Question

【題目】When my family moved to America in 2010 from a small village in Guangdong, China, we brought not only our luggage, but also our village rules, customs and culture. One of the rules is that young people should always respect(尊敬) elders. Unluckily, this rule led to my very first embarrassment in the United States.

I had a part-time job as a waiter in a Chinese restaurant. One time, when I was serving food to a middle-aged couple, the wife asked me how the food could be served so quickly. I told her that I had made sure they got their food quickly because I always respect the elderly. As soon as I said that, her face showed great displeasure. My manager, who happened to hear what I said, took me aside and gave me a long lecture about how sensitive(敏感) Americans are and how they dislike the description(描述) “old”. I then walked back to the table and apologized（道歉）to the wife. After the couple heard my reason, they understood that the problem was caused by cultural differences, so they laughed and were no longer angry.

In my village in China, people are proud of being old. Not so many people live to be seventy or eighty, and people who reach such an age have the most knowledge and experience. Young people always respect older people because they know they can learn from their rich experience.

However, in the United States, people think “growing old” is a problem since “old” shows that a person is going to retire or that the body is not working well. Here many people try to keep themselves away from growing old by doing exercises or jogging, and women put on makeup, hoping to look young. When I told the couple in the restaurant that I respect the elderly, they got angry because this caused them to feel they had failed to stay young. I had told them something they didn’t want to hear.

After that, I changed the way I had been with older people. It is not that I don’t respect them any more; I still respect them, but now I don’t show my feelings through words.

【1】Jack brought the couple their food very fast because _______.

A. the manager asked him to do so

B. he respected the elderly

C. the couple wanted him to do so

D. he wanted more pay

【2】When Jack called the couple “elderly”, they became _______.

A. nervous B. satisfied

C. unhappy D. excited

【3】In Jack’s hometown, _______.

A. people dislike being called “old”

B. people are proud of being old

C. many people reach the age of seventy or eighty

D. the elderly are the first to get food in restaurants

【4】After this experience, Jack _______.

A. lost his job in the restaurant

B. made friends with the couple

C. no longer respected the elderly

D. changed his way with older people

【5】Which of the following is TRUE?

A. The more Jack explained, the angrier the couple got.

B. Jack wanted to show his feelings through words after his experience.

C. The manager went back to the table and apologized to the couple.

D. From this experience, Jack learned more about American culture.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】B

【2】B

【3】D

【4】D

【5】A

【解析】中國和美國在很多方面都存在著差異，例如在對待“老”這個問題上，中國人就覺得很自豪，因為“老”意味著有更多的知識和經驗，受人尊敬；而美國人卻覺得“老”就意味著要退休了，身體也不健康了。短文中作者由于一開始不知道這個差別而犯了錯誤。

【1】細節(jié)理解題。根據短文第二段中I told her that I had made sure they got their food quickly because I always respect the elderly.可知，作者確定這兩位老人的是我很很快就上來，因為在中國的時候，一個傳統(tǒng)就是要尊敬老人。故應選B。

【2】細節(jié)理解題。根據短文第二段中As soon as I said that，her face showed great displeasure可知，當作者稱呼他們?yōu)槔先说臅r候，這對夫婦中妻子感到不高興了。原文的displeasure 和選項里的unhappy是同義的，故選C。

【3】細節(jié)理解題。根據短文第三段中In my village in China，people are proud of being old可知，在作者的家鄉(xiāng)，人們都以“老”感到自豪，因為老意味著有更多的知識和經驗。由此可知應選B。

【4】細節(jié)理解題。根據短文的最后一段中After that，I changed the way I had been with older people可知，在這件事情之后，作者改變了對待老人的方式。故應選A。

【5】推理判斷題。根據文意可知，中國人和美國人在對待“老”這個問題上是不一樣的，這是兩個國家文化的差異，經過了這件事，作者對美國文化了解的更多了，在短文的倒數第二段里，作者詳細給我們分析了美國人為什么不喜歡別人說自己“老”。因此A選項是正確的。