2011年高考英语
阅读理解分类汇编之社会生活类
（2011·重庆卷）E
Skeptics are stange lot.Some of them refuse to admit the serious threat of human activities to the enviroment, and they are tired of people who disagree with them. Those people,say skeptics, spread noting but bad new s about the environment.The ―eco-guilt‖brought on by the discouraging nes about our planet gives rise to the popularity od skeptice as people search for more comforting worldviews.
Perhaps that explains why a new book by Bjorn Lomborg received so much publicity.That book ,The Skeptical Environmentalist, declares that it measures the ―real state of the world‖as fine. Of course ,another explanation is the deep pockets of some big businesses with special intererts. Indeed, Mr. Lomborg‘s views are similar to those of some Industry-funded organizations, which start huge activities though the media to confuse the public aboat issues like global warming.
So it was strange to see Mr. Lomborg‘s book go largely unchallenged in the media though his beliefs were contrary to most scientific opinions. One national newspaper in Canada ran a number of articles and reviews full of words of praise, even with the conclusion that ―After Lomborg, the environmental movement will begin to die down.‖
Such one-sided views should have immediately been challenged. But only a different review appeared in Nature, a respected science magazine with specific readership. The review remarked that Mr. Lomborg‘s ―preference for unexamined materials is incredible（不可信的）‖。
A critical （批判的）eye is valuable, and the media should present information in such a way that could allow people to make informed decisions. Unfortunately, that is often inaccessible as blocked by the desire to be shocking or to defend some special interest. People might become half-blind before a world partially exhibited by the media. That‘s a shame, because matters concerning the health of the planet are far too important to be treated lightly.
72. According to the passage, which of the following may be regarded as ―skeptics‖?
A. People who agree on the popularity of ―eco-guilt‖.
B. People who disbelieve the serious situation of our planet.
C. People who dislike the harmful effect of human activities.
D. People who spread comforting news to protect our environment.
73. Which of the following can be a reason for the popularity of Lomborg‘s books?
A. Some big businesses intend to protect their own interests.
B .The book challenges views about the fine state of the wirld.
C. The author convinces people to speak comforting worldviews.
D. Industry–funded media present confusing information.
74. The author mentioned the review in Nature in order to____.
A. voice a different opinion
B. find fault with Lomborg‘s book
C. challenge the authority of the media
D. point out the value of scientific views.
75. What is the author‘s main purpose in writing the passenger?
A. To encourage the skeptics to have a critical eye.
B. To warn the public of the danger of half–blindness with reviews.
C. To blame the media‘s lack of responsibility in infor mation.
D. To show the importance of presenting overall information by the media.
【文章大意】怀疑论者对许多问题的质疑让人瞠目结舌，受各种因素的制约，大众对许多问题只是一知半解，如同雾里看花。因此，媒体有责任全面地报道事实的真相，让众人看得明明白白、真真切切。
72.B推理判断题。根据第一段第二句Those people,say skeptics, spread noting but bad news about the environment.的内容可推断“怀疑论者”不相信我们的星球所处的形势非常严峻。
73.A细节理解题。根据第二段的内容可知他的书受欢迎的原因之一是一些大企业试图维护自己的特殊利益。另外，最后一段中间部分的“…to defend some special interests.”也是线索提示。
74.A作者意图题。上文叙述的是Lomborg的书受到高度评价，前无古人，后无来者，如此偏见却仅有一条反面评论，而且作者只是客观地叙述了这种现象，由此可推断作者意在发表一种不同的评论。
75.D主旨大意题。文章从怀疑论者的质疑引出了本文的话题，接着剖析了本书无比流行的
深层原因，最后一段作者则发表了自己的见解，由此可知作者的主要目的是呼吁媒体全面地呈现信息。
（2011·安徽卷）C
They are the sort of friends who are so close they trust each other with their lives. If one falls, the other is there to catch him.
They are Wellman, whose legs were permanently injured nine years ago in a rock-climbing accident, and Corbett, an experienced rock climber. Together, they climbed up Half Dome, the famous 2,000-foot rock in the Yosemite National Park, through one of the most difficult routes(路线).
During the climb, Corbett took the lead, hit in the metal spikes（尖状物）that guided the ropes and climbed up. Then, after Wellman pulled himself up the rope, Corbett went down to remove the spikes and climbed up again. This process was repeated time and again, inch by inch, for 13 days.
