-
unit 8
Part 1
Reading comprehension
Directions: Read the following passages
carefully. Each
passage is followed by
some questions or unfinished
sentences.
For
each
of
them
there
are
four
choices
marked
A,
B, C,
and D. Choose the best answer to each
question.
Questions 1 to 5
are based on the same passage or
dialog.
Manners
evolved
differently
in
different
cultures.
In
earlier
times
there
was
a
tendency
for
manners
to
become
increasingly
formal, and
this was often viewed as progress. In the 18th
and 19th centuries having good manners
was seen as an
important part of one's
education and social class, and it
was
necessary
to
be
taken
as
a
lady
or
a
gentleman
to
get
ahead
in the world.
In
the
20th
and
21st
centuries,
manners
have
gradually
become
more relaxed and
informal. The hosting of dinners and other
social gatherings are no longer the
exclusive privilege of
the wealthy
elite (
精英
), and private
clubs are being
gradually
replaced
by
more
open
meeting
places.
So
the
manners
of
the
salon
(
沙龙
)
are
gradually
combining
with
the
manners
of
the pub. Clothing is a good indication of the
changes in
manners, as can be seen in
the following examples.
It is
surprising that the wearing of hats indoors by
males
is
once
again
becoming
acceptable.
Students
in
North
America
often wear baseball caps to class. In
many countries the
wearing of hats
indoors
by
males was once
acceptable
even in
very
polite
society,
but
over
the
years
this
became
considered
as a lower-class behavior and was thus
discouraged in both
the middle and
upper
classes.
The young
people who
wear hats
indoors
do not realize they are actually restarting a very
old cultural tradition.
A
comparable
development
for
females
is
the
wearing
of
jeans.
Many females now wear
jeans on a daily basis, either at home
or
at
work.
Some
see
this
as
a
symbolic
declaration
that
they
are now modern women,
not girls or ladies. Some girls, like
boys, wear baseball caps both indoors
and outdoors.
Sneakers and shorts are
now acceptable for either males or
females in a variety of non-athletic
situations. Some
companies have rules
requiring informal dress such as jeans
or
sneakers
on
Fridays
(called
Friday
or
Friday
it
almost all the time.
In
these
companies, and many others, it is
acceptable to call the
bosses by their
first names.
1.
What does the passage mainly talk
about?
A. Changes of manners over time.
B. Formal manners in the earlier times.
C. Different manners in different
cultures.
D. Development of manners in
different classes.
2.
In the 20th and 21st centuries,
_________.
A. manners are not as formal
as in the past
B. manners in a pub are
getting more and more formal
C. proper
clothing is a good indication of good manners
D. rich people no longer behave
formally in social
gatherings
3.
According to
the passage,
paragraph 2 most likely
refers to __________.
A. Formal manners
of drinking.
B. Informal manners of
drinking.
C. Formal manners at social
gatherings.
D. Informal manners at
social gatherings.
4.
According
to
the
passage,
nowadays
wearing
a
hat
indoors
can actually be
viewed as _________.
A. a revolution
B. social progress
C. a
worsening situation
D. a return to the
old tradition
5.
According
to
the
author,
today
wearing
hats
indoors,
and
wearing jeans at work mainly indicate
that _________.
A. women are no longer
inferior to men
B. people no longer pay
attention to dressing details
C. people
are getting more relaxed in terms of manners
D. some companies have lower
requirements for their
employees
Questions 6 to 10 are based on the same
passage or dialog.
Between
the 1950s and the early 1980s, the evolving role
of
Japanese
women
had
been
most
obvious
in
their
attitudes
toward
marriage and the family system. There
had been a trend away
from
arranged
marriages.
Many
young
women
admitted
that
they
took
paid
employment
mostly
in
order
to
find
a
husband
on
their
own.
In
spite
of
this
and
other
influences
a
1982
figure
showed
that
almost
40
percent
of
marriages
were
still
arranged.
This
figure was, however,
half the size of a 1955 survey which
showed
that
almost
81
percent
of
marriages
were
arranged.
Once
married,
many
women
in
the
early
1980s
continued
to
work,
and
increasingly they returned to work
after childbirth,
something which was
hard to imagine a generation before. A
woman's
role
in
the
family
was
evolving
as
well,
becoming
more
and
more dominant.
Women
had
sought
more
personal
satisfaction
from
their
lives
since
1950s.
In
the
beginning
of
the1980s,
during
their
lives
before marriage women made up an almost
free-wheeling
(
随
心所欲
) part of
Japanese society. A survey of new brides
reported that only 12 percent expected
their marriage to be
happy.
At
that
time,
Japanese
still
regarded
marriage
not
as
the
peak
of
a
romance
but
as
a
duty
that
was
primarily
social
and practical in
significance. As a result, Japanese women
took
full
advantage
of
their
years
before
marriage.
Most
women
remained at home while working, living
with their family in
a
sort
of
extended
dependency.
Japanese
women,
however,
must
be careful to maintain
themselves within acceptable social
standards, one woman being told,