Most people who travel from China to the US find that，despite having studied English for years，they have to “re—learn” it upon arriving．

    Words that we learned in English classes are not pronounced the same way here．To truly be part of the “melting pot”，fluency（流利）in English is not enough．You need an accent to stand out．

    When I first came to the US for graduate school，1 was a nervous foreigner．I felt so out of place that I wanted to hide everything about me that was “different”．To talk like an American became one of my goals．

    During my first term as a teaching assistant(TA)，my students complained（抱怨） they could not understand me．I learned later from a study that this complaint was common among US students with an international TA．It is called the “Oh, no!” syndrome (情緒、舉動(dòng))：“Oh，no! Not another international TA，and not that accent again!’’

   So I imitated（模仿）the way native speakers talk and，over time，I made such good progress that American friends started to praise my English as having “almost no accent’’．I took this as a sign of my success．Ever since．people have often mistaken me for someone from many places：the Midwest，the West Coast，China，Japan，South Korea．Most frequently，people think I am from California．

    Suddenly，conformity (一致) was no longer a praise：If I talk like an American，am I still Chinese? If I lose my Chinese accent，do I also lose my cultural identity? Am I denying（否認(rèn)）my past by being absorbed into（沉浸于）a new culture?

    Now I realize that a person’s accent is a permanent（永久的）record of their past cultural experience and it is a mark of one’s experience and exposure to different cultures．

As a fourth-year student in the US，I am no longer a nervous foreigner．My nervousness has been replaced by a desire to hold on to my cultural origins．Now I consciously（有意識(shí)地）add some Chinese “accent” when I speak．I do not wish to speak “perfect” English because I am proud of who I am．

 

 

My Feeling of Speaking English in America

Time

Supporting details

At the (71) ______

I have to relearn English (72) ______ arriving there, for my pronunciations of words are (73) ______ from native speakers.

My students complained that I couldn’t make myself (74)______.

During my stay

I made great (75) ______ in spoken English by imitating the (76) ______ native speakers talk.

People often (77) ______ me for someone from the Midwest，the West Coast，China， California and so on．  

Now

I think it necessary to keep my (78) ______ origins.

I often add some Chinese “accent” consciously when (79) ______ English because I am (80) ______ of being a Chinese.

71.beginning 72.on/ upon 73.different 74.understood 75.progress/ advances 76.way 77.took/ mistaken 78.cultural 79.speaking 80.proud

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科目：高中英語 來源：浙江省金華十校2010屆高三下學(xué)期第一次模擬考試 題型：閱讀理解


C
Have you ever picked a job based on the fact that you were good at it but later found it made you feel very uncomfortable over time? When you select your career, there’s whole lot more to it than assessing your skills and matching them with a particular position. If you ignore your personality, it will hurt you long-term regardless of your skills or the job's pay. There are several areas of your personality that you need to consider to help you find a good job. Here are a few of those main areas:
1) Do you prefer working alone or with other people?
There are isolating(使孤立) jobs that will drive an outgoing person crazy and also interactive jobs that will make a shy person uneasy. Most people are not extremes in either direction but do have a tendency that they prefer. There are also positions that are sometimes a combination of the two, which may be best for someone in the middle who adapts easily to either situation.
2) How do you handle change?
Most jobs these days have some elements of change to them, but some are more than others. If you need stability in your life, you may need a job where the changes don't happen so often. Other people would be bored of the same daily routine.
3) Do you enjoy working with computers?
I do see this as a kind of personality characteristic. There are people who are happy to spend more than 40 hours a week on a computer, while there are others who need a lot of human interaction throughout the day. Again, these are extremes and you'll likely find a lot of positions somewhere in the middle as well.
4) What type of work environment do you enjoy? 
This can range from being in a large building with a lot of people you won't know immediately to a smaller setting where you'll get to know almost all the people there fairly quickly.
5) How do you like to get paid?  
Some people are motivated by the pay they get, while others feel too stressed to be like that. The variety of payment designs in the sales industry is a typical example for this.
Anyway, these are a great starting point for you. I've seen it over and over again with people that they make more money over time when they do something they love. It may take you a little longer, but making a move to do what you have a passion for can change the course of your life for the better.
49．This passage mainly talks about the importance of _______.
A．different jobs      B．personalities    C．personal skills     D．job’s pay
50．Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A．Isolating jobs usually drive people mad.
B．Interactive jobs make people shy easily.
C．Extreme people tend to work with others.
D．Almost everyone has a tendency in jobs.
51．What is the missing word about a job search in the following chart?
A．Design   B．Skills     C．Cooperation    D．Hobbies

 
52．What is the best title for this passage?
A．Lifestyles and Job Pay    B．Jobs and Environment
C．Job Skills and Abilities    D．Personalities and Jobs

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科目：高中英語 來源：河北省南宮中學(xué)2009-2010學(xué)年度高二下學(xué)期3月月考 題型：閱讀理解


