Question

Sometimes it is difficult to talk to taxi drivers. They must give all their attention to the road as they work out the shortest way to the place where you are going. However, passengers from Wangfujing were in surprise when they took a taxi. The driver just would not stop talking - in English.

Organized by the Cultural and Education Section of the British Embassy, “Dare to Speak” examines if Chinese people will speak English in “real-life” situations.

Matthew Knowles, an acting student from South Carolina at Beijing Film Academy, acted the part as the “driver”. He collected six passengers on Saturday morning, most of whom were female white-collar （白領(lǐng)）workers.

“Of course they were surprised at first, wondering why I’m driving a taxi, and wondering whether this is a real taxi, but then most of them were pretty willing to speak,” he said. Knowles said he was also surprised by his “passengers”. “Apart from my first ‘passenger’, who could speak very little English, all the rest spoke English very well, and it was fun to communicate with them,” he said, adding that some “passengers” were quite talkative.

The “foreign taxi driver” project was just one of the “Dare to Speak” activities, which have been going on since the end of October. Other projects included a foreign store owner near a high school in Beijing, a cook in a Shanghai university canteen. They were testing the willingness of Chinese people, especially students and white-collar workers, to speak to foreigners in English.

Rong Xin, senior manager of IELTS （雅思） with the British Embassy, said they hoped to let IELTS takers in China know that communication is the ultimate goal of IELTS.

“We hope that more and more IELTS takers in China can realize the importance of communicating in English in real life, instead of just getting high test scores,” she said.

1.Why did Matthew Knowles drive a taxi?

A．He took part in the project “Dear to speak”

B．He played the role of a taxi driver in a film.

C．He enjoyed chatting with people in English.

D．He wanted to improve his Chinese while driving.

2.The Chinese may meet and talk to _______ in “Dear to speak” projects.

A．a(chǎn) white-collar worker B．a(chǎn) foreign store owner

C．a(chǎn) restaurant manager D．a(chǎn) high school student

3.The underlined word ultimate is closest in meaning to ________.

A．most difficult B．most common

C．most famous D．most important

4.The purpose of the project “Dear to Speak” is to _______ .

A．a(chǎn)ttract more foreigners to start business in China

B．draw Chinese people’s attention to IELT

C．remind language learners of the goal of learning

D．give more chances for English learners in China

Answer 1

1.A

2.B

3.D

4.C

【解析】

試題分析：本文主要介紹了一個(gè)由英國駐華大使館的文化與教育部門所開展的活動：敢于說英語。該活動的目的時(shí)告訴人們學(xué)語言的目的就是去交流。

1.Organized by the Cultural and Education Section of the British Embassy, “Dare to Speak” examines if Chinese people will speak English in “real-life” situations.

Matthew Knowles, an acting student from South Carolina at Beijing Film Academy, acted the part as the “driver”.可知Matthew 開出租車是因?yàn)樗麉⑴c了這項(xiàng)活動，扮演司機(jī)這角色。故選擇A。

2.細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第五段的Other projects included a foreign store owner near a high school in Beijing,可知在北京一所高中旁的一個(gè)外國老板也參與了，也就是說中國人也有可能和他交流。故選擇B。

3.詞義猜測題。根據(jù)最后一段的內(nèi)容可知，學(xué)習(xí)語言的最終目的是為了交流。以及最后一段的the importance of communicating in English in real life可知這里所說的是交流的重要性，也就是說交流是重要的。故選擇D。

4.主旨大意題。根據(jù)第二段的“Dare to Speak” examines if Chinese people will speak English in “real-life” situations.以及最后一段的呼應(yīng)，可知該活動的目的時(shí)提醒語言學(xué)習(xí)者學(xué)習(xí)語言的目的是運(yùn)用到生活中去。故選擇C。

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