Question

阅读理解 　　Getting paid to talk about the World Cup is a great job．I’m not a football commentator(评论员), though－just an English teacher in Japan． 　　I came to Japan two years ago, and didn’t think I would stay, but Japan has that effect on you．People often end up living here longer than they planned．I think it’s best to teach in a bigger city where there are other foreigners to mix with, rather than a small town where English teachers often complain of feeling like a goldfish in a bowl．Many people choose to live in Tokyo, of course, which is good for the nightlife factor．But I’d say that for general quality of living, cities of neither too large nor too small, like Sapporo where I live, are better choices． 　　I teach English privately, which means I’m my own boss．If you want to devote yourself to private teaching, it’s well worth doing a TEFL course first．Because your lessons will be much better for it．The problem with private teaching is finding students; it took me a year to build up a full schedule(日程表)of private lessons, so I started out teaching in schools part-time． 　　Most of my foreign friends here work full-time for big English conversation schools．The salary is fine to live on．But whether you can save money depends on how much going out and traveling you do here． 　　The schools are reluctant to take time off－even teachers with tickets for the England-Argentina game had trouble getting the day off． (1) From the passage we know in Japan the writer likes to live in ________． [　　] A． Tokyo B． a small town C． a city of middle size D． a bit city (2) According to the writer, one had better ________ first to do private teaching better． [　　] A． take a TEFL course B． decide his or her own lessons C． find students D． build up a full schedule (3) The underlined sentence in the second paragraph implies that ________． [　　] A． there are many foreigners in Japan B． Japan is good for nightlife C． they can teach English privately in Japan D． Japan has something more attractive than expected (4) The underlined word “reluctant” in the passage may probably mean ________． [　　] A． kind B． unwilling C． free D． careless

Answer 1

答案：1．C;2．A;3．D;4．B;
解析：

(1)	这是一道细节题。第二段中的“But I’d say that for general quality of living，cities of neither too large nor too small，like Sapporo where I live，are better choices．”说明作者喜欢住在中等城市中。neither too large nor too small表示是一个不大不小的城市，即大小适中的城市，与a city of middle size同义。
(2)	这是一道细节题。根据第三段中的“If you want to devote yourself to private teaching，it’s well worth doing a TEFL course first．Because your lessons will be much better for it．”可判断出为了把私立教学搞好，首先要参加TEFL课程，因为这样，TEFL课程可以使私立教学搞得更好。
(3)	这是一道猜义题。根据上文中的“I came to Japan two years ago，and didn’t think I would stay，but Japan has that effect on you．”可判断出这句话的意思是“日本有些比想象中更吸引人的东西。”作者本来没有打算待在日本，但是在那儿已待了两年，这超出了预料，其原因是日本有一些吸引人的东西。
(4)	这是一道词义猜测题。根据下文中的“even teachers with tickets for the England-Argentina game had trouble getting the day off”可判断出reluctant意为“不愿意”，因为“had trouble getting the day off”表示在休假方面有困难，说明校方不愿意让教师休假。

提示：

中国学生对“外教”这个词并不陌生，但对于外籍教师，在异乡的心态却所知甚少。能够交换角色，站在他们的角度，则非常容易了解他们的生活了。希望生活充实，为社会和他人做事；更希望能积极地享受生活，是多数外国人在异乡的心态。把握这一点对于类似的文章很重要。