专题 15 英美文化阅读理解专项：美国人的独立观 美国人眼神交流 美式友谊-2024年高考英语常考英美文化阅读专练 素材积累.docx

1、5. Independence in America美国人的独立观I had my first job at the age of thirteen, when a friend of my mothers who owned a bookshop hired me for six hours a week to help her in the shop. I was very proud to earn my own pocket money and my parents never interfered with how I spent it, even when I was spendi

2、ng it foolishly. They believed that by earning money, spending it, and learning from my mistakes, I would become more mature and responsible about how to handle work, relationships with others, and money.Like many American parents, my parents also let me and my brothers do things over which they wor

3、ried a great deal. When I was sixteen, for example, after I finished high school and before I entered university, I wanted to spend the summer months traveling around Europe. My mother was against the idea of my traveling alone at such a young age, but my father felt that it would be a great experie

4、nce for me. In the end, my father won the argument on the condition that I limited my traveling to France, my mothers home, where I had many uncles, aunts and cousins spread out through the country who could provide shelter and help if I needed it. Three years later when he was eighteen, my younger

5、brother decided to take a year off after his first year in university and travel through the United States and the Caribbean. Again my mother was very worried and not eager to see my brother leave school, but my father encouraged my brother had a fascinating year working his way on trains and ships

6、to earn money to different ports and cities, and discovering many fascinating places and people.These kinds of experiences are probably rare for children in many countries but in the US they are fairly common. Most parents start pushing their children at a young age to do small things by themselves.

7、 By the time they have finished high school, many American kids have already had part-time jobs, traveled around the US or other countries on their own, have selected the university they plan to attend and maybe even decided on their future career, and so on. (368 words) Helper:pocket money零花钱 inter

8、fereintfi干涉 handlehndl处理 shelterelt遮蔽处 Caribbean kribi(:)n加勒比海 fascinating fsineiti迷人的rare罕见的, 珍贵的 career生涯, 职业, 事业Brief Introduction:13岁自己去挣零花钱，16岁独自环游欧洲，这些在我们的眼中看来似乎不可思议的事情，对美国人来说却是司空见惯的。在美国，父母极少勉强孩子去做什么，而是按照孩子的年龄特点，引导他们去做应该做的事情。孩子从小就被当作一个独立的人看待。当和孩子的意见相左时，美国的父母一般不会急于说“不”。孩子提出要做什么，家长即使不赞同，也会尽可能满足孩

9、子的愿望，让孩子在实践中懂得那些该做、可做或是相反。美国的大多数的孩子很小的时候就被鼓励自己去做力所能及的事情。到了高中毕业时，很多美国孩子已经做过一些兼职工作，有些已独自游遍全美或他国，或是已选好了将来要上的大学，甚至于已决定了自己将来要从事的职业。 Exercises:从所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳答案。1. Why did the writers parents allow their children to do what they want? A. Because they thought that their children would become braver. B

10、. Because they believed that their children would earn some pocket money. C. Because they thought that their children would find a job easily. D. Because they thought that it would bring good to their childrens future.2. What does the writer think of his brothers travel? A. He thought his brother ga

11、ined valuable experiences during the travel. B. He thought his brother earned a lot of money by working. C. He thought his brother didnt disappoint his father. D. He thought his brothers travel was better than his to France.3. Which of the following statements is TRUE? A. The writer went to France i

12、n order to see his relatives. B. The writers mother managed to encourage the children to do what she thought might be dangerous. C. The writers brother gave up his university to travel through the USA and the Caribbean. D. American kids do things by themselves to make preparations for the future wit

13、h the encouragement of their parents.4. The topic of the passage probably is “_”. A. Part-time Jobs B. Independence C. Pocket Money D. ExperiencesKeys and Explanations: 1-4 DADB1. 选D。细节推断题。从第一段的最后一句可以看出作者的父母允许孩子们做他们想做的事情是因为这样会有利于孩子未来的发展。2. 选A。推理判断题。第三段最后一句描述了父亲鼓励作者的弟弟到各个地方去从事不同的工作，由此可推断出作者认为弟弟在旅途中获得

14、了宝贵的经历。3. 选D。细节理解题。依照最后一段的后两句可以得出此题答案，而A、B、C三项均与文中所述不相一致4. 选 B。主旨大意题。整篇文章谈的主要是关于美国人的独立观念的问题，因而答案应是B。36. American Eye contract美国人的眼睛交流Americans are careful about how and when they meet each others eyes. In their normal conversation, each eye contact lasts only about a second before one or both indivi

