Most Americans would have a difficult time telling you, specifically, what the values are which Americans live by. They have never given the matter any thought.
Over the years I have introduced thousands of international visitors to life in the United States. This has caused me to try to look at Americans through the eyes of foreign visitors, I am confident that the values listed in this booklet describe most （but not all ）Americans, and that understanding these values can help you, the international visitor, understand Americans.
It is my belief that if foreign visitors really understand how deeply these 13 values are ingrained in Americans, they will then be able to understand 95% of American actions —actions which might otherwise appear “strange,”“ confusing,” or “unbelievable” when evaluated from the perspective （aspect） of the foreigner's own society and its values.
The different behaviors of a people or a culture make sense only when seen through the basic beliefs, assumptions and values of that particular group. When you encounter （meet） an action, or hear a statement in the United States which surprises you, try to see it as an expression of one or more of the values listed in this booklet.
小題1: An ordinary American can't tell you his / her value system because______.

A．this is something an American lives by

B．everyone will have his/her own system

C．he/she has never thought about it

D．values are something often in their thought

小題2: The author lists 13 values in his booklet to_____.

A．invite foreigners to visit America

B．look at Americans through the eyes of foreign visitors

C．describe the confusing actions of most Americans

D．help international visitors understand Americans

小題3:The underlined word “ingrained” in Line 2, Paragraph 3 most probably means ______.

A．rooted in the minds	B．found in the grains
C．planted for food	D．prepared with grain

小題4: Visitors sometimes find Americans behave in a strange, confusing or unbelievable way, probably because___.

A．Americans are hard to understand

B．Americans have values which are entirely different from their own

C．they view Americans according to the values in their own society

D．it is difficult to understand any people when you first encounter them

Argentina in the late nineteenth century was an exciting place. Around 1870, it was experiencing an economic(經(jīng)濟(jì)的)boom, and the capital, Buenos Aires, attracted many people. Farmers, as well as a flood of foreigners from Spain and Italy, came to Buenos Aires seeking jobs. These jobs didn′t pay well, and the people felt lonely and disappointed with their new life in the city. As the unhappy newcomers mixed together in the poor parts of the city, the dance known an the tango(探戈舞)came into being
At the beginning the tango was a dance of the lower classes. It was danced in the bars and streets. At that time there many fewer women than men, so if a man didn′t want to be left out, his only choice was to dance with another man so that he could attract the attention of the few available women. Gradually, the dance spread into the upper classes of Argentinean society and became more respectable.
In Europe at this time, strong interest in dance from around the world was beginning
The interest in international dance was especially evident in Paris. Every kind of dance from ballet(芭蕾舞)to belly dancing could be found on the stages of the Paris theaters of the Paris theaters. After tango dances from Argentina arrive in Europe, they began to draw the interest of the public an they performed their exiting dance in cafes, Though not everyone approved of the new dance, saying it was a little too shocking, the dance did find enough supporters to make it popular.
The popularity（流行）Of the tango continued to grow in many other parts of the world. Soldiers who returned to the United States from World War I brought the tango to North America, It reached Japan in 1926, and in 2003 the Argentinean embassy in Seoul hired a local tango dancer to act an a kind of dance ambassador, and promote tango dancing throughout South Korea.
小題1:The origin of the tango is associated with
A Belly dances B. American soldiers
C. Spanish city D. the capital of Argentina
小題2: Which of the following is true about the tango?

A．It was created by foreigners from Spain and Italy.

B．People of the upper classes loved the tango most

C．It was often danced by two male in the beginning

D．A dancer in Seoul became the Argentinean ambassador.

小題3:Before World War I, the tango spread to 

A．America	B．Japan
C．France	D．South Korea

小題4:What can be the best title for the text?

