出自:河北建筑工程学院-大学英语2（高起本）
13. (阅读理解题)When my family moved to America in 2010 from a small village in Guangdong, China, we brought not only our luggage, but also our village rules, customs and culture. One of the rules is that young people should always respect elders. Unluckily, this rule led to my very first embarrassment in the United States. I had a part-time job as a waiter in a Chinese restaurant. One time, when I was serving food to a middle-aged couple, the wife asked me how the food could be served so quickly. I told her that I had made sure they got their food quickly because I always respect the elderly. As soon as I said that, her face showed great displeasure. My manager, who happened to hear what I said, took me aside and gave me a long lecture about how sensitive(敏感) Americans are and how they dislike the description “old”. I then walked back to the table and apologized to the wife. After the couple heard my reason, they understood that the problem was caused by cultural differences, so they laughed and were no longer angry. In my village in China, people are proud of being old. Not so many people live to be seventy or eighty, and people who reach such an age have the most knowledge and experience. Young people always respect older people because they know they can learn from their rich experience. However, in the United States, people think “growing old” is a problem since “old” shows that a person is going to retire or that the body is not working well. Here many people try to keep themselves away from growing old by doing exercises or jogging, and women put on makeup, hoping to look young. When I told the couple in the restaurant that I respect the elderly, they got angry because this caused them to feel they had failed to stay young. I had told them something they didn’t want to hear.
After that, I changed the way I had been with older people. It is not that I don’t respect them anymore; I still respect them, but now I don’t show my feelings through words.
(1). (单选题) Jack brought the couple their food very fast because _______.(本题4.0分)
A、 the manager asked him to do so
B、 he respected the elderly
C、 the couple wanted him to do so
D、 he wanted more pay
(2). (单选题) When Jack called the couple “elderly”, they became _______. (本题4.0分)
A、 nervous
B、 satisfied
C、 unhappy
D、 excited(3). (单选题) In Jack’s hometown, _______. (本题4.0分)
A、 people dislike being called “old”
B、 people are proud of being old
C、 many people reach the age of seventy or eighty
D、 the elderly are the first to get food in restaurants
(4). (单选题) After this experience, Jack _______. (本题4.0分)
A、 lost his job in the restaurant
B、 made friends with the couple
C、 no longer respected the elderly
D、 changed his way with older people
(4). (单选题) After this experience, Jack _______. (本题4.0分)
A、 lost his job in the restaurant
B、 made friends with the couple
C、 no longer respected the elderly
D、 changed his way with older people
14. (阅读理解题)Little Tommy was doing very badly in math. His parents had tried everything—tutors (家庭教师), cards, special learning centers—in short, everything they could think of. Finally they took Tommy to a catholic (天主教的) school. After the first day, little Tommy came home with a very serious look on his face. He didn’t kiss his mother hello. Instead, he went straight to his room and started studying. Books and papers were spread (铺开) out all over the room and little Tommy was hard at work. His mother was surprised. She called him down to dinner and as soon as he finished eating, he went back to his room, without a word. In no time he was back hitting the books as hard as before. This went on for some time, day after day while the mother tried to understand what was happening. Finally, little Tommy brought home his report card. He quietly put it on the table and went up to his room and hit the books. His mom looked at it and to her surprise, little Tommy got an A in math. She could no longer hold her curiosity (好奇心). She went to his room and asked, “Son, what was it? Was it the nuns (修女)?” Little Tommy looked at her and shook his head, “No. ” “Well then,” she asked again. “WHAT was it?”
Little Tommy looked at her and said, “Well, on the first day of school, when I saw that man nailed (钉) to the plus sign (加号), I knew they weren’t joking. ”
(1). (单选题) Why did Tommy’s parents send him to a catholic school?(本题4.0分)
A、 Because he could eat well there.
B、 Because he could earn more about nuns.
C、 Because his parents wanted him to do better in his math.
D、 Because his parents didn’t want him to learn math any more.
(2). (单选题) Tommy’s mother felt surprised that his son _______. (本题4.0分)
A、 was still the same as usual
B、 ate so much at dinner
C、 kissed her hello after school
D、 worked hard but said little
(3). (单选题) “Hitting the books” means “_______” in Chinese. (本题4.0分)
A、 用功
B、 捶书
C、 发泄
D、 振作
(4). (单选题) The last sentence in the passage shows that _______.(本题4.0分)
A、 Tommy felt sorry for the mail
B、 Tommy was afraid of being nailed
C、 Tommy didn’t like the plus sign
D、 Tommy liked playing jokes on others
(5). (单选题) From the passage, we can infer (推断) that _______. (本题4.0分)
A、 teachers should be strict with their students
B、 mistaking (误解) might do good sometimes
C、 a catholic school is much better than other ones
D、 nuns are good at helping children with their math