C
We can achieve knowledge either actively or passively（被動(dòng)地）．We achieve it actively by direct experience, by testing and proving an idea, or by reasoning.
We achieve knowledge passively by being told by someone else．Most of the learning that takes place in the classroom and the kind that happens when we watch TV or read newspapers or magazines is passive．Conditioned as we are to passive learning, it’s not surprising that we depend on it in our everyday communication with friends and co-workers.
Unfortunately, passive learning has a serious problem．It makes us tend to accept what we are told even when it is little more than hearsay and rumor（謠言）.
Did you ever play the game Rumor? It begins when one person writes down a message but doesn’t show it to anyone．Then the person whispers it, word for word, to another person．That person, in turn, whispers it to still another, and so on, through all the people playing the game．The last person writes down the message word for word as he or she hears it．Then the two written statements are compared．Typically, the original message has changed.
That’s what happens in daily life．The simple fact that people repeat a story in their own words changes the story．Then, too, most people listen imperfectly．And many enjoy adding their own creative touch to a story, trying to improve on it, stamping（打上標(biāo)記）it with their own personal style．Yet those who hear it think they know.
This process is also found among scholars and authors: A statement of opinion by one writer may be re-stated as fact by another, who may in turn be quoted by yet another; and this process may continue, unless it occurs to someone to question the facts on which the original writer based his opinion or to challenge the interpretation he placed upon those facts.
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A．doing a medical experiment        B．solving a math problem
C．visiting an exhibition          D．doing scientific reasoning
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A．a(chǎn)ctive learning     B．knowledge     C．communication    D．passive learning
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A．a(chǎn) message may be changed when being passed on
B．a(chǎn) message should be delivered in different ways
C．people may have problems with their sense of hearing
D．people tend not to believe in what they know as rumor
52．What can we infer from the passage?
A．Active learning is less important.
B．Passive learning may not be reliable.
C．Active learning occurs more frequently.
D．Passive learning is not found among scholars.

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科目：高中英語 來源：江蘇省寧海外國(guó)語學(xué)校2010屆高三高考模擬英語試題（二） 題型：閱讀理解


D
Men and women who serve in the United States armed forces are proud of the names like
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About twenty years later，someone did explain．She was the wife of the famous American general George Custer．Elizabeth Custer wrote that a doughboy was a sweet food served to Navy men on ships．She also said the name was given to the large buttons on the clothes of soldiers．For example，the soldiers enjoyed their new GI very much．They looked smart and felt comfortable．Elizabeth Custer believed the name changed over time to mean the soldiers themselves．
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Some students of military words have another explanation of GI．They say that instead of government issue or general issue，GI came from the words galvanized iron．The American soldier was said to be like galvanized iron，a material produced for special strength．The Dictionary of Soldier Talk says GI was used for the words galvanized iron in a publication about the vehicles of the early twentieth century．
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C．Charles Funk                                 D．Beadle's Monthly
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C．Government issues．                    D．Vehicles．
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B．Much noise was made when soldiers carried equipment．
C．Galvanized iron was a symbol of the soldiers．
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科目：高中英語 來源：2011屆浙江紹興一中高三下回頭考試英語卷 題型：閱讀理解

Taiwan will finalize a plan by the end of June to open up the island to tourists from mainland China, though no date has been fixed for formal implementation（執(zhí)行）, an official at the Mainland Affairs Council（MAC）said on Monday．
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The number of mainland tourists allowed to enter the island would also initially be limited to 1,000 people a day．
Although most people from Taiwan are free to travel to China, only a small number of mainland Chinese have been able to visit the island due to restrictions imposed by both sides of the Taiwan Strait after the end of a civil war in 1949．
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A．no mainland Chinese can visit Taiwan now
B．a(chǎn)ny mainland Chinese can visit Taiwan now
C．many mainland Chinese have ever visited Taiwan since 1949
D．a(chǎn) few mainland Chinese have ever visited Taiwan since 1949
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D．mainland visitors will be free to travel to Taiwan
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A．MACB．United Daily
C．several organizationsD．Bureau of Immigration
【小題4】Which of the following statement is TRUE?
A．The implementation of the plan has not been fixed．
B．It was originally fixed on July 1 to announce the plan’s implementation．
C．For lack of cross-strait communication, the plan will not be officially completed until July．
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科目：高中英語 來源：河北省衡水中學(xué)2009-2010學(xué)年度高一下學(xué)期期中考試英語試卷 題型：閱讀理解


C
We are so used to having a cup of tea before heading off to work, during work or after getting back from work. Tea breaks are more like a custom that takes place regularly several times a day. This tea break tradition has been happening during the past 200 years or so. Tea just happens to be a wonderful drink for most of us. The day simply feels incomplete without a hot cup of tea. However, is tea good for you?
In 2006, the papers were flooded with the news of research showing that drinking 2-3 cups of tea a day is as beneficial as drinking water, with even some additional health benefits. Another report published in November 2009, stated that drinking up to eight cups of tea a day is good for you. The research conducted by nutrition expert Dr. Carrie Ruxton, debunked (揭示…的真相)the popular stories about caffeinated(含咖啡因的)drinks like tea, coffee and cocoa. According to Dr. Ruxton, the caffeine present in tea tends to lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes. She says that drinking 8 cups of tea a day gives the drinkers “the best levels of health-giving substances” present in tea and other caffeinated drinks.
Contrary to popular belief that tea does not contain more caffeine than coffee, it actually contains almost half the amount. Caffeine is a natural thing found in many types of food and drink. It’s also something that can give you a much needed lift for a demanding and tiring afternoon ahead. Research shows that proper amounts of caffeine are safe for most people.
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59. What is mainly talked about in the first paragraph?
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62. What would be the best title for the passage?
A. Tea and disease                                   B. Tea—a healthy drink 
C. Tea, coffee and cocoa                          D. Drink tea or coffee

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