Wellman‘s job was not easy either. He got himself up the rope through upper body strength alone. In all, Wellman figured that he had done 5,000 pull-ups up the rope on the climb.
However, when the two men first met, they never talked ab out climbing. ―He knew that was how I got injured.‖ Wellman said. Until one day Wellman decided that he wanted to climb again and they started training.
Their climb of Half Dome was not all smooth. At one point, pieces of rock gave way, and Corbett dropped down quickly. Wellman locked their rope in place, stopping the fall at 20 feet. His quick action probably saved his friend‘s life.
―Your partner can save your life —you can save your partner‘s life,‖ Wellman said as the pair received congratulations from friends. ―There are real close ties.‖
64. Which of the following was a challenge for Corbett in climbing Half Dome?
A. To climb up to remove the spikes.
B. To climb it twice
C. To do 5,000 pull-ups up the rope.
D. To lock the rope in place.
65. Why did the two men never talk about climbing when they first met?
A. Corbett was poorly trained.
B. Wellman had lost interest in climbing.
C. Corbett didn‘t want to hurt Wellman.
D. Wellman hadn‘t decided whether to climb again.
66. What do we know about Wellman?
A. He climbed Half Dome by himself.
B. He was disabled in a traffic accident.
C. He stopped rock-climbing for some time.
D. He was saved by Corbett during the climb.
67. The main idea of the text is that .
A. two heads are better than one
B. friendship is precious in life
C. the disabled should never give up
D. a man can be destroyed but cannot be defeated
【文章大意】一对生死与共的朋友，一份感天动地的友情，谱写了一首动人的友谊之歌。
64.B推理判断题。结合第三段对他们如何攀登的描述可推断Corbett攀登过程中的挑战是需要攀爬两次。
65.C细节理解题。根据第五段引号中的内容可推断他们第一次见面时不谈关于攀岩的话题是因为Corbett不想伤害Wellman。
66.C推理判断题。根据第五段最后一句中的内容可推断Wellman有一段时间停止了攀岩。
67.B主旨大意题。文章第一段开门见山地点明了话题中心，最后一段又重申主题，所以本文是在讴歌人生中的珍贵友谊。
（2011·山东卷）C
Diana Jacobs thought her family had a workable plan to pay for college for her 21-year-old twin sons: a combination of savings, income, scholarships, and a modest amount of borrowing. Then her husband lost his job, and the plan fell apart.
―I have two kids in college, and I want to say ?come home,‘ but at the same time I want to provide them with a good education,‖ says Jacobs.
The Jacobs family did work out a solution: They asked and received more aid form the schools, and each son increased his borrowing to the maximum amount through the federal loan (贷款) program. They will each graduate with $20,000 of debt, but at least they will be able to
finish school.
With unemployment rising, financial aid administrators expect to hear more families like the Jacobs. More students are applying for aid, and more families expect to need student loans. College administrators are concerned that they will not have enough aid money to go around.
At the same time, tuition（学费）continues to rise. A report from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education found that college tuition and fees increased 439% from 1982 to 2007, while average family income rose just 147%. Student borrowing has more than doubled in the last decade,
―I f we go on this way for another 25years, we won‘t have an affordable system of higher education,‖ says Patrick M. Callan, president of the center. ―The middle class families have been financing it through debt. They will send kids to college whatever it takes, even if that means a huge amount of debt.‖
Financial aid administrators have been having a hard time as many companies decide that student loans are not profitable enough and have stopped making them. The good news, however, is that federal loans account for about three quarters of student borrowing, and the government says that money will flow uninterrupted.
66. According to Paragraph 1, why did the plan of Jacobs family fail?
A. The twins wasted too much money.
B. The father was out of work.
C. Their saving ran out.
D. The family fell apart.
67. How did the Jacobs manage to solve their problem?
A. They asked their kids to come home.
B. They borrowed $20,000 from the school.
C. They encouraged their twin sons to do part-time jobs.
D. They got help from the school and the federal government.
68. Financial aid administrators believe that _______.
A. more families will face the same problem as the Jacobses
B. the government will receive more letters of complaint
C. college tuition fees will double soon
D. America‘s unemployment will fall
69.What can we learn about the middle class families from the text?
