专题 10 英美文化阅读理解专项：星期五余13 伦敦塔守卫 美国税收-2024年高考英语常考英美文化阅读专练 素材积累.docx

1、24. Friday and the Thirteenth 星期五和13 Friday-the Thirteenth has long been considered extremely unlucky because it has some bad associations which came from mythology tale of the Bible, and the customs and habits. According to the Bible, the Lord God created the first man, Adam. Then he took a rib fro

2、m Adams body and out of it created the first woman, Eve. It was said that Adam was created on a Friday and it was on Friday that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, and on a Friday they died. Friday was also the common day in England for executing criminals , for which it was sometimes known as Ha

3、nging Day. From the old Norse myth people got the idea that 13 people sitting at a table to have a dinner was unlucky. And this superstition was confirmed by the last supper of Christ and his disciples. Bible tells us that Christ sat down with his 12 disciples, which made up the number 13, at the la

4、st supper when Judas, one of the 12 disciples , sold his master for thirty pieces of silver. Christ was killed by nailing on the cross the following day on a Friday. (193 words)Helper:association联系 mythology mildi神话 Biblebaibl圣经 Adam dm亚当rib肋骨 Eve i:v夏娃 forbidden fruit禁果 execute eksikju:t处死Hanging D

5、ay绞刑日 Norse mythmi挪威神话 superstition sju:pstin 迷信disciple disaipl门徒 Exercises:从所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳答案。1. People think Friday and the Thirteenth are unlucky days because _.A. the Bible persuades them to think soB. they draw the conclusion from countless factsC. they believe in the Bible and have some b

6、ad associationsD. Christ warned people of the days before he died2. The figure 13 was first considered unlucky_.A. before the last supper happened B. after the last supper happenedC. from the 16th century D. after Christ was killed3. From the passage we know people think it _that Adam and Eve ate th

7、e forbidden fruit.A. reasonable B. good C. bad D. naturalBrief Introduction:星期五和13历来被认为是非常不吉利的日子，这是从神话、圣经故事、风俗习惯产生的一些不好的联想而来的。据圣经上讲，上帝创造了第一个男人-亚当。然后，上帝从亚当身上取下一根肋骨又造了一个女人-夏娃。据说，亚当是在星期五被造出来的，他和夏娃吃禁果也在星期五，他俩死的日子也是星期五。 英国从前常常在星期五处死罪犯、因此星期五有时也叫绞刑日。从挪威神话中，人们产生一种想法：13个人坐在一起聚餐是不吉利的。这种迷信 被耶稣和其12个门徒的最后的晚餐加以证实

8、。圣经上说，在最后的晚餐上，耶稣 和他的12个门徒坐在一起，正好是13人。他的门徒之一- 犹大，为了三十个银币而出卖了自己的老师。第二天，耶稣便被钉死在十字架上，这天碰巧是星期五。 Keys and Explanations: 1-3 CAC1. 选C。从第一段it has some bad associations which came from mythology tale of the Bible, and the customs and habits.可知，这是人们从神话、圣经故事、风俗习惯产生的一些不好的联想而来的。2. 选A。从最后一段And this superstition w

9、as confirmed by the last supper of Christ and his disciples.可知，最后的晚餐只是使人们更加相信原来认为13不吉利这种观念。在这之前这种观念就已存在了。3. 选C。从文章所描述的来看，星期五之所以被认为不吉利是因为在这一天发生了一些不吉利的事，因此偷食禁果应该是不好的事情，他们也因此失去了乐园。25. Beefeaters 卫兵(伦敦塔的守卫人)The Yeoman Warders are a very select group of military guards, who are the ceremonial guardians o

10、f the Tower of London. They are nicknamed The Beefeaters, which probably originates from their food ration of meat, back in the 15th century. The Yeoman Warders have existed since 1485. Originally, the Beefeaters job was to guard the prisoners kept in the Tower and the Crown Jewels the valuable coll

11、ection of royal jewellery and regalia which includes the crowns worn by the monarch at their coronation.However, these days the Tower of London is a tourist attraction, not a working prison, and the Beefeaters are tour guides and a tourist attraction themselves.In order to become a Yeoman Warder, a

12、person must have retired after serving at least 22 years in the armed forces. They must also have achieved various military medals.The Beefeaters live in accommodation inside the Tower. They wear a special navy and red uniform which is valued at over 1000 (15,000RMB), and have another dress uniform

13、valued at over 3000 (45,000RMB) for special events involving the King or Queen.On 3rd September, the first female Beefeater took up her duties. Moira Cameron beat five male candidates for the job, which was awarded on merit. The Chief Yeoman Warder John Keohane said that this appointment reflected t

