A new book about Chinese-style tough parenting has caused debate in the US.Amy Chua, the author of Battle Hymn (颂歌)of the Tiger Mother, is a Chinese-American professor at Yale Law School, also a mother of two.
The  36  methods she used with her daughters would seem   37  to Westerners.In school her daughters weren't allowed to have grades   38  than As.They had to   39 playing the piano or violin even for hours a day.
There has been wide criticism (批评) of Chua's book in the US."It's a(n)   40  way of parenting," said a professor at New York University, "standards of parenting need to be  41 .Children need parents to   42  them, not to force them to do things they're probably not interested in.”
Now the criticism seems to have   43  to China.Sun Yunxiao, an expert from the China Youth and Children Research Center spoke to The Beijing News about his   44  .  He argued Chua's method of   45  would limit children from developing their full   46  ."Some Chinese parents do focus too much on test scores and good degrees," Sun said, "What gets sacrificed (放弃) along the way is their kids’  47 to develop fully and to enjoy life."
48  critics(批评家)might have sympathy for kids who experience this parenting style, some teenagers quite   49   it."I think anyone can do well if they work hard enough,” said a 17-year-old boy, "A   50   mother is there to help her kids work hard."
Others think that Chua has a(n)  51 in setting challenging goals for kids."It's important for children,” said an American professor, "  52 speaking , kids need to be   53  sometimes.If you urge kids to do well, they are good at it, and they   54  from it.It's good to have high   55 .”

【小题1】
A.roughB.reasonableC.vividD.strict
【小题2】
A.unnecessaryB.uncomfortableC.uninterestingD.unimaginable
【小题3】
A.higherB.fewerC.lessD.lower
【小题4】
A.drillB.practiseC.exerciseD.experience
【小题5】
A.skilfulB.extremeC.excellentD.merciful
【小题6】
A.practicalB.highC.convenientD.low
【小题7】
A.replaceB.loveC.forceD.guide
【小题8】
A.spreadB.belongedC.turnedD.referred
【小题9】
A.concern B.delight C.caution D.regulation
【小题10】
A.caringB.fondC.supporting D.parenting
【小题11】
A.goalB.potential C.achievementD.possibility
【小题12】
A.strengthB.powerC.forceD.ability
【小题13】
A.WhyB.BecauseC.WhileD.What
【小题14】
A.resistB.stateC.objectD.appreciate
【小题15】
A.lionB.monkeyC.tigerD.sheep
【小题16】
A.angleB.pointC.opinionD.view
【小题17】
A.HonestlyB.PositivelyC.HopefullyD.Finally
【小题18】
A.pushedB.pickedC.liftedD.dragged
【小题19】
A.countB.workC.helpD.benefit
【小题20】
A.levelsB.expectationsC.marksD.results

I was brought up in the British, stiff upper lip style. Strong feelings aren’t something you display in public. So, you can imagine that I was unprepared for the outpouring of public grief(悲伤) at a Chinese funeral.

         My editorial team leader died recently after a short illness. He was 31. The news was so unexpected that it left us all shocked and upset. A female colleague burst into tears and cried piteously at her desk. Somehow we got through the day's work. The next day was the funeral.

         Our big boss stepped forward to deliver a eulogy and was soon in tears. She carried on, in Chinese of course, but at the end said in English: "There will be no more deadlines for you in heaven." Next came a long-term colleague who also dissolved in tears but carried on with her speech despite being almost overcome by emotion. Then a close friend of the dead man paid tribute(哀悼), weeping openly as he spoke. Sorrow is spreading. Me and women were now sobbing uncontrollably. Finally, the man's mother, supported between two women, addressed her son in his coffin. At one point, the mother almost collapsed and had to be held up. We were invited to step forward to each lay a white rose on the casket. Our dead colleague looked as if he was taking a nap. At the end of the service I walked away from the funeral parlor stunned at the outpouring of emotion.

         In the UK, families grieve privately and then try to hold it together and not break down at a funeral. Here in China it would seem that grieving is a public affair. It strikes me that it is more cathartic to cry your eyes out than try to keep it bottled up for fear of embarrassment, which is what many of us do in the West.

         Afterwards, a Chinese colleague told me that the lamenting at the funeral had been restrained(克制) by Chinese standards. In some rural areas, she said, people used to be paid to mourn noisily. This struck me like something out of novel by Charles Dickens. But we have all seen on TV scenes of grief-stricken people in Gaza and the West Bank, in Afghanistan, Iraq and the relatives of victims of terrorist bombings around the world. Chinese grief is no different. I realized that it's the reserved British way of mourning that is out of step with the rest of the world.