A. They blamed the government for the tuition increase.
B. Their income remained steady in the last decade.
C. They will try their best to send kids to college.
D. Their debts will be paid off within 25 years.
70.According to the last paragraph, the government will .
A. provide most students will scholarships
B. dismiss some financial aid administrators
C. stop the companies from making student loans
D. go on providing financial support for college students
【文章大意】随着失业的增加，很多家庭已经无力供孩子上大学，由于无利可图，很多商业银行也终止了相关的贷款。不过政府的资金资助项目仍在进行，这无疑对那些资金紧张而又想让孩子上大学的中产阶级家庭提供了有力的支持。
66.B
【解析】考查细节理解。该段的最后一句话告诉我们他们计划失败的原因：Then her husband lost his job，也就是B项所说的：The father was out of work。
67.D
【解析】考查细节理解。根据第三段中的“The Jacobs family did work out a solution: They asked and received more aid from the schools, and each son increased his borrowing to the maximum amount through the federal loan (贷款) program.”，可知选D项。
68.A
【解析】考查细节理解。由第四段的第一句话可知，随着失业的增加，资金援助管理人员认为：很多家庭都有Jacobs家那样的情况。由此可知答案为A项。
69. C
【解析】考查细节理解。由倒数第二段中的最后两句“They will send kids to college whatever it takes, even if that means a huge amount of debt.”无论需要什么他们都会送孩子去上大学，即使那意味着大笔的债务。可知，中产阶级不惜任何代价送他们的孩子上大学。由此可知
C项正确。
70.D
【解析】考查细节理解。根据最后一段的最后一句话可知，政府将继续向大学生提供资金援助（go on providing financial support for college students）。
（2011·江西卷）C
The garden city was largely the invention of Ebenezer Howard (1850-1928). After immigrating form England to the USA, and an unsuccessful attempt to make a living as a farmer, he moved to Chicago, where he saw the reconstruction of the city after the disastrous fire of 1871. In tho se days, it was nicknamed ―the Garden City‖, almost certainly the source of Howard‘s name for his later building plan of towns. Returning to London, Howard developed his design in the 1880s and 1890s, drawing on ideas that were popular at the time, but creating a unique combination of designs.
The nineteenth-century poor city was in many ways a terrible place, dirty and crowded; but it offered economic and social opportunities. At the same time, the British countryside was in fact equally unattractive: though it promised fresh air and nature, it suffered from agricultural depression(萧条) and it offered neither enough work and wages, nor much social life. Howard‘s idea was to combine the best of town and country in a new kind of settlement, the garden city. Ho ward‘s idea was that a group of people should set up a company, borrowing money to establish a garden city in the depressed countryside; far enough from existing cities to make sure that the land was bought at the bottom price.
Garden cities would provide a central public open space, radial avenues and connecting industries. They would be surrounded by a much larger area of green belt, also owned by the company, containing not merely farms but also some industrial institutions. As more and more people moved in, the garden city would reach its planned limit-Howard suggested 32,000 people; then, another would be started a short distance away. Thus, over time, there would develop a vast planned house collection, extending almost without limit; within it, each garden city would offer a wide rang of jobs and services, but each would also be connected to the others by a rapid transportation system, thus giving all the economic and social opportunities of a big city.
