Among the many differences between Western and Chinese cultures, table manners are one of the most noticeable(显著的) differences. Westerners often make mistakes at the table in China or in a Chinese home. In order not to have an embarrassing（尴尬的） experience, here are some things to consider next time you are eating with some Chinese.
Step1:
Keep in mind that food is shared. It is one of the biggest differences between Chinese and Western eating habits. In China a few dishes are placed in the center of a table and shared by all. Also, you should offer thanks when a Chinese host takes food from one of the dishes on the table and places it on your plate. Refusing it would not be polite even if you are full.
Step2:
Respect the chopsticks. The chopsticks are the single most important tool at a Chinese table. Use the chopsticks to grab food and never skewer (叉) it. Also make sure to place your chopsticks over your bowl or plate. Don’t lay them on the table or even worse, stick them into the rice bowl.
Step3:
Use communal(共用的)chopsticks. To take food from the center of the table you should use the communal chopsticks or spoons that are placed there for that purpose. If there are no communal tools, use the other ends of your chopsticks to take food, remembering not to use the other end to put food into your mouth.
Step4:
Respect the elders. Table manners in China place extra respect on elders. At the table, pass food to your elders before taking it for yourself. If someone makes a toast, make sure that when you clink glasses with someone older than you, the rim of your glass is lower than the rim of the elder person.How can you use your chopsticks according to the passage?
| A．Use them to grab your own food. |
| B．Put them on the table. |
| C．Use them to skewer the food. |
| D．Stick them into the rice bowl. |
According to the passage, the following are wrong EXCEPT that ________.
| A．you don’t have to accept the food a Chinese host places on your plate |
| B．a skewer is also a commonly used tool at a Chinese table |
| C．one can offer his own chopsticks for communal use when there aren’t any |
| D．when clinking glasses, the rim of the younger person should be lower than that of the older person |
What is the purpose of writing the passage?
| A．To let the world get a full understanding of China. |
| B．To introduce table manners among different cultures. |
| C．To introduce Chinese table manners to Westerners. |
| D．To introduce how Chinese table manners came into being. |
It is midnight on September 22, 2012. The sky above Manhattan，New York is filled with a curtain of colorful light. New Yorkers are fascinated by the beautiful aurora (极光). However, their fascination is short-lived.
Within a few seconds, electric bulbs dim and flicker (闪烁), then become unusually bright for a few seconds. Then all the lights go out. Within 90 seconds, the entire eastern half of the US is without power.
Besides the US, Europe, Japan and China are also hit by the same terrible event. It is a violent solar flare (太阳耀斑) ,150 million kilometers away on the surface of the sun.
Science fiction? No. A report funded by NASA and issued by the US National Academy of Sciences in January this year says it could happen.
A massive solar flare is most likely on a spring or autumn night in 2012, according to the report.
Solar flares are huge explosions on the surface of the sun. In a matter of just a few minutes they heat material to many millions of degrees and release as much energy as a billion megatons (百万吨) of TNT explosives. Solar flares release a stream of charged high-energy particles (粒子). They are called “solar winds”.
If one solar “wind” should hit the Earth’s magnetic shield (磁场), the result could be terrible for humans.
But there’s no need to run for cover from solar winds. They do not harm life on Earth, they only affect the way we live, especially since we depend so much on modern technology. They can pump extra electricity into power lines and pipelines, causing blackouts and fuel leaks. Solar winds are also known to affect mobile phone operations and may disrupt wireless Internet services.
Moreover, solar winds can prevent normal satellite operations, and disrupt radio communications and navigation systems such as the Global Positioning System.
Auroras are powered by solar wind. This wind blows past the Earth at about 400-700 km per second and creates storms in the Earth’s magnetic environment. In the polar regions these explode into southern or northern polar lights.
The most serious solar storm that hit Earth in history happened in 1859. It caused the failure of telegraph systems in Europe and North America.
So, for humans, the sun is a double-edged sword. Without the sun, there would be no life on Earth. Without the sun, Earth would be a frozen dark ball floating in space. However, on the other hand, the sun can disorder our lives from time to time.
56. What is the main idea of the passage?
A. It introduces to readers the advantages and disadvantages of the sun.
B. It describes a science fiction set in Manhattan on 22 September 2012.
C. It shows readers the way in which solar winds form inside the sun.
D. It explains what solar flares are and their effects on human life.
57. The first two paragraphs are written ____.
A. to show a beautiful scene in a true story
B. to describe the beautiful scenery of Manhattan
C. to describe the power problem around the world
D. to introduce the topic of this passage
58. What can we conclude from the passage?
A. Solar flares will do great harm to those who are using the Internet.
B. Solar flares cannot reach as far as the polar regions.
C. Solar flares are huge explosions that happen inside the sun.
D. But for our reliance on technology, solar flares wouldn’t
affect us so much.
59. Solar winds will likely affect us in the following ways EXCEPT that ____.
A. normal satellite operations will be stopped
B. the lights in the areas affected will go out at the same time
C. people on the streets will be struck to death
D. some navigation systems will be out of order
When you buy a T-shirt, or a fur coat in a store , it often carries a label(标签) telling who made it or from what store it was bought. Indeed, some labels show the dress is famous and it is very expensive, so buyers who deal with the cheapest products would be pleased to do away with labels entirely.
However, there is another label more important than the one showing from which store the dress was bought. When a person buys a fur coat, or a jacket , from a store , a label telling what the product is made of should be carried to it.
This label is required by law. Besides telling what the product on show is made of , the label should be in clear English and be where one can find it easily. The information on the label must be the truth.
