In Korea, it is rude to wear shoes inside someone’s house because it is considered dirty. In Saudi Arabia, you should not bring food to someone’s house because taking food or drink suggests that you think the host cannot afford the meal. More and more people around the world are travelling abroad to study, to go on vacation, or to work, and while it can be a great way to learn about other cultures, there may be times when travelers accidentally annoy their host.
The same gesture can have very different meanings in different countries. The gesture meaning OK in the United States means something completely different in Brazil as Ella Yao discovered. Ella had travelled to Brazil to study and was living with a host family. During dinner, her host asked Ella if she was enjoying the meal. Because her mouth was full of food, Ella made a sign with her hand that to her meant OK. Although Ella meant the food was good, this symbol in Brazilian culture is extremely rude and her host was deeply annoyed.
While travelling in Thailand, Elizabeth Brown learned that there are differences in food in the United States and Thailand. She stopped at a small, family-owned restaurant in Chiang Mai and ordered spring rolls. She was really enjoying eating them until she got the last one and noticed that there was an insect inside. She complained to the server. Later, she discovered that although insects are disgusting to most Americans, they are considered a delicacy(佳肴) in some countries.
All these mistakes can be avoided with some research on cultural differences before you go abroad. However, if you do accidentally annoy someone, quickly apologize, and learn from your mistake.
1.For what reason did Ella make her host angry?
A. She spoke with her mouth full.
B. Her host misunderstood her gesture.
C. She didn’t like the meal her host prepared.
D. Her host didn’t like using body language.
2.What happened to Elizabeth Brown in a Thai restaurant?
A. She ate an insect. B. She was badly treated.
C. She argued with the server. D. She learned insects are welcome there.
3.What may be the best title for the text?
A. What matters B. When in Rome
C. How to be polite D. Why make mistakes
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
A Guide to the University
Food
The TWU Cafeteria is open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. It serves snacks, drinks, ice cream bars and meals. You can pay with cash or your ID cards. You can add meal money to your ID cards at the Front Desk. Even if you do not buy your food in the cafeteria, you can use the tables to eat your lunch, to have meetings and to study.
If you are on campus in the evening or late at night, you can buy snacks, fast food, and drinks in the Lower Café located in the bottom level of the Gouglas Centre. This area is often used for entertainment such as concerts, games or TV watching.
Relaxation
The Globe, located in the bottom level of McMillan Hall, is available for relaxing, studying, cooking and eating. Monthly activities are held here for all international students. Hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m, closed on Sundays.
Health
Located on the top floor of Douglas Hall, the Wellness Centre is committed to physical, emotional and social health. A doctor and nurse is available if you have health questions or need immediate medical help or personal advice. The cost of this is included in your medical insurance. Hours are Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to noon and 1:00 to 4:30 p.m.
Academic Support
All students have access to the Writing Centre on the upper floor of Douglas Hall. Here, qualified volunteers will work with you on written work, grammar, vocabulary, and other academic skills. You can sign up for an appointment on the sign-up sheet outside the door, two 30-minute appointments per week maximum. This service is free.
Transportation
The TWU Express is a shuttle service. The shuttle transports students between campus and the shopping center, leaving from the Mattson Centre. Operation hours are between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. Saturdays only. Round trip fare is $1.
1.What can you do in the TWU Cafeteria?
A. Have meals and meet with friends.
B. Buy drinks and enjoy concerts.
C. Do homework and watch TV.
D. Add money to your ID and play chess.
2.Where and when can you cook your own food?
A. The Lower Café, Sunday. B. The Globe, Friday.
C. The TWU Cafeteria, Friday. D. The McMillan Hall, Sunday.
3.How can you seek help from the Writing Centre?
A. By applying online. B. By calling the center.
C. By going to the center directly. D. By filling in a sign-up form.
4.What is the function of TWU Express?
A. To carry students to the lecture halls.
B. To transport students to and from the stores.
C. To take students to the Mattson Centre.
D. To provide students with campus tours
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
For many parents, raising a teenager is like fighting a long war, but years go by without any clear winner. Like a border conflict between neighboring countries, the parent-teen war is about boundaries: Where is the line between what I control and what you do?
Both sides want peace, but neither feels it has any power to stop the conflict. In part, this is because neither is willing to admit any responsibility for starting it. From the parents’ point of view, the only cause of their fight is their adolescents’ complete unreasonableness. And of course, the teens see it in exactly the same way, except oppositely. Both feel trapped.