66. How did Howard get the name for his building plan of garden cities?
A. Through his observation of the country life.
B. Through the combination of different ideas.
C. By taking other people‘s advice.
D. By using the nickname of the reconstructed Chicago.
67. The underlined phrase ―drawing on ‖in Paragraph 1 probably means______.
A. making use of
B. making comments on
C. giving an explanation of
D. giving a description of
68. According to Howard, garden cities should be built______.
A. as far as possible from existing cities
B. in the countryside where the land was cheap
C. in the countryside where agriculture was developed
D. near cities where employment opportunities already existed
69. What can we learn about garden cities from the last paragraph?
A. Their number would continue to rise
B. Each one would continue to become larger
C. People would live and work in the same place
D. Each one would contain a certain type of business
70. What could be the best title for the passage?
A. City and Countryside
B. The Invention of the Garden City
C.A New City in Chicago
D. A Famous Garden City in England
【文章大意】本文介绍了Ebenezer Howard设计的英国花园城市。
66.D细节理解题。根据第一段的第二、三两句可知，他的花园城市得名于重建后的芝加哥的绰号。
67.A词义猜测题。联系上下文可知该句大意是：他“利用”当时很受欢迎的一些想法，做出了自己的设计方案。故drawing on有making use of之意。
68.B推理判断题。根据第二段最后一句中的“to establish a garden city in the depressed countryside; far enough from existing cities to make sure that the land was bought at the bottom price.”，可知选B。
69.A推理判断题。根据最后一段的最后两句可知garden cities的数量将会持续增加。
70.B主旨大意题。根据第一段Ebenezer Howard的经历和花园城市的最初构想，第二段花园城市的设计背景，以及第三段对花园城市未来发展的畅想可知，本文的标题为The Invention of the Garden City。
（2011·广东卷）A
In the animal kingdom, weakness can bring about aggression in other animal. This sometimes happens with humans also. But I have found that my weakness brings out the kindness in people. I see it every day when people hold doors for me, pour cream into my coffee, or help me to put on my coat. And I have discovered that it makes them happy.
From my wheelchair experience, I see the best in people, but sometimes I feel sad because those who appear independent miss the kindness I see daily. They don‘t get to see this soft side of others. Often, we try every way possible to avoid showing our weakness, which includes a lot of pretending. But only wh en we stop pretending we‘re brave or strong do we allow people to show the kindness that‘s in them.
Last month, when I was driving home on a busy highway, I began to feel unwell and drove more slowly than usual. People behind me began to get impatient and angry, with some speeding up alongside me, horning (按喇叭) or even shouting at me. At the moment I decided to do something I had never done in twenty-four years of driving. I put on the car flashlights and drove on at a really low speed.
No more angry shouts and no more horns!
When I put on my flashlights, I was saying to other drivers, ―I have a problem here. I am weak and doing the best I can.‖ And everyone understood. Several times, I saw drivers who wanted to pass. They couldn‘t get around me because of t he stream of passing traffic. But instead of getting impatient and angry, they waited, knowing the driver in front of them was in some way weak.
Sometimes situations call for us to act strong and brave even when we don‘t feel that way. But those are few an d far between. More often, it would be better if we don‘t pretend we feel strong when we feel weak or pretend that we are brave when we are scared.
26. The author has discovered that people will feel happy when ______.
A. they offer their help
B. the y receive others‘ help
C. they feel others‘ kindness
D. they show their weakness
27. The author feels sad sometimes because ______.
A. he has a soft heart
B. he relies much on others
C. some people pretend to be kind
D. some people fail to see the kindness in others
28. What did the other drivers do when they saw the flashlights?
A. They speed up to pass.
B. They waited with patience.
C. They tried their best to help.
D. They put on their flashlights too.
29. In this passage, the author advises us to ______.
A. handle problems by ourselves
B. accept help from others
C. admit our weakness
D. show our bravery
30. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
A. A Wheelchair Experience.
B. Weakness and Kindness.
C. Weakness and Strength
D. A Driving Experience
3 0.【答案】B标题判断题。通读全文可知，作者通过一次亲身经历告诉我们，有时候我们需要让别人了解我们需要帮助，这样人们便会表现出他们善意的一面。由此可知，B项作标题最贴切。
（2011·浙江卷）C
In the more and more competitive scrvice industry , it is no longer enough to promise customr r satisfaction. Today , customer ―delighi‖ is what companies are trying to achieve in or order to keep and increase market share.
It is accepted in the marketing industry , and confirmed by a number of researches, that customers receiving good service will promote business by telling up to 12 other people : those treated badly will tell their tales of woe to up to 20 people, 80 percent of people who feel their complaints are handled fairly will stay loyal
New llenges for customer care have come when peoplecan obtain goods and services through telephone call centers and the Intemet. For example , many companies now have to invest(投资)a lot of money in information technology and staff training in order to cope with the ―phone rage‖—caused by delays in answering calls ,being cut off in mid-conversation or left waiting for long periods.