A．How to Dance the Tango	B．The History of the Tango
C．How to Promote the Tango	D．The Modern Tango Boom

No one knows for sure when advertising first started. It is possible that it grew out of the discovery that some people did certain kinds of work better than others did them. That led to the concept of specialization, which means that people would specialize, or focus, on doing one specific job.
Let’s take a man we’ll call Mr. Fielder, for example. He did everything connected with farming. He planted seeds, tended the fields, and harvested and sold his crops. At the same time, he did many other jobs on the farm. However, he didn’t make the bricks for his house, grind the wheat for his flour, or cut his trees into boards. He also did not make the plows(犁), the work boots, or any of the other hundreds of things a farm needs. Instead, he got them from people who specialized in doing each of those things.
Suppose there was another man we shall call Mr. Plowright. Using what he knew about farming and working with iron, Mr. Plowright invented a plow that made farming easier. Mr. Plowright did not really like farming himself and wanted to specialize in making really good  plows. Perhaps, he thought, other farmers will trade what they grow for one of my plows.
How did Mr. Plowright let people know what he was doing? Why, he advertised, of course. First he opened a shop and then he put up a sign outside the shop to attract customers. That sign may have been no more than a plow carved into a piece of wood and a simple arrow pointing to the shop door. It was probably all the information people needed to find Mr. Plowright and his really good plows.
Many historians believe that the first outdoor signs were used about five thousand years ago. Even before most people could read, they understood such signs. Shopkeepers would carve into stone, clay, or wood symbols for the products they had for sale.
A medium, in advertising talk, is the way you communicate your message. You might say that the first medium used in advertising was signs with symbols. The second medium was audio, or sound, although that term is not used exactly in the way we use it today. Originally, just the human voice and maybe some kind of simple instrument, such as a bell, were used to get people’s attention.
A crier, in the historical sense, is not someone who weeps easily. It is someone, probably a man, with a voice loud enough to be heard over the other noises of a city. In ancient Egypt, shopkeepers might hire such a person to spread the news about their products. Often this primitive form of advertising involved a newly arrived ship loaded with goods. Perhaps the crier described the goods, explained where they came from, and praised their quality. His job was, in other words, not too different from a TV or radio commercial in today’s world.
小題1:What probably led to the start of advertisement?

A．The discovery of iron.	B．The specialization of labor.
C．The appearance of new jobs.	D．The development of farming techniques.

小題2:To advertise his plows, Mr. Plowright__________.

A．praised his plows in public	B．placed a sign outside the shop
C．hung an arrow pointing to the shop	D．showed his products to the customers

小題3:The writer makes up the two stories of Mr. Fielder and Mr. Plowright in order to___________.

A．explain the origin of advertising	B．predict the future of advertising
C．expose problems in advertising	D．provide suggestions for advertising

小題4:In ancient Egypt, a crier was probably someone who_______________.

A．owned a ship

B．had the loudest voice

C．ran a shop selling goods to farmers

D．functioned like today’s TV or radio commercial

小題5:The last two paragraphs are mainly about_____________.

A．the history of advertising	B．the benefits of advertising
C．the early forms of advertising	D．the basic design of advertising

From the beginning of human history, wild animals provided food, clothing and sometimes medicine. We may not depend so much on wild animals now. But we hear about them every day. Americans use the names of animals in many ways. Automobile manufacturers (制造商) and gasoline companies especially like to use big cats to sell their products. They like lions, tigers and wildcats. When Americans say wildcat, they usually mean a lynx, an ocelot or a bobcat. All these cats attack quickly and fiercely. So wildcats represent something fast and fierce.
An early American use of the word wildcat was quite different. It was used to describe members of Congress who declared war on Britain in 1812. A magazine of that year said the wildcat congressmen went home. It said they were unable to face the responsibility of having involved their country in an unnecessary war.
Wildcat also has been used as a name for money. At that time, some states permitted banks to make their own money. One bank in the state of Michigan offered paper money with a picture of a wildcat on it. Some banks, however, did not have enough gold to support all the paper money they offered. So the money had little or no value. It was called a wildcat bill or a wildcat bank note.
The banks which offered this money were called wildcat banks. A newspaper of the time said those were the days of wildcat money. It said a man might be rich in the morning and poor by night.
Wildcat then was used for an oil well or gold mine that had almost no oil or gold in it. Dishonest developers would buy such property. Then they would sell it and leave town with the money. The buyers were left with worthless holes in the ground. Today, wildcat oil wells are in areas that are not known to have oil.
小題1:What is the main idea of the passage?

A．Wildcats and their stories.	B．Wildcats and their characters.
C．Varieties of animal species.	D．Relationship between animals and humans.

小題2:From the passage we can know that ______.

