Mr Smith teaches English in a university(大学). He is often very busy with work. When it’s summer or winter holidays, he goes out to take vacations to relax. Usually he goes to France because he thinks it’s an interesting country. And he can speak French very well.

But last month he said to his wife(妻子), “I’m not visiting France this time. I want to go to a different country. I choose Japan. But I can hardly speak Japanese, so I’m going to study it for a month before I go.”

He studied pretty hard for a month, and then his vacation started.

Ten days later, he came back. His wife asked him, “How about your short vacation in Japan? Did you have any trouble(麻烦) with your Japanese there?”

“No, I didn’t,” answered Mr Smith. “But the Japanese did!”

1.Mr Smith goes out to ______ when it’s summer or winter holidays.

A．have a rest                            B．learn languages

C．look for interesting jobs                  D．visit museums

2.The underlined word “choose” means(意思是) ______.

A．learn from         B．arrive in           C．work for          D．decide on

3.Mr Smith stayed in Japan for ______.

A．a month          B．ten days           C．two weeks         D．Sorry, I don’t know

4.Which of the following is TRUE?

A．Mr Smith works as a math teacher in a university.

B．Mr Smith takes vacations in different countries every year.

C．Mr Smith can speak English and French very well.

D．Mr Smith went to Japan with his wife.

5.What can we know from the last paragraph(段落)?

A．Mr Smith’s Japanese isn’t good.

B．The Japanese were friendly to Mr Smith.

C．Mr Smith speaks Japanese well.

D．Japanese is difficult to learn.

One day, I heard an American boy say to a Chinese girl student, “You speak very good English.” But the girl answered, “No, no. My English is very poor.” The foreigner was quite   1  at the answer. Thinking he had not made   2   understood or the girl had not heard him clearly, he said, “Yes, indeed, you speak very well.” But the girl still kept saying, “No.” In the end the American boy could not understand and didn’t know   3   to say.

What’s wrong with the girl’s answer? She didn’t   4   a compliment (恭维)in the same way as the American people do. She should answer, “Thank you” instead of “No”. She     5      understood what the American boy had said, but she thought she should be modest. In the west, people will feel proud and   6  when they are praised(赞扬). So if someone says the dishes you have cooked are very delicious, you should say, “Thank you.”

In our country we think being modest is a virtue (美德) and being proud is a bad thing, but in my opinion, being confident does not   7  being proud, so sometimes you should be confident    8   being modest.

  9    you are modest and say, “No, I’m afraid I can’t do it well”, while working in a western country, the others may think that you really cannot do it. If you often say “No”, you will certainly be looked down on by others. When asking for a job, if one says something like “Yes, I can certainly do it” instead of “Let me have a try ”, he or she will  10  get it. So in the west, you should be brave to show your self-confidence.

1.                A．excited         B．surprised       C．relaxed   D．frightened

2.                A．her            B．herself         C．himself   D．him

3.                A．when          B．which          C．what D．how

4.                A．accept         B．receive         C．refuse    D．disagree

5.                A．hardly          B．really          C．rarely    D．badly

6.                A．kind           B．modest         C．shy  D．confident

7.                A．think           B．say            C．ask  D．mean

8.                A．different from   B．as well as        C．instead of D．the same as

9.                A．Unless         B．Until           C．Whether  D．If

10.               A．expect to       B．fail to          C．succeed in     D．believe in

Once a Frenchman lived in England．He did not know English very well．One day he went to the post office with a letter．He bought a stamp and gave it with the letter to the girl at the desk．

"Oh, no," the girl said．" You must stick（贴）the stamp on yourself．"

The Frenchman stood there and he didn't understand her words．"Why must I stick the stamp on myself? And where must I stick it?"

"Oh," said the girl．" I mean that you must stick the stamp on the letter．And you must do it yourself．"

At last, he understood the girl's words and posted his letter．

根据短文内容，选择正确答案。

1．This story happened                ．

A．in an American city                       B．in a place of England

C．in Australia                           D．in a small Japanese town

2．The Frenchman                ．

A．knew English very well                   B．didn't know English

C．knew much English                    D．knew a little English

3．He went to the post office to           ．

A．give the letter and a stamp to the girl           B．buy a stamp

C．post a letter                           D．buy a book

4．At last               ．

A．the girl didn't say anything

B．he understood the girl's words

C．he didn't post his letter

D．the girl didn't give the Frenchman any help

5．Which of the following sentences is true?

A．The Frenchman could speak very good English．

B．He knew the girl in the post office．

C．He understood the girl very well．

D．He stuck（贴）the stamp himself at last．

One day, I heard an American boy say to a Chinese girl student, “You speak very good English.” But the girl answered, “No, no. My English is very poor.” The foreigner was quite   1   at the answer. Thinking he had not made    2   understood or the girl had not   3   him clearly, he said, “Yes, indeed, you speak very well.”   4   the girl still kept saying, “No.” In the end the American boy could not understand and didn’t know   5   to say.
What’s wrong with the girl’s answer? She didn’t   6  a compliment (恭维) in the same way as the American people do. She should answer, “Thank you” instead of “No”. She   7  understood what the American boy had said, but she thought she should be modest. In the   8  , people will feel proud and 9   when they are praised . So if someone says the   10   you have cooked are very delicious, you should say, “Thank you.”
In our country we think being modest is a virtue (美德) and being proud is a bad thing , but in my opinion, being confident does not   11  being proud, so sometimes you should be confident   12  being modest.
   13  you are modest and say, “No, I’m afraid I can’t do it well”, while working in a western country, the others may think that you really cannot do it. If you often say “No”, you will certainly be looked down upon by  14 . When asking for a job, if one says something like “Yes, I can certainly do it” instead of “Let me have a try”, he or she will   15   get it. So in the west, you should be brave to show your self-confidence.