The British are known for their sense of humor. However, it is often difficult for foreigners to understand their jokes. The main point to remember is that the British often use understatement.
Understatement means saying less than you think or feel. For example, if someone gets very wet in a shower of rain, he might say, "It's a little damp（潮湿的） outside." Or, if someone is very impolite and shouts at another person loudly, people might say, "He isn't exactly friendly." Understatement is often used in unpleasant situations or to make another person look silly. Understatement plays an important part in British humor.
Another key to understanding British humor is that the British like to make fun of themselves as well as others. They often laugh about the silly and unpleasant things that happen in everyday life. For example, they laugh when someone accidentally falls over in the street. They also like to make jokes on people from different classes of society. They like to make jokes about their accents, the way they dress and the way they behave. What's more, the British love to watch comedies about people who do not know how to behave in society. The comedy Mr. Bean is a good example of this kind of humor.
Mr. Bean is the character created by British actor Rowan Atkinson in 1990. Mr. Bean doesn't talk often, and instead he uses his body movement and facial expressions to make people laugh. Perhaps what makes Mr. Bean so funny is that he does things that adults in the real world will never do.
Mr. Bean is popular in many countries around the world because people do not have to speak English to understand the humor. Because of this, many people have become familiar with the British sense of humor.
根据材料内容选择最佳答案。
1. How do the British often show their sense of humor according to the passage?
| A．By telling funny stories. | B．By watching comedies like Mr. Bean. |
| C．By saying less than they think or feel. | D．By playing tricks on others. |
| A．It is a little sunny today. | B．I love the sun so much. |
| C．The sun plays a trick on me. | D．I have bathed in the sun. |
| A．The British jokes about adults. | B．The cultures in many countries around the world. |
| C．The weather that is special in Britain. | D．People having no idea about how to behave in society. |
| A．Because he doesn't talk too much. |
| B．Because he does what other adults will never do. |
| C．Because he copies others' expressions. |
| D．Because he makes fun of others. |
| A．Why Mr. Bean is so popular. | B．How to understand the British humor. |
| C．The humor in different countries. | D．How to be humorous like the British. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Idioms (习语) in English
The following information is about some idioms in English. Please find the right idioms for the following sentences.
| A. sleep on it: To think about something for a while before making a decision. | B. get something off one’s chest: To talk about a problem that has been worrying someone for a long time, and someone feels better because of this. |
| C. put your foot in your mouth: Saying something you shouldn’t have said. | D. down for the count: Tired; giving up unable or unwilling to participate any longer. |
1.
Don’t tell me whether you’ll move to Texas with me or not today. I think you should 2.
No, you can’t take my dog for a walk. She will give up because she is 3.
Miss Smith, I’m sorry. I have to 【推荐2】Italy’s ruling party (意大利执政党) may introduce a new law to stop people using English words in Italy. People could get fined (罚款) for using English and other non-Italian words in official communications.
The idea is from government member Fabio Rampelli. He is worried about the growing number of English words in Italy. He called it “Anglomania” (哈英狂). He wrote: “We continue our battle for the use of Italian instead of English.” Mr Rampelli said English is damaging the Italian language. He wants people to get a fine if they use English words. The fines could be between €5,000 and €100,000 ($5,500 and $110,000).
English has been increasing around the world for over a century. The Internet and social media have increased its use. Most languages now use English words. Many people are afraid that English is harming their native language.
However, not all Italians agree with having fines for the use of English. A top Italian linguistics society, the Accademia della Crusca, disagreed with Mr Rampelli’s idea.
Other people support the fines. They are worried about the growing number of English words in Italy. They say that since the year 2000, the number of English words in use in the Italian language has increased by an amazing 773 percent. There are no signs that this will stop.