In this article, I’ll describe three no-win situations that commonly arise between teens and parents and then suggest some ways out of the trap. The first no-win situation is quarrels over unimportant things. Examples include the color of the teen’s hair, the cleanliness of the bedroom, the preferred style of clothing, the child’s failure to eat a good breakfast before school, or his tendency to sleep until noon on the weekends. Second, blaming. The goal of a blaming battle is to make the other admit that his bad attitude is the reason why everything goes wrong. Third, needing to be right. It doesn’t matter what the topic is ---politics, the laws of physics, or the proper way to break an egg---the point of these arguments is to prove that you are right and the other person is wrong, for both wish to be considered an authority---someone who actually knows something---and therefore to command respect. Unfortunately, as long as parents and teens continue to assume that they know more than the other, they’ll continue to fight these battles forever and never make any real progress.
1.Why does the author compare the parent-teen war to a border conflict?
A. both can continue for generations.
B. Both are about where to draw the line.
C. Neither has any clear winner.
D. Neither can be put to an end.
2.What does the underlined part in Paragraph 2 mean?
A. The teens blame their parents for starting the conflict.
B. The teens agree with their parents on the cause of the conflict.
C. The teens accuse their parents of misleading them.
D. The teens tend to have a full understanding of their parents.
3.Parents and teens want to be right because they want to ________.
A. give orders to the other
B. know more than the other
C. gain respect from the other
D. get the other to behave properly
4.What will the author most probably discuss in the paragraph that follows?
A. Causes for the parent –teen conflicts.
B. Examples of the parent –teen war.
C. Solutions for the parent –teen problems.
D. Future of the parent-teen relationship.
难度: 困难查看答案及解析
Foreign drivers will have a pay on-the-spot fines of up to ￡900 for breaking the traffic law to be carried out next month.
If they do not have enough cash or a working credit card, their vehicles will clamped(扣留) until they pay—and they will face an additional fee of ￡80 for getting back their vehicles.
The law will also apply to British citizens. The fines will be described officially as “deposits” when the traffic law takes effect, because the money would be returned if the driver went to court and was found not guilty. In practice, very few foreign drivers are likely to return to Britain to deal with their cases.
Foreign drivers are rarely charged because police cannot take action against them if they fail to appear in court. Instead, officers often merely give warnings.
Three million foreign-registered vehicles enter Britain each year. Polish vehicles make up 36 percent, French vehicles 10 percent and German vehicles 9 percent.
Foreign vehicles are 30 percent more likely to be in a crash than British-registered vehicles. The number of crashes caused by foreign vehicles rose by 47 percent between 2003 and 2008. There were almost 400 deaths and serious injuries and 3,000 slight injuries from accidents caused by foreign vehicles in 2008.
The new law is partly intended to settle the problem of foreign lorry drivers ignoring limits on weight and hours at the wheel. Foreign lorries are three times more likely to be in a crash than British lorries. Recent spot checks found that three quarters of lorries that failed safety tests were registered overseas.
The standard deposit for a careless driving offence —such as driving too close to the vehicle in front or reading a map at the wheel—will be ￡300. Deposits for speeding offences and using mobile phones will be ￡60. Foreign drivers will not get points as punishment added to their licenses, while British drivers will.
1.The first paragraph serves as a(n) ________.
A. explanation B. introduction
C. comment D. background
2.The foreign drivers who break the traffic law and do not pay on the spot are likely to be fined up to ________.
A. ￡60 B. ￡300
C. ￡900 D. ￡980
3.We can learn from the passage that ________.
A. many foreign drivers have been fined by Britain police
B. 300,000 German vehicles enter Britain every year
C. 25 percent of foreign vehicles entering Britain have failed safety tests
D. British drivers will be punished with points and fines for breaking the traffic law
4.The new traffic law is mainly intended to ________.
A. limit the number of foreign vehicles entering Britain
B. increase the Britain government’s additional income
C. reduce the rate of traffic accidents and injuries
D. get foreign drivers to appear in court
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Noticing the signals that people send out with their body language is a very useful social skill.1.Fortunately, with a little extra effort, you can learn to read body language, and with enough practice it'll become second nature.
2.The closer they are, the warmer they are thinking of you. The farther away that someone is, the less they actually care about the situation or person. If you move slightly closer to them, do they move slightly further away? That means they don't want your communication to be any more personal than it already is.3.And if they respond by getting even closer to you, they probably really like you or are very comfortable around/by you.
It is worth noting that personal space is culturally different; keep in mind that what is considered close in one country is far away in another.
Check their arms.4.Though some people just cross their arms as a habit, it may indicate that the person is slightly reserved, nervous or embarrassed about their appearance and trying to cover it, or just trying to hide something on their shirt. If their arms are crossed while their feet are wider apart, this is a position of toughness or authority. If someone rests their arms behind their neck or head, they are open to what is being discussed or just easy-going in general. If their hands are on their hips(双手叉腰), they might be waiting, impatient or just tired.5.
