Americans wear black for mourning. Chinese wear white. Westerners think of dragons as monsters. Chinese honor them as symbols of God. Chinese civilization has often shown such polarities (极性) with the West，as though each stands at extreme ends of a global string. Now in the University of California，Berkeley，a psychologist has discovered deeper polarities between Chinese and American cultures—polarities that go to the heart of how we reason and discover truth.
His findings go far toward explaining why American cultures seem so contentious and Chinese cultures so passive，when compared to each other. More importantly，the research opens the way for the peoples of the East and the West to learn from each other in fundamental ways. The Chinese could learn much from Western methods for determining scientific truth，said Kaiping Peng，a former Beijing scholar，who is now a UC Berkeley assistant professor of psychology. And Americans could profit enormously from the Chinese tolerance for accepting contradictions (矛盾) in social and personal life，he said.
“Americans have a terrible need to find out who is right in an argument，” said Peng. “The problem is that at the interpersonal level，you really don’t need to find the truth，or maybe there isn’t any. ”Chinese people，said Peng，are far more content to think that both sides have flaws (缺陷) and virtues，because they have a holistic awareness that life is full of contradictions. They do far less blaming of the individual than do Americans，he added.
In studies of interpersonal argument，for example，when subjects were asked to deal with contradictory information stemming from conflict between a mother and a daughter or a student and a school，Peng found that Americans were “noncompromising，blaming one side—usually the mother—for the causes of the problems，demanding changes from one side to attain a solution and offering no compromise”in dealing with the conflict. Compared to this angry，blaming American stance，the Chinese were paragons (模范) of compromise，finding fault on both sides and looking for solutions that moved both sides to the middle.
1.In Paragraph 1，the author sets examples in order to ________.
A.expose the contradiction between Chinese and Americans
B.show the differences between Chinese culture and American culture
C.find the reason for the differences
D.generalize the main idea of the passage
2.The underlined word “contentious” in Paragraph 2 probably means “________”.
A.conservative B.aggressive
C.objective D.optimistic
3.Compared with Americans，Chinese are ________.
A.likely to find the truth in life
B.reluctant to admit their failure
C.reluctant to have a general idea of things
D.likely to know advantages and disadvantages of things
4.The studies show that ________.
A.an American treats his or her mother badly
B.different ideas of treating the aged
C.different personalities of Chinese and Americans
D.different conflicts of Americans and Chinese
单词拼写
1.To show sadness，he hangs his head and holds a hand up to his face in a ________ (手势) of grief.
2.We all got a warm ________ (招呼) on our arrival.
3.She went to college with great ________ (期望).
4.I am unconnected with questions of ________ (宗教) or morality.
5.Take it easy. You have just a ________ (轻微的)fever. It is not serious at all.
阅读下面短文，根据其内容写一篇60词左右的内容概要。
The everyday signs of conscientiousness (认真尽责) ——being punctual, careful in doing work, self-disciplined, and scrupulous (一丝不苟的) in attending to responsibilities ——are typical characteristics of the model organizational citizen, the people who keep things running as they should. They follow the rules, help out, and are concerned about the people they work with. It’s the conscientious worker who helps newcomers or updates people who return after an absence, who never abuses sick leaves, who always gets things done on deadline.
Conscientiousness is a key to success in any field. In studies of job performance, outstanding effectiveness for almost all jobs, from semi-skilled labor to sales and management, depends on conscientiousness. It is particularly important for outstanding performance in jobs at the lower levels of an organization: the secretary whose message taking is perfect, the delivery truck driver who is always on time. Conscientiousness also offers a buffer (缓冲) against the threat of job loss in today’s constantly changing market, because employees with this quality are among the most valued.
But conscientiousness in the absence of social skills can lead to problems. Since conscientious people demand so much of themselves, they can hold other people to their own standards, and so be overly judgmental when others don’t show the same high levels of model behavior. Factory workers in Great Britain and the United States who were extremely conscientious, for example, tended to criticize co-workers even about failures that seemed unimportant to those they criticized, which damaged their relationships.
When conscientiousness takes the form of living up to expectations, it can discourage creativity. In creative professions like art or advertising, openness to wild ideas and spontaneity (自发性) are scarce and in demand. Success in such occupations calls for a balance, however; without enough conscientiousness to follow through, people become mere dreamers, with nothing to show for their imaginativeness.
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Dear Sara，
As we drove off from Columbia，I wanted to write a letter to you to tell you all that is on my mind．First，I want to tell you how proud we are．Getting into Columbia College shows what a great well-rounded student you are．Your academic，artistic，and social skills have truly blossomed in the last few years．Whether it is getting the highest grade in mathematics，completing your elegant fashion design，successfully selling your painted running shoes，or becoming one of the top speakers in Model United Nations，you have become a talented and accomplished young woman．You should be as proud of yourself as we are．
College will be the most important years in your life．It is in college that you will truly discover what learning is about．This will be the period where you go from teacher-taught to master-inspired，after which you must become self-learner．So do take each subject seriously，and even if what you learn isn’t critical for your life，the skills of learning will be important to you forever．
Follow your passion in college．Take courses you think you will enjoy．Don’t be trapped in what others think or say．Do your best in classes，but don’t let pressure get to you．Your mother and I have no expectations for your grades．If you graduate and learn something in your four years，we would feel happy．So please don’t give yourself pressure．
I told your mom I’m writing this letter，and asked what she wanted me to say．She thought and said：“Just ask her to take care of herself．”Please listen to your mother and take care of yourself．
So please treasure your college years，make the best of your free time，and become an independent thinker；learn and grow through your successes and challenges．
Love，
Dad(& Mom)
1.Sara’performance in the last few years makes his parents ____________．
A.annoyed B.proud C.upset D.concerned
2.What did Father mainly write about in Paragraph 2 ？
A.Learning skills． B.College courses．
C.Learning attitude． D.Ways of self-learning．
3.What do we know about Mom and Dad from the letter?
A.They expect too much of Sara．
B.They put lots of pressure on Sara．
C.They love their daughter very much．
D.They advise Sara to make more friends．
单词拼写
1.Mrs. Wang was unhappy because her husband forgot their ________ (婚礼)anniversary.
2.Pollution is a serious problem in major cities ________ (遍及)the world.
3.These cats look exactly ________ (十分相似的)，so how can you tell which is which?
4.My mom is busy preparing rooms for the ________ (接待) of guests.
5.Mr. Green got a present from his students at the ________ (学期末) ceremony.
6.Jeff and David were in the back yard setting off ________ (烟花).
7.He looks so ________ (熟悉的)，but I can’t remember his name.
8.In order to ________ (确保) success，we must make a complete and thorough plan.
语法填空
A hutong is an ancient city street typical in Beijing. 1.(surround) the Forbidden City, many were built during the Yuan, Ming and Qing 2. (dynasty). In order to establish the strongest power, emperors planned the city and arranged the residential areas. 3. center of the city Beijing was the royal palace—the Forbidden City.
At the end of the Qing dynasty, after 4. (close)China came under the influence from abroad, many old hutongs lost 5. (they) former neat arrangement.
After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, hutong conditions 6.(improve). But in recent years, the houses in many hutongs have been pulled 7. and replaced by modern buildings. And the hutong today is fading into the shade for 8. tourists and local people.
However, in the urban district of Beijing houses along hutongs still occupy one 9. (three) of the total area, providing housing for half population, so many hutongs 10. (survive). In this respect, we see the old in the new in Beijing as an ancient yet modern city.