A．wildcats represent the state of Michigan.

B．the use of wildcats was not always the same

C．wildcats are the best friend of human beings

D．honest developers never buy wildcat oil wells

小題3:The underlined words “a lynx, an ocelot or a bobcat”in Paragraph 1 may refer to ______.

A．gasoline companies	B．a(chǎn)utomobile manufacturers
C．names of wildcats	D．brands of automobile

小題4:It can be inferred that during the days of wildcat money ______.

A．people couldn’t buy anything with the money

B．people didn’t know how to save money

C．the rich invested too much on oil wells

D．people complained and suffered a lot

The USA is a land of immigrants. Between 1815 and 1914, the world witnessed the greatest peaceful migration in its history: 35 million people, mostly Europeans, left their homelands to start new lives in America. Why did these people risk everything by leaving their homes and families?
First, what forced emigrants to make the decision to leave? One major cause for European farmers to leave was the rise in population which in turn led to land hunger. Another was politics. There was an increased taxation（稅收） and the growth of armies, and many young men fled eastern Europe to avoid being forced to join the army.
Physical hunger provided another pressing reason. Following the collapse （衰退）of the economy of southern Italy in the 1860s, hundreds of thousands decided to start a new life in America. Religion also encouraged millions to leave the Old World.
In short, people chose to leave their homes for social, economic and religious reasons. As a result, by 1890 among a total population of 63 million, there were more than nine million foreign-born Americans.
But what were the attractions? First of all, there was the promise of land which was so scarce in Europe. Next, factories were calling for workers, and pay conditions were much better than back home. Men were needed to open up the West and build the long railroads, and new towns needed settlers to live in and to develop business. There was the space for religious people to practice their faith in peace.
This immigration meant that by around the 1850s Americans of non-English had started to be more than those of English. As we know, there were losers. To start with, there were those unwilling immigrants, the slaves who had been used as a source of cheap labour. Nor should we forget the equally unlucky American Indians. By 1860 there were 27 million free whites, four million slaves and a mere 488,000 free blacks.
Nowadays, the USA is still seen by millions as the Promised Land. As always, it remains an attractive place to those who think it will offer them a second chance.
小題1:What is not the cause for people to leave their homeland?

A．The search for religious freedom.

B．The search for adventure.

C．Unwillingness to join the army.

D．Economics.

小題2:Why was life of the 19th Century European farmers difficult?

A．There was no land.

B．There was no peace.

C．The population had gone down.

D．There were too many of them.

小題3: Which of the following was not an attraction of the USA?

A．Employment	B．A healthy life
C．freedom of religion	D．Business opportunities

小題4:What is the topic of this passage?

A．The USA is still seen by millions as the Promised Land.

B．The USA is a land of immigrants.

C．Religion encouraged millions to leave the Old World.

D．About one-eighth of non-native born Americans live in the USA in 1890.

小題5: The American Indians __________.

A．were as fortunate as the slaves

B．were more unfortunate than the slaves

C．were the most unfortunate

D．were as unfortunate as the slaves

Surtsey Was born in  1963.  Scientists  saw the birth of this island.  It began at 7.30 a.m.  on 14th November. A fishing boat was near Iceland. The boat moved under the captain's (船長(zhǎng)) feet.He noticed a strange smell. He saw some black smoke. A volcano was breaking out. Red-hot rocks, fire and smoke were rushing up from the bottom of the sea. The island grew quickly. It was 10 meters high the next day and 60 meters high on 18th November. Scientists flew there to watch it. It was exciting. Smoke and fire were still rushing up. Pieces of red-hot rock were flying into the air and falling into the sea. The sea was boiling and there was a strange light in the sky.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Surtsey grew and grew. Then it stopped in June 1967. It was 175 metres high and 2 kilometres long. And life was already coming to Surtsey. Plants grew. Birds came Some scientists built a house. They want to learn about this young island. A new island is like a new world.
小題1: Surtsey is_______.

A．a(chǎn)n island not far from Iceland	B．a(chǎn) new volcano
C．a(chǎn) fishing boat	D．a(chǎn) place in Iceland

小題2: Scientists flew there_________.

A．to stop the birth of the island	B．to save the fishing boat
C．to learn about the island	D．to build a house

小題3: When did scientists fly to Surtsey?

