fairytales read by parents to children?
A. They are forbidden to read according to the rules.
B. They are difficult for their children to understand.
C. They are too scary for their young children to hear.
D. They don’t have any strong moral messages in them.
2.Which of the traditional fairytales tells one can get away with stealing?
A. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.
B. Little Red Riding Hood.
C. Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
D. Hansel and Gretel.
3.What’s the author’s attitude towards traditional fairytales?
A. Objective. B. Supporting. C. Disapproving. D. Doubtful.
4.The underlined word “soothe” in the last paragraph means “________”.
A. surprise B. astonish C. stress D. comfort
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
Every student has tests when they are at school. But have you ever been so worried about the tests that you can’t fall asleep at night? Have you ever felt sick or had a headache during a test?
___1.___This worry in your mind can make your body feel bad. You may feel angry, frustrated, scared, or afraid, which can give you a stomachache or a headache.
___2.__ Good or normal stress might happen when you are called to answer a question in class or when you have to give a speech. This kind of stress can help you to get things better done. ___3.___
But bad stress can happen if the stressful feelings keep going over a long time. You may not feel well if your parents are fighting, if a family member is ill, if you are having problems at school, or if you are going through anything else that makes you upset every day. ___4.___
__5.___That means making good decision about how to spend your time. If you are only dealing with school stuff and have no time to play, you can get stressed. Make sure you keep your SELF in mind: Sleep, Exercise, Leisure and Food. If you take care of yourself and get enough sleep and food, and if you exercise and leave time for fun stuff, you will probably be less stressed out!
A. However, there are two different kinds of stress.
B. Can you tell a kind of stress from another one?
C. The best way to keep stress away is to have a balanced life.
D. That kind of stress isn’t going to help you, and it can actually make you sick.
E. Since bad stress is harmful to us, you’d better try to change it into good stress.
F. If so, then you know what stress is. Stress is what you feel when you are worried or uncomfortable about something.
G. For example, you may do a better job on your test if the stress pushes you to prepare well before the test.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Starting from my early young age, I was a happy child. However, at age twelve, my life had a huge _________ . I developed obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). I started to wash my hands ten times an hour to _________ bacteria and I frequently checked my kitchen oven to make sure that it was _________ . This way of life continued for four _________ years, and by then, my OCD had led to _________ . I was no longer the happy little girl I had been. I told my mother that I was suffering from depression. So Mum took me to a _________ . The medicine didn’t help me very much. I was still _________ sad, believing that my life no longer _________ .
One autumn evening two years ago, I hit rock bottom. I _________ thought suicide was the only _________ to my depression problem, so I wrote a suicide _________ to my family. As I was folding the note, my _________ fell on a photograph. It was a picture of a lovely little girl with dark-blue eyes _________ of adventure and curiosity. It took me a few minutes to _________ that the smiling girl in the photo was me. The photo had been taken at one weekend at my uncle’s house when I was seven. Suddenly I felt a chill (惊悸） and it was like my younger _________ had sent me a message. Once I had been a _________ little girl, and I had to become strong like that again.
I tore up my suicide note and swore that I would have to _________ the depression with my mind, too. I could make myself happy again. It has been two years _________ I “rediscovered” myself. I am OCD- and depression-free. I am prepared for whatever _________ life may bring. My hero is a seven-year-old girl, _________ back at me from a photo on my desk.
1.A. request B. breakdown C. outcome D. drawback
2.A. avoid B. breed C. carry D. examine
3.A. down B. hot C. off D. clear
4.A. boring B. careful C. shy D. painful
5.A. impression B. pressure C. motivation D. depression
6.A. doctor B. stranger C. teacher D. schoolmaster
7.A. generally B. suddenly C. occasionally D. constantly
8.A. changed B. mattered C. succeeded D. failed
9.A. still B. even C. yet D. barely
10.A. situation B. method C. solution D. relation
11.A. essay B. notice C. note D. poster
12.A. hands B. heart C. head D. eyes
13.A. full B. free C. proud D. fond
14.A. imagine B. realize C. predict D. guess
15.A. brother B. sister C. uncle D. self
16.A. strong B. beautiful C. young D. curious
17.A. accept B. fight C. relieve D. distract
18.A. when B. after C. before D. since
19.A. concerns B. demands C. challenges D. chances
20.A. crying B. shouting C. smiling D. going
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
In the middle of April, if you walk through Jinghong, 1. capital of Xishuangbanna region in Yunnan Province , 2. (chance) are that you’ll get very, very wet. The Dai people will be celebrating their water-splashing festival from April 15 to 17, marking the new year for the Dai ethnic minority.
Lonely Planet, one of the world’s 3. (large) travel brands, has described what happens:“People race around the streets of Jinghong and the surrounding villages, soaking （浸透）every person 4. sight with buckets of water. ”
5. (tradition), water would be collected and poured only on family members as a symbolic way 6. (ensure) good luck in the coming year. Dai people believe that the wetter you get, the luckier you will be.
Although water 7. (play) a vital role in the celebration, there is much more to the festival , especially during the first two days 8. water splashing is comparatively kept under control, according to Lonely Planet. People wear their best clothes , while older women in nearby villages 9. (dress) in special costumes. They gather with their families and visit Dai temple . There, they wash the statues of Buddha with water, a practice 10. (know) as “Bathing the Buddha.”
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
短文改错
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线(＼)划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2．只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。
The best advice I received in my childhood was from my dad. He always gives me some advice, but I seldom took them seriously. One day he was encouraged me to participate in a speech competition. So I signed up and after the competition, I did my best to be full prepared. But the moment I stood on the stage, I was such nervous that my mind completely went blank. The experience of lose a competition was really painful. Then, my dad said, “My son, life is like battlefield. You have to lose many time to win the final victory.” Thanks for his advice, I never give up when I do anything.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
书面表达
假如你是李华，你的澳大利亚笔友Jim要来中国学习中文，请你帮忙找个寄宿家庭（host family）。请你回一封邮件，告诉他你已经找到合适的家庭了，内容包括：
1. 所处的位置；
2、家庭成员情况；
3、费用。
注意： 1.词数100 左右；
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
难度: 中等查看答案及解析