14、he important role of women in the armed forces these days.Moira said that she was used to working in a male-orientated environment after her 22 years in the forces. However, she admitted that the uniform large pockets are perfect for carrying a lipstick and mirror!As part of her training for the job

15、, she will learn all about the Tower of Londons 900-year history.She described becoming a Beefeater as “a great privilege” and “a wonderful job”. (294 words)Helper:select精选的 ceremonialserimunjl庆典的 guardians监护, 守卫 originates起源于 ration配给 regalia rigeilj (如王冠等)王位的标志 monarchmnk帝王,君主 coronationkrnei() n加

16、冕(仪式) warder监狱看守accommodation住宿，住处 candidates候选人, 报考者 awarded on merit择优录取male-orientated以男性为主的 privilege privilid特权 Brief Introduction:伦敦塔的守卫人都是从部队护卫队精挑出来的，是伦敦塔的礼兵。他们有着“吃牛肉者”的绰号，很可能来源于15世纪时的肉类定量配给。最初，伦敦塔卫兵的工作是看守犯人和王冠上的宝石-包括君主在加冕礼上戴的王冠等非常值钱的镶嵌有宝石和象征王位的东西。现在的伦敦塔的卫兵是作为导游或者本身就作为吸引游客的人。要成为伦敦塔卫兵，必须在军队服役至

17、少22年后退役，而且要获得各种各样的军章。伦敦塔的卫兵住宿在伦敦塔，他们穿着昂贵的特制海军蓝和红色的制服。9月3日，历史上第一位女性伦敦塔卫兵上岗了，莫伊拉在择优录取的过程中击败五位男性选手得到这份工作。卫队长说这次对莫伊拉的任用体现了当今女性在军队中的重要地位。莫伊拉说她在军队22年后，习惯于在以男性为主的环境下工作， 她承认制服的大口袋装口红和镜子很合适。她认为成为伦敦塔卫兵是特别待遇，是一种特权，是一份极好的的工作。 Exercises:1.From the text we know the Beefeaters used to _. A. eat only beef instead o

18、f other food B. show tourists around the London Tower C. watch over prisoners so as to prevent escape or violence D. wear crowns in the Tower2. The Tower of London is now used as _. A. a prison B. a palace C. a tourist attraction D. a food store3. The fact that Moira Cameron works as a Beefeater sho

19、ws that _. A. women are clever than men B. Fewer and fewer men want to be guards C. women guards are needed in London Tower D. women play a more and more role in the army4. The underlined sentence “However, she admitted that the uniform large pockets are perfect for carrying a lipstick and mirror!”

20、indicates that _.A. the uniform has large pocketsB. she is a female after all so she also loves beautyC. she doesnt like the uniform at all except its large pocketsD. as a guardian of the Tower of London she has to carry a lipstick and mirror5. Who is more likely to work as a guardian of the Tower o

21、f London this year? A. Peter: He has achieved many military medals and retired after serving the army for 24 years. B. Mary: She is serving in the army. She joined the army 22years ago and two years later she will leave the army.C. Smith: He gets various medals and he will retire from the army. D. R

22、ose: She is 22 years old and is serving the army. She also gets various medalsKeys and Explanations:1. 选C。细节理解题。根据第二段的第一句Originally, the Beefeaters job was to guard the prisoners kept in the Tower 可以看出C正确。D项本身错误，国王才能戴王冠；A说法太绝对，B是现在做的事情。2. 选C。细节理解题。根据第三段的首句these days the Tower of London is a tourist

23、attraction, not a working prison知道伦敦塔现在已经成为游览胜地。3. 选D。根据第六段最后一句The Chief Yeoman Warder John Keohane所说的话知道妇 女在武装力量中所起的作用越来越大。通过文章中所说的择优录用和她击败男对手得出B错误，但是不能就此推出女子比男子聪明，排除A。并没有证据表明伦敦塔需要一位女性做卫兵，排除C。4. 选B。推理判断题。该段前面说明她已经习惯于在以男性为主的地方工作，但是对于服装的大口袋她首先想到的是装口红和镜子很合适，这说明她和所有的女性一样爱美，这也是女人的天性，故选B。C、D本身不符合文章的意思，错误

24、；D符合文章是意思，是事实情况，但是并不是她所说话的真实意义，是表面意思，注意indicate的意思是“暗示”。5. 选A。细节理解题。实际本题也属于理解应用题，根据第四段可以看出要作为伦敦塔的典狱官需要符合下列条件：1）在军队服役至少22年后退役 2）要获得各样的勋章。Mary还在服役，Smith没有提供参军的时间，Rose的年龄才22，显然服役时间不够，因此只有A符合题意。26. Taxes, Taxes and More Taxes 美国的税收Americans often say that there are only two things a person can be sure o

