Question

A simple flower made headlines (头条新闻)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 clearly had asked the UK delegation（代表团） 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 importance 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 World 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(立场).

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 （模式）and impossible to play on British DVD players.

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

64．British Prime Minister David Cameron probably attended a reception in Beijing on ________.

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

65．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

66．The diplomatic（外交的）problem in Beijing is mainly caused by ________.

A．the translation mistake      B．the language difference

C．the cultural difference       D．the different lifestyle

67．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

                              

Answer 1

64.答案：B 解析：推理判断题。根据第四段第二句The British said that poppies meant a great deal to them on that day and they would wear them all the same及第七段第三句中的Since then, Poppy Day (November 11) has become a time in the UK to wear poppies可以判断这天应该是Poppy Day，即11月11日。

65.答案：A解析：细节理解题。根据第六段第一句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可知罂粟花使中国人民想起了鸦片战争期间中国遭受到的欧洲列强的羞辱。

66 答案：C解析：细节理解题。根据第五段第二句It's a flower which has different cultural and symbolic meanings for British and Chinese people.可知主要是文化差异导致了这次外交事件。文章最后一段也是答案提示。

67.答案：D 解析：推理判断题。根据倒数第二段第二、三句可以判断英国女王可能不太喜欢美国总统奥巴马送的iPod。