Fluency(流利) in another language is one of the most important aims of a newcomer to another country. In addition, understanding the culture and learning to communicate comfortably with people of that culture are as important as learning the rules of the language. Language learning and culture learning go together and may take a long time.

Sometimes people feel that they understand a culture after a few weeks or months. People do learn a lot when they first begin living in another culture, but this is only the first stage of learning. It usually involves(含包) things like learning everyday activities and some basic customs.

To really understand another culture, people have to go beyond the first stage, This is challenge because it is often difficult to know what to learn. Much of what we call “culture” is hard to see.

Culture is like an iceberg. Picture in your mind a huge iceberg in the ocean. The only part of the iceberg that you see is the tip. You don’t see the rest of the iceberg because it is hidden from sight in the water. It is easy to forget that it is there. Most of the iceberg is deep within the ocean, just as much of a culture is deep within its people.

When you meet someone from another culture， certain culture differences are obvious: You hear another language or you hear your own language spoken with an accent. You see different foods, clothes and sometimes physical characteristics of people. You observe new customs or habits, such as the use of chopsticks, and, bowing or kissing on both cheeks as a greeting. These differences are interesting and important, but they are usually not too difficult to understand. They are visible so they are seen easily and quickly.

The part of culture that is like the underwater part of the iceberg consists of assumptions(设想), communication styles, values, and beliefs about what is right and wrong. The hidden part of culture affects much of a person’s way of thinking and communicating. It is the meaning behind his or her verbal (言语的) and nonverbal language. Learning to communicate well with people from another culture involves becoming aware of the hidden part of culture.

1.What’s the subject of this passage?

2.What is learning about culture?

3.What’s the writer’s opinion?

4.The underlined phrase “consists of” can be replaced by “______”.

5.What conclusion can we draw after reading this passage?

Winners Club

You choose to be a winner!

The Winners Club is a bank account specially designed for teenagers. It has been made to help you better manage your money. The Winners Club is a transaction account（交易账户）where you receive a key-card so you can get to your money 24/7 – that’s 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!

It’s a club with impressive features for teenagers:

No account keeping fees!

You’re no millionaire so we don’t expect you to pay large fees. In fact, there are no account keeping or transaction fees!

Excellent interest rates!

You want your money to grow. The Winners Club has a good rate of interest which gets even better if you make at least two deposits（储蓄）without taking them out in a month.

Convenient

Teenagers are busy – we get that. You may never need to come to a bank at all. With the Winners Club you can choose to use handy tellers and to bank from home using the phone and the Internet··· . You can have money directly deposited into your Winners Club account. This could be your pocket money or your pay from your part-time job!

Mega magazine included

Along with your regular report, you will receive a FREE magazine full of good ideas to make even more of your money. There are also fantastic offers and competitions only for Winners Club members.

The Winners Club is a great choice for teenagers. And it is so easy to join. Simply fill in an application form. You will have to get permission from your parent or guardian (so we can organize that cool key – card) but it is easy. We can’t wait to hear from you. It’s the best way to choose to be a winner!

1.The Winners Club is a bank account intended for ________.

2.Which of the following is TRUE about the Winners Club?

3.The Winners Club provides magazines which ________.

4.If you want to be a member of the Club, you must ________.

5.What is the purpose of this text?

Your friends might be in Australia or maybe just down the road, but they are all just a few clicks away. Life has changed for millions of young people across the world who now make friends online. Whether you use chat-rooms, QQ, MSN or ICQ, you are a member of this group.

“I don’t often talk with my parents or grandparents, but I talk a lot with my old friends on QQ,” said Fox’s Shadow, the online name used by a girl student in China. “Most of my classmates use QQ after school.”

QQ is the biggest messaging service in China. A record from Tencent, the company which developed QQ, shows that 4 million people used it one Saturday night in October.

