reading comprehension

II. Reading Comprehension

Directions:

There are 4 passages in this part. Each of the passages is followed by questions or

unfinished statements. For each of them there are 4 choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose one as

the most appropriate answer.

Passage One

In

England,

Christmas

is

the

most

important

of

all

the

“Bank

Holidays”

in

the

year.

Two

important things, apart form its religious significance, help to set this holiday apart from all others:

the custom of giving gifts and the habit of spending it with the family.

In the present highly commercialized age we are reminded of Christmas many weeks before

the

event.

In

the

shops

the

special

Christmas

displays

appear

and

outside

them

the

special

Christmas decoration. In the shopping centers of very large towns decorations are put up in the

streets. In London thousands of people flock into the center of the town to see the decorations in

Oxford Street, Piccadilly and elsewhere. The advertisements in all the newspapers remind us that

there

are

brightly

c

olored

posters

wanting

us

to

“Post

Early

for

Christmas”

for

hundreds

of

millions of Christmas cards and millions of parcels are sent every year. Everywhere one turns, one

is made aware that Christmas which comes “but once a year” is coming once again.

Many people deplore what they consider the over-commercialization of a sacred holiday, but

underneath all the business activity, a great deal of genuine Christmas spirits is to be found. The

custom

of

giving

presents

to

one’s

family

and

friends

is

a

very

p

leasant

one

so

long

as

one

remembers that it is the spirit behind the gift which matters most and not the gift itself. And how

good it is at Christmas to return to the family house and meet parents, grandparents and as many

aunts, uncles and cousins as can be accommodated. Without twentieth-century means of transport

many families would be denied the Christmas reunion.

Christmas

Day

is

spent

quietly

at

home.

The

excitement

of

all

the

presents

is

hardly

over

before it is time for all the traditional Christmas dinner turkey, chicken with rich fruity Christmas

pudding afterwards. At tea-time the crackers are pulled. The evening is spent in games, merriment

and

more

eating

and

drinking.

There

is

always

Boxing

Day

(the

Bank

Holiday

after

Christmas

Day) on which to recover, if all the excitement and food have proved a little too much.

1.

Christmas differs from other holidays because of ______________.

A.

its religious significance

B.

the custom of giving gifts

C.

the habit of spending it with the family

D.

all the above three

2.

The second paragraph describes the conditions ____________.

A.

before Christmas

B.

during Christmas

C.

after Christmas

D.

none of them

3.

The custom of giving presents to one’s family and friends is __________.

A.

a business activity

B.

an example of Christmas spirit

C.

a gift

D.

not a good activity

4.

“Without twentieth

-century means of transport many families would be denied the Christmas

reunion.” This means_____________.

A.

“transport is very important for families to get together”

B.

“transport is not important for that”

C.

“transport is not enough for that”

D.

“transport is very good for that”

5.

From the context in the last paragraph, we can know “turkey” is a kind of _______.

A.

dinner

B.

dish

C.

drink

D.

milk

6.

Boxing Day is the holiday on which ____________.

A.

people relax

B.

people make boxes

C.

people are very excited

D.

people eat too much

Passage Two

Some of the notebooks George Washington kept as a young man are still in existence. They

show that he was learning Latin, was very interested in the basic of good behavior in society and

was reading English literature.

At school he seems only to have been interested in mathematics. In fact his formal education

was surprisingly brief for a gentleman, and incomplete.

For

unlike

other

young

Virginian

gentlemen

of

that

day,

he

did

not

go

to

the

college

of

William

and

Mary

in

the

Virginian

capital

—

Williamsburg.

In

terms

of

formal

training

then,

Washington contrasted sharply with some other early American Presidents such as John Adams,

Thomas

Jefferson

and

James

Madison.

Washington

probably

regretted

his

lack

of

intellectual

training. He never felt comfortable in a debate in Congress, or no any subject that had not to do

with everyday practical matter. And because he never learned French and could not speak directly

to the French leaders, he didn’t visit the country h

e admired so much. Thus, unlike Jefferson and

Adams, he never reached Europe.

7.

What reason does the author give for Washington not going to college?

A.

His family could not afford it.

B.

A college education was rather uncommon in his time.

C.

He didn’t like the Virg

inian gentlemen who went to college.

D.

The author doesn’t give any reason.

8.

Washington felt uncomfortable in Congress debates because he _______.

A.

lacked practice in public speaking

B.

felt his education was inadequate

C.

didn’t like arguing and debating with people

D.

felt that the others were being impractical

9.

The reason why Washington didn’t visit France was probably he ________.

A.

didn’t really care about going

B.

didn’t know the French leaders

C.

could not communicate directly with the French people

D.

was too busy to travel

10.

According to the author, ____________.

A.

Washington was a model for all Virginian gentlemen

B.

Washington should have gone to France even though the couldn’t speak French

C.

Washington was not as good as a president as Adams, Jefferson or Madison

D.