1. What organization wants to introduce a new law?| A．Italy’s ruling party. | B．Italy’s top dictionary. |
| C．Accademia della Crusca. | D．An Italian language school. |
| A．Rome. | B．In Antarctica. | C．In official communications. | D．Online in Italy. |
| A．Anglocentric. | B．Anglophilia. | C．Anglophobia. | D．Anglomania. |
| A．€100,000. | B．€110,000. | C．€101,000. | D．€100,001. |
【推荐3】Papua New Guinea is the eastern part of the island of New Guinea. It has a population of just over eight million. The capital is Port Moresby. The country became independent from Australia in 1975. There are over 800 languages in Papua New Guinea. That's more languages than in any other country in the world.
Papua New Guinea is a land of mountains and rainforests. Most communities have little contact with each other or with the outside world. It's for this reason that so many different languages have developed.
The official (官方的) languages of Papua New Guinea are Tok Pisin, English and Hiri Motu. Although English is an official language, it is only spoken as a first language by a small percentage of the population.
Tok Pisin is spoken by most people. It is an English-based creole. The word “tok” comes from the English word for “talk” and means “word” or “speech”.
“Pisin” means “pidgin”. A pidgin language is one which is a mixture of two other languages, while a creole is a pidgin language that has become the mother language of a community. Tok Pisin started as a pidgin language and became a creole language.
Although the majority (大多数) of Tok Pisin vocabulary (词汇) comes from English, it also includes words from German, Portuguese, Latin and a number of other languages.
Tok Pisin is sometimes used in the first three years of primary school in Papua New Guinea, while English is used in secondary education.
1. How long is the history of Papua New Guinea as an independent country?| A．Over 40 years. | B．About 100 years. | C．About 200 years. | D．Over 800 years. |
| A．Communities in Papua New Guinea. | B．The natural beauty of Papua New Guinea. |
| C．How Papua New Guinea became independent. | D．Why Papua New Guinea has so many languages. |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
| A．Latin | B．English | C．German | D．Portuguese |
【推荐1】Have you ever tried Shaxian Snacks(沙县小吃)? You may find Shaxian Snacks restaurants in nearly every Chinese city. But now the popular restaurant chain(连锁店) is going overseas(海外).
Last month, Shaxian Snacks opened its first store in York City. It was so popular that all of its food sold out within three hours on the first day it was open.
Shaxian Snacks comes from Shaxian county in Fujian province. Many local(当地的) people left the county in past years to work in other parts of China. And of course, they brought their food with them. Now more and more people love it.
Shaxian Snacks sells local foods from Shaxian such as peanut butter noodles(花生酱拌面)and pork wontons(猪肉馄饨).There are many dishes to choose from. Some are traditional, while others are new. But the thing they have in common is that none of them is expensive. That might be why they’re so popular. At the Shaxian Snacks store in the US, a full meal costs about the same as a meal at KFC or McDonald’s.
1. What has Shaxian Snacks done recently?| A．It has stopped selling food in China. |
| B．It just opened its first overseas store. |
| C．The food in all of its stores in China sold out. |
| D．It has opened restaurants in every Chinese city. |
| A．How popular Shaxian Snacks is in New York. |
| B．Why Shaxian country is famous. |
| C．How Shaxian Snacks became popular. |
| D．Why many people in Fujian moved to other places. |
| A．Buttered bread. | B．Peanut butter noodles. |
| C．Chicken wings. | D．Cheeseburgers. |
| A．Because it has many kinds of dishes. | B．Because it offers traditional snacks. |
| C．Because it offers many new snacks. | D．Because its dishes are cheap. |
【推荐2】Have you ever dreamed of traveling in space? To travel in space, we first have to work out where our food will come from.
Today's space travellers don't go to the Moon or Mars. They go to the International Space Station（ISS）. There, the spacemen live for weeks to months.
If you visited the ISS years ago, nearly every kind of food you ate would have come from the Earth.
In 2014, scientists sent the ISS a space garden with some vegetable seeds（种子）. With water and some light, the vegetables in the garden grew. Those were the first foods being grown on the ISS. But the spacemen couldn't eat them and had to send them back to the Earth. The next year, after scientists made sure they were safe, the spacemen grew a second crop. This time the vegetables were ready for the spacemen to eat.
