Question

Making sense of how the US shows humor

Living in a new country gives me many surprises. The first surprise was the way that the US people speak.

One day I saw someone was having a public speech in a square. I thought it would be a serious speech. But I soon found it became a kind of entertainment show.

   The speaker told the audience to protect the environment with humorous words. Later he said some people’s behavior didn’t go with their words. He took the example of Taylor Swift’s song We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.

   He said that since Swift doesn’t want to be with the boy any more, she doesn’t need to speak it aloud, she doesn’t need to sing unless she still keeps in touch with that guy. It sounds like she is a hypocrite.

   Then he sang the song in a funny way. The audience laughed out loudly. I felt a little angry because Swift is my favourite star. I couldn’t understand why they laughed at Swift.

As time goes on, I find many US people make fun of others. But they don’t mean to hurt them. They do that to show closeness and humour. And people who are laughed at seldom get angry. Now I understand the speaker at the square. Now I’ve got used to the way the US people speak.

   It’s easy to find culture shock when you’re in a new place. But everyone should learn to understand different cultures and customs. 

1.The man in the square was _______________.

A. teaching people how to give a speech

B. calling on people to protect the environment

C. giving a singing show in public

D. criticizing the US government           

2. What does the underlined word “hypocrite” in Paragraph 4 mean?

A. 会唱歌的人      B. 真诚的人       C. 虚伪的人       D. 爱护环境的人

3.From Paragraph 6, we learn that_________________.

A. many US people like to laugh at others  

B. many US people are friendly and humorous

C. the US people get angry at others easily  

D. the writer doesn’t like the way the US people speak          

4.Which is Not suitable for the passage?

A. The writer went to America and protect the environment.

B. Americans show humour in a different way from China.

C. It’s easy to find culture shock when you are in a new place.

D. Tailor Swift is an American famous singer.               

5.What does the article mainly talk about?

A. Differences between the Chinese and the US people.      

B. In what way the US people speak in public.

C. How to get used to life in the US.  

D. A Chinese girl’s culture shock experience in the US.

Answer

1.B

2.C                 

3.B                       

4.A                   

5.D                      

【解析】  

试题分析： 本文讲诉了我对美国文化的理解过程。开始的时候我很不能理解他们的幽默方式。有次我听到有人做演讲，却拿我喜欢的歌手做例子，讽刺挖苦他，这让我很生气。但是后来我发现，美国人经常拿别人开玩笑，但真的没有恶意。这就是我的理解美国文化的过程。

1.细节理解题。根据文中：The speaker told the audience to protect the environment with humorous words.演讲人用幽默的语言告诉观众要保护环境。故选B。

【小题2词义猜测题。根据文章：Later he said some people’s behavior didn’t go with their words. He took the example of Taylor Swift’s song  后来他说有些人言行不一致。他举了 Taylor Swift的歌曲做为例子。故选C。           

2.细节理解题。根据文中；They do that to show closeness and humour.他们这么做显示亲密和幽默。故选B。                

3.细节理解题。根据：The speaker told the audience to protect the environment with humorous words.演讲者通过幽默的语言告诉人们要保护环境。可以知道，保护环境是演讲者说的不是作者说的，故选 A 。                 

4.主旨大意题。根据：Living in a new country gives me many surprises. The first surprise was the way that the US people speak.可知文章讲的是文化的差异。故选D。

考点：故事类短文阅读。