And probably Fox’s Shadow was one of them. “I log in on Friday nights, and Saturdays or Sundays when I feel everything around me boring. I usually spend about ten hours chatting online every week,” she said. “But I never talk with strangers, especially boys or men.”

Even though she likes chatting, she is careful about making friends with strangers online. “You don’t know who you’re talking to. You should always be careful about whom you believe in online.”

Many people would like to meet offline when they feel they have known someone very well. Fox’s Shadow once met one of her online friends face to face. It was a girl who was a football fan like herself and they went to a football match together.

A 16-year-old Beijing boy, named Bart Simon online, dislikes QQ users. “I used to chat on QQ, but I found that most people were talking about foolish things,” he said. Now he chats online in English, using MSN. “I only chat online because I’ve got friends in Japan, the US and Singapore,” he said. “I want to learn more about foreign cultures.” But he spends little time chatting on QQ as he sees it as a waste of time and money.

 “If you are really addicted to it, sometimes you can’t give your mind to your lessons,” he said. “And friends in your real life are always more important than those so-called friends you meet online.”

1.From the passage, we know“…they are all just a few clicks away” means“     ”.

A．it is wonderful to see your friends by clicking

B．it is popular to make friends online

C．it is possible to live much closer to your friends

D．it is easy and fast to get in touch with your friends

2.Fox’s Shadow thinks QQ is      .

A．a good place to spend her time when bored

B．the biggest messaging service in China

C．a safe place to chat with strangers

D．the best place to make friends

3.Which of the following sentences is TRUE according to the passage?

A．All the people on QQ are talking about foolish things.

B．We should think more of our friends in real life.

C．We should be careful about boys or men online.

D．Chatting online is a waste of time and money.

4.The underlined phrase means      .

A．turn on the computer             B．enter in QQ

C．surf the internet                D．make friends

When I was seven, my father gave me a Timex, my first watch. I loved it, wore it for years, and haven’t had another one since it stopped ticking a decade ago. Why? Because I don’t need one. I have a mobile phone and I’m always near someone with an iPod or something like that. All these devices (装置) tell the time — which is why, if you look around, you’ll see lots of empty wrists (手腕); sales of watches to young adults have been going down since 2007. 

But while these wise people have realized that they don’t need them, others — including some distinguished ones of our time — are spending total fortunes on them. Brands such as Rolex, Patek Philippe and Breitling command shocking prices, up to £ 250.000 for a piece.

This is ridiculous. Expensive cars go faster than cheap cars. Expensive clothes hang better than cheap clothes. But these days, all watches tell the time as well as all other watches. Yes, you may say expensive watches will come with some extra functions — but who needs them? How often do you dive to 300 metres into the sea to test its function of waterproof, or need to find your direction in the area around the South Pole by using its compass? So why pay that much of five years’ school fees for watches that allow you to do these things?

If justice were done, the Swiss watch industry should have closed down when the Japanese discovered how to make accurate watches for a five-pound note. Instead, the Swiss re-invented the watch, with the aid of millions of pounds’ worth of advertising, as a message about the man —— usually a famous star, wearing it. Rolexes are for those who spend their weekends climbing icy mountains; a Patek Philippe is for one from a rich or noble family; a Breitling suggests you like to pilot planes across the world. 

Watches are classified as “investment items” (投资项目) now. A 1994 Philippe recently sold for nearly £ 350, 000, while 1960s Rolexes have gone from 15, 000 to 30, 000 plus in a year. But, to some wealthy people, a watch is more than an investment. It’s a valuable toy for self-satisfaction, a matter of fashion. Prices may keep going up — they’ve been rising for fifteen years. But when fashion moves on, the owner of that £ 350, 000 treasured object will suddenly find his pride and joy is no more a good investment than my childhood Times. 

1.The sales of watches to young people have fallen because ______. 

2.It seems ridiculous to the writer that ______. 

3.What can be learnt about Swiss watch industry from the passage?

4.Which would be the best title for the passage?