Gardening is different in space than it is on Earth. Without gravity, plants don't know which way is up. But they learn how to grow. They send their leaves in the direction of light and their roots into the soil.
The spacemen also have grown vegetables as well as flowers. It's important to know a plant can flower in space, because flowering is part of how some plants make fruit.
While the space garden is small for now, hopefully it could one day help provide people with food on long-time space trips.
1. Years ago, where did most of the food on the ISS come from?| A．The Mars. | B．The Earth. | C．The Moon. | D．The space garden. |
| A．The vegetables didn't taste good. |
| B．The spacemen didn't like vegetables. |
| C．The vegetables might not be safe to eat. |
| D．The scientists wanted to eat the vegetables first. |
| A．The spacemen. | B．The scientists. |
| C．The vegetables. | D．The water and light. |
| A．They stop growing. | B．They never grow up. |
| C．They grow in the direction of light. | D．They grow in the direction of the Earth. |
| A．a dream to travel in space. | B．plants in the space garden. |
| C．a trip to the Moon and Mars. | D．vegetable seeds from the Earth. |
【推荐3】When you are reading something in English, you may often come across a new word. What’s the best way to know it?
You need an English-Chinese dictionary (字典). It will tell you a lot about the word, for example (例如), how to read this word, what it means in Chinese and how to use this word. But there are so many English words in the dictionary and how can you know where the word is? There is a way to look for it.
In the dictionary you can first see the words beginning with the letter A, then B, C, D, E… That means, if there are two words, “desk” and “hour”, “desk” will be before “hour”; “story” before “Sunday”, “tomato” before “tomorrow” etc. The English-Chinese dictionary will be your good friend. I hope you will often use it in your English learning.
1. When you don’t know a new word, the best way is________.| A．to ask your teacher | B．to guess | C．to ask your friends | D．to use a dictionary |
| A．撞倒 | B．越过 | C．遇到 | D．过来 |
Their right order (次序) in the English-Chinese dictionary is________.
| A．April, autumn, face, film | B．film, face, April, autumn |
| C．face, film, April, autumn | D．April, face, film, autumn |
| A．the students in Paris in learning English | B．the students in the USA in learning English |
| C．Chinese students in learning English | D．the students in Canada in learning English |
| A．how to use the right words in your English writing. |
| B．how to read the new words in the English story. |
| C．how to use an English-Chinese dictionary. |
| D．how to buy a right English-Chinese dictionary. |
| Name : Claude Country : Germany Native Language : German Time in the USA : 9 months Family : I live with my parents. Work : I used to be an art teacher in Germany. But now I’m working in a company. Interests : I love painting. I like music , too. |
| Name : Li Ming Country : China Native Language : Chinese Time in the USA : 2 years Family : I have one son. He is studying in China. My wife is an English teacher. Work : I was a math teacher. But now I’m a cook. Interests : I like cooking. I also like sports, such as basketball , table tennis and so on. |
| Name : Carolina Country : Russia Native Language : Russian Time in the USA : 4 years Family : I live with my husband and 2 children. Work : I was a basketball player. But now I’m a teacher. Interests : I love sports. I like traveling. |
| Name : Kalumi Country : Japan Native Language : Japanese Time in the USA : 3 months Family : My family , my parents and 4 brothers and sisters all live in Japan. I’m here by myself. Work : I worked as a nurse in my country. Now I’m a shop assistant. Interests : I like such activities as reading , drawing and watching TV. |
根据材料内容选择最佳答案，并将其标号填入题前括号内。
1. ________has lived in America for the longest time among the four persons.
| A．Kalumi | B．Carolina |
| C．Claude | D．Li Ming |
| A．Li Ming and Claude | B．Li Ming and Carolina |
| C．Kalumi and Claude | D．Carolina and Kalumi |
| A．Claude | B．Carolina |
| C．Li Ming | D．Kalumi |
| A．Li Ming and Claude | B．Carolina and Kalumi |
| C．Li Ming and Carolina | D．Kalumi and Claude |
| A．draw pictures | B．study in the same class |
| C．teach English | D．play sports |
【推荐2】Texting(发信息) while driving is against the law in 47 states. But what about texting while walking? A 2018 study reported that more than 2, 500 people in the US ended up in hospitals resulting from using a mobile device(设备) while walking.
Hawaii passed a law making it illegal(违法的) to text or look down at a mobile device while crossing the street, it is the first state with a law like this. Do people think more places should accept such a law? The LA Times did a survey. Here are some replies they received.
| Rena Jose, 26, New York Which is more important, texting or safety? If you are looking at your phone while walking, you might not see a car come or traffic lights turn red. It can be very dangerous. For example, in Japan, one person fell into a lake and another got her leg stuck in a hole, because both had their mind on their phone. We should make texting while crossing the street illegal in more cities. |
| Andy Selvam, 55, California People do many things that cause injury to themselves but are not illegal, such as climbing mountains, driving cars, swimming and so on. People might get hurt from texting and walking if they're not paying attention. But I still think they should have a choice. |
| Bob Madigan, 45, Oregon As humans, we can make our own decisions. I'm not saying it's safe, but we don't need the government to babysit us. If we want to learn to make smart decisions, the government needs to stop telling us what to do. After all, this is a free country. |
| Andrew Black, 34, Alaska This law is a good idea—compare this protection with seat belts. If this law is passed all over the USA, people will be worried. But is there really a way to please everyone? This would not be for fun. It would be safe and good for all Americans. |
| A．win the hearts of more readers |
| B．encourage more states to pass the law |
| C．ask readers if they agree with texting while driving |
| D．learn about people's opinions on texting while walking |
| A．using numbers | B．giving examples | C．asking questions | D．telling stories |
| A．Texting is more important than safety. | B．The law would help to keep Americans safe. |
| C．It's easy to please everyone when passing a law. | D．Whether to text or not while walking is people's own choice. |
This term he began to teach Grade One. Some of the new students were told about him, but the others didn’t know about him. On the first day of school he told the students how to be an honest person. He gave them some examples and said, “I don’t like telling a lie.” Before class was over, he told all his students to finish Exercise 8 in Lesson 1.
The next morning, as soon as he came into the classroom, he asked. "Who's finished Exercise 8?” A few students raised their hands. He shook his head and said. "Open your workbooks and see if there's Exercise 8 in Lesson 1."
The students had a look at their workbooks and their faces turned red at once.
1. The students still remember Mr. Weeks because ________.
| A．he taught them maths and something important as well |
| B．he was a famous person |
| C．he was an old teacher |
| D．he was never late |
| A．All his students have become famous persons. |
| B．All his students often write to him. |
| C．Some of his students have been famous. |
| D．He's been a teacher for twenty-six years. |
| A．it was very interesting |
| B．he wanted to know if they were honest |
| C．it was very important |
| D．he wanted to give them a maths example |
| A．they found Exercise8 but didn't finish it |
| B．they forgot what Mr. Weeks had told them |
| C．they weren't able to work out Exercise8 |
| D．they told a lie in class |
| A．only some of the students finished Exercise8 |
| B．there was no Exercise8 in Lesson1 |
| C．the students found and finished Exercise8 |
| D．all the students wanted to be honest |
| Welcome to our summer camp! For over 26 years, International Students Placements (ISP) has successfully placed thousands of international students in the US. | |
| Date | July 1st~ 31st, 2020 |
| Location | Southern California |
| Course | Our summer camp gives students a chance to experience full immersion (沉浸) in an American classroom. There they can learn STEM (science, technology, engineering, math), history, and P E together with American students. The classes will be interesting and exciting. And the students will be provided with an active learning environment. |
| Homestay | Students will be placed with local host families who provide a bedroom and all meals and drive them daily to and from the camp. These host families are excited to meet the students and start a lifelong friendship. |
| Who can join | Elementary and junior high school students (aged 6—13) are welcome. |
| Price | Each student should pay $900 for the host family placement, daily school journeys, airport pick-up, etc. Plane tickets and insurance (保险) are not included. Payment should be made 30 days before the camp starts. |
