1 . Many young people these days adore the advertised magazine body and become too focused on attaining this image instead of worrying more about what lasts and even grows over time. But could you imagine being considered beautiful for years, and suddenly being ugly after moving to another continent? It is a sad reality that people don’t realize how vacillating the idea of beauty can be from one country to another.

Think of the most typical American girl you know. Is she blonde-haired with white skin and light blue eyes, and does she love shopping or sports? Now place this girl in the heart of Africa, where beauty is placed on what you can control. The Maasai tribe in Kenya focuses on how clean people are, and how stylish their piercings (穿孔) are. This tribe’s culture is to be a brave fighter, so they will cut their skin with patterns in it to show that they are strong. If you don’t look fierce, you are not beautiful.

Other countries like North Korea and South Korea have their own unique views on beauty. In an interview, a woman who has lived in both North Korea and South Korea claims that beauty in North Korea is based more on your ability to be a good woman and wife. She says that women in North Korea are less concerned about fashion and beauty in the physical sense. She says they did have a time when big eyes were a big deal and everyone wanted to get double eyelid surgery. This is something extreme and could perhaps be influenced by Western culture. But don’t you think the idea of getting surgery done to look more attractive is crazy?

1. What does the underlined word “vacillating” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?

A．Inconsistent.	B．Reasonable.
C．Unusual.	D．Similar.

2. The Maasai tribe in Kenya is mentioned to show that in their eyes　　　.

A．getting dirty is stylish	B．looking fierce is beautiful
C．strong people cut their skin	D．American girls love shopping

3. According to the woman interviewed, women in North Korea now　　　.

A．care a lot about their appearance	B．put the beauty of eyes in the first place
C．pay great attention to their ability	D．are crazy about double eyelid surgery

4. What does the text mainly tell us?

A．Inner beauty is of great importance.

B．Ideas of beauty vary among culture groups.

C．Different ways are needed to admire true beauty.

D．Fashion magazines easily influence young people.

2 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Venice,     1    small waterside(水边的) city in northeast Italy, boils with happiness and excitement once every year. Between February 21th and March 4th, the carnival (狂欢节) hits the streets. For most people the carnival means large parties and feasts. But in Venice, it also means     2    (tradition) masks and costumes.

These costumes were     3    (original) meant to hide personal identities. Then, different social classes could mix in a sea of happiness.

Today, people in Venice still dress up in the strangest ways as armed soldiers, butchers and fishermen, for example.

Bars and cafes are filled with party-goers     4    come to show off their strange costumes. Their designs and creations     5    (make) by special studios. Ready-made costumes are not acceptable.

＂In the months     6    the carnival we work overtime to meet the demand,＂ said a mask maker. ＂Many kilometers of silk and lace are made     7    costumes. For shopkeepers, the carnival is the     8    time of the year.＂

The Venice carnival dates back to the Middle Ages. At that time, the city was     9    of the wealthiest in Europe. Now the Venice carnival attracts huge crowds from all over the world.

The city certainly benefits — a whole industry     10    (build) up around the carnival’s masks and costumes.

             ＂The Venice Carnival is a magical time! It’s such great experience,＂ said one French tourist.

3 . Some people are so rude. Who sends an e-mail or a text message that just says “Thank you?” Who leaves a voice mail message rather than texts you? Who asks for a fact easily found on the Internet?     1    

Maybe I’m the rude one for not appreciating life’s little courtesies(礼节). But many social norms(规范) just don’t make sense to people drowning in digital communication.

Take the thank-you note. Daniel Post Senning, a coauthor of Emily Post’s Etiquette，asked, “At what point does showing appreciation outweigh the cost?”

    2     Think of how long it takes to listen to one of those messages. In texts, you don’t have to declare who you are or even say hello. E-mail, too, is slower than a text. The worst are those who leave a voice mail and then send an e-mail message to tell you they left a voice mail.

This isn’t the first time technology has changed our manners,     3     Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor, suggested that people say, " Ahoy! "Finally, hello won out, and the victory sped up the greeting's use in face-to-face communications.

In the age of the smart phone, there is no reason to ask once-acceptable questions about:the weather forecast, a business’s phone number, or directions to a house, a restaurant, or an office, which can be easily found on a digital map.     4     And when you answer, they respond with a thank-you e-mail.

How to handle these differing standards? Easy: Consider your audience. Some people,especially older ones, appreciate a thank-you message.     5     In traditional societies, the young learn from the old. But in modern societies, the old can also learn from the young. Here's hoping that politeness never goes out of fashion but that time-wasting forms of communication do.

A. Then there is voice mail.
B. Others, like me, want no reply.
C. But people still ask these things.
D. Don’t these people realize that they’re wasting your time?
E. Won't new technology bring about changes in our daily life?
F. Face-to-face communication makes comprehension much easier.
G. When the telephone was invented, people didn't know how to greet a caller.

4 . Growing up in Puerto Rico, our family was no different from so many others. My parents got married after my father came back when the war ended. Both of my parents were struggling with the hard economic realities of the time. But somehow, they found time to cherish those cultural values that shaped our everyday life.