Washington’s lack

of education placed him at a disadvantage in later life

Passage Three

Culture is one of the most challenging elements of the international marketplace. This system

of learned behavior patterns characteristic of the members of a given society is constantly shaped

by

a

set

of

dynamic

variables:

language,

religion,

values

and

attitudes,

manners

and

customs,

aesthetics, technology, education, and social institutions. To cope with this system, an international

manager

needs

both

factual

and

interpretive

knowledge

of

culture.

To

some

extent,

the

factual

knowledge can be learned; its interpretation comes only through experience.

The most complicated problems in dealing with the cultural environment stem from the fact

that one cannot learn culture- one has to live it. Two schools of thought exist in the business world

on how to deal with cultural diversity. One is that business is business the world around, following

the

model

of

Pepsi

and

McDonald’s.

In

some

cases,

globalization

is

a

fact

of

life;

however,

cultural differences are still far from converging.

The

other

school

proposes

that

companies

must

tailor

business

approaches

to

individual

cultures.

Setting

up

policies

and

procedures

in

each

country

has

been

compared

to

an

organ

transplant; the critical question centers around acceptance or rejection. The major challenge to the

international

manager

is

to

make

sure

that

rejection

is

not

a

result

of

cultural

myopia

or

even

blindness.

Fortune

examined

the

international

performance

of

a

dozen

large

companies

that

earn

20

percent or more of their revenue overseas. The internationally successful companies all share an

important quality: patience. They have not rushed into situations but rather built their operations

carefully

by

following

the

most

basic

business

principles.

These

principles

are

to

know

your

adversary, know your audience, and know your customer.

11.

According to the passage, which of the following is true?

A.

All international managers can learn culture.

B.

Business diversity is not necessary.

C.

Views differ on how to treat culture in business world.

D.

Most people do not know foreign culture well.

12.

According to the author, the model of Pepsi _____________.

A.

is in line with the theories of the school advocating the business is business the world

around

B.

is

different from the model of McDonald’s

C.

shows the reverse of globalization

D.

has converged cultural differences

13.

The two schools of thought_____________.

A.

both propose that companies should tailor business approaches to individual cultures

B.

both advocate that different policies be set up in different countries

C.

admit the existence of cultural diversity in business world

D.

Bothe A and B

14.

This article is supposed to be most useful for those ___________.

A.

who are interested in researching the topic of cultural diversity

B.

who have connections to more than one type of culture

C.

who want to travel abroad

D.

who want to run business on International Scale

15.

Successful international companies in the last paragraph refers to ___________.

A.

earn 20 percent or more of their revenue overseas

B.

all have the quality of patience

C.

will follow the overseas local cultures

D.

adopt the policy of internationalization

Passage Four

We have saved as a final set of emotions the two most important emotions pertaining to other

people: love and its opposite, hate. Love can be seen everywhere. Yet surprisingly, love has been

the subject of less scientific research than other emotions, such as anger and fear. The reason for

this

may

be

twofold.

First,

love

is

a

very

complex

emotion,

difficult

to

describe

and

measure.

Secondly,

unlike

many

extreme

emotions,

extreme

love

is

generally

not

a

problem;

thus

less

medical attention has been paid to it.

What

is

love?

This

is

a

complex

question

and

requires

a

complex

answer.

Love

is

and

enduring, strong, positive attraction and feeling for another person or thing. But it is more than

this. It also involves feelings of caring, protection, excitement, and tenderness. When two people

are in love, they feel drawn to one another, they greatly enjoy each other’s company; and

they may

be sexually attracted to one another.

Sometimes

it

is

easier to

think

in

terms

of

different

kinds of

love:

“puppy”

love,

romantic

love, brotherly love, and so forth. Though they differ in sonic respects, they share one important

characteristic: a strong positive feeling towards another.

Our feelings towards other people are often complex. We may love someone and at the same

time, be angry with him. Or we may love someone, even though we are jealous of him. We might

even love someone and, at the same time, hate him for some specific reason.

Hate is a strong negative emotion towards someone, and is due to anger, jealousy, or some

other factors. Like love, hate can be a very strong emotion. It can also be very dangerous. The

question

is

o

ften

asked,

“Is

it

bad

to

hate?”

The

best

answer

is

probably

sometimes

“Yes”

and

sometimes “No”. Usually hate does not help us; it makes us feel unhappy and makes us do things

that may hurt others. However, sometimes it may be necessary to hate and hurt someone in order

to protect loved ones.

16.

The phrase “pertaining to” in the first paragraph can best be replaced by __________.

A.

relating to

B.

belonging to

C.

appealing to

D.

preferring to

17.

According

to

the

passage,

the

emotion

of

love

has

been

medically

paid

less

attention

to

because ____________.

A.

it is too common to be talked about

B.

compared with other kinds of emotions, love is not so important

C.

the study of love needs great effort and advanced scientific research

D.

love is harmless and too complex for description