People travel for a lot of reasons. Some tourists go to see battlefields or religious shrines（圣地）.Others are looking for culture, or simply want to have their pictures taken in front of famous places. But most European tourists are looking for a sunny beach to lie on.

　　Northern Europeans are willing to pay a lot of money and put up with a lot of inconveniences for the sun because they have so little of it. People of cities like London, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam spend a lot of their winter in the dark because the days are so short, and much of the rest of the year in the rain. This is the reason the Mediterranean has always attracted them Every summer, more than25million people travel to Mediterranean resorts（胜地）and beaches for their vacation. They all come for the same reason: sun !

　　The huge crowds mean lots of money for the economies of Mediterranean countries. Italy's 30000 hotels are booked solid（全部客满）every summer. And 13 million people camp out on French beaches, parks and roadsides. Spain's long sandy coastline attracts more people than anywhere else. 37 million tourists visit yearly, or one tourist for every person living in Spain.

　　But there are signs that the area is getting more tourism than it can handle. The Mediterranean is already one of the most polluted seas on earth. And with increased tourism, it's getting worse. The French can't figure out what to do with all the garbage left by campers around St. Tropez. And in many places, swimming is dangerous because of pollution.

None of this, however, is spoiling anyone's fun. The Mediterranean gets more popular every year with tourists. Obviously, they don't go there for clean water and loneliness. They bear traffic jams and seem to like crowded beaches. They don't even mind the pollution. No matter how dirty the water is, the coastline still looks beautiful. And as long as the sun shines, it's still better than sitting in the cold rain in Berlin, London, or Oslo.

(1) The writer seems to mean that Europeans travel mostly for the reason that they

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A．want to see historic remains or religious spots

B．are interested in different cultural traditions and social customs

C．would like to take pictures in front of famous sites

D．wish to escape from the cold, dark and rainy days at home

(2) In Paragraph 2, cities like London, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam are mentioned to ________.

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A．show that they are not good cities in terms of geography and climate

B．tell us how wealthy their citizens are

C．suggest that these cities lack places of historic interest and scenic beauty

D．prove that they have got more tourists they can handle

(3) According to the passage, which of the following countries attracts more tourists than the others?

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(4) The latter half of the last sentence in Paragraph 3“or one tourist for every person living in Spain”means ________.

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A．all the 37 million people living in Spain are tourists

B．every year almost as many tourists visit Spain as there are people living in that country

C．every person living in Spain has to take care of a tourist

D．every Spanish is visited by a tourist every year

(5) According to the passage, which of the following factors might spoil the tourists' fun at Mediterranean resorts and beaches?

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I remember my first Christmas party with Grandma．I remember the day when my big sister dropped the bomb: “There is no Santa Claus,” she laughed．“Even dummies know that!”

　　I fled to Grandma because I knew she always told me  21 ．After I told her everything, she said “No Santa Claus? Don’t believe it. Now,  22 your coat, and let’s go.”

　　“Go? Go where?” I asked．

　　“Where” 23  to be the General Store．As we walked through its doors, Grandma   24 me ten dollars．That was a lot in those days．“Take this money and buy something for  25 needs it．I’ll wait for you in the car．”

　　The store seemed big and  26 , full of people hurrying to finish their Christmas shopping．For a few moments I just stood there, 27  , holding that bill, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for．

　　Suddenly I thought of Bobbie who sat right behind me．I remembered he didn’t have a coat．I fingered the bill with growing  28 ．I would buy Bobbie a coat．

　　“Is this a Christmas present for someone?” the lady behind the   29  asked me kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down

　　“Yes,” I replied shyly．“It’s…for Bobbie.”

　　The nice lady smiled at me．I didn’t get any  30 , but she put the coat in a bag and wished me a Merry Christmas．

　　That evening, Grandma helped me  31  the coat and wrote, “To Bobby, From Santa Claus” on it．Then she  32 me over to Bobbie’s house．

　　Grandma parked down the street from Bobbie’s house, and she and I crept 33 and hid in the  34 ．Then Grandma gave me a sign．“All right, Santa Claus, get going．”

　　I took a deep 35 , dashed for his front door, threw the present down, pounded his doorbell and flew back to the safety．Together we  36 breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open．Finally it  37 , and there stood Bobbie．

Forty years haven’t dimmed the thrill of those  38 spent shivering, beside my grandma, in Bobbie’s bushes． 39 ,  I realized: Santa was alive and well, and we were  40  his team．

1.                A．the reason      B．many things      C．stories   D．the truth

 

2.                A．put on         B．put away        C．put up    D．put down

 

3.                A．used           B．turned out      C．found out D．turned up

 

4.                A．lent           B．took           C．paid D．handed

 

5.                A．anyone         B．whomever       C．someone who  D．those who

 

6.                A．crowded        B．varied          C．noisy D．convenient

 

7.                A．satisfied        B．confused        C．curious   D．amazed

 

8.                A．worry          B．disappointment   C．happiness D．excitement

 

9.                A．counter        B．desk           C．shelf D．goods

 

10.               A．money         B．gifts           C．change    D．encouragement

 

11.               A．make          B．wrap           C．undo D．design

 

12.               A．drove          B．took           C．led   D．asked

 

13.               A．quickly         B．painfully        C．nervously  D．noiselessly

 

14.               A．bushes         B．darkness        C．doorway   D．car

 

15.               A．courage        B．look           C．step D．breath

 

16.               A．waited         B．whispered      C．crept D．stood

 

17.               A．came          B．sounded        C．did   D．appeared

 

18.               A．moments       B．days           C．time D．people

 

19.               A．Today          B．That year       C．That night  D．Since then

 

20.               A．on            B．for            C．at    D．of

 

 

Ms Tan，you've referred to your new novel as your eighth book.

That's because it took me six or seven attempts at a second novel before I started and completed this one.

●Why do you think you had so many false starts?

I would say that my reasons were wrong：I was trying to prove that I wasn't just a mother-daughter storyteller，or I was trying to prove that I didn't just have to write about things that were strictly Chinese or Chinese-American.Those were never the right reasons for writing those early stories.And I could never come up with other，better reasons for continuing them.

●What kept you going on this book?

This book was different because it was based on my mother's real life.The reason for writing it became more personal and emotional.After The Joy Luck Club came out，my mother was always explaining to people that she wasn't any of the mothers in that book.And at one point she said to me，“Next book tells my true story.”And then she started telling me things I never knew before.She also told me many，many stories，because my mother doesn't generalize.The book really grew out of that.

●Have you ever visited China?

Yes.I've been there twice：about three years ago and then again last November，both times with my mother and my husband.

●Was it difficult to capture the Chinese-American dialect without sounding like a parody(拙劣的模仿)?

No，because it's the language I've heard all my life from my mother.She speaks English as it's direct translation from Chinese.But it's more than that：Her language also has more imagery than English.

●Can you think of an example?

Somebody might say to me，“Don't work so hard.You'll kill yourself.”My mother will say to me，“Why do you press all your brains out on this page for someone else？”So it's very vivid.That's the way she talks.

●Have many readers told you that the Chinese mother in your book reminded them of the typical Jewish(有癖好的)mother?

Many people have told me that.I think the mother-daughter relationship is very intense in both cases.Culturally there is an acceptance that mothers have the power to tell their children，especially their daughters，how to conduct their lives—not simply up until the time they are 18，but for the rest of their lives.However，when children grow up in a different culture from their parents'，they tend to keep more secrets from their parents.The children think，“They just wouldn't understand that I had to do this.”And that can really create a gap，and it can grow as the number of secrets grows.

1．Based on the questions in this interview，what do you think Ms Tan's profession is?

A．A journalist.　　　　　　     B．A storywriter.

C．An interviewer.                    D．An interviewee.

2．What's TRUE about Tan's second book?

A．It's about her real life in America.

B．The name of the book is The Joy Luck Club.

C．It is the result of many times of careful thought.

D．It includes many works of her mother.

3．Which question is NOT answered in the interview?

A．How does she think of her mother's language?

B．How many books does she plan to write?

C．When did she visit China?

D．How is generation gap created?

4．The last paragraph mainly talks about ________.

A．how to keep secrets from parents

B．how to deal with the mother-daughter relationship

C．how to conduct the lives

D．how the generation gap comes about