3. The passage implies ______.

　 A. after 1997 Agassi began to take up marathon besides tennis

　 B. Agassi began to play tennis before he was fifteen

　 C. Agassi decided to quit his sports career

　 D. the reason why Agassi lost his last competition was that he was lack of courage and power

2. From paragraph 3, we know after Agassi was defeated in the competition he felt ______.

　 A. angry with the judge

　 B. disappointed with the scoreboard

　 C. regretful but encouraged

　 D. desparing

1. The underlined phrase "more than ten years his junior" in the second paragraph means _____.　　　 　　　　　　　.

　 A. having lower ranking than Agassi for more than ten years

　 B. having higher ranking than Agassi for more than ten years

　 　C. more than ten years older than Agassi

　 D. more than ten years younger than Agassi

4. What can we learn from this passage?

　　 A. You have to forget your culture to prevent cultural blindness.

　　 B. The meanings of words are not very important in language learning.

　 　　C. Culture is a must for learners of foreign languages.

　　 D. One has to live in the country to learn its language well.

1-4 DCDC

No. 12

　 Twenty years are just a blink in time. But 20 years is also long enough for a man to grow up. It is always painful. For Andrew Agassi, maturing in the spotlight of international tennis competition was even harder.

　 On September 3, the American tennis player said a tearful goodbye to his 21-year career after a third-round defeat in the US Open. The 36-year-old tried his best, but was unable to keep up with German Benjamin Becker, more than ten　 years his junior.

　 "The scoreboard said I lost today, but what the scoreboard doesn't say is what I've found," Agassi said to the fans. "I have found inspiration and you willed me to succeed." It was an emotional speech at the end of a long career.

　 Agassi hated tennis as a teenager as much as he loves it now. His father made him play when he was a child. He got bored, and became a rebel(叛逆). The strict training that his father pushed upon him got in the way of his wild lifestyle. He grew hair long, wore colourful clothes and spat at a judge. Over the years, he has made bad jokes during news conferences. Asked what he would say to his 17-year-old self, Agassi answered, "I would say, I understand you a lot more than I want to be you."

　 　　The turning point in Agassi's career came in 1992 when he unexpectedly won his first Grand Slam (大满贯赛事)at Wimbledon. It was the first time Agassi understood what real champions finally understand: winning is a test of courage and not just power, it's a marathon, not a sprint(短跑).

And what a marathon Agassi was about to begin. He cut his long hair, got fitter and tightened up emotionally. On the court, he was ranked No. 1 for almost two years. His lowest point came in 1997 when his ranking dropped to No. 141. He didn't quit though. "I knew that I would try to get the most out of myself every day from that day forward. That was my promise," he said. "That never stopped."

3. In this passage the author mainly discusses ______.

　　 A. the basic building materials of communication

　　 B. the importance of understanding a person in communication

　　 C. how to communicate well in a foreign language

　　 D. the relationship between communication and culture

2. The underlined word "it" in the last sentence refers to ______.

　　 A. the context　　 B. the culture　　 C. the language　　 D. the opportunity

1. The main idea of the first paragraph is that _____.　　　　　　　　 .

　　 A. words are the basic building materials of communication

　　 B. we have to study its culture before we learn a foreign language

　　 C. each person has a different meaning when using the same word

　　 D. the meaning of words are very much influenced by culture

5．From the passage we may safely concluded that compulsive spenders or compulsive bargain hunters 　　　　.

　　　 A．are really unreasonable　　

B．need special treatment

　　　 C．are really beyond treatment

D．can never get any help to solve their problems with money

1-5 CBABB

No. 11

　　 As the basic building materials of communication, words communicate meaning, but as we have seen, the meanings of words are very much influenced by culture. Meaning is in the person, not in the word, as each person is the product of a particular culture which passes on shared and appropriate　 meanings. Thus, if we want to learn to communicate well in a foreign language, we must understand the culture that gives that language meaning, Culture gives meaning and provides the context for communication, and the ability to communicate allows us to act out our cultural values and to share our language and our culture.

　 But our own native language and culture are so much a part of us that we take them for granted. When we travel to another country, it’s as if we carry along with our passports. We view the new environment using our own culture as the standard, and although not purposely, our ways of thinking and acting often get in the way of our understanding other languages and cultures. The ability and willingness to change lenses (视角) when we look at a different culture is both the cure and the prevention for such cultural blindness. Studying a new language provides us the opportunities to practise changing lenses when we also learn the context or the culture to which it belongs.

4．Which of the following statements is true?

　　　 A．All people spend money for exactly the same reason they need to buy things.

　　　 B．Business people and advertisers can use the psychology of money to increase sales.

　　　 C．Business people understand the psychology of compulsive buying better than scientists do.

　　　 D．Compulsive bargain hunters do not have problems with money.

3．The passage is mainly concerned with 　　　　　.

　　　 A．the psychology of money – spending habits

　　　 B．the purchasing habits of compulsive spenders

　　　 C．a special psychology of bargain hunting

　　　 D．the use of the psychology of spending habits in business