A. If they don't move further away, then they are willing to listen and accept.
B. How to read body language needs to be learned.
C. Some of us can read it naturally and some of us can’t at all.
D. If their hands are closed, they may be angry, or nervous.
E. People with crossed arms are closing themselves to social influence.
F. Pay attention to how close someone is to you.
G. Some people tend not to move further away.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Evelyn Glennie was the first lady of solo percussion in Scotland. In an interview, she talked about how she became a percussion soloist (打击乐器独奏演员) in spite of her disability.
“Early on I decided not to allow the ____ of others to stop me from becoming a musician. I grew up on a farm in northeast Scotland and began ____ piano lessons when I was eight. The older I got, the more my passion (酷爱) for music grew. But I also began to gradually lose my ____. Doctors concluded that the nerve damage was the ____ and by age twelve, I was completely deaf. But my love for music never ____ me.
“My ____ was to become a percussion soloist, even though there were none at that time. To perform, I ____ to hear music differently from others. I play in my stocking feet and can ____ the pitch of a note (音调高低) by the vibrations (振动). I feel through my body and through my ____. My entire sound world exists by making use of almost every ___ that I have.
“I was ____ to be assessed as a musician, not as a deaf musician, and I applied to the famous Royal Academy of Music in London. No other deaf student had ____ this before and some teachers ____ my admission. Based on my performance, I was _____admitted and went to ____ with the academy’s highest honors.
“After that, I established(使立足) myself as the first full-time solo percussionist. I ____ and arranged a lot of musical compositions since ____ had been written specially for solo percussionists.
“I have been a soloist for over ten years. ____ the doctor thought I was totally deaf, it didn’t ____ that my passion couldn’t be realized. I would encourage people not to allow themselves to be ____ by others. Follow your passion; follow your heart, they will lead you to the place you want to go.”
1.A. conditions B. opinions C. actions D. recommendations
2.A. enjoying B. choosing C. taking D. giving
3.A. sight B. hearing C. touch D. taste
4.A. evidence B. result C. excuse D. cause
5.A. left B. excited C. accompanied D. disappointed
6.A. purpose B. decision C. promise D. goal
7.A. turned B. learned C. used D. ought
8.A. tell B. see C. hear D. smell
9.A. carefulness B. movement C. imagination D. experience
10.A. sense B. effort C. feeling D. idea
11.A. dissatisfied B. astonished C. determined D. discouraged
12.A. done B. accepted C. advised D. admitted
13.A. supported B. followed C. required D. opposed
14.A. usually B. finally C. possibly D. hopefully
15.A. study B. research C. graduate D. progress
16.A. wrote B. translated C. copied D. read
17.A. enough B. some C. many D. few
18.A. However B. Although C. When D. Since
19.A. mean B. seem C. conclude D. say
20.A. directed B. guided C. taught D. limited
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
A professor stood before his class of twenty senior organic biology students and was about to hand 1. the final exam papers.
“I want to say that 2. has been a pleasure teaching you this term. I know you’ve worked3. (extreme) hard and many of you are off to medical school after summer. I know no one wants to get their GPA(平均成绩) 4. (mess) up because they might have been celebrating this week. Anyone who prefers not to take the final exam today 5. (receive) a ‘B’ for the course.”
The students were filled with 6. (happy) as they got up, walked to the front of the class, and accepted the professor’s offer. As 7. last taker left the room, the professor looked at the handful of 8. (remain) students and asked, “Anyone else? This is your last chance.”
One final student rose up and chose not to take part in the final. The professor closed the door and checked who were still in the classroom.
“I’m glad to see you believe in 9. (you),” he said. “You all get ‘A’s.”
How many have taken the easy way out? The short road, the easy path 10. the light load all lead to lower grades in school of life.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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短文。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：在缺词处加一个漏词符号（∧），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：在错的词下画一横线，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。
With the improvement of people’s living standards, more and more people possess their own car. Some thought it is good to own a car. First, it’s an convenient, fast and comfortable means of transportation, that saves people much time on the trip. It also makes businesses and industries to develop faster.
However, others have different opinions, thinking that cars give waste gases and pollute the environment around. Have too many cars will have some bad effects, such as more accidents and crowdedness. Besides, lacking parking lots are another big problem.
As far as I’m concerned, we ought to think careful before buying cars. Even if we have cars, we should use it less.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
澳大利亚风景优美，空气清新, 野生动物多样。假如你是李华，计划在寒假期间与父母前往澳大利亚旅游。请给你的笔友Tom写封e-mail, 询问以下旅游事宜：
1.著名景点；
2. 特色食品；
3. 特别注意事项；
4. 推荐一些旅馆和餐馆。
注意：1. 要涵盖所给要点，词数100左右
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯
3. 开头和结尾已为你写好，不计入总词数。
Dear Tom,
How is everything going recently?_________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Best regards
Li Hua
难度: 中等查看答案及解析