―Many people do not like talking to machines ,‖says Dr . Storey Senior Lecturer in Marketng at City University Business School. ―Banks, for example, encourage staff at call centers
to use customer data to establish instant and good relationship with them .The aim is to make the customet feel they know you and that you can trest— the sort of comfortable feelings people have during face-to-face chats with their local branch man ager.‖
Recommended ways of creating customer delight include: under-promising and over-delivering (saying that a repair will be camed out within five hours ,but getting it done within two );replacing a faulty product immediately : throwing in a gift voucher(购物礼卷)as an unexpected ―thank you‖ to regntlar customers ;and always returning calls ,even when they are complaints.
Aiming for customer delight is all very well , but if services do not reach the high level promised , disappointment or worse will be the result . This can be eased by offering an aplogy and an explanation of why the service did not meet usual standards with empathy(for example,―I know how you must feel‖) , and possible solutions (replacement , compensation or whatever faimess suggests best meets the case).
Airlines face some of the tourhest challenges over customer care . Fierce competition has convinced them that delighting passengers is an important marketing tool, while there is great potential for customer anger over delays caused by weather , unclaimed luggage and technieal problems .
For British Airways staff , a winning telephone style is considercd vital in handling the large volume of calls about bookings and flight times . They are trained to answer quickly ,with their nam e , job title and a ―we are here to help‖ attitude. The company has investod heavily in information technology to make sure that infomation is available instantly on scren.
British Airways also says its customer care policies are applied within the company and staff are
taught to regard each other as customers requiring the highest standards of service.
Customer care is obviously here to stay and it would be a foolish company that used slogans such as "we do as we please‖. On the other hand , the more customers are promised, the greater the risk of disappointment.
50. We can learn from Paragraph 2 that .
A. complaining customers are hard to satisfy
B. unsatisfied customers receive better service
C. Satisfied customers catch more attention
D. well-treated customers promote business
51. The writer mentions ―phone rage‖(Paragraph 3) to show that .
A. customers often use phones to express their anger
B. people still prefer to buy goods online
C. customer care becomes more attention
D. customers rely on their phones to obtain services
52. What does the writer recommend to create delight?
A. Calling customers regularly
B. Giving a ―thank you‖ note.
C. Delivering a quicker service
D. Promising more gifts.
53. If a manager should show his empathy (Paragraph6), what would he probably say?
A.“I know how upset you must be.‖
B.“I appreciate your understanding.‖
C. “I‘m sorry for the delay.‖
D.“I know it‘s our fault.‖
54. Customer delight is important for airlines because .
A. their telephone style remains anchanged
B. they are more likely to meet with complaints
C. the services cost them a lot of money
D. the policies can be applied to their staff
55. Which of the following is conveyed in this article?
A. Face-to-face service creatcs comfortable feelings among customers.
B. Companies that promise more will naturally attract more customers.
C. A company should promise less but do more in a competitive market.
D. Customer delight is more important for airlines than for banks.
2011年高考英语试题考点分项解析
阅读理解分类汇编之文化教育类
（2011·山东卷）B
Tim Richter and his wife, Linda, had taught for over 30 years near Buffalo, New York--he in computers, she in special education. "Teaching means everything to us," Tim would say. In April1998, he learned he would need a heart operation. It was the kind of news that leads to some serious thinking about life's purpose.
Not long after the surgery, Tim saw a brochure describing Imagination Library, a program started by Dolly Parton' s foundation (基金会) that mailed a book every month to children from birth to age five in the singer's home town of Sevier, Tennessee.―I thought, maybe Linda and I could do something like this when we retire," Tim recalls. He placed the brochure on his desk, "as a reminder."
Five years later, now retired and with that brochure still on the desk, Tim clicked on imagination library .com. The program had been opened up to partners who could take advantage
of book and postage discounts.
The quality of the books was of great concern to the Richters. Rather than sign up online, they went to Dollywood for a look-see. ―We didn‘t want to give the children rubbish,‖ says Linda. The books-reviewed each year by teachers, literacy specialists and Dollywood board members-included classics such as Ezra Jack Keats‘s The Snowy Day and newer books like Anna Dewdney‘s Llama Llama series.
Satisfied, the couple set up the Richter Family Foundation and got to work. Since 2004, they have shipped more than 12,200 books to preschoolers in their in their area. Megan Williams, a mother of four, is more than appreciative: ―This program introduces us to books I‘ve never heard of .‖
The Richters spend about ＄400 a month sending books to 200 children. ―Some people sit there and wait to die,‖ says Tim. ―Others get as busy as they can in the time they have left.‖
61.What led Tim to think seriously about the meaning of life?