The reason for this label is that most buyers today aren’t expert enough to know exactly what kind of fur or material they are buying. The buyer must believe in the store that sells the products or in what the labels say.The author doesn’t agree that_______.
| A．some clothes may carry more than one label |
| B．some clothing stores sell cheap dresses |
| C．shops can sell products with or without labels |
| D．buyers will believe what the label says |
This article mainly refers to__________.
| A．making furs and clothes | B．protecting buyers with law |
| C．keeping the buyers informed | D．businessmen and sellers |
Which of the following is true?
| A．Not all buyers know the materials they are buying. |
| B．A fur coat with a high price often carries a false label. |
| C．A label only says what material the product is made of . |
| D．A T-shirt seldom carries a label. |
In many homes, divorce is caused by the “battle between the sexes.” To understand the problem, one must remember that the modern American woman is freed. During childhood and adolescence(青少年期), the American girl is given freedom and education which is equal to a boy's. After completing school, she is able to get a job and support herself. She doesn't have to marry for financial security. She considers herself an independent, self-sufficient person. She wants a husband whom she can respect, but she doesn't want to be dominated(控制) by him. She wants a democratic household in which she has a voice in making decisions. When a husband and wife are able to share decisionmaking, their marriage is probably closer, stronger, and more satisfying. Otherwise, the couple is likely to wind up in the divorce court.
When a couple gets divorced, the court usually requires the man to pay his former wife a monthly sum of money. If the couple has children, they usually remain with the mother, and the father is expected to pay for their support.
Although divorce is quite common in the United States, 80 percent of those who get divorced remarry. The remarriages allow thousands of people, especially children, to enjoy family life again, but at the same time many troubles have arisen. A well-known American joke tells of a wife calling to her second husband, “Quick, John! Come here and help me! Your children are beating up our chidlren!”What causes most of the divorce cases in the U.S.A.?
A.Financial trouble in the family.
B.Women's liberation movement.
C.Different attitudes towards children's education.
D.Lack of democratic atmosphere in the household.What do you know of modern American women, according to the passage?
| A．They are overbearing and hardworking. |
| B．They are more independent than ever. |
| C．They do not have much say in the household. |
| D．They respect their husbands, but do not rely on them. |
What kind of marriage can be successful?
| A．Both the man and woman are financially secure. |
| B．Husband and wife share housework. |
| C．Both the man and woman are well-educated. |
| D．Decisions are made by the man and woman together. |
What happens when a couple is divorced, according to the passage?
| A．The children become homeless. |
| B．The man is still responsible for the welfare of his children. |
| C．Life becomes difficult for the woman and her children. |
| D．The man, rather than the woman, remarries soon. |
There is a story of a country where the rate of inflation(通货膨胀) is so high that clever people pay for a taxi ride before, instead of after the trip. The story may not be true, but inflation was almost that serious in Germany from July 1920 until December 1923. Prices went up so fast that by the end of 1923 they were 50 billion percent higher-arise of almost 2,500% a month.
There was so much paper money, and it had so little value, that people carried bags full of money around to pay for things. One woman tells the story of standing outside a shop with a basket full of 500,000 marks(马克) notes. She wanted to buy just one piece of meat, and she hoped she had enough money. But when she was looking, a thief robbed her. He didn't take her money, he threw it away and took the basket instead.
At first workers demanded to be paid every day, but as the situation became worse, they had to be paid twice a day. But they had to run out and spend the money at once, or it would lose its value. People bought anything that was for sale, but food was almost impossible to find. Farm workers refused to take money. They wanted to be paid in potatoes instead.
New policies ended the inflation in 1923, when the government introduced a new money, but about half of the German people lost everything in those three and a half years.According to the text, in Germany the prices in 1920 were ______.
| A．the lowest in history | B．the highest in history |
| C．higher than those in 1923 | D．lower than those in 1923 |
The thief stole the basket instead of the money in it because he thought ______.
| A．the basket was what he needed most |
| B．the money was of no value |
| C．the basket was more valuable than the money |
| D．he couldn't buy a piece of meat with the money |
The farm workers demanded to be paid in potatoes because they believed ______.
| A．the potato was valuable | B．the money might lose its value |
| C．the potato was too expensive | D．the money could not buy potatoes |
Computer people talk a lot about the need for other people to become “computer-literate”. But not all experts agree that this is a good idea.
One pioneer, in particular, who disagrees is David Tebbutt, the founder of Computertown UK. Although many people see this as a successful attempt to bring people closer to the computer, David does not see it that way. He says that Computertown UK was formed for just the opposite reason, to bring computers to people and make them “people-literate”.
David Tebbutt thinks Computertowns are most successful when tied to a computer club but he insists there is an important difference between the two. The clubs are for people who have some computer knowledge already. This frightens away non-experts, who are happier going to Computertowns where there are computers for them to experiment on, with experts to encourage them and answer any questions they have. They are not told what to do. They find out. The computer experts have to learn not to tell people about computers, but have to be able to answer all questions people ask. People don't have to learn computer terms(术语), but the experts have to explain in plain language. The computers are becoming “people-literate”.Which of the following is David Tebbutt's idea on the relationship between people and
computers?
| A．Computer learning should be made easier. |
| B．There should be more computer clubs for experts. |
| C．People should work harder to master computer use. |
| D．Computers should be made cheaper so that people can afford them. |
We can infer from the text that “computer-literate” means ______.
| A．being able to afford a computer |
| B．being able to write computer programs |
| C．working with the computer and finding out the value |
| D．understanding the computer and knowing how to use it |
The underlined word “it” in the second paragraph refers to the idea that Computertowns ___.
| A．help to set up more computer clubs | B．bring people to learn to use computers |
| C．bring more experts to work together | D．help to sell computers to the public |
David Tebbutt started Computertown UK with the purpose of ______.
| A．making better use of computer experts | B．improving computer programs |
| C．increasing computer sales | D．popularising computers |
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