A．Before the volcano broke out

B．As soon as the volcano broke out.

C．About four days after the volcano broke out

D．After the volcano stopped rushing up.

小題4:The best title of this article probably is______.

A．A New Island	B．The Birth of an Island
C．A New World	D．Scientists Discovered Surtsey

Say you are a 17th century construction worker who’s worked hard to build a splendid tower for the dead wife of your emperor.
Now say that the emperor orders your fingertips cut off so you can never build another one. Yes, this story is about the Taj Mahal, one of the most famous buildings in the world. And the tale behind the construction is just as impressive (令人贊嘆的) as the building itself.
First, there’s the emperor of northern India, Shah Jehan, also called the King of the World. In 1612, Shah Jehan married Mumtaz Mahal. Mad in love, they had 14 children over the next 20 years. But then sadness came. As Mumtaz was about to give birth to child number 14, she said she heard her unborn baby cry out. It was a sign of death. And as Mumtaz lay dying, she asked Jehan to build a lasting memorial (紀(jì)念物) to celebrate their love.
The heartbroken Jehan ordered his wife’s dying wish carried out, and more than 20,000 workers worked nearly 22 years to complete the construction. In 1653, Jehan placed Mumtaz’s remains under the center of the building.
Later, son number five, Aurangzeb, murdered his brothers and took over the power from his aging father. Jehan lived the rest of his days, eight years, imprisoned not far from the Taj Mahal. Jehan was only allowed to climb onto the top of his prison to see the timeless treasure from a distance. But never again would he be allowed to visit it until he was buried next to his wife.
Today 25,000 people visit the Taj Mahal each day. Though the reason for building the tower was a strange and sad story, people who see its breath-taking beauty are reminded of the happiness that inspired its construction.
小題1:The first two paragraphs were written mainly to show that ______.

A．the Taj Mahal is an unusual historic building

B．India has some of the most famous buildings in the world

C．a(chǎn)ncient Indian emperors were cruel

D．construction workers led a hard life in ancient India

小題2:The Taj Mahal was first built as ______.

A．a(chǎn) memorial building	B．a(chǎn) tourist attraction
C．a(chǎn) prison	D．a(chǎn) gift to Mumtaz

小題3:From the passage we can learn that Mumtaz probably died in ______.

A．1626

B．1653

C．1632

D．1634

小題4:The underlined word “happiness” in the last paragraph refers to “______”.

A．the happiness Jehan felt on completing the Taj Mahal

B．the pleasure tourists experience when visiting the Taj Mahal

C．the married happiness of the emperor and his wife

D．the great pleasure Jehan once found in exercising his power

Benin is one of the smallest African states. It lies in West Africa on the Gulf (海灣) of Guinea, to the south of Burkina Faso and Niger, between Togo on the west and Nigeria on the east.
Benin used to be called Dahomey and was controlled and ruled by France from 1893 to 1960, when it became independent. In 1963 the army general Soglo overthrew (推翻) the first president Maga. Soglo set up an army government and called himself head of state in 1965, but was overthrown and replaced by a civilian (非軍人) government in 1967. In December 1969 Benin had another change of power with the army again taking over. In May 1970, Maga and two other men set up a new government, with each of them acting as president in turn for two years. However, half a year after Maga turned over power to the second man Ahomadegbe, the three-man government was overthrown by the army once more and General Kerekou became president. In November 1975 Kerekou changed the name of the nation from Dahomey to Benin, Benin being the name of a 17th century kingdom covering the same place. Kerekou also announced that Benin would be a People’s Republic based on Marxism-Leninism.
小題1:Which of the following maps shows rightly the positions of Benin and its neighbouring countries?

Bn="Benin;"
Tg="Togo;"
Nr="Niger;"
BF="Burkina" Faso;
Na="Nigeria;"
GG="Gulf" of Guinea
小題2:For how long was Benin an independent state before it became a People’s Republic?

A．30 years.

B．25 years.

C．20 years.

D．15 years.