In our daily life, we celebrated together with our friends or family members every birthday, every graduation, and all holidays with music and dancing, and typical foods. When we visited our family in the countryside—a trip that took about two hours in a car, with five children fighting as to who would get a window or the front seat —we would break into song, and somehow the trip would turn into one full of happiness and fun. We would sing not only interesting children’s songs but also beautiful love songs — songs about the love of our country though we didn’t understand the meaning of the words many times.

I came to Philadelphia for the first time in 1973 to do a residency(实习) in family medicine. I remember the many hours of work. I was facing issues of life and death and suffering the clearly social unfairness and issues of poverty and race. These were all worsened by my feeling of cultural differences.

An important turning point in my life happened one Saturday night when I attended a concert of Puerto Rico singer and composer Antonio Caban Vale. The music showed my familiar rhythms, and the words spoke to my heart. I had found a space to express, celebrate, and share my culture in Philadelphia. Therefore, I believe diversity is seen as an advantage and not as a disadvantage. As a Puerto Rican, I am a mixture of races and I believe in my strength because of this.

1. What do we know about the author’s family?

A．They lived a well-off life.

B．They suffered a lot from war.

C．They were tired of family activities.

D．They took cultural values seriously.

2. Why does the author mention the trip in Paragraph 2?

A．To prove her pride in her culture.

B．To show fun brought by her culture.

C．To express her love for the country.

D．To show the fight between her siblings.

3. What added to the author’s depressing life in Philadelphia?

A．Dangers as a doctor.	B．Prejudice from the rich.
C．Cultural shock.	D．Low payment.

4. What did the concert make the author aware of?

A．The excitement of the rhythms.

B．The value of the lyrics.

C．The advantage of cultural diversity.

D．The strength of believing in oneself.

5 . 假定你是李华，你的美国笔友Johnson是个中国迷。他最近看了几部中国电影，但感觉似懂非懂，因此写信向你寻求一些建议。请你给他写一封回信，要点如下：
1. 表示理解；
2. 分析原因(文化背景知识不足，台词翻译不精准等）；
3. 提出建议。
注意：1.词数100左右；2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；3.开头与结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Johnson，

I have received your letter of Nov. 5th.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Hua

6 . The Sahara Festival is a celebration of the very recent past. The three-day event is not fixed to the same dates each year, but generally takes place in November or December. It is well attended by tourists, but even better attended by the locals.   

During the opening ceremonies, after the official greetings from the government leaders, people who attend the festival begin to march smartly before the viewing stands, and white camels transport their riders across the sands. Horsemen from different nations display their beautiful clothes and their fine horsemanship. One following another, groups of musicians and dancers from all over the Sahara take their turn to show off their wonderful traditional culture. Groups of men in blue and yellow play horns and beat drums as they dance in different designs. On their knees in the sand, a group of women in long dark dresses dance with their hair: their long, dark, shiny hair is thrown back and forth in the wind to the rhythm of their dance.   

The local and visiting Italian dogs are anxious to run after hares. The crowd is on its feet for the camel races. Camels and riders run far into the distance, and then return to the finish Line in front of the cheering people.   

Towards the evening, there comes the grand finale of the opening day, an extremely exciting horserace. All the riders run very fast on horseback. Some riders hang off the side of their saddles（马鞍）. Some even ride upside down—their legs and feet straight up in the air—all at full speed. Others rush down the course together, men arm in arm, on different horses. On and on they went. So fast and so wonderful!

1. The Sahara Festival is a festival which _____.

A．has a very long history in North Africa

B．is held in the same place on the same day

C．is attended mainly by the people in the Sahara

D．is celebrated mostly by travelers from different countries

2. Before the races begin, _____ take part in the activities during the opening ceremonies.

A．musicians, dancers, horses and hares

B．camel riders, musicians, dogs and hares

C．horsemen, dancers, camels and dogs

D．musicians, officials, camels and horses

3. The underlined word “finale” in the fourth paragraph most probably means the _____ of the opening day.

A．first part

B．last part

C．middle

D．whole

4. This passage mainly tells readers _____.

A．how animals race on the first and the last days of the Sahara Festival

B．how people celebrate during the three-day Sahara Festival

C．what takes place at the closing ceremonies of the Sahara Festival

D．what happens on the opening day of the Sahara Festival

7 . 假如你是李华，你所在的学校将要举办一场五四青年节庆祝活动。你和你的同学邀请你校的美国交换生Tom参加。请你写一封信给Tom，要点如下：

1.邀请Tom一起表演，一个中西合璧的节目；

2.活动时间：5月4日下午2：00----5：00；

3.活动地点：学校学术报告厅。

注意：1．词数100左右；   

2．可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；

3. 开头和结尾已经为你写好，但不计入总词数。

Dear Tom,

You have told me that you are very interested in how we Chinese celebrate China’s Youth Day

____________________________________________________________________________________________
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____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
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____________________________________________________________________

We are looking forward to your reply.

