This year some twenty-three hundred teenagers (young
people aged from 13 to 19) from all over the world will spend about ten months
in US homes. They will attend US schools, meet US teenagers, and form
impressions of the real America. At the same time, about thirteen hundred
American teenagers will go to other countries to learn new languages and gain a
new understanding of the rest of the world．
Here
is a two-way student exchange in action. Fred, nineteen, spent last year in
Germany with George’s family. In turn, George’s son Mike spent a year in Fred’s
home in America．
Fred, a lively young man, knew little German when he
arrived, but after two months’ study, the language began to come to him.
Schools were completely different from what he had expected—much harder.
Students rose respectfully when the teacher entered the room. They took
fourteen subjects instead of the six that are usual in the United States. There
were almost no outside activities.
Family life, too, was different. The father’s word was
law, and all activities were around the family rather than the individual(个人). Fred found the food too simple at first. Also, he
missed having a car.
“Back home, you pick up some
friends in a car and go out and have a good time. In Germany, you walk, but you
soon learn to like it.”
At the same time, In America, Mike,
a friendly German boy, was also forming his idea．“I
suppose I should criticize(批评) American schools,” he
says. “It is far too easy by our level. But I have to say that I like it very
much. In Germany we do nothing but study. Here we take part in many outside
activities. I think that maybe your schools are better in training for
citizens(公民). There ought to be some middle ground
between the two.
1.The world exchange programme is mainly to ________.
A．help teenagers in other
countries know the real America
B．send students in America
to travel in Germany
C．have teenagers learn new
languages
D．let students learn
something about other countries
2.Fred and Mike agreed that ________.
A．American food tastes
better than German food．
B．Americans and Germans
were both friendly
C．German schools were
harder than American schools
D．There were more cars on
the streets in America
3.What is special in American schools is that
________.
A．there is some middle
ground between the two teaching buildings
B．students go outside to
enjoy themselves in a car
C．students usually take
fourteen subjects in all
D．there are a lot of
after-school activities
4.After experiencing the American school life, Mike
thought _________.
A．German schools trained
students to be better citizens
B．A better education should
include something good from both America and Germany
C．American schools were not
as good as German schools
D．The easy life in the
American schools was more helpful to students