小題3:Choose the right order in which the following people ruled in Benin. (Ah="Ahomadegbe;" Ke="Kerekou;" Ma="Maga;" So=Soglo)

A．Ma, So, Ma, Ke, Ah

B．So, Ma, Ah, Ma, Ke

C．Ma, So, Ma, Ah, Ke

D．So, Ma, Ke, Ma, Ah

小題4:When and how did Benin get its two names — Benin and Dahomey?

A．Benin was its oldest name. The name Dahomey was used later, but has been replaced by Benin again.

B．Dahomey was its oldest name, but it has been replaced by Benin.

C．Dahomey was its oldest name. The name Benin was used later, but has been replaced by Dahomey again.

D．Benin was its oldest name, but it has been replaced by Dahomey.

Ireland has had a very difficult history. The problems started in the 16th century when English ruler tried to conquer Ireland. For hundreds of years, the Irish people fought against the English, Finally, in 1921, the British government was forced to give independence to the south of Ireland. The result is that today there are two "Irelands". Northern Ireland, in the north, is part of the United Kingdom. The Republic of Ireland, in the south, is an independent country.
In the 1840s the main crop, potatoes, was affected by disease and about 750,000 people died of hunger. This, and a shortage (短缺) of work, forced many people to leave Ireland and live in the USA, the UK, Australia and Canada. As a result of these problems, the population fell from 8.2 million in 1841 to 6.6 million in 1851.
For many years, the majority of Irish people earned their living as farmers. Today, many people will work on the land but more and more people are moving to the cities to work in factories and offices. Life in the cities is very different from life in the countryside, where things move at a quieter and slower pace.
The Irish are famous for being warm-hearted and friendly. Oscar Wilde, a famous Irish writer, once said that the Irish were "the greatest talkers since the Creeks". Since independence, Ireland has revived (復(fù)興) its own culture of music, language, literature and singing. Different areas have different styles of old Irish songs which are sung without instruments. Other kinds of Irish music use many different instruments such as the violin, whistles, etc.
小題1:What does the author tell us in paragraph 1?

A．How the Irish fought against the English.

B．How Ireland gained independence.

C．How English rulers tried to conquer Ireland.

D．How two “Irelands” came into being.

小題2:We learn from the text that in Ireland________.

A．food shortages in the 1840s led to a decline in population

B．people are moving to the cities for lack of work in the countryside

C．it is harder to make a living as a farmer than as a factory worker

D．different kinds of old Irish songs are all sung with instruments

小題3:The last paragraph is mainly about________.

A．the Irish character	B．Irish culture
C．Irish musical instruments	D．a(chǎn) famous Irish writer

小題4:What can be the best title for the text?

A．Life in Ireland	B．A very difficult history
C．Ireland, past and present	D．the independence of Ireland

Americans consider baseball as an American sport. They often refer to something being “as American as baseball and apple pie”. But is baseball really an American sport? And what are origins of baseball anyway?
The American game of baseball more than likely came from several European ball games. Russia had an early form of baseball and so did Germany and Romania. People in England played a game called “stool ball”. In this game, the pitcher(投手)tried to hit a stool(凳子)or chair with a ball and the batter(擊球手)used a stick to keep the ball away. But American baseball was most likely based on another English game, which is called “rounders”. Players use a soft ball rater than a hard ball while playing rounders.
So when was the first real game of “baseball” played? It seems that it took place in the 1840s. The father of baseball was Alexander Cartwright, who organized a baseball club in New York. Cartwright developed 20 rules that distinguished baseball from previous ball games.
In 1858, the first organized baseball league—the National Association of Baseball players—was formed. This league began charging fans to watch the games. However, the players were all amateurs and did not get paid . In 1869, the Cincinnati Red Stockings began to pay their players. Since they could hire the best players, Cincinnati won 57 games and lost none in their first season. As a result, other teams decided to hire players too. By 1871, the National Association was the first professional baseball league.
Today baseball is liked very much in America. Top professional baseball players earn millions of dollars each year. There are two professional leagues—the National League and the American League. The best teams from these two leagues compete for the baseball championship every year.
小題1:81.What do Americans think of baseball? (No more than 3 words)2’
小題2:82. Why was Alexander Cartwright called “the father of baseball ”?(No more than 16 words).3’
小題3:83. Where did the American baseball most probably come from?(No more than 5 words).2’
小題4:84.What does the passage mainly talk about?(No more than 5 words).3’