A. His health problem. B .His love for teaching.
C.The influence of his wife. D .The news from the Web.
62.What did Tim want to do after learning about Imagination Library?
A.Give out brochures. B .Do something similar.
C. Write books for children
D. Retire from being a teacher.
63.According to the text, Dollly Parton is .
A. a well-known surgeon
B. a mother of a four-year-old
C. a singer born in Tennessee D .a computer programmer[来
64.Why did the Richters go to Dollywood?
A. To avoid signing up online.
B. To meet Dollywood board members.
C. To make sure the books were the newest.
D. To see if the books were of good quality.
65.What can we learn from Tim‘s words in the last paragraph?
A. He needs more money to help the children.
B. He wonders why some people are so busy.
C. He tries to save those waiting to die.
D. Hconsiders his efforts worthwhile.
【文章大意】一次大病之后，作为教师的Tim Richter开始重新思考生命的意义，最后他决定学习他人在有生之年发挥余热，于是创办了一个基金会，给孩子们免费送去高质量的图书。
61.A
【解析】考查细节理解。根据文章第一段最后两句的内容可知，是他的身体健康问题——心脏病，才使他认真思考生命的意义。故选A。
62.B
【解析】考查细节理解。．第二段告诉我们，在Tim手术后不久，他了解到Imagination Library 的一些信息后，他说：maybe Linda and I could do something like this when we retire，也就是B项所说的Do something similar。
63.C
【解析】考查推理判断。从第二段中“by Dolly Parton‘s foundation【基金会）that mailed a book every month to children from birth to age five in the singer‘s home town of Sevier”可以看出：他是一名歌手，故选C。
64.D
【解析】考查细节理解。文章倒数第三段解释了Richter夫妇去Dollywood的原因：The quality of the books was of great concern to the Richters，下文他说的话“We didn‘t want to give the children rubbish”也可以说明这一点：看看书的质量好不好。
65.D
【解析】考查推理判断。Tim认为人不应该无所事事等待死神的到来，而应该利用好晚年的时光，使自己忙碌起来，对社会作出应有的贡献，他正是这样做的，由此可以看出，四个选项中D项（认为自己的努力很值得）最能表达这个意思。
（2011·安徽卷）E
George Prochnik would like the world to put a sock in it. He makes his case in a new book, Listening for Meaning in a World of Noise. Here he explains himself (using his indoor voice): ―We‘ve become so accustomed to noise, there‘s almost a deep prejudice against the idea that silence might be beneficial. If you tell someone to be quiet, you sound like an old man. But it‘s
never been more important to find continuing quiet. Silence focuses us, improves our health, and is a key to lasting peace and satisfaction.‖
―We need to excite people about the sounds you start to hear if you merely quiet things down a little. During a Japanese tea ceremony, the smallest sounds become a kind of art—the spoons making a light ringing sound on a bowl, the edges of a kimono(和服)brushing against the floor.‖―Deaf people are very attentive(专注的)in almost every aspect of life. If two deaf people are walking together, using sign language, they constantly watch out for each other and protect each other by paying steady attention to the other. They are connected yet also fully aware of their surroundings. Even deaf teenagers! We in the hearing world can learn from them. If we remove the powerful blasts(一阵阵)of noise, we become aware of an extraordinarily rich world around us—of little soft sounds and the sound of footsteps, of bird songs and ice cracking(开裂声). It‘s astonishing how beautiful things sound when you can really listen. ‖
72. What does the phrase ―to put a sock in it‖ in Paragraph 1 probably mean?
A. to be quiet
B. to be colorful
C. to be full of love
D. to be attentive to someone
73. What does Prochnik say about us?
A. We are used to quietness
B. We have to put up with noise
C. We do not think silence to be beneficial
D. We do not believe lasting peace to be available
74. Which of the following is true according to Prochnik?
A. We need more sounds in our lives
B. There is nothing to be learned from the deaf
C. We are not aware how rich the world around us is
D. There is too much noise at a Japanese tea ceremony
75. It can be inferred from the text that .
A. we can benefit a lot from old people
B. it is a good idea to use sign language
C. there is no escape from the world of sound
D. it is possible to find how beautiful things sound
（2011·全国2卷）D
The way we do things round here
Some years ago, I was hired by an American bank. I received a letter from the head of the Personnel Department that started, "Dear John, I am quite pleased that you have decided to join us." That "quite" saddened me. I thought he was saying "we're kind of pleased you decided to join us although I wish we had hired someone else." Then I discovered that in American English "quite" sometimes means "very", while in British English it means "fairly".