15、duals look away. When two Americans look searchingly into each others eyes, emotions are heightened and the relationship becomes more intimate. Therefore, they carefully avoid this, except in appropriate circumstances.Good street manners in the United States require a nice balance of attention and i

16、nattention. You are supposed to look at a passerby just enough to show that youre aware of his presence. If you look too little, it seems that you look down upon someone or cover up something; too much and youre curious. Usually what happens is that people eye each other until they are about eight f

17、eet apart. In England the polite listener stares at the speaker attentively and blinks his eyes occasionally as a sign of interest. That eye-blink says nothing to Americans, who expect the listener to nod or to murmur something-such as mm-hum.Americans abroad sometimes find local eye behaviors hard

18、to understand. Such words can often be heard: People there were disturbing. They stared right at me on the street; they looked me up and down. I kept wondering if I had something wrong. They dont know that people in some places think nothing of staring at others on the street. (227 words)Helper:cont

19、act 接触 intimate 亲密的 appropriate适当的blinks 眨眼 murmur低声说Brief Introduction:美国人对于怎样及何时进行目光接触是很在意的。一般情况下，交谈的双方每一次的目光接触的持续时间仅有一秒钟。如果两个美国人以探究式的眼神注视着对方，其感情便会升温，关系也会变得更加亲密。当你在美国的大街上与人相遇时，礼貌的行为准则要求你必须把握好注意与不注意之间的平衡。看一个过路人的时间长短的掌握应以能表明你已意识到对方的出现为准时间过短会让人觉得你目中无人或有所遮掩，时间太长则显得你过于好奇。通常美国人看着对方直到彼此相距约8英尺（约2.5米）时即会垂下

20、眼帘。出国在外的美国人有时发现很难理解当地人的眼神。他们常常抱怨当地人在大街上盯着他们看；而对于有些地方的人来说，在大街上盯着别人看并没有什么不妥之处。 Exercises:从所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳答案。1. When two Americans are talking together, they usually _. A. look at each others eyes all the time B. avoid eye contactC. look at each others eyes for a short time now and then D. look sea

21、rchingly into each others eyes2. The underlined word “this” in paragraph 1 refers to _. A. eye contact B. looking searchingly into each others eyes C. making emotions heightened D. more intimate relationship3. On the street in the US, a person who _is considered polite. A. glimpses at a passerby ver

22、y quickly B. does not look at any passerby C. stares right at a passerby D. look at a passerby until about eight feet apart4. When you are listening to an American, youd better _. A. nod or murmur something like “mm-hum” B. blink your eyes and smile C. stare at the speaker attentively D. look at the

23、 speaker up and down5. The fact that Americans abroad complain they were stared right at by the local people on the street suggests that _. A. the local people are not careful about good street manners B. the local people have no idea about the balance of attention and inattention C. the local peopl

24、e are too curious and disturbing D. the local people dont know the difference between Americans proper eye contact and theirsKeys and Explanations: 1-5 CBDAD1. 选C。细节理解题。由第一段中的“In their normal conversation, each eye contact (接触) lasts only about a second before one or both individuals look away.”可以得出

25、答案。2. 选B。词义理解题。“this”之前有动词“avoid“”, 再根据前一句话的内容可推出“this”指的就是“两个人以探究式的眼神注视着对方”。3. 选D。细节推断题。第二段的前四句话在美国的大街上的怎样的目光才是有礼貌的，文中所谈的准则中有这样一句“Usually what happens is that people eye each other until they are about eight feet apart”，与D项的意思比较接近，因此可知答案就是D。4. 选A。细节理解题。依据第二段最后一句可知答案。5. 选D。推理判断题。最后一段提到有些去过国外的美国人抱怨当地

26、人老是盯着他们看，这主要是文化差异造成的当地人不懂得美国人的眼睛行为。7. Friendship 美式友谊Steve and Yaser first met in their chemistry class at an American university. Yaser was an inter-national student from Jordan. He was excited to get to know an American. He wanted to learn more about American culture. Yaser hoped that he and Steve

27、 would become good friends. At first, Steve seemed very friendly. He always greeted Yaser warmly before class. Sometimes he offered to study with Yaser. He even invited Yaser to eat lunch with him. But after the semester was over, Steve seemed more distant. The two former classmates didnt see each o