1. Students are supposed to stay at the summer camp for ________.
| A．a week | B．two weeks | C．a month |
① History ② Geography ③Science ④Math
| A．①②③ | B．②③④ | C．①③④ |
| A．Their host families | B．Teachers at the camp | C．Cooks at the camp |
| A．Five-year-old Li can go to the camp. |
| B．Students should walk to the camp every day. |
| C．Students will study with American students. |
| A．share a student's summer camp experience |
| B．introduce a summer camp program |
| C．tell how to attend a summer camp |
【推荐2】Consumer Electronic Trade Show is a chance for technology companies from all over the world to show their new products and inventions. Usually there’s one type of thing that becomes the star on the trade show. And in 2018, it is robots.
The Electronic Glove  Worn on the hand, this glove can bring some hand functions (功能) back. It helps people who have difficulty doing daily activities such as catching and picking up things, opening doors and turning on taps. | The Robot Suitcase  If you are afraid to forget something at the airport, you will love the idea behind this robot suitcase. The suitcase can follow its owner. It can also stay away from other things on its way. It can even call the police when someone is trying to take it away. |
The Robomart  The Robomart is hoping to make shopping easier for people. This Robomart can be controlled by an app. You can watch it roll up and then take the fruit and vegetables inside. | The Somnox  The Somnox is a sleep robot that mimics (模仿) somebody lying next to you in bed by “breathing”. It’s a comfort robot held by the sleeper, It can be controlled to make different breathing movements. This helps to change a user’s own breathing and helps him fall asleep more naturally. |
| A．Robots. | B．Companies. | C．Computers. | D．Apps. |
| A．The Electronic Glove. | B．The Robot Suitcase. |
| C．The Robomart. | D．The Somnox. |
| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
| A．It can make the owner less nervous. |
| B．It can make different breathing movements itself. |
| C．It can help people become stronger. |
| D．It can help people have a better sleep. |
| A．How to invent robots. |
| B．It is about four inventions making our life easier. |
| C．Consumer Electronic Trade Show is great. |
| D．Robots will be our close friends in the future. |
【推荐3】Most people buy a lot of gifts just before Christmas. But some people think we buy too much. They have started a special day called Buy Nothing Day. They don't want anyone to go shopping on that day.
Buy Nothing Day is on November 29th. It is 25 days before Christmas. At that time, we see ads in newspapers and on TV telling us to “buy，buy, buy!“
The idea for Buy Nothing Day started in Vancouver, British Columbia. Now people all over the world celebrate Buy Nothing Day. In California, USA, parents and children get together to read stories, sing songs and paint pictures. The children talk about why they don't need many toys. Last year, in Manchester, England, people dressed up in costurnes to tell people that we buy too much.
In Albuquerque, New Mexico，high school students wanted to tell other students about Buy Nothing Day. They organized a dinner to give people information about Buy Nothing Day. They asked restaurants in the neighbours to donate the food. They put up posters and talked to other students about it. The dinner was a big success, many students liked the idea of this new tradition. This year, they want to have another dinner to tell more people about Buy Nothing Day.
1. When is Buy Nothing Day?| A．On December 25th. | B．On November 29th. |
| C．On November 25th. | D．On December 29th. |
| A．Vancouver | B．Albuquerque | C．California | D．Manchester |
| A．going shopping for Christmas |
| B．buying some toys with their parents |
| C．organizing a dinner for other students |
| D．reading stories, singing songs and painting pictures |
| A．help poor people |
| B．make money on Buy Nothing Day |
| C．make advertisements for the restaurants |
| D．let other people learn about Buy Nothing Day |
| A．A Free Dinner | B．A Big Success |
| C．Buy Nothing Day | D．A New Christmas Day |
