Question

Living in a foreign culture can be exciting, but it can also be confusing(令人迷惑的). Some Americans who taught English in other countries recently talked about their experiences.

On her first day in Micronesia(密克罗尼西亚), an island in the Pacific, Lisa thought people weren’t paying any attention to her. It was hot. She went into a store and asked, “Do you have cold drinks? ” The woman there said nothing. Lisa repeated the question. Still the woman said nothing. She later learned that the woman had answered her: She had raised her eyebrows(眉毛), which in Micronesia means “yes”.

Jane remembered an experience she had in Bulgaria(保加利亚), a country in Europe. She went to a restaurant. She asked the waiter, “Do you have cabbage today?” He nodded his head. Jane waited, but the cabbage never came. In that country, a nod means “no”.

Tom had a similar problem when he arrived in India. After explaining something in class, he asked his students if they understood. Some nod and others shake. He thought some students had not understood, so he explained again. When he asked again, they did the same thing. He soon knew that his students did understand. In India, people nod and shake their heads in different ways depending on where they come from. You have to know where a person is from to understand whether they mean “yes” or “no”.

1.These Americans in the passage found that they__________ .

A. should go abroad for vacations        

B. needed to learn foreign languages

C. should often discuss their experiences 

D. had problems with communication in other countries

2.People in Micronesia show “yes” by ________ .

A. nodding heads    B. raising eyebrows     C. shaking heads                   D. saying “no”

3.Tom misunderstood（误解）his class at first because_______ .

A. he didn’t know much about Indian culture  

B. he didn’t explain everything clearly enough

C. some students didn’t speak English 

D. he didn’t know where the students came from

4.Which of the following is TRUE?

A. In Bulgaria, nodding heads means “no”. 

B. Jane taught English on a Pacific island.

C. Lisa was trying to buy some cabbage.  

D. In India, only shaking heads means “yes”.

5.The passage is mainly about_________ .

A. body language in foreign restaurants  

B. class discussion in Indian schools

C. different language cultures in different countries 

D. English teaching in other countries

Answer

1.D

2.B

3.A

4.A

5.C

【解析】

试题分析：这篇文章的主要意思是在不同文化的国家里生活可能是很令人兴奋的，但同时因为文化的不同，风俗习惯的不同，也可能会带来一些问题，使你感到困惑。文章中给我们举了三个这样的例子，例子中的三个人就遇到了这种因文化不同而带来困惑的情况。

1.主旨大意题。文章中给我们举了三个例子，这三个人在别的国家教英语的美国人发现，因为文化的不同与当地人交流是很困难的，如在密克罗尼西亚这个国家里，人们用抬高眉毛的这种方式来表示是；在保加利亚，点头代表不；在印度，来自不同地方的人用相反的方式表示是或不是。故本题选D。

2.细节理解题。根据文章第二段She had raised her eyebrows(眉毛), which in Micronesia means “yes”.可知，在密克罗尼西亚这个国家，人们用抬高眉毛这种方式表示Yes,是。故选B。

3.推理判断题。根据文章的第四段可知，Tom在印度教书的时候，发现无论他讲多少遍，在问到学生是否理解的时候，总是有学生点头，有学生摇头。他并不知道，在印度来自不同地方的人，表示是或不是的时候是不一样的，而且是正好相反的，有的地方点头是“是”，而有的地方摇头是“是”，故由此可见，Tom对印度的文化并不了解。故选A。

4.细节理解题。根据文章第三段In that country, a nod means “no”可知，在保加利亚这个国家，点头表示不是。故A正确。B选项Jane是在保加利亚教书，所以不对；C选项应该是Jane想买卷心菜；D选项在印度有的地方摇头是“是”，但有的地方不是，故D也不对。

5.主旨大意题。这篇短文主要是通过三个例子来告诉我们不同的国家有不同的语言文化，故选C。

考点：文化类短文阅读。