28、ther very much at school. One day Yaser decided to call Steve. Steve didnt seem very interested in talking to him. Yaser was hurt by Steves change of attitude. Steve said we were friends, Yaser complained. And I thought friends were friends forever.Yaser is a little confused. He is an outsider to Am

29、erican culture. He doesnt understand the way Americans view friendship. Americans use the word friend in a very general way. They may call both casual acquaintances and close companions friends. Americans have school friends, work friends, sports friends and neighborhood friends. These friendships a

30、re based on common interests. When the shared activity ends, the friendship may fade. Now Steve and Yaser are no longer classmates. Their friendship has changed. In some cultures friendship means a strong life-long bond between two people. In these cultures friendships develop slowly, since they are

31、 built to last. American society is one of rapid change. Studies show that one out of five American families moves every year. American friendships develop quickly, and they may change just as quickly. (269 words)Helper:Jordan d:dn 约旦 semester学期 complain抱怨 confused困惑的 outsider局外人，外行 acquaintancekwei

32、ntns相识，熟人 fade消失 bond连接，粘合 Exercises:从所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳答案。1. Steve is _.A. from Jordan B. an inter-national studentC. an American university student D. Yasers classmate for four years2. When they were classmates, _.A. Steve was always very friendly to YaserB. Steve seemed cool toward YaserC. at fi

33、rst, Steve was very friendly to YaserD. they didnt get along well with each other3. Yaser is a little confused, because _.A. he is an outsider to American cultureB. he doesnt understand the way Steve treats himC. he cant believe Steve is so dishonestD. he cant believe Steve hurts him on purpose4. Am

34、erican friendships mean _.A. no real friends B. friends are friends foreverC. friends have common interestsD. friendships develop slowly, and they may change just as slowly5. From the friendship between Steve and Yaser, we know that _. A. Americans dont treat friends sincerely B. Americans look down

35、 upon foreigners C. Steve has never valued their friendshipD. Steve and Yaser have different understanding about friendshipBrief Introduction:史帝夫和亚瑟最初是在一所美国大学的化学课上认识的。亚瑟是从约旦来的国际学生。他很兴奋能够认识美国人，他要更多学习美国文化；亚瑟希望他和史帝夫会成为好朋友。刚开始史帝夫似乎非常友善，上课前他总是热情地和亚瑟打招呼，有时他和亚瑟一起读书；他甚至邀请亚瑟一起共进午餐。但是学期结束后，史帝夫似乎较冷淡了，这两个以前的同学在

36、学校不常碰面了。有一天，亚瑟决定打电话给史帝夫，史帝夫似乎没有兴趣和他讲话，对于史帝夫态度的改变，亚瑟感觉受到伤害。“史帝夫曾说我们是朋友，”亚瑟抱怨，“而且我认为一朝是朋友就永远是朋友。”亚瑟有点困惑了，对于美国文化，他是个局外人（外行）。他不了解美国人对友谊的看法。美国人把“朋友”这个字用得非常广泛，一般的泛泛之交和亲密伙伴都算是朋友。美国人的朋友包含有学校的朋友、工作的朋友、运动的朋友或是街坊邻居。这些友谊都是建立在共同的兴趣上，当共同从事的活动结束时，友谊也可能跟着消失了。现在，史帝夫和亚瑟不再是同学，他们的“友谊”也就改变了在一些文化里，友谊意味着两人之间一种强烈的，一世之久的情感。

37、在这些文化里，友谊发展得慢，因为要持久。但美国是个急速变迁的社会，有些研究发现每年每五个美国家庭之中，就有一个家庭搬家。美国人的友谊建立得快，但也可能改变得快。Keys and Explanations: 1-5 CABCD1. 选C。A与B都是Yaser的情况，而D只同学一学期而不是四年。2. 选A。本题的关键是注意条件When they were classmates“他们同学期间”，同学时他们一直很友好，Steve态度的改变是从不是同学开始的。3. 选B。从第三段第三句He doesnt understand the way Americans view friendship. 可知他对美国人的对待友谊的观点不理解，Steve 正是美国人的一个典型代表，故B项正确。4. 选C。从倒数第二段These friendships are based on common interests.可得出答案。5. 选D。最后两段对美国及其它不同文化背景下人们的友谊观的分析说明不同的民族间对友谊的理解存在差异。