live by. They have never given the matter any thought.
Over the years I have introduced thousands of international visitors to life in the United States. This has
caused me to try to look at Americans through the eyes of foreign visitors. I am confident that the values
listed in this booklet describe most( but not all) Americans, and that understanding these values can help you,
the international visitor, understand Americans.
It is my belief that if foreign visitors really understand how deeply these 13 values are ingrained in
Americans, they will then be able to understand 95% of American actions-actions which might otherwise
appear "strange","confusing", or "unbelievable" when evaluated from the perspective ( aspect) of the foreigner"s
own society and its values.
The different behaviors of a people or a culture make sense only when seen through the basic beliefs,
assumptions and values of that particular group. When you encounter ( meet) an action, or hear a statement in
the United States which surprises you, try to see it as an expression of one or more of the values listed in this
booklet.
B. everyone will have his/her own value system
C. he/she has never thought about it
D. values are something often in their thought
B. look at Americans through the eyes of foreign visitors
C. describe the confusing actions of most Americans
D. help international visitors understand Americans
B. found in the grains
C. planted for food
D. prepared with grain
probably because _____.
B. Americans have values which are entirely different from their own
C. they view Americans according to the values in their own society
D. it is difficult to understand any people when you first encounter them
life, has brought great changes to the lives of most Frenchmen. More people are working than ever before
in France. In the cities the traditional leisurely midday meal is disappearing. Offices, shops and factories are
discovering the great efficiency of a short lunch hour in company lunch rooms. In almost all lines of work
emphasis now falls on ever-increasing output. Thus the "typical" Frenchman produces more, earns more,
and buys more consumer goods than his counterpart of only a generation ago. He gains in creature comforts
and ease of life. What he loses to some extent is his sense of personal uniqueness, or individuality.
Some say that France has been Americanized. This is because the United States is a world symbol of the
technological society and its consumer products. The so-called Americanization of France has its critics.
They fear that"assembly-line life" will lead to the disappearance of the pleasures of the more graceful and
leisurely(but less productive)old French style. What will happen, they ask, taste, elegance, and the cultivation
of the good things in life - to joy in the smell of a freshly picked apple, a stroll by the river, or just happy
hours of conversation in a local café?
Since the last 1950"s life in France has indeed taken on qualities of rush,tension, and the pursuit of
material gain. Some of the strongest critics of the new way of life are the young, especially university
students. They are concerned with the future, and they fear that France is threatened by the triumph of this
competitive, goods-oriented culture. Occasionally, they have reacted against the trend with considerable
violence.
In spite of the critics, however, countless Frenchmen are committed to keeping France in the forefront
of the modern economic world. They find that the present life brings more rewards, conveniences, and
pleasures than that of the past. They believe that a modern, industrial France is preferable to the old.
B. Elegance, efficiency, and taste.
C. Leisure, elegance, and taste.
D. Efficiency, taste, and convenient.
B. They actually enjoy working at the assembly line.
C. They are more concerned with money than before.
D. They are more competitive than the old generation.
B. it"s now unlikely to see a Frenchman enjoying a stroll by the river
C. the French are fed up with the smell of freshly picked apples
D. in pursuing material gains the French are suffering losses elsewhere
B. Criticism of the New Life Style
C. The Americanization of France
D. Features of the New Way of Life
As you grow rapidly through your teenage years you will experience a lot of changes.
The changes may seem monumental and they may seem to happen quickly.Don"t panic! You will
deal successfully with this time! The changes may seem difficult and your new-found responsilbilities
may seem daunting (令人畏惧的) but you"re not alone.Everyone that you"ve grown up with is going
through the same things!
With more responsibilities you will find more freedom to make your own choices. This is a time to
be well informed about your choices so that you can make healthy balanced decisions that will help shape
your future. You may already know your career path or you may have no idea at all of what you want to
do. Both situations are fine!If you are diligent, the right opportunity will be ready for you.Young adulthood
means greater freedom and more choices. You will probably begin to want to do things independently of
your family/ care-givers. Try not to shut your family out of your life and remember to be considerate even
though you are older and are capable of looking after yourself.Your family have been with you since you
came into this world and they will be around you when you leave this world.
It is also perfectly natural in this time of transition to want to spend more time with your friends than
your family.Choose your friends wisely. Real friends are rarer than hen"s teeth.A true friend will stand
with you, whatever the circumstances are.
This period of transition is a part of the circle of life. There are some people who will be with you
throughout the life"s journey and there will be some people with whom you part and go separate ways.
Leaving school/college can be hard. The reality is that you may not ever see all of your classmates again.
