Our culture has caused most Americans to assume not only that our language is universal but that the gestures we use are understood by everyone. We do not realize that waving good-bye is the way to summon a person from the Philippines to ones side, or that in Italy and some Latin-American countries, curling the finger to oneself is a sign of farewell.
Those private citizens who sent packages to our troops occupying Germany after World War II and marked them GIFT to escape duty payments did not bother to find out that Gift means poison in German. Moreover, we like to think of ourselves as friendly, yet we prefer to be at least 3 feet or an arms length away form others. Latins and Middle Easterners like to come closer and touch, which makes Americans uncomfortable.
Our linguistic(语言上的)and cultural blindness and the casualness with which we take notice of the developed tastes, gestures, customs and languages of other countries, are losing us friends, business and respect in the world.
Even here in the United States, we make few concessions to the needs of foreign visitors. There are no information signs in four languages on our public buildings or monuments; we do not have multilingual(多语的)guided tours. Very few restaurant menus have translations, and multilingual waiters, bank clerks and policemen are rare. Our transportation systems have maps in English only and often we ourselves have difficulty understanding them.
When we go abroad, we tend to cluster in hotels and restaurants where English is spoken. The attitudes and information we pick up are conditioned by those natives-usually the richer-who speak English. Our business dealings, as well as the nations diplomacy, are conducted through interpreters.
For many years, America and Americans could get by with cultural blindness and linguistic ignorance. After all, America was the most powerful country of the free world, the distributor of needed funds and goods.
But all that is past. American dollars no longer buy all good things, and we are slowly beginning to realize that our proper role in the world is changing. A 1979 Harris poll reported that 55 percent of Americans want this country to play a more significant role in world affairs; we want to have a hand in the important decisions of the next century, even though it may not always be the upper hand.
26. What makes women blind to the deceptive nature of high heels?
A) The multi-functional use of high heels.
B) Their attempt to show off their status.
C) The rich variety of high heel styles.
D) Their wish to improve their appearance.
注:B选项show off炫耀,C是迷惑选项。
27. The authors presentation of the positive side of high heels is meant ______________.
A) to be ironic
B) to poke fun at women
C) to be fair to the fashion industry
D) to make his point convincing
注:讽刺意味的
28. The author uses the expression those babies to refer to high heels __________.
A) to show their fragile characteristics
B) to indicate their feminine features
C) to show womens affection for them
D) to emphasize their small size
29. The authors chief argument against high heels is that ____________.
A) they pose a threat to lawns
B) they are injurious to womens health
C) they dont necessarily make women beautiful
D) they are ineffective as a weapon of defense
30. It can be inferred from the passage that women should _______________.
A) see through the very nature of fashion myths
B) boycott the products of the fashion industry
C) go to a podiatrist regularly for advice
D) avoid following fashion too closely
In department stores and closets all over the world, they are waiting. Their outward appearance seems rather appealing because they come in a variety of styles, textures, and colors. But they are ultimately the biggest deception that exists in the fashion industry today. What are they? They are high heels - a womans worst enemy . High heel shoes are the downfall of modern society. Fashion myths have led women to believe that they are more beautiful or sophisticated for wearing heels, but in reality, heels succeed in posing short as well as long term hardships. Women should fight the high heel industry by refusing to use or purchase them in order to save the world from unnecessary physical and psychological suffering.
For the sake of fairness, it must be noted that there is a positive side to high heels. First, heels are excellent for aerating(使通气)lawns. Anyone who has ever worn heels on grass knows what I am talking about. A simple trip around the yard in a pair of those babies eliminates all need to call for a lawn care specialist, and provides the perfect-sized holes to give any lawn oxygen without all those messy chunks of dirt lying around. Second, heels are quite functional for defense against oncoming enemies, who can easily be scared away by threatening them with a pair of these sharp, deadly fashion accessories.
Regardless of such practical uses for heels, the fact remains that wearing high heels is harmful to ones physical health. Talk to any podiatrist(足病医生), and you will hear that the majority of their business comes from high-heel-wearing women. High heels are known to cause problems such as deformed feet and torn toenails. The risk of severe back problems and twisted or broken ankles is three times higher for a high heel wearer than for a flat shoe wearer. Wearing heels also creates the threat of getting a heel caught in a sidewalk crack or a sewer-grate(阴沟栅)and being thrown to the ground-possibly breaking a nose, back, or neck. And of course, after wearing heels for a day, any woman knows she can look forward to a night of pain as she tries to comfort her swollen, aching feet.
31. The picture of the reading ability of the American people, drawn by the author, is _____.
A) rather bleak
B) fairly bright
C) very impressive
D) quite encouraging
注:选一个烂的,bleak黯淡无光
32. The authors biggest concern is ____________.
A) elementary school childrens disinterest in reading classics
B) the surprisingly low rate of literacy in the U.S.
C) the musical setting American readers require for reading
D) the reading ability and reading behavior of the middle class
33. A major problem with most adolescents who can read is ___________.
A) their fondness of music and TV programs
B) their ignorance of various forms of art and literature
C) their lack of attentiveness and basic understanding
D) their inability to focus on conflicting input
34. The author claims that the best way a reader can show admiration for a piece of poetry or prose is ____________.
A) to be able to appreciate it and memorize it
B) to analyze its essential features
C) to think it over conscientiously
D) to make a fair appraisal of its artistic value
35. About the future of the arts of reading the author feels ____________.
A) upset
B) uncertain
C) alarmed
D) pessimistic
注:对应最后一段
新GRE作文备考资料
新版gre作文新题库解析-issue36
GRE范文:给孩子零用钱的不利影响
美国人写的100篇Nice的地道作文欣赏(4)
GRE写作常用表达札记6
新版gre写作新题库:argument27
美国人写的100篇Nice的地道作文欣赏(20)
美国人写的100篇Nice的地道作文欣赏(8)
GRE写作常用表达札记5
GRE写作高分所具备的三种能力
新版gre作文新题库解析-issue42
新版gre作文新题库解析-issue39
美国人写的100篇Nice的地道作文欣赏(7)
新版gre写作新题库:argument28
GRE写作常用表达札记9
新版gre作文新题库解析-issue45
新版gre作文新题库解析-issue48
GRE作文点评:观点很特别的驳论文
美国人写的100篇Nice的地道作文欣赏(6)
新版gre写作新题库:argument21
新版gre作文新题库解析-issue38
美国人写的100篇Nice的地道作文欣赏(2)
新版gre作文新题库解析-issue30
美国人写的100篇Nice的地道作文欣赏(5)
美国人写的100篇Nice的地道作文欣赏(10)
GRE写作常用表达札记7
新版gre作文新题库解析-issue32
GRE范文:阅读对孩子教育的重要性
美国人写的100篇Nice的地道作文欣赏(1)
gre argument56提纲分析汇总
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |