题目内容
There _____an old tree here. I wonder how they could manage to remove such an old tree.
A. seemed not B. not seemed
C. didn’t seem to be D. didn’t seem to have
C
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There are a lot of differences in life in the US that you can only learn by living here. However, we will try to introduce you to some of the more important cultural differences.
Personal Space
When two people are talking to each other, they tend to stand a distance apart. Each person has an invisible boundary (界限) around their body into which other people may not come.
Interestingly,the average personal distance varies from culture to culture. Americans tend to require more personal space than in other cultures. So if you try to get too close to an American during your conversation, he or she will feel that you are “in their face” and will try to back away.
Try to avoid physical contact while you are speaking, since this may also lead to discomfort.
Tipping(小费)
Restaurants do not include a service charge in the bill, so you should tip the waiter 15% of the total bill. If service is slow or particular bad, some Americans will tip only 10%. If service is particularly good, it is appropriate to tip 20%. If service is so bad that you will never eat in the restaurant again, leave two cents. It tells the waiter that you haven’t forgotten to leave a tip. Tipping is only appropriate in restaurants which offer table service. You do not tip the cashier in a fast food restaurant.
Gestures
To wave goodbye or hello to someone, raise your hand and wave it from side to side, not front to back. Wave the whole hand, not just the fingers. Waving the hand front to back or the fingers up and down means “no”, “stop”, or “go away’. Holding your hand up with the palm facing forward but no movement means “stop”.
If you want to point at an object, extend the index finger and use it to point at the object. It is not polite to point at people.
Although showing your fist with the thumb up or your open hand with the tips of the thumb and index finger together forming an “O” means “OK”, these are stereotypes (老套). Americans understand these gestures, but they are mainly used by actors in movies, not in real life.
【小题1】 If an American to whom you are speaking backs away a little, you’d better __________.
A.not try to close the gap | B.stop talking with him or her |
C.back away too | D.ask him or her what happened |
A.The tip always ranges from 10% to 20% of the total bill. |
B.You needn’t leave a tip if you will never eat in the restaurant. |
C.It’s unnecessary to tip the waiter in a restaurant. |
D.Tipping is not necessary in fast food restaurants. |
A B. C. D.
.
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【小题4】We can learn from the passage that in the US ___________________.
A.it’s natural to touch each other in a conversation. |
B.it’s polite to leave a tip though the service is bad. |
C.there is only one gesture meaning “stop”. |
D.Americans use the same gesture to point at people and objects. |
CANYOUIMAGINEHOWHARDITWOULDBETOREADSENTENCESLIKETHIS? The ancient Greeks wrote this way. The lack of punctuation marks(标点符号) probably didn’t bother good readers, though. As they read, they just put pauses where they fit best. Also at this time, sentences switched directions. A sentence read from left to right. The next one read right to left, and then left to right again, etc.
The ancient Romans sometimes punctuated like this: They·put·a·point·between·each·word·in·a·sentence. The word punctuation actually comes from this idea and the Latin word punctum, which means a prick(刺).
When the 5th century arrived, there were just two punctuation marks: spaces and points. The space separated words and while the points showed pauses in reading. Then in the 13th century, a printer named Aldus Manutius tried to standardize punctuation. He always used a period for a complete stop at the end of a sentence. He used a slash (/) to indicate a short pause. Over time, that slash was shortened and curled, and it became the modern comma.
Since that time, other marks have enlarged the punctuation family. The exclamation mark comes form the Latin word xt. It was originally formed by putting an upper-case(大写字母) I on the lower-case xt. The Latin word xt means “exclamation of joy.” The question mark originally started out as the Latin word question, meaning question. Eventually, scholars put it at the end of a sentence to show a question. Over time, it became a symbol formed by putting a lower-case q on an o.
Punctuation is still changing today. New marks are coming into existence, and old punctuation marks are used in new ways. Take for example, the “interrobang.” This 1962 invention combines the question mark and exclamation mark for times when writers want both. For example, “She did what?” or “How much did you pay for that dress?” Obviously, the interrobang is not widely used or recognized – yet. But its invention shows that English is not yet finished with its punctuation.
【小题1】Which of the following is a comma?
A., | B.: | C. ; | D.! |
A.The history of punctuation. |
B.The introduction of punctuation. |
C.The very beginning of punctuation. |
D.The ancient Greek way of writing witho![]() |
a. The exclamation mark and question mark came into the punctuation family.
b. Comma came into existence.
c. Romans put a dot between words to separate words.
d. A period was used to end a sentence.
e. The “interrobang” was invented.
A.cbdae | B.dcbae | C.dbcea | D.cdbae |
A.You are told she gave her baby boy a good beat. |
B.You are wondering what she did to save the poor boy. |
C.You want to know what she did for a living after fleeing to a foreign country. |
D.You demand someone else tell you what in the world happened to her. |
A.punctuation didn’t come into being until the 5th century. |
B.no one can really tell what new marks we may have in the future. |
C.the invention of “interrobang” is a failure since it is not widely used. |
D.both the exclamation mark and the question mark come from Greek words. |