Sure, there may be reunions and you will keep in touch with some of them.But the fact is you will need
to leave some of them behind as you move forwards on the path that you feel is right for you.
A. they feel alone when their family and friends leave them
B. they have no freedom to make their own choices
C. there are usually difficult things for them to deal with
D. they have no life plans and feel helpless
B. a very important time for young students to break away from their parents
C. so exciting and challenging that the young should make balanced decisions for their future
D. a period when young students may pay little attention to their future plans
B. classmates
C. relatives
D. brothers
B. they wouldn"t like to choose their careers so soon
C. they never have ideal grades at school
D. they are too worried about their future
messages may seem like a relic from a bygone age. Yet in East Africa,simple phones like these are changing
the face of the economy, thanks to the mobile money services that are spreading across the region.
Using the text-messaging function built into the GSM system (全球通) used by most cell phone networks,
these services allow people without a bank account or credit card to use their phone as an electronic wallet that
can be used to store. send or receive cash.
It works like this: you pay cash to your local agent who then tops up your mobile money account using a
secure form of text messaging. That money can be transferred (转账) to another person by sending a message
to their cell phone account.
For some the system is a lifeline."If I didn,t have my mobile phone. I would be very poor,"says Neyasse
Neemur, a mother of four children who lives in northern Kenya."Now I can sell fish."
Neemur took up fishing in July last year, but making money from it was a little tricky, especially as
Turkana people do not usually eat fish. A truck from Ethiopia to Tanzania passes through her village once a
week, and she arranged to have the driver transport the fish several hundred kilometres south to market in
Kisumu, where her relatives sell the fish.
"I get the money transfer immediately." says Neemur."Then I can pay for my children to go to school
and for vegetables and beans," she adds,"so I don"t need to eat fish."
According to the Central Bank of Kenya, payments worth around l billion Kenyan shillings ($13 million)
per day were transferred through Kenya,s mobile money systems in 2009, equalling the country,s credit card
transactions (业务). The bank expects mobile money transfers to overtake credit cards in 2011.
B. introduce a topic
C. describe a scene
D. offer an argument
B. They will replace the banks completely in the near future.
C. They provide a safe means for the locals to do business.
D. They can do nothing except send and receive calls or messages.
B. the mobile money service
C. the credit card service
D. the cell phone networks
B. Neemur uses her mobile phone to contact her customers
C. her relatives tricks Turkana people to eat the fish they sell
D. the Bank of Kenya helps her improve her living condition
it. Email is a useful tool but many feel controlled by this new tool. The average business person is getting
about 80 emails per day and many feel that about 80%of the messages in their in box are of little or no value.
So, I have four suggestions to help you to become better at “Erasing Email”
1.get off the lists. The best way to deal with a problem is to never have it. If you are receiving a lot of
unwanted emails, ask to be removed from the various lists. This would include your inclusion in unwanted
lists.
2. “unlisted address”. Just as you keep an unlisted telephone number that you share only with those
whom you want to have direct access to , you might want to get a separate email address only for the
important communications you wish to receive.
3.check it once or twice per day. Many I speak with are becoming chained to their email server,
monitoring incoming email continuously. Maybe this is because email creates its own sense of urgency, but
most of the communications are not all that urgent. I respond to them a couple of times per day.
4. deal with it. As you open each email, do one of the following:
a. if it requires a quick response, respond to it and delete it.
b. if it requires a response but is not the best use of your time, try to find someone else to do it.
c. if it is going to take any serious amount of time to respond, schedule it for action in your day planner
and then download the message, save it, or print it out for future action.
I personally receive about 250 emails per day and by practising the suggestions above, I can handle that
volume in about an hour, taking advantage of this fantastic tool but not being controlled by it to make sure
I"m doing more important tasks in my day.
B. put them into unwanted lists
C. send them to a special address
D. ask to be deleted from different lists
B. have several email servers for them
C. get a separate email address for them
D. get an unlisted phone number for them
B. reply to all of them at the same time
C. handle them a couple of times daily
D. keep replying to emails all day long
B. downloading every email before you reply
C. scheduling it for later reply if it takes much time
D. asking someone else to reply to it if it"s not at your convenience
In Britain and other countries, young people sometimes take a gap year, a year off between high school
and college. This idea never gained a big following in America. Recent news reports have suggested that
interest may be growing , though there are no official numbers.
Charles Deacon, Dean of Admissions at Georgetown University in Washington, DC estimate that in the
current first-year class of 1600 students, only about 25 decided to take a year off. He says this number hasn"t
changed much over the years.
