The trip to the United State opened my eyes to the fact that there are a lot of similarities as well as differences between American youth and French youth.
The first difference is in appearance. Going around in the U.S., I found that American youth do not really care about their appearance. In the morning, they choose something in their closet and wear it with another thing, often of different colors and styles, without wondering whether their choices make them look strange. The reason behind this is that they don’t care what people look like, but are just interested in their ideas. I think it’s great, but it also causes problems. Since they don’t care about their appearance, they don’t really care about their weight. Often they get fat without realizing it.
There are differences in relationships too. When the American youth fall in love, they don’t really think of the future. Also, there are differences in the rules concerning behavior that is allowed. In some respects, the French are more accepting. For example, in America it is generally unacceptable to make physical display of love. Lovers, actually, can’t kiss or hold each other everywhere they want. People think that not showing love in public places is a way to respect others. On the contrary, the French youth can do almost everything they want.
As for other types of relationships, there are also big differences. Americans act differently from French people in front of unknown people. When an American girl, for example, arrives in front of people she has never met before, she will talk with them, trying to create a kind of tie between her and this new circle of people. The French girls will just think about rather than really do this kind of thing because they are too shy and lacking in self-confidence.
To finish, I noticed that in American classes, when pupils want to say or ask something, they just do it. In general, they don’t really care how the others will judge them. In France, it’s not the same case. If somebody wants to ask something, he/she will think about it before speaking up. I appreciate the freedom in Americans’ behavior, ideas, and ways of expressing themselves.
【小题1】The underlined word “respects” in the third paragraph probably means____.

The trip to the United State opened my eyes to the fact that there are a lot of similarities as well as differences between American youth and French youth.

The first difference is in appearance. Going around in the U.S., I found that American youth do not really care about their appearance. In the morning, they choose something in their closet and wear it with another thing, often of different colors and styles, without wondering whether their choices make them look strange. The reason behind this is that they don’t care what people look like, but are just interested in their ideas. I think it’s great, but it also causes problems. Since they don’t care about their appearance, they don’t really care about their weight. Often they get fat without realizing it.

There are differences in relationships too. When the American youth fall in love, they don’t really think of the future. Also, there are differences in the rules concerning behavior that is allowed. In some respects, the French are more accepting. For example, in America it is generally unacceptable to make physical display of love. Lovers, actually, can’t kiss or hold each other everywhere they want. People think that not showing love in public places is a way to respect others. On the contrary, the French youth can do almost everything they want.

As for other types of relationships, there are also big differences. Americans act differently from French people in front of unknown people. When an American girl, for example, arrives in front of people she has never met before, she will talk with them, trying to create a kind of tie between her and this new circle of people. The French girls will just think about rather than really do this kind of thing because they are too shy and lacking in self-confidence.

To finish, I noticed that in American classes, when pupils want to say or ask something, they just do it. In general, they don’t really care how the others will judge them. In France, it’s not the same case. If somebody wants to ask something, he/she will think about it before speaking up. I appreciate the freedom in Americans’ behavior, ideas, and ways of expressing themselves.

1.The underlined word “respects” in the third paragraph probably means____.

2.When American youth fall in love with each other, they _________.

3.It can be inferred from the passage that French youth may think more about ______.

4.The passage is mainly about the______ between American youth and French youth.

The trip to the United State opened my eyes to the fact that there are a lot of similarities as well as differences between American youth and French youth.
The first difference is in appearance. Going around in the U.S., I found that American youth do not really care about their appearance. In the morning, they choose something in their closet and wear it with another thing, often of different colors and styles, without wondering whether their choices make them look strange. The reason behind this is that they don’t care what people look like, but are just interested in their ideas. I think it’s great, but it also causes problems. Since they don’t care about their appearance, they don’t really care about their weight. Often they get fat without realizing it.
There are differences in relationships too. When the American youth fall in love, they don’t really think of the future. Also, there are differences in the rules concerning behavior that is allowed. In some respects, the French are more accepting. For example, in America it is generally unacceptable to make physical display of love. Lovers, actually, can’t kiss or hold each other everywhere they want. People think that not showing love in public places is a way to respect others. On the contrary, the French youth can do almost everything they want.
As for other types of relationships, there are also big differences. Americans act differently from French people in front of unknown people. When an American girl, for example, arrives in front of people she has never met before, she will talk with them, trying to create a kind of tie between her and this new circle of people. The French girls will just think about rather than really do this kind of thing because they are too shy and lacking in self-confidence.
To finish, I noticed that in American classes, when pupils want to say or ask something, they just do it. In general, they don’t really care how the others will judge them. In France, it’s not the same case. If somebody wants to ask something, he/she will think about it before speaking up. I appreciate the freedom in Americans’ behavior, ideas, and ways of expressing themselves.

1. 1.

   The underlined word “respects” in the third paragraph probably means____.

   1. A.
      approaches
   2. B.
      aspects
   3. C.
      honors
   4. D.
      means
2. 2.

   When American youth fall in love with each other, they _________.

   1. A.
      will not hold each other
   2. B.
      will rarely display their love in public
   3. C.
      will always think about their future
   4. D.
      will kiss wherever they like
3. 3.

   It can be inferred from the passage that French youth may think more about ______.

   1. A.
      their relationship’s future
   2. B.
      their public images
   3. C.
      their physical displays
   4. D.
      their lover’s ideas
4. 4.

   The passage is mainly about the______ between American youth and French youth.

   1. A.
      differences
   2. B.
      friendship
   3. C.
      similarities
   4. D.
      relationships

Activity which was almost unknown to the learned in the early days of the history, while during the fifteenth century the term “reading” undoubtedly meant reading aloud．Only during the nineteenth century did silent reading become popular.

One should be careful, however, of supposing that silent reading came about simply because reading aloud is distraction（分散注意力）to others. Examination of reasons connected with the historical development of silent reading shows that it became the usual mode of reading for most adult reading tasks mainly because the tasks themselves changed in character.

The last century saw a gradual increase in literacy（读写能力）and thus in the number of readers. As readers increased, so the number of listeners dropped, and thus there was some reduction in the need to read aloud．As reading for the benefit of listeners grew less common, so came the popularity of reading as a private activity in such public places as libraries, trains and offices, where reading aloud would disturb other readers in a way.

Towards the end of the century there was still heated argument over whether books should be used for information or treated respectfully, and over whether the reading of material such as newspapers was in some way mentally weakening. Indeed this argument remains with us still in education. However, whatever its advantages, the old shared literacy culture had gone and was replaced by the printed mass media（媒介）on the one hand and by books and magazines for a specialized readership on the other.

By the end of the century students were being advised to have some new ideas of books and to use skills in reading them which were not proper, if not impossible, for the oral reader. The social, cultural, and technological developments in the century had greatly changed what the term “reading” referred to.

1．Why was reading aloud common before the nineteenth century

A．Because silent reading had not been discovered.       

B．Because there were few places for private reading.

C．Because few people could read for themselves.        

D．Because people depended on reading for enjoyment.

2．The development of silent reading during the nineteenth century showed        .

A．a change in the position of literate people

B．a change in the nature of reading

C．an increase in the number of books  

D．an increase in the average age of readers

3．Educations are still arguing about           .

A．the importance of silent reading         

B．the amount of information provided by books and newspapers

C．the effects of reading on health         

D．the value of different types of reading material

4．What is the writer of this passage attempting to do?

A．To explain how present-day reading habits developed.     

B．To change people's way to read.

C．To show how reading methods have improved.           

D．To encourage the growth of reading.