In China, most people think that having large eyes, double eyelids, a thin waist and white skin
My father said that the beauty of the Chinese people is in being gentle and implicit (含蓄的), like an ink painting. My grandma told me that, while dancing in the square, it is beautiful
2 . When I was in college, I spent a semester studying abroad at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. In my brief time there, I came to love Scotland for its local culture, food and scenery.
You might think, “Scotland isn’t so different from the US; they still speak English there!” But when I stepped off the plane, I was greeted by a gruff-voiced (声音粗哑的) lady at customs. “You’ll be coming from America, then?” She asked me, and I nodded. “But all of our guys are leaving Glasgow for the States!” Her thick Scottish English and sense of humor were obvious right away. I was not in the US any more, where customs agents never joke around.
As I settled in at the university, I could feel myself getting used to hearing—and even speaking—the Scottish English of my customs agent. In classroom discussions, people would say “em” when they couldn’t think of what to say instead of “um”, which was great fun. After the first few weeks, I stopped chuckling about this. Strathclyde students stayed up late into the night, running around campus and shouting, “Go! Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go [curse word] Glasgow!” Pretty soon, I was no longer saying “thanks” at the supermarket—instead, I said “cheers”.
My Scottish friends drank whiskey and ate haggis (羊杂碎布丁). I drank plenty of whiskey but felt ashamed to admit that I wasn't brave enough to try haggis. Scottish bakeries usually sell bridies (肉馅饼). Add a cup of tea—though I usually Americanized it by choosing coffee instead—and a bridie makes for a delicious breakfast.
Every time I took a train anywhere in Scotland, I’d gaze out at the rolling hills and wonder if grass was greener than anywhere else in the world. Then I’d reflect that there’s a reason this country was the birthplace of golf.
1. What did the author think of the lady at customs?| A．Impolite. | B．Friendly. |
| C．Serious. | D．Calm. |
| A．Talking loudly. | B．Comparing. |
| C．Laughing quietly. | D．Hearing. |
| A．To explain why Scotland was famous for golf. |
| B．To promote the development of Scottish catering trade. |
| C．To introduce different pronunciations of “em”and “um”. |
| D．To share his experiences in Scotland as an exchange student. |
Sam Boakye was a freshman at Ohio State University and the only black student on his floor. He was determined to get good grades — in part to make sure his white roommate had no basis for negative racial views. "You're pushed to do better, to challenge the stereotype that black people are not that smart," he told the New York Times.
Several recent studies have found that having a roommate of a different race can reduce prejudice(偏见), diversify(使多样化) friendships and even promote students’ academic performance. In a study by Ohio State psychology professor Russell Fazio, black freshmen who came to college with high test scores earned better grades if they had a white roommate—even if the roommate’s test scores were low. Another study on student interaction by Duke University suggests that freshmen with roommates of a different race were the most likely to diversify their friendships. “Just having diversity in classrooms doesn’t do anything to increase interracial friendships,” said Claudia Buchman, an author of the Duke study. “But living together with a different-race roommate does lead to more interracial friendships.”
There are, however, some problems with such room assignments. Fazio’s study found that three times as many randomly(随机地) assigned interracial roommates weren’t living together at the end of the semester, compared with white roommates. Interracial roommates also spent less time together, had fewer joint activities and were less involved with each other’s friends than white pairs.
As for Boakye, this is not the case. “A lot of white students come without much exposure（暴露）to diversity, so when their first interaction with a black guy isn’t bad, they will make more black friends. I think I made a good impression on my freshman roommate. I saw him this year, and he said, ‘Hey dude, you’re not the only black friend I have.’ That felt good.”
1. Having a roommate of a different race can have the following benefits EXCEPT ________.
| A．making more friends |
| B．reducing prejudice |
| C．earning better grades |
| D．improving physical health |
| A．he wanted to prove he was a smart boy |
| B．he intended to please his parents |
| C．he wished to earn the scholarship |
| D．he wanted to show black people are as smart as white people |
| A．got along well with his white roommate |
| B．shared fewer joint activities with his white roommate |
| C．had a negative attitude towards his white roommate |
| D．is still living together with his freshman white roommate |
| A．the interracial friendship |
| B．some problems with having an interracial roommate |
| C．some comments on the interracial roommates |
| D．the interaction between the black student and the white student |
