Our culture has caused most Americans to assume not only that our language is universal but that the gestures we use are understood by everyone. We do not realize that waving good-bye is the way to summon a person from the Philippines to one’s side, or that in Italy and some Latin-American countries, curling the finger to oneself is a sign of farewell. Those private citizens who sent packages to our troops occupying Germany after World War II and marked them GIFT to escape duty payments did not bother to find out that " Gift" means poison in German. Moreover, we like to think of ourselves as friendly, yet we prefer to be at least 3 feet or an arm’s length away from others. Latins and Middle Easterners like to come closer and touch, which makes Americans uncomfortable. Our linguistic and cultural blindness and the casualness with which we take notice of the developed tastes, gestures, customs and languages of other countries, are making us lose friends, business and respect in the world. Even here in the United States, we make few concessions to the needs of foreign visitors. There are no information signs in four languages on our public buildings or monuments; we do not have multilingual guided tours. Very few restaurant menus have translations, and multilingual waiters, bank clerks and policemen are rare. Our transportation systems have maps in English only and often we ourselves have difficulty understanding them. When we go abroad, we tend to cluster in hotels and restaurants where English is spoken. Then attitudes and information we pick up are conditioned by those natives—usually the richer—who speak English. Our business dealings, as well as the nation’s diplomacy, are conducted through interpreters. For many years, America and Americans could get by with cultural blindness and linguistic ignorance. After all America is the most powerful country of the free world, the distributor needed funds and goods. But all that is past. American dollars no longer buy all good things, and we are slowly beginning to realize that our proper role in the world is changing. A 1979 Harris poll reported that 55 percent of Americans want this country to play a more significant role in world affairs; we want to have a hand in the important decisions of the next century, even though it may not always be the upper hand. In countries other than their own most Americans______.
A. are isolated by the local people
B. are not well informed due to the language barrier
C. tend to get along well with the natives
D. need interpreters in hotels and restaurants
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There (1)_____ not one type of reading but several according to your reasons for reading. To read efficiently, you have to (2)_____ your reading speed and technique (3)_____ your aim (4)_____ reading. Skimming is a technique necessary for quick and efficient reading. When skimming, you (5)_____ the reading (6)_____ quickly in order to get the (7)_____ of it, to know how it is organized, (8)_____ an idea of the tone or the intention of the writer. Skimming is (9)_____ an activity which (10)_____ an overall view of the text and (11)_____ a definite reading competence. Skimming doesn"t need reading all the material, but it doesn"t mean that it is an (12)_____ skill for the lazy, because it need a high degree of alertness and concentration. When you read, you usually start with (13)_____ understanding and move towards detailed understanding rather than working the other way round. But (14)_____ is also used after you have already carefully studied and you need to (15)_____ the major ideas and concepts. In order to be able to skim quickly and (16)_____ through a text, you should know where to to6k for what you want. In preview skimming you read the introductory information, the headings and subheadings, and the summary, if one is provided. (17)_____ this skimming, decide whether to read the material more thoroughly, and select the appropriate speed (18)_____ to read. The same procedure (19)_____ for preview skimming could also be used to get an overview. Another method would be to read only key words. This is done by omitting the unnecessary words, phrases, and sentences. In order to skim efficiently and fulfill your purpose, (20)_____ practice is necessary.
A. reading
B. understanding
C. working
D. skimming
Historians have only recently begun to note the increase in demand for luxury goods and services that took place in 18th-century England. McKendrick has explored the Wedgwood firm’s remarkable success in marketing luxury pottery; Plumb has written about the proliferation of provincial theaters, musical festivals, and children’s toys and books. While the fact of this consumer revolution is hardly in doubt, three key questions remain: Who were the consumers What were their motives And what were the effects of the new demand for luxuries An answer to the first of these has been difficult to obtain. Although it has been possible to infer from the goods and services actually produced what manufactures and servicing trades thought their customers wanted, only a study of relevant personal documents written by actual consumers will provide a precise picture of who wanted what. We still need to know how large this consumer market was and how far down the social scale the consumer demand for luxury goods penetrated. With regard to this last question, we might note in passing that Thompson, while rightly restoring laboring people to the stage of 18th-century English history, has probably exaggerated the opposition of these people to the inroads of capitalist consumerism in general; for example, laboring people in eighteenth-century England readily shifted from home-brewed beer to standardized beer produced by huge, heavily capitalized urban breweries. To answer the question of why consumers became so eager to buy, some historians have pointed to the ability of manufacturers to advertise in a relatively uncensored press. This, however, hardly seems a sufficient answer. McKendrick favors a Veblen model of conspicuous consumption stimulated by competition for status. The "middling sort" bought goods and services because they wanted to follow fashions set by the rich. Again, we may wonder whether this explanation is sufficient. Do not people enjoy buying things as a form of self-gratification If so, consumerism could be seen as a product of the rise of new concepts of individualism and materialism(a preoccupation with or stress upon material rather than intellectual or spiritual things), but not necessarily of the frenzy for conspicuous competition. Finally, what were the consequences of this consumer demand for luxuries McKendrick claims that it goes a long way toward explaining the coming of the Industrial Revolution. But does it What, for example, does the production of high-quality pottery and toys have to do with the development of iron manufacture or textile mills It is perfectly possible to have the psychology and reality of a consumer society without a heavy industrial sector. That future exploration of these key questions is undoubtedly necessary should not, however, diminish the force of the conclusion of recent studies: the insatiable demand in eighteenth-century England for frivolous as well as useful goods and services foreshadows our own world. Which of the following items, if preserved from 18th-century England, would provide an example of the kind of documents mentioned in lines 3-4, Paragraph 2
A written agreement between a supplier of raw materials and a supplier of luxury goods.