25、f in life; death and taxes. Americans do not have a corner on the death market, but many people feel that the United States leads the world with the worst taxes. Taxes consist of the money which people pay to support their government. There are generally three levels of government in the United Stat

26、es: federal, state, and city; therefore, there are three types of taxes. Salaried people who earn more than a few thousand dollars must pay a certain percentage of their salaries to the federal government. The percentage varies from person to person. It depends on their salaries. The federal governm

27、ent has a graduated income tax, that is, the percentage of the tax (14 to 70 percent) increases as a persons income increases. With the high cost of taxes people are not very happy on April 15, when the federal taxes are due. The second tax is for the state government: New York, California, North Da

28、kota, or any of the other forty-seven states. Some states have an income tax similar to that of the federal government. Of course, the percentage for the state tax is lower. Other states have a sales tax, which is a percentage charged to any item which you buy in that state. For example, a person mi

29、ght want to buy a packet of cigarettes for twenty -five cents. If there is a sales tax of eight percent in that state, then the cost of the cigarettes is twenty -seven cents. This figure includes the sales tax. Some states use income tax in addition to sales tax to raise their revenues. The state ta

30、x laws are diverse and confusing. The third tax is for the city. This tax comes in two forms: property tax (people who own a home have to pay taxes on it) and excise tax, which is charged on cars in a city. The cities use these funds for education, police and fire departments, public works and munic

31、ipal buildings. Since Americans pay such high taxes, they often feel that they are working one day each week just to pay their taxes. People always complain about taxes. They often protest that the government uses their tax dollars in the wrong way. They say that it spends too much on useless and im

32、practical programs. Although Americans have different views on many issues, they tend to agree on one subject: taxes are too high. （426 words）Helper:federal 联邦 percentage百分数 graduate tax累进税 due应付的；到期的 charge 收费 item产品revenue revinju:收入 diverse 多样的 confusing 使人糊涂的property tax财产税 excise eksaiz tax国内货物

33、税 fund fnd资金municipal mju(:)nisipl市政的 have a corner on the market垄断（某种商品的市场）Brief Introduction:美国人常说有两件事情是确定的，一个是死亡，另一个是税收。在“死亡”上美国没有垄断，但是许多人认为美国用它最糟糕的税收领跑着世界。税收就是人们上缴给政府的那部分钱。美国通常分成联邦、州和城市三级，那么税收也就有三种。支领薪水人的收入达到几千就要向联邦交一定比例的税收，联邦税是累进税，就是薪水越高交的比例也就越高。4月15日是交联邦税的期限。州税收与联邦税比起来要少，有的州有销售税，有的有收入所得税。州税是多样

34、的。城市税有两种形式，财产税和国内货物税。由于要交这么高的税收，美国人常常感到他们每星期有一天是为交税而工作的，人们也总是抱怨税收。常会抗议政府乱用纳税人的钱。尽管他们在许多问题上意见不一致，但是对于税收太高这一点上倾向是一致的。 Exercises:从所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳答案。1. How do you understand the sentence Americans do not have a corner on the death market? A. It means that Americans, just like all other people, must

35、die. B. It means that Americans do not have a secret place to keep from death in their life. C. It means that Americans are not good at doing business in the death market. D. It means that there is no such place as a death market in the U. S.2. Why should the American people usually pay three types

36、of taxes? A. They earn different salaries: high, middle, and lowB. There are three kinds of taxes to pay, which are graduated income tax, sales tax and property tax. C. There are three levels of government -federal, state and city -to support the United States. D. Tax laws in different states are di

37、fferent. 3. What does the title Taxes, Taxes, and More Taxes imply? A. The three levels of government do not use the taxes in a right way.B. Americans are not satisfied with the three types of taxes. C. Americans think it their duty to pay to support their government.D. Americans taxes are diverse a

38、nd confusing.Keys and Explanations:1-3 ACB1. 选A。推理判断题。根据第一段的语境知道讲的是美国的税收政策问题，同时要理解短语have a corner on the market的意思是“垄断”，没有垄断“死亡”，如果垄断了别人就死不成了，所以强调在死亡上与别人一样，但是在税收上就不一样了。故选A。2. 选C。细节理解题。从第二段的第二句知道有三级政府，therefore后面表明结果，所以就有三种税收。故选C。无论收入高到多少，都需要交的联邦税、州税和城市税。3. 选B。推理判断题。从标题看出同一个Taxes出现三次，而且最后一个还用了more，所以看出是强调，作为标题已经不限于字面意思了。根据全文的叙述，结合作者的语气可以看出标题表现了人们对三级税收的不满意，尤其是文章的第一段中把tax与death对比，在最后一段调侃地说大家对于税收高这一事实的观点一致，一周有一天挣税收钱等都表达了人们的不满。