Sitting across from his teacher, Edgar Martinez repeated the word he couldn't quite pronounce: "situation".The teacher, LisaMojsin, hired to help Martinez reduce his accent, said the word slowly; "Sit-chew-a-shun." "I wish he had taught me this 20 years ago." said Martinez, 37, who comes from Mexico and lives in Los Angeles.In private tutoring classes throughout the nation, immigrants are focused on sounding more American.
Accent reduction classes have been around for years, but experts say."As our workforce becomes more and more global, these classes are becoming more and more popular." Private tutors said they answer calls almost daily from students, when just a few years ago the phones rang only occasionally.Author Amy Gillett said that sales of her book and CD set, "Speak English Like an American", have increased three times in the last few years.Judy Ravin, President of the Accent Reduction Institute, said she has hundreds of students who follow her program, "Lose Your Accent in 28 Days".
Though there is a general tolerance for diversity, experts said, reality has made some immigrants who sound different feel unwelcome.If someone speaks with an accent associated with an Asian language, they may work as engineers or computer scientists.If someone speaks with certain Spanish accents, people may think they are recent immigrants working in landscaping or the hospitality industry (招待性行业).A French accent gives images of romance.An Australian accent brings to mind adventure and fun.
Accent reduction students said they are aware of how they sound and whether their accents limit their job opportunities or spoil their social lives.Jennie Lo, aged 43, said her accent has been an embarrassment.Sometimes people couldn't even understand her when she said her name.While in college in Oklahoma, Lo said she didn't make many friends, tearing that no one could make out her words.Lo is now taking accent reduction classes and hopes to apply for a manager position at work."I just want to feel good about myself," she said."If I really work hard, if I practice every day, I can't be perfect.But I can be better."
【小题1】In the whole passage, the first paragraph serves as a(n) _____.

A.introductionB.comment
C.explanationD.background
【小题2】What does the author want to express in the second paragraph?
A.The effect that popular accent reduction classes have.
B.The fact that accent reduction classes become popular.
C.The steps how accent reduction classes become popular.
D.The reasons why accent reduction classes become popular.
【小题3】If someone speaks with certain Asian accents, people may think _____.
A.they are romanticB.they are hospitality workers
C.they are computer scientistsD.they love adventure and fun
【小题4】What is Jennie Lo's attitude towards her taking accent reduction classes?
A.Confident.B.Helpless.
C.Proud.D.Anxious.

After too long on the Net, even a phone call can be a shock. My boyfriend’s Liverpudlian accent suddenly becomes too difficult to understand after his clear words on screen; a secretary’s tone seems more rejecting than I’d imagined it would be. Time itself becomes fluid—hours become minutes, and alternately seconds stretch into days. Weekends, once a highlight of my week, are now just two ordinary days.
For the last three years, since I stopped working as a producer for Charlie Rose, I have done much of my work as a tele-commuter. I submit(提交) articles and edit them by E-mail and communicate with colleagues on Internet mailing lists. My boyfriend lives in England; so much of our relationship is computer-mediated.
If I desired, I could stay inside for weeks without wanting anything. I can order food, and manage my money, love and work. In fact, at times I have spent as long as three weeks alone at home, going out only to get mail and buy newspapers and groceries. I watched most of the blizzard(暴风雪) of ’96 on TV.
But after a while, life itself begins to feel unreal. I start to feel as though I’ve merged(融合) with my machines, taking data in, spitting them back out, just another node(波节) on the Net. Others on line report the same symptoms. We start to strongly dislike the outside forms of socializing. It’s like attending an A. A. meeting in a bar with everyone holding a half-sipped drink. We have become the Net opponents’ worst nightmare.
What first seemed like a luxury, crawling from bed to computer, not worrying about hair, and clothes and face, has become an avoidance(逃避),a lack of discipline. And once you start replacing real human contact with cyber interaction, coming back out of the cave can be quite difficult.
At times, I turn on the television and just leave it to chatter in the background, something that I’d never done previously. The voices of the programs relax me, but then I’m jarred by the commercials. I find myself sucked in by soap operas, or needing to keep up with the latest news and the weather. “Dateline”, “Frontline” , “Nightline,” CNN, every possible angle of every story over and over and over, even when they are of no possible use to me. Work moves from foreground to background.
【小题1】Compared to the clear words of her boyfriend on screen, his accent becomes______.

A.unrealB.unbearable
C.misleadingD.not understandable
【小题2】The passage implies that the author and her boyfriend live in______.
A.the same cityB.the same country
C.different countriesD.different cities in England
【小题3】What does the last paragraph mean?
A.Having worked on the computer for too long, she became a bit strange.
B.Sometimes TV programs give her comfort and even makes her forget her work.
C.She watches TV a lot in order to keep up with the latest news and the weather.
D.She turns on TV now and then in order to get some valuable information.
【小题4】What is the author’s attitude to the computer?
A.At first she likes it but later becomes tired of it.
B.She likes it because it is very convenient.
C.She dislikes it because TV is more attractive.
D.She likes it because it provides an imaginary world.
【小题5】The underlined phrase “coming back out of the cave” probably means______.
A.going back to the dreaming world
B.coming back home from the outside world
C.bringing back direct human contact
D.getting away from living a strange life

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