         It was our newspaper's production day. We were bussed back to the office to resume work. No more deadlines for our former colleague, but we had to pull together to put the newspaper to print. The boss invited the team to go out for dinner after work. We relaxed, smiled, joked. There was no mention of the funeral or our poor colleague. Enough sorrow had been shed already. We needed a break.

1.The underlined words “stiff upper lip style” mean “       ”.

A.cold-blooded      B.warm-hearted

C.self-controlled    D.light-hearted

2.At the funeral,         .

A.five individuals made speeches

B.the boss’s speech was best thought of

C.everyone was crying out loudly

D.the writer was astonished by the scene

3.According to the writer, people in the West      .

A.are not willing to be sad for the dead

B.prefer to control their sadness in public

C.cry their eyes out at the public funeral

D.have better way to express sadness

4.It is implied that        .

A.the English might cry noisily for the dead in Dickens’ time

B.Chinese express their sadness quite unlike other peoples

C.victims of terrorist bombings should be greatly honored

D.English funeral culture is more civilized than the others

5.This passage talks mainly about          .

A.an editor’s death                   B.bad funeral customs

C.western ways of grief  D.cultural differences

 

Jonny Jones was a nice and popular boy, who everyone loved.He was so much fun, so good and so kind to everyone that they treated him wonderfully. But as everything he needed was given to him without asking, Jonny became a weed. He was so spoiled by everyone that he couldn’t stand any hardship.

One day Johnny heard a mother saying to her son “Come on, my boy, get up and stop crying. You are behaving like Johnny Jones.” That made Johnny feel very ashamed. But he was sure that he would prefer to be known as a good boy rather than a fool. Worried, he spoke to his father about all this, though he was afraid that maybe he would be laughed at for having such worries. His father, far from laughing at Johnny, told him that a teacher had taught him a secret trick to turn him into the toughest boy off all. “Eat a candy less, study a minute more, and count to five before crying.” Johnny asked, “Just that? ” “Yes, just that,” said his father, “It’s very simple, but I warn you that it won’t be easy.”

Johnny was happy like a bird, ready to follow the advice. He went to see his mother, and she noticed how happy he was when she offered him candies. “One candy less”, thought Johnny, so he only took one. That afternoon he had another chance to put it into practice by studying one minute more. The result was that he missed the first minute of his favorite program! But having achieved this gave him a great feeling of satisfaction. The same happened when he ran up against the corner of the kitchen table. He only managed to count to four before crying, but that was left deeply in his mother’s memory.

Over the following days Johnny kept using the motto in his life as his father told him. And the more he put this into practice ,the easier it got. Before long he realized that he could also do things that would seem impossible before.

1.The underlined word "weed" in the first paragraph refers to ____.

    A.a person with a strong v/ill

    B.a person with a weak character

    C.a person who isn't popular with everyone

    D.a person who changes his behavior according to the situation

2.What made Jonny Jones decide to change himself?

    A.A mother's words.               B.Others' attitude to him.

    C.His father's advice.            C.His teacher's warning.

3.What is the key point of the advice from Jonny's father?

    A.Eat fewer candies than before.

    B.Count to five before crying.

    C.Talk with parents and follow their advice.

    D.Learn to control oneself and keep using the motto in life.

4.What message does the writer want to convey through the story?

    A.One should be brave to face his mistakes.

    B.Nothing is difficult as long as you set your mind on it.

    C.Spoilinga child too much may result in his selfish behaviors.

    D.A strong will can be developed by small but consistent efforts.

 

The English, as a race, are very different in many ways from all other nationalities, including their closest neighbors, the French, the Belgians and the Dutch. It is claimed that living on an island separated from the rest of Europe has much to do with it. Whatever the reasons are, it may be fairly stated that the Englishman has developed many attitudes and habits which distinguish him from other nationalities.

Broadly speaking, the Englishman is a quiet, shy, reserved person who is fully relaxed only among people he knows well. In the presence of strangers or foreigners he often seems restrained, even embarrassed. You have only to witness a city train any morning or evening to see the truth of this. Serious-looking businessmen and women sit reading their newspapers or having a light sleep in a corner, and no one speaks. In fact, to do so would seem most unusual. An Englishman, pretending to be giving advice to overseas visitors, once suggested, “On entering a railway carriage, shake hands with all the passengers.” Needless to say, he was not being serious. There is an unwritten but clearly understood code of behavior which, if broken, makes the person immediately suspected.