8 . The traditional American school year begins in late August or early September.It ends in May or June, followed by summer vacation.    1    Because long ago, young people had to help their families harvest summer crops. At least this is what people today may think.    2    A recent report from an education policy center at Indiana University explored the historical roots of the traditional school calendar.In the early days of the United States, children were not required to attend school .School calendars depended on local needs.    3    They worked on family farms during the other months. City schools were often open much longer, some for eleven months of the year.After the Civil War, more and more people saw the need for a system of required education.    4    Many city schools wanted a shorter year and a longer summer break. The schools were often crowded. There was no modern air conditioning. Hot days would make it difficult to learn. Many rural educators, however, pushed for a longer school year. They thought it would keep children safe from industrial dangers when there were few child-labor laws.So the traditional school calendar was a compromise (折中). The average school year used to be one hundred and seventy days. Times have not changed much.    5    But some experts think the traditional school calendar needs to change because the needs of the nation have changed. This thinking has led some schools to keep students in class longer.

A．Why such a long break?

B．Today the common average is one hundred and eighty days.

C．Americans think highly of their traditional school calendar.

D．Most schools had similar school calendars.

E．But the reason has more to it.

F．Students in rural areas went to school for no more than six months of the year.

G．But they had different ideas for the calendar.

9 . We know the westerners like to plan for their time carefully in order to do all the things that are important to them. So if your American or English friend asks you to dinner, he usually invites you a week ahead. But if you really have no time and can’t go to the dinner, you can ring him to say sorry. The dinner is usually served at home, sometimes at a restaurant. You should get there on time, and don’t forget to put on your fine clothes. It is also a good idea to take some little presents to your friend, such as flowers, chocolates and so on. When you are at dinner, you should also observe (遵守) some other customs. Here I’ll give you some dos and don’ts about them in the following:

1) Don’t leave bones on the table or the floor. (You should put them on your plate with fingers.)

2) Don’t use your bowl to drink soup, but use your spoon to help you instead,

3)   Don’t talk with much food in your mouth.

4)   Don’t ask others to have more wine. (This is quite different from that in China.)

5)   After dinner, use you r napkin (餐巾) to clean your mouth and hands.

6)   Make sure small pieces of food are not left on your face.

Then after dinner, you can stay there a little time. And your friend will be pleased if you leave in half an hour or so. Next day, you had better ring him up to thank him for the good dinner.

1. If your American or English friend wants to invite you to dinner, he will invite you _____.

A．on the night before the dinner	B．on the day before the dinner
C．a week before the dinner	D．at the last moment

2. When you come to the dinner, you’d better_____.

A．get there a bit earlier

B．put on your usual clothes

C．take some presents like flowers, chocolates and so on

D．take your best friends with you

3. It would be impolite to______.

A．put bones on your plates with fingers

B．persuade others to drink more

C．drink soup with your spoon

D．make sure that there is nothing left on your face after dinner

4. Which of the following is not true?

A．After dinner, you’d better stay and talk with your friends for a long time to show your thanks.

B．You’d better ring your friend the next day to show your thanks.

C．After dinner, you’d better leave in half an hour.

D．After dinner, use napkin to clean you r mouth.

5. The best title for this passage would be_____.

A．Custom in England and America	B．Custom in the West
C．Living Custom in the West	D．Custom at Dinner Table in the West

10 . Different countries have different customs. When you travel to another countries, please follow their customs, just as the saying goes, “____”
Very often people who travel to the United States forget to tip. It is usual to tip porters who help carry your bags, taxi drivers and waiters. Waiters expect to get a 15% tip on the cost of your meal. Taxi drivers expect about the same amount.
In England, make sure to stand in line even if there are only two of you. It’s important to respect lines there. It’s a good idea to talk about the weather. It’s a favorite subject of conversation with the British.
In Spain, it’s a good idea to have a light meal in the afternoon if someone invites you for dinner. People have dinner very late, and restaurants do not generally open until after 9 pm.
In Arab countries, men kiss one another on the cheek. Your host may welcome you with a kiss on both cheeks. It is polite for you to do the same.
In Japan, people usually give personal or business cards to each other when they meet for the first time. When a person gives you a card, don’t put it into your pocket right away. The person expects you to read it.
Don’t forget to be careful of your body language to express something in conversation. A kind of body language that is acceptable in one culture may be impolite in another.
1. When you travel to the USA, you don’t need to tip     .

A．porters	B．waiters
C．teachers	D．taxi drivers

2. The missing sentence in the first paragraph should be“     .”

A．Love me, love my dog

B．He who laughs last laughs best

C．When in Rome, do as the Romans do

D．Where there is a will, there is a way

3. The underline word “porters” in the passage means      .

A．搬运工	B．清洁工
C．接线员	D．售票员

4. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．In Spain, People usually have dinner very early.

B．In England, It’s a not polite to talk about the weather.

C．In Arab countries, men kiss one another on the cheek.

D．In Japan you should not read the business card as soon as you get it.

5. What’s the best title of the passage?

A．How to Tip

B．Body Language

C．When to Have Dinne

D．Advice to International Travelers