Mr.Deacon says the most common reason for taking a gap year is to have a chance to travel, but he says
inernational students may take a gap year to meet requirements at home for military duty.
Some high school graduates see a year off as a chance to recover after twelve years of required education,
but it can also give students a chance to explore their interests. Students hoping to be doctors, for example,
could learn about the profession by volunteering in a hospital. Many colleges and universities support gap-year
projects by permitting students to delay their admission. Experts say students can grow emotionally and
intellectually as they work at something they enjoy.
The Harvard admissions office has an essay on its Web site called “Time Out or Burn Out for the Next
Generation.” It praises the idea of taking time off to step back, think and enjoy gaining life experiences
outside the pressure of studies. It also notes that students are sometimes admitted to Harvard or other colleges
partly because they did something unusual with that time.
Of couse, a gap year is not for everyone. Students might miss their friends who go on directly to college ,
and parents might worry that their children will decide not to go to college once they take time off. Another
concern is money. A year off, away from home, can be costly.
Holly Bull"s job is to specialize in helping students plan their gap year. She notes that several books have
been written about this subject. She says these books along with media attention and the availability of
information on the Internet have increased inerest in the idea of a year off, and she points out that many
gap-year programs cost far less than a year of college.
B. More and more American students are choosing to take a year off.
C. It is likely that taking a gap year is becoming popular in America.
D. Americans hold different opinions towards students taking a gap year.
B. 3
C. 4
D. 5
B. some famous universities encouage students to gain more life experiences
C. taking a gap year can make students free from life learning
D. the stress of studies does harm to the students" health
B. Books and media have contributed to the students" inerest in school learning
C. Parents might disagree with the program, concerned about their children"s future.
D. Experts agree taking a year off will benefit the students emotionally and physically.
- 1近代电影的发明人是A.卢米埃尔兄弟B.格里菲斯C.卓别林D.贝尔德
- 2从下面提供的名著情节中,任选两项按要求填空。A、旧北京人力车夫的拼搏、挣扎与沉沦的辛酸故事。B、为兄报仇,斗***西门庆,醉
- 3阅读下面这首诗,完成后面题目。(7分)腊梅高荷少熔蜡泪装应似,多爇龙涎臭不如。只恐春风有机事,夜来开破几丸书。[ 注 ]
- 4In Daniel Gilbert’s 2006 book "Stumbling(跌撞) on Happiness,"
- 5阅读下面的文字,完成下题。精神谢志强终于,她答应陪儿子去吃肯德基了,不过,她说:一言为定,只买一份鸡腿、一杯饮料。这事的
- 6阿司匹林是一种常用镇痛解热药,它的化学式C9H8O4,该物质是由______种元素组成的,它的一个分子中含有______
- 7汉武帝时,在长安设立太学,从中选拔官吏。太学的学生们日常主要研读的应该是: [ ]A、《道德经》 B、《五经》
- 8阅读下面的文字,根据要求作文。(60分)近年来,在澳大利亚海滨风行一种沙滩雕塑的艺术创造活动。当海水退潮时,无数的人拥向
- 9—_____ does your uncle go to the movies?—Three times a month
- 10运行在赤道上空的同步卫星,运行速度和地面的自转速度相比正确的是[ ]A .与地球公转线速度相同
- 1请你将故事补充完整:13岁的吴坤是班上的班长。一天,他忽然收到一个厚厚的邮件,打开一看,原来是一家乡镇印刷厂寄来的征订单
- 2南京是近代中国历史的缩影。下列史实不能印证这一观点的是:[ ]A.中共七大的召开地点B.朱元璋在应天称帝C.19
- 3把“220 V 100 W”的灯和“220 V 40 W”的灯并联接入家庭电路中,通电后l00 W的灯比40 W的灯亮,
- 4— ________— It’s Friday.A.How are you?B.What’s the date toda
- 5 放寒假前,老师布置了一道作业,每个同学都要在寒假期间给自己的父亲洗一次脚。 二十年来,他与父亲
- 6一几何体的三视图如图所示,则该几何体的体积为( )A.200+9πB.200+18πC.140+9πD.140+18
- 7“道,犹行也;气化流行,生生不息,是故谓之道。”与此观点相通的是A.自然从来不飞跃B.物理不外于吾心C.世界是一团永恒的
- 8— What"s wrong, Mary? You look sad. — Oh, nothing much. In f
- 9实验室用图2-16所示仪器和药品做CO2和Na2O2反应制O2的实验,试填写下列空白。(1)装置②中所盛溶液最好选用__
- 10已知数列{an}满足a1=0,an+1=an+2n,那么a2003的值是[ ]A、20032B、2002×200