In many parts of the world it is quite normal to show openly extremes of enthusiasm, emotion, excitement, etc, often accompanied by appropriate gesture. The Englishman is somewhat different. Of course, an Englishman feels no less deeply than anyone of a different nationality, but he tends to display his feelings far less. This is reflected in his use of language. Imagine a man commenting on the great beauty of a young girl. A more emotional man might describe her state “Oh, she is a goddess”, whereas an Englishman might just say “Oh, she’s all right.” An Englishman who has seen a highly successful and enjoyable film recommends it to a friend by commenting, “It’s not bad you know”, or on seeing some very unusual scenery he might convey (表达) his pleasure by saying, “Nice, yes, very nice.” The overseas visitor must not be disappointed by this apparent lack of interest and involvement. Instead, he must realize that “all right,” “not bad,” and “nice,” very often have the sense of “first-class,” “excellent,” “beautiful”. This unique style of language use is particularly common in England, and is known as restrained statement.

1.According to the passage, the English are different from other nationalities in _______.

A.habits

B.attitudes

C.character

D.all of the above

2.The underlined word “restrained” in the second paragraph probably means “        ”. 

A.calm and controlled

B.polite and friendly

C.nervous and quiet

D.silent and kind

3.In Britain, if you don’t want other people to think you are strange, you’d better _________. 

A.talk with others as much as possible

B.behave just like the English do

C.say nothing about yourself

D.shake hands with everyone you meet

4.If an Englishman says “all right”, it may mean “________”.  

A.not bad

B.correct

C.quite right

D.wonderful

5.From the passage, we can infer that an Englishman _________.

A.doesn’t like to show his feelings so much

B.has less emotion than people of other nationalities

C.finds it easy to express his emotion

D.likes to have a joke with strangers

 

A simple flower made headlines in the British press last week. How could that be?

British Prime Minister David Cameron and his ministers were attending a reception hosted by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. They insisted on wearing poppies(罂粟花) in their buttonholes.

What’s wrong with that?

According to the Global Times, Chinese officials apparently had asked the UK delegation not to wear poppies. The British said that poppies meant a great deal to them on that day and they would wear them all the same.

So what’s the significance of the poppy? It’s a flower which has different cultural and symbolic meanings for British and Chinese people.

From the Chinese point of view, the poppy is a symbol of China’s humiliation at the hands of European powers in the Opium Wars of the 19th century. Britain forced China to open the borders to trade —including in the opium —which was made from poppies grown in India.

Yet from the British viewpoint the poppy is a reminder of the killing during Word War I. Red poppies grew on the battlefields of Flanders in Belgium where many thousands of British soldiers died or were buried. Since then, Poppy Day (November 11) has become a time in the UK to wear poppies and remember the sacrifices of British soldiers and civilians in times of war.

So you can see that the poppy sets off strong feelings in the hearts of Chinese and British people for different reasons. And it makes sense for us to try to understand each other’s standpoint.

Of course cultural differences can also be interesting and funny. And what one nation thinks is an acceptable gift may be viewed differently by their guest from overseas. US President Barack Obama gave a gift of an iPod to Britain’s Queen —a dull person with no interest in music. Obama also presented Gordon Brown with a fine selection of American movies. But they were in US format and impossible to play on British DVD players.

Many countries have diplomats stationed overseas. Diplomats provide information and advice to their governments back home. However, sometimes it would seem that even diplomats can overlook the cultural significance of a small flower.

(   ) 1..  British Prime Minister David Cameron probably attended a reception in Beijing on         .

    A. October 1            B. November 11      C. December 31      D. January 1

(   ) 2..  The poppy reminds the Chinese of         .

    A. the shame caused by European countries in the 19th century

    B. the British soldiers who were killed and buried during World War I

    C. the Chinese soldiers killed during World War II

    D. the suffering caused by Britain during World War I

(   ) 3.. The diplomatic problem in Beijing is mainly caused by         .

    A. the translation mistake                      B. the language difference 

C. the cultural difference                          D. the different lifestyle

(   ) 4..  We can infer that         .

    A. Britain’s Queen is not interested in art

    B. Gordon Brown was fond of American movies US President Barack Obama sent him

    C. US President Barack Obama received a gift for music

    D. Britain’s Queen may not like the iPod US President Barack Obama presented her

(   ) 5..  What is the main idea of the 9th paragraph?

    A. Cultural difference can also be interesting and funny.

    B. Cultural differences can cause a big problem.

    C. US President Barack Obama likes to present gifts to other leaders.

    D. US leaders and British leaders get along well with each other.

 

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