B. A diary that mentions luxury goods and services purchased by its author.
C. A theater ticket stamped with the date and name of a particular play.
D. A payroll record from a company that produced luxury goods such as pottery.
Our culture has caused most Americans to assume not only that our language is universal but that the gestures we use are understood by everyone. We do not realize that waving good-bye is the way to summon a person from the Philippines to one’s side, or that in Italy and some Latin-American countries, curling the finger to oneself is a sign of farewell. Those private citizens who sent packages to our troops occupying Germany after World War II and marked them GIFT to escape duty payments did not bother to find out that " Gift" means poison in German. Moreover, we like to think of ourselves as friendly, yet we prefer to be at least 3 feet or an arm’s length away from others. Latins and Middle Easterners like to come closer and touch, which makes Americans uncomfortable. Our linguistic and cultural blindness and the casualness with which we take notice of the developed tastes, gestures, customs and languages of other countries, are making us lose friends, business and respect in the world. Even here in the United States, we make few concessions to the needs of foreign visitors. There are no information signs in four languages on our public buildings or monuments; we do not have multilingual guided tours. Very few restaurant menus have translations, and multilingual waiters, bank clerks and policemen are rare. Our transportation systems have maps in English only and often we ourselves have difficulty understanding them. When we go abroad, we tend to cluster in hotels and restaurants where English is spoken. Then attitudes and information we pick up are conditioned by those natives—usually the richer—who speak English. Our business dealings, as well as the nation’s diplomacy, are conducted through interpreters. For many years, America and Americans could get by with cultural blindness and linguistic ignorance. After all America is the most powerful country of the free world, the distributor needed funds and goods. But all that is past. American dollars no longer buy all good things, and we are slowly beginning to realize that our proper role in the world is changing. A 1979 Harris poll reported that 55 percent of Americans want this country to play a more significant role in world affairs; we want to have a hand in the important decisions of the next century, even though it may not always be the upper hand. It can be inferred that Americans being approached too closely by Middle Easterners would most probably______.
A. stand still
B. jump aside
C. step forward
D. draw back
The human ear contains the organ for hearing and the organ for balance. Both organs involve fluid-filled channels containing hair cells that produce electrochemical impulses when the hairs are stimulated by moving fluid. The ear can be divided into three regions: outer, middle, and inner. The outer ear collects sound waves and directs them to the eardrum separating the outer ear from the middle ear. The middle ear conducts sound vibrations through three small bones to the inner ear. The inner ear is a network of channels containing fluid that moves in response to sound or movement. To perform the function of hearing, the ear converts the energy of pressure waves moving through the air into nerve impulses that me brain perceives as sound. Vibrating objects, such as the vocal cords of a speaking person, create waves in me surrounding air. These waves cause the eardrum to vibrate with the same frequency. The three bones of the middle ear amplify and transmit the vibrations to the oval window, a membrane on the surface of the cochlea, the organ of hearing. Vibrations of me oval window produce pressure waves in the fluid inside me cochlea. Hair cells in the cochlea convert the energy of the vibrating fluid into impulses that travel along the auditory nerve to the brain. The organ for balance is also located in the inner ear. Sensations related to body position are generated much like sensations of sound. Hair cells in the inner ear respond to changes in head position with respect to gravity and movement. Gravity is always pulling down on the hairs, sending a constant series of impulses to the brain. When the position of the head changes—as when the head bends forward—the force on the hair cells changes its output of nerve impulses. The brain then interprets these changes to determine the head’s new position. It can be inferred from Paragraphs 2 and 3 that the cochlea is a part of______.
A. the outer ear
B. me eardrum
C. the middle ear
D. the inner ear