Question

One day, I heard an American boy say to a Chinese girl student, “You speak very good English.” But the girl answered, “No, no. My English is very poor.” The foreigner was quite   16    at the answer. Thinking he had not made    17    understood or the girl had not   18    him clearly, he said, “Yes, indeed, you speak very well.”   19    the girl still kept saying, “No.” In the end the American boy could not understand and didn’t know   20    to say.

What’s wrong with the girl’s answer? She didn’t   21   a compliment (恭维) in the same way as the American people do. She should answer, “Thank you” instead of “No”. She   22   understood what the American boy had said, but she thought she should be modest. In the   23   , people will feel proud and  24    when they are praised . So if someone says the   25    you have cooked are very delicious, you should say, “Thank you.”

In our country we think being modest is a virtue (美德) and being proud is a bad thing , but in my opinion, being confident does not   26   being proud, so sometimes you should be confident   27   being modest.

   28   you are modest and say, “No, I’m afraid I can’t do it well”, while working in a western country, the others may think that you really cannot do it. If you often say “No”, you will certainly be looked down upon by   29  . When asking for a job, if one says something like “Yes, I can certainly do it” instead of “Let me have a try”, he or she will   30    get it. So in the west, you should be brave to show your self-confidence.

1.A. excited        B. surprised    C. relaxed          D. frightened

2.A. itself     B. herself      C. himself          D. themselves

3.A. heard      B. watched      C. listened to      D. looked at

4.A. Though     B. Although     C. Or               D. But

5.A. when       B. which        C. what             D. how

6.A. receive        B. accept       C. refuse           D. disagree

7.A. hardly     B. really       C. rarely           D. badly

8.A. east       B. south        C. west             D. north

9.A. dutiful        B. modest       C. shameful         D. confident

10.A. dishes        B. cups         C. glasses          D. bowls

11.A. think     B. say          C. ask              D. mean

12.A. as soon as    B. as well as   C. instead of       D. in spite of

13.A. Unless        B. Until        C. Whether          D. If

14.A. another       B. the other    C. the others       D. others

15.A. fail to   B. expect to    C. succeed in       D. believe in

Answer

1.B

2.C

3.A

4.D

5.C

6.B

7.B

8.C

9.D

10.A

11.D

12.C

13.D

14.D

15.B

【解析】短文属于议论文。作者通过对中西方文化的差异的描述，阐明自己的观点：有时候我们应该用自信代替谦虚。

1.由于文化背景不同，外国人对中国人的回答感到惊讶。

2.made oneself understood （使他人）明白，此处需要用he的反身代词。

3.这里是“没听清”的意思，强调听的结果，用hear；前面用了had，动词用过去分词，构成过去完成时。

4.男孩原以为女孩不明白，重复一篇后，仍旧未听到女孩符合常理的回答，这是出乎男孩意料的。前后意思有所转折，因此用but。

5.what to say“不知说什么”，其中what是say逻辑宾语；且say是及物动物，必须跟宾语，排除A、D选项；这里的说话内容没有选项，也排除which。

6.根据句意，“像美国人那样…”指的是“接受恭维”，排除C、D；accept“接受”，receive“接收”。

7.根据情节，她不是不明白男孩所说的话，因此使用肯定结构。

8.这里面的内容，属于西方文化。

9.通过第三段和最后一段可知，西方人想表现“自信”。

10.这里指饭菜。

11.这里是“意思是，意谓”。

12.这是作者的观点：用自信代替谦虚。

13.本段做了几个并排的假设，此处要跟下文一致，用If。

14.表示复数，泛指他人。

15.expect to do 期待去做；期望做某事。