So the first lesson about working in other countries is to learn the language and by that I don't just mean the words people speak. It is body language, dress, manners, ideas and so on. The way people do things highlights many of the differences we see between cultures（文化）．
Some of these differences may be only on the surface-dress, food and hours of work-while others may be deeper and take longer to deal with. Mostly, it is just a question of getting used to the differences and accepting them, like the climate（气候），while getting on with business.
Some of the differences may be an improvement. People are more polite; the service is better; you ask for something to be done and it happens without having to ask again. However, other differences can be troubling, like punctuality（准时）．If you invite people to
a party at 7 o'clock your guests will consider it polite to turn up exactly on time in Germany, five minutes early in the
American Midwest, an hour early in Japan, 15 minutes afterwards in the UK, up to an hour afterwards in Italy and some time in the evening in Greece. I prefer not to use the word "late" because there is nothing wrong with the times people arrive. It is simply the accepted thing to do in their own country.
52. The author was unhappy as mentioned in Paragraph 1 because he thought______．
A. the American bank didn't think much of him
B. the American bank might hire another person
C. it's difficult to get used to American culture
D. it's easy to misunderstand Americans
53．The word "highlights" in Paragraph 2 probably means_____.
A. encourages
B. helps to narrow
C. increases
D. draws attention to
54. According to the author, what should we do with most cultural differences?
A. Ask the native people for help.
B. Understand and accept them.
C. Do things in our own way.
D. Do in-depth research.
55. When invited to a party the people who are usually punctual are______.[来
A. Italians
B. Germans
C. Greeks
D. the British
【文章大意】本文由作者的一次经历引出，告诉我们在其他国家时要注意语言造成的文化差异。
52.A细节理解题。根据第一段中的“I thought he was saying we‘re kind oIpleased you decided to join us althoughl wish we had hired someone else.…可知，作者以为这个美国银行表达的意思是自己并不是他们的最佳人选，认为这家银行对他评价不高，所以不高兴。
53.D词义猜测题。此处指人们做事的方式使我们看到的许多文化差异更加明显，故选D。highlight表示“强调，突出，使醒目”。
54.B细节理解题。根据第三段最后一句“Mosdy，it is just a question of getting used to the
differences and accepting them.”可知，应对大多数文化差异的方法是习惯并接受它们，故选择B。
55.B 细节理解题。根据最后一段中“…your guests will consider it polite to turn up exactly on time in Cermany”可知，德国人参加宴会时，通常是准时出现的。
（2011·辽宁卷） B
About 21,000 young people in 17 American states do not attend classes in school buildings. Instead, they receive their elementary(初等)and high school education by working at home on computers.The Center for Education Reform says the United States has 67 public ―cyberschools.‖and that is about twice as many as two years ago.
The money for students to attend a cyberschool comes from the governments of the states where they live. Some educators say cyberschools receive money that should support traditional public schools. They also say it is difficult to know if students are learning well.
Other educators praise this new form of education for letting students work at their own speed. These people say cyberschools help students who were unhappy or unsuccessful in traditional schools. They say learning at home by computer ends long bus rides for children who live far from school.
Whatever the judgement of cyberschools,they are getting more and more popular. For example, a new cyberschool called Commonwealth Connections Academy will take in students this fall. It will serve children in the state of Pennsylvania from ages five through thirteen.
Children get free equipment for their online education. This includes a computer,a printer,books and technical services. Parents and students talk with teachers by telephone or by sending emails through their computers when necessary.
Students at cyberschools usually do not know one another. But 56 such students who finished studies at Western Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School recently met for the first time. They were guests of honor at their graduation.
59. What do we know from the text about students of a cyberschool?
A. They have to take long bus rides to school.
B. They study at home rather than in classrooms.
C. They receive money from traditional public schools.