I travel a lot, and I find out different “styles”(风格) of directions every time I ask “How can I get to the post office?”

Foreign tourists are often confused(困惑) in Japan because most streets there don’t have names; in Japan, people use landmarks(地标) in their directions instead of street names. For example, the Japanese will say to travelers, “Go straight down to the corner. Turn left at the big hotel and go past a fruit market. The post office is across from the bus stop.”

In the countryside of the American Midwest, there are not usually many landmarks. There are no mountains, so the land is very flat; in many places there are no towns or buildings within miles. Instead of landmarks, people will tell you directions and distances. In Kansas or Iowa, for example, people will say, “Go north two miles. Turn east, and then go another mile.”

People in Los Angeles, California, have no idea of distance on the map; they measure distance in time, not miles. “How far away is the post office?” you ask. “Oh,” they answer, “it’s about five minutes from here.” You say, “Yes, but how many miles away is it?” They don’t know.

It’s true that a person doesn’t know the answer to your question sometimes. What happens in such a situation? A New Yorker might say, “Sorry, I have no idea.” But in Yucatan, Mexico, no one answers “I don’t know.” People in Yucatan believe that “I don’t know” is impolite. They usually give an answer, often a wrong one. A tourist can get very, very lost in Yucatan!

1. When a tourist asks the Japanese the way to a certain place, they usually ______.

　 A. describe the place carefully　　　 B. show him a map of the place

　 C. tell him the names of the streets　　　 D. refer to recognizable buildings and places

2. What is the place where people measure distance in time?

　 A. New York.　　 B. Los Angeles.　 C. Kansas.　　　 D. Iowa.

3. People in Yucatan may give a tourist a wrong answer ______.

　 A. in order to save time　　　　　 B. Los Angeles.

　 C. so as to be polite　　　　　　　 D. for fun

4. What can we infer from the text?

　 A. It’s important for travelers to understand cultural differences.

　 B. It’s useful for travelers to know how to ask the way properly.

　 C. People have similar understandings of politeness.

　 D. New Yorkers are generally friendly to visitors.

 

阅读下列短文，并做每篇后面的题目，从四个选项中，选出能回答所提问题或完成所给句子的最佳答案。

Early in the 18th century, Captain Cook, a famous explorer of England, unexpectedly caught sight of an unusual animal during his first visit to Australia. The animal had a large mouse like head and jumped along on its large legs. To his great surprise, the unusual animal carried its young in a special pocket of flesh. Captain Cook pointed to the animal which was eating grass in the distance and asked his native guide what the animal was referred to. The guide seemed not to know what he was pointing at and finally said “Kangaroo”, but their requests were met with puzzled looks of the native people. Before long they got to discover that the native guide who made the answer to Cook's question really meant, “I don't know what you are pointing at. ” Funny enough, the name “Kangaroo”, stuck and it is still in use today.

1．Which of the following sentences best expresses the main idea ?

[　　]

A．Captain Cook's guide made a joke.

B．Native Australians could not speak English in Cook's time.

C．Some words have rather funny origings (起源).

D．Captain Cook was a lover of wild animals.

2．When the native guide said “Kang-a-roo”, he really meant “________”

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A．Ah, it is a special kind of animal.

B．I wonder what you have said

C．What do you mean by pointing at that animal ?

D．I have no idea of what you are referring to.

3．We can infer from this passage _________.

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A．we should learn many different languages

B．Captain Cook made a mistake in understanding

C．Captain Cook was a foolish explorer

D．the importance of a language in common

　　Is it possible that the people of the world today could agree upon a single international language that everyone would be able to speak and understand?

　　In the United Nations there are five official languages-English, Chinese,

Russian, French and Spanish. How about making one of them into an international language? English has been worked on for this purpose. A basic word list of 850 English words named Basic English was made. These are the only verbs in the entire list,“come, go, give, keep, let, do, put, make, say, be, seem, may, will, have, send.”Writing in Basic English may require you to use a greater number of words-as in having to say“It came to my ears”instead of I heard-but you can still say anything you want to with just 850 different words and a few sufixes（后缀）and prefixes（前缀）．This is a much smaller number of words to have to remember than the ordinary number offered to the students of a foreign language.

　　But people have always had a need to do more than simply“Tell it as it is”. Language is for reporting not only one's work. For this, a language needs idioms, needs all kinds of grammar and style（文体）that show its history and development just as a person needs eyebrows（眉毛）. Is there some special reason why our lips should be a different color from the rest of our face? Perhaps not, but this is how people-real people-are. For communication between people, languages of all kinds will remain to reflect（反映）the growth and soul of the societies that speak them.

(1) The phrase“tell it as it is”in the third paragraph means __________.

[　　]

A．people can use Basic English to say what they want to

B．people think Basic English can express what they see or hear

C．people say what they want to according to the fact

D．people tell something they like to

(2) If we write a composition in Basic English, it will be________.

[　　]

A．longer than usual

B．shorter than usual

C．hard for us to express what we want to

D．able to express ourselves in different style as we like to

(3) Which of the following Statements is NOT true?

[　　]

A．Basic English is easier for students to learn.

B．Languages are like mirrors which can reflect the growth of the mankind.

C．Grammar and idioms are still necessary for us when we are learning a language.

D．Basic English will take the place not only of Queen's English, but also of the other languages in the world.

(4) This passage begins with a question．According to the writer's opinion, the answer to the question may be _________.

[　　]

A．it will be possible in the future

B．it seems to be possible if people agree to use Basic English

C．it seems impossible that people can use a simple language to express them-selves in various lives

D．it is impossible except that five official UN languages are used at the same time

(5) Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

[　　]

A．The words used in Basic English are strictly limited to 850, and nothing more.

B．Basic English is not a natural development of the English language.

C．Basic English can be used to express our thought easily.

D．Basic English seems not so easy to learn.

完形填空

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从以下各题所给的四个选项中(A、B、C、D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　Science is based upon observation. However, observation 1 is not science. Scientists 2 state a problem, which then guides them in their observations. But without observation people generally are not 3 of a problem. This then raises a question 4 comes first, the observation or the problems?

　　Curiosity awakens a need 5 observation. Observation will usually 6 specific questions in the mind of a scientist. To 7 his curiosity he begins to make observations. 8 , he formulates a specific statement that can be tested. This statement is called a hypothesis (假设). It is the starting point for an experiment.

　　 9 experimenting, the scientist tries to show or prove that the hypothesis is true or false. He 10 use good 11 to create an experiment that 12 the problem. The experiment must produce valid information or data. The date 13 during the experiment are observations.

　　Observations can be made directly and indirectly. For direct observation, instruments are 14 used. Some instruments used by modern scientists are quite simple; others are very 15 .

　　To complete his experiment, the scientist must state his observations in numerical 16 . This means that he has to make measurements. With the results from these he can make more 17 comparisons or descriptions to 18 his hypothesis. The results of a scientific experiment 19 on a valid hypothesis can often 20 a better understanding of the world and the universe.

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