Question

【题目】 The stereotype(模式化的思想) is that Americans are lazy, but studies show that people in the USA get less vacation time than people in other parts of the world. A typical American worker gets two or three weeks off out of a whole year for vacation, but most US workers cannot. They usually have to be spread out throughout the year. Even when US workers are on vacation. they are often expected to be in communication with their bosses by email and mobile phone. Most US businesses do not encourage their employees(雇员) to take all the vacation days they are allowed to. In fact. most US companies discourage it.

Other countries, especially countries in Europe, have much more vacation time. In Germany many people have six weeks of paid vacation. Maybe this is why Europeans and other travellers take a vacation in far-off foreign places. Most American families like to stay closer to their homes, hardly leaving the country.

Most companies in countries outside the USA have to give paid time off to their employees. However, in the USA there is no law requiring employers to give workers paid vacation. In fact the USA is the only developed country that doesn't promise to give yearly time off to workers. There have been efforts to pass laws giving US workers one week of paid vacation, but so far those efforts have not been successful.

Even when US workers do have time off, many are afraid to take it because they worry they may lose their jobs. Other workers worry that if they go on vacation, they will have a mountain of work when they return.

【1】The underlined word "discourage" in Paragraph 1 means .

A. encourageB. protectC. look forward toD. ask someone not to do

【2】From Paragraph 3, we can infer Americans probably expect .

A. to get one week of paid vacationB. to pass a law that protects children

C. to work in foreign companiesD. to travel in foreign countries

【3】Americans choose not to have a vacation because .

A. they feel tired when they travel in a faraway placeB. they are afraid to lose their jobs when they return

C. the law in the USA doesn't allow them to go to a faraway placeD. it's not easy to communicate with their bosses outside

【4】Which is the right order of the passage?

a. Many Germans have six weeks of paid vacation.

b. Many American workers are afraid to take their vacations.

c. The USA has no law requiring employers to give workers paid vacation.

d. US workers usually keep communicating with their bosses on vacation.

e. US workers have less vacation time than people in other countries in the world.

A. d-b-e-a-cB. e-d-a-c-bC. d-a-e-b-cD. e-a-b-d-c

【5】What are Americans like from the passage?

A. Hard.B. Free.C. Lazy.D. Silly.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】D

【2】A

【3】B

【4】B

【5】A

【解析】

短文大意：本文关注的是美国人的假期，通过和其他国家工人的对比，美国人的假期比世界其他地方的人少。原因有两点，一是在美国没有法律要求雇主给员工带薪假期，二是许多美国人选择不去度假是因为他们害怕回国后失业。由此可见，美国人其实生活得并不容易。

【1】题意：第1段划线的“discourage”一词的意思是请某人不要这样做。考查词义理解。A. Encourage鼓励；B. protect保护；C. look forward to期待做某事；D. ask someone not to do请某人不要这样做。根据上文Most US businesses do not encourage their employees to take all the vacation days they are allowed to.，do not encourage不鼓励，可知选D。

【2】题意：从第3段，我们可以推断美国人可能期望有一周的带薪假期。考查细节推断。A. to get one week of paid vacation有一周的带薪假期；B. to pass a law that protects children通过一项保护儿童的法律；C. to work in foreign companies在外国公司工作；D. to travel in foreign countries去国外旅游。根据There have been efforts to pass laws giving US workers one week of paid vacation, but so far those efforts have not been successful.，可知选A。

【3】题意：美国人选择不去度假是因为他们害怕回国后失业。考查细节判断。根据Even when US workers do have time off, many are afraid to take it because they worry they may lose their jobs. 许多人不敢休假是因为他们担心自己可能会失业，可知选B。

【4】题意：这篇文章的正确顺序是什么?考查细节排序。根据短文内容，首先提到的是调查结果people in the USA get less vacation time than people in other parts of the world.（美国工人的假期比世界上其他国家的工人少），接着介绍Even when US workers are on vacation. they are often expected to be in communication with their bosses by email and mobile phone.（即使度假也经常通过电子邮件和手机与老板交流），然后拿德国人对照In Germany many people have six weeks of paid vacation.，随后点出美国人没有假期的原因However, in the USA there is no law requiring employers to give workers paid vacation.，最后提到Even when US workers do have time off, many are afraid to take it because they worry they may lose their jobs.（许多人害怕失去工作而不敢休假）；可知正确顺序是e-d-a-c-b，故选B。

【5】题意：从文章中可以看出美国人是怎样的?考查综合理解。根据短文中美国工人和其他国家工人的对比，结合他们因害怕失去工作而不敢休假的事实，可知美国人生活得好不容易，hard艰难的，故选A。

阅读理解是最能体现学生英语能力的题型，分值较高，如何通过解题方法的掌握来提升自己解答阅读理解题的技巧是学生最关心的问题。初中阅读理解一般考查学生的细节理解能力，主旨理解能力和推理判断能力。做阅读理解题，首先要准确理解题意，然后根据题意根据短文内容做出正确的答案。（1）考查细节理解能力，此类型题较简单，准确理解题意后，直接到文中找出答案。（2）考查猜词能力。做这种题型时，要根据上下文意思准确猜出词意。3）考查推理判断能力，此类题型较难，准确理解题意后，在文中找出相关的内容做出合理的推断。（4）考查主旨理解题。此类题型需通读全文，整体把握，根据文本主要内容选择合适的选项。