Question

    What is an accent (口音)? An accent is a flavoring to you that influences the sounds of words and sentences. In Birmingham you might hear ''lake'' sounding close to ''like'', and in Ireland you might hear ''this'' sounding close to ''diss''.

Accents are related to social group. Everyone has an accent, and for every accent there are groups of people who react badly to it. These reactions are the result of prejudice (偏见)-an unreasoned jumping to conclusions.

Everybody has prejudices about accents. I certainly do. I have held prejudices about other people's accents. But over the years, my experience of working with people from all kinds of backgrounds has led me to give up these prejudices. However, I still have prejudices that I find difficult to control.

Studies tell us that no accent is better than any other. But the reality is that many people judge others according to accents.

Jacob, Member of Parliament (议会), remembers when he first stood unsuccessfully for election in Fife, Scotland, ''I gradually realized that whatever I happened to be speaking about, the number of voters in my favor dropped as soon as I opened my mouth. ''

And some people change their accents to sound more refined (文雅的) when talking to people outside their circle of family and friends.

Sky News ran a report recently in which an 18-year-old woman was trying to sound less posh (上等人的), that is speaking non-standard English, because she didn't like the strangers telling her that she must be rich and from a famous family.

Lastly, it's worth being reminded that people can have an accent and still be recognized.

1.What does the author think of accent prejudice?

A.It is reasonable. B.It should be banned(禁止).

C.It is hard to avoid. D.It causes serious social issues.

2.Why did Jacob fail in the election?

A.What he said was unwise.

B.He spoke with an accent.

C.He broke the election rules.

D.He was unable to make himself understood.

3.What did the 18-year-old woman try to do according to Sky News?

A.To keep her ways of speaking.

B.To change her accent.

C.To pretend to be a well-educated person.

D.To learn the upper-class British accent.

4.What does the last sentence of the passage mean?

A.The accent tells what kind of people you are.

B.It is easy to recognize people with accent.

C.People with accent can also be successful.

D.It is important to recognize one’s accent.

Answer

1.C

2.B

3.B

4.C

【解析】

这是一篇记叙文。文章通过作者的经历告诉我们：尽管口音没有好坏之分，但是口音偏见是不可避免的。有口音的人也会成功，并且得到别人的认可。

1.推理判断题。根据文章第三段的Everybody has prejudices about accents. I certainly do. (每个人对口音都有偏见，我当然也有)可推测作者认为口音偏见是不可避免的。C. It is hard to avoid. (它很难避免)符合以上推测，故选C项。

2.细节理解题。根据文章第五段的Jacob, Member of Parliament (议会), remembers when he first stood unsuccessfully for election in Fife, Scotland, ''I gradually realized that whatever I happened to be speaking about, the number of voters in my favor dropped as soon as I opened my mouth. '' (议会成员雅各布记得他第一次在苏格兰竞选失败，他说：“我逐渐意识到无论我准备说什么，只要我一张嘴，赞成我的选票就会减少”)可知雅各布竞选失败是因为他的口音。B. He spoke with an accent. (他说话有口音)符合以上说法，故选B项。

3.推理判断题。根据文章倒数第二段Sky News ran a report recently in which an 18-year-old woman was trying to sound less posh (上等人的), that is speaking non-standard English, because she didn't like the strangers telling her that she must be rich and from a famous family. (天空新闻最近发表了一个报道，一个18岁的女孩想听起来不那么像上等人的口音，即说非标准的英语，因为她不喜欢陌生人告诉她，她肯定是一个来自著名家庭的有钱人)可推测女孩为了听起来不像上等人可能会改变自己的口音，说非标准的英语。B. To change her accent. (改变她的口音)符合以上推测，故选B项。

4.句意猜测题。划线部分句子Lastly, it's worth being reminded that people can have an accent and still be recognized. (最后，值得一提的是，有口音的人仍然会被承认)要表达的意思是即使有口音，一个人也可以取得成功，被别人认可/承认。C. People with accent can also be successful. (有口音的人也可以成功)符合以上说法，故选C项。