毛额市鹌鹑阳光实验学校高考英语专题总复习精选荟萃阅读理解系列（二）
Passage 1
The way we do things round here
Some years ago, I was hired by an American bank. I received a letter from the head of the Personnel Department that started, “Dear John, I am quite plead that you have decided to join us.” That “quite” saddened me. I thought he was saying “we're kind of plead you decided to join us although I wish we had hired someone el”. Then I discovered that in American English “quite” sometimes means “very”， while in British English it means “fairly”.
So the first lesson about working in other countries is to learn the language and by that I don't just mean the words 享受的近义词
people speak. It is body language, dress, manners, ideas and so on. The way people do things highlights many of the differences we e between cultures (文化).
Some of the differences may be only on the surface—dress, food and hours of work—while others may be deeper and take longer to deal with. Mostly, it is just a question of getting ud to the differences and accepting them, like the climate (气候), while getting on with business.
Some of the differences may be an improvement. People are more polite; the rvice is better; you ask for something to be done and it happens without having to ask again. However, other differences can be troubling, like punctuality (准时). If you invite people to a party at 7 o'clock your guests will consider it polite to turn up exactly on time in Germany, five minutes early in the American Midwest, an hour early in Japan, 15 minutes afterwards in the UK, up to an hour afterwards in Italy and some time in the evening in Greece. I prefer not to u the word “late” becau there is nothing wrong with the times people arrive. It is simply the accepted thing to do in their own country.
1. The author was unhappy as mentioned in Paragraph 1 becau he thought________.
A．the American bank didn't think much of him
B．the American bank might hire another person
C．it's difficult to get ud to American culture
D．it's easy to misunderstand Americans
2. The word “highlights” in Paragraph 2 probably means________.
A．encourages B．helps to narrow
C．increas D．draws attention to
3. According to the author, what should we do with most cultural differences?
A．Ask the native people for help.
B．Understand and accept them.
C．Do things in our own way.
D．Do indepth rearch.
4. When invited to a party the people who are usually punctual are________.
A．Italians B．Germans
C．Greeks D．the British
【语篇解读】本文是说明文。文章通过对比英美文化的不同，介绍了我们做事方式的差异。
1．A 细节理解题。从第一句That “quite” saddened me.可知作者认为这家银行不器重他，因此不高兴。
2．D 词义猜测题。根据第二段可知，我们说话和做事，都应该注意文化差异性。many of the differences we e between cultures就是我们应该注意的内容，所以highlight本意为“强调”，此处为“注意”。
3．B 推理判断题。根据文章第三段Mostly, it is just a question of getting ud to the differences and accepting them, like the climate, while getting on with business. 可知，适应文化差异就像在外出差适应当地气候一样，要学会适应和接受，故选B。
4．B 细节理解题。根据第四段If you invite people to a party at 7 o'clock your guests will consider it polite to turn up exactly on time 可知。
Passage 2
Ever since they were first put on the market in the early 1990s, genetically mondified (GM, 转基因) foods have been increasingly developed and marketed in many countries in the world, mainly on the basis of their promi to end the worldwide food crisis. But can GM technology solve world hunger problems? Even if it would, is it the best solution?
Despite what it promis, GM technology actually has not incread the production potential of any crop. In fact studies show that the most widely grown GM crop, GM soybeans, has suffered reduced productivity. For instance, a report that analyd nearly two decades of rearch on major GM food crops shows that GM engineering has failed to significantly increa US crop production.
Something el, however, has been on the ri. While GM eds are expensive, GM com
panies tell farmers that they will make good profits by saving money on pesticides (杀虫剂). On the contrary, US government data show that GM crops in the US have produced an overall increa in pesticide u compared to traditional crops. “The promi was that you could u less chemicals and boost production. But neither is true，” said Bill Christison, President of the US National Farm Coalition.
At the same time, the authors of the book World Hunger: Twelve Myths argue that there actually is more than enough food in the world and that the hunger crisis is not caud by production, but by problems in food distribution and politics. The indeed derve our efforts and money. Meanwhile, the ri in food prices results from the incread u of crops for fuel rather than food, according to a 2008 World Bank report.
