Take a look at teenagers around, dressed in baggy-pants (宽松裤), drinking soft drinks such as coke, reading Japanese cartoons. Whether you are in Beijing, Wuhan or Hong Kong, you will get the same impression. But should we copy others or should we maintain (保留) our differences?
It sounds convenient that people around the world speak the same language, dress in the same style, eat the same food and play the same games. If the world was like this, you won’t feel strange in any corner of world. But just imagine living in such a strange world. How dull and colorless it would be!
Different kinds of food that people can taste, the colorful and fashionable clothes that we dress in and different languages we speak are all part of the different cultures that our ancestors left us. These differences represent their creativity (创造力) and talent. And we all enjoy different cultures in our daily lives. When you travel to other places, you want to see different things. When you talk to foreigners you expect to listen to interesting stories. These differences in culture are what make life colorful.
But the whole world is shrinking into a small village as globalization (全球化) takes effect and many different cultures are disappearing. In most big cities around the world people wear the same clothes. Fast food stores are everywhere. Hollywood movies are kicking traditional performing arts out of our lives. The colors of our life are disappearing.
There is joke that even the panda and zebra want to live a colorful life. So let’s take action to protect our colorful culture before it becomes as simple as black and white.
It’s not difficult. Learning some folk songs, trying on a traditional clothing and even eating local food instead of going to KFC can help. And we’re sure you will enjoy it.
【小题1】The passage is written to _______.

动词填空：用括号内所给动词的适当形式填空，并将答案写在答题卡标有题号的横线处（本大题共8小题，每小题1分，共8分）

1.Many people like to add some sugar while       (drink) black tea.

2.Mo Yan, a Chinese writer          (honor) with the Nobel Prize last year.

3.— Will you come and pick me up tomorrow morning?

— Yes, I         (promise).

4.If you need our her programme list, I’ll be happy          (send) you one. Please leave your e-mail address here.

5.—Why did the policeman stop your car?

—I          (make) a call at that moment . What a bad day!

6.The 2014 Youth Olympic Games         (hold) in Nanjing from August 16th to 28th.

7.I didn’t realize I    (leave) the key at home until I got to my car. So I had to go back.

8.— The newspaper says all the museums will be open to public soon. Do you know that?

— Yes. But the local government        (not confirm) it yet. Let’s just wait and see.

As we know, there are differences between western culture and Chinese culture. We can see differences when we pay attention to the way words are used. Let’s look at the words about animals and plants. Most expressions in Chinese about the dog, for example, “a homeless dog”, “a mad dog”, “a running dog” and “a dog catching a mouse” have negative(消极的) meanings. But in western countries, dogs are thought to be honest and good friends of humans. In English, people use the dog to describe positive(积极的) actions. For example, “you are a lucky dog” means you are a lucky person. And “every dog has its day” means each person has good luck sometimes. To describe a person’s serious illness, they say “sick as a dog”. The word “dog-tired” means very tired. However, Chinese love cats very much. But in western culture, “cat” is often used to describe a woman who is cruel(残酷的)。
The rose is regarded as a symbol (象征) of love in both China and some western countries. People think the rose means love, peace, courage and friendship. And the rose is the national flower of England, America and many other countries.
The words about plants and animals are used in positive or negative ways in different cultures. We can learn about many differences in cultures by comparing how some words are used.
【小题1】“Every dog has its day.” Means “__________”