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A report consistently brought back by visitors to the US is how friendly, courteous, and helpful most Americans were to them. To be fair, this observation is also frequently made of Canada and Canadians, and should best be considered North American. There are, of course, exceptions. Small-minded officials, rude waiters, and ill-mannered taxi drivers are hardly unknown in the US. Yet it is an observation made so frequently that it deserves comment.
For a long period of time and in many parts of the country, a traveler was a welcome break in an otherwise dull existence. Dullness and loneliness were common problems of the families who generally lived distant from one another. Strangers and travelers were welcome sources of diversion, and brought news of the outside world. The harsh realities of the frontier also shaped this tradition of hospitality. Someone traveling alone, if hungry, injured, or ill, often had nowhere to turn except to the nearest cabin or settlement. It was not a matter of choice for the traveler or merely a charitable impulse on the part of the settlers. It reflected the harshness of daily life: if you didn't take in the stranger and take care of him, there was no one else who would. And someday, remember, you might be in the same situation. Today there are many charitable organizations which specialize in helping the weary traveler. Yet, the old tradition of hospitality to strangers is still very strong in the US, especially in the smaller cities and towns away from the busy tourist trails. I was just traveling through, got talking with this American, and pretty soon he invited me home for dinner-amazing. Such observations reported by visitors to the US are not uncommon, but are not always understood properly. The casual friendliness of many Americans should be interpreted neither as superficial nor as artificial, but as the result of a historically developed cultural tradition. As is true of any developed society, in America a complex set of cultural signals, assumptions, and conventions underlies all social interrelationships. And, of course, speaking a language does not necessarily mean that someone understands social and cultural patterns. Visitors who fail to translate cultural meanings properly often draw wrong conclusions. For example, when an American uses the word friend, the cultural implications of the word may be quite different from those it has in the visitor's language and culture. It takes more than a brief encounter on a bus to distinguish between courteous convention and individual interest. Yet, being friendly is a virtue that many Americans value highly and expect from both neighbors and strangers. 55. In the eyes of visitors from the outside world, ________. （A）rude taxi drivers are rarely seen in the US （B）small-minded officials deserve a serious comment （C）Canadians are not so friendly as their neighbors （D）most Americans are ready to offer help 56. It could be inferred from the last paragraph that ________. （A）culture exercises an influence over social interrelationship （B）courteous convention and individual interest are interrelated （C）various virtues manifest themselves exclusively among friends （D）social interrelationships equal the complex set of cultural conventions 57. Families in frontier settlements used to entertain strangers ________. （A）to improve their hard life （B）in view of their long-distance travel （C）to add some flavor to their own daily life （D）out of a charitable impulse 58. The tradition of hospitality to strangers ________. （A）tends to be superficial and artificial （B）is generally well kept up in the United States （C）is always understood properly （D）has something to do with the busy tourist trails 答案及试题解析 55.（D）意为：大部分美国人乐于助人。 文章第一句指出，去过美国的人所带回的印象总是（consistently）：大多数美国人表现为友好、礼貌、乐于助人。本文从历史及文化的角度探讨了产生这一现象的原因。 A 意为：粗鲁的出租车司机在美国罕见。 B 意为：心胸狭窄的官员值得严肃的一提（或：应受严肃的批评）。 C 意为：加拿大人不如其邻国（当主要指美国）人民友好。 注意：（A）、（B）、（C）表达的观点都不是第一段中所提到的访美者的观点，第一段的第二、三、四句表达的是本文作者的观点。在作者看来，公平地讲，许多到过加拿大的人对加拿大人也有同感，因此可以说：这是一种北美现象-北美人大都友好、礼貌、乐于助人。同时，在他看来，这种情况也有例外：心胸狭隘的官员、粗鲁的侍者、无礼的出租车司机也不乏其人，但总的来看这并不构成主流。 56.（A）意为：文化影响社会关系。 最后一段的第一句是全段的主题，该句可译为：像其他发达国家一样，在美国，人际关系的背后是一系列复杂的文化符号、信念和习俗。换言之，美国的文化决定了美国人的行为。 B 意为：礼貌的习惯与个人兴趣互相影响。最后一段第五句可译为：仅靠在公共汽车上瞬时相遇来区别礼貌是出自于文化习惯还是个人的兴趣是不够的。根据本段的主旨和全文的主旨，这句话应该理解为：判断一个人表现出的礼貌行为究竟仅产生于其个人素质还是产生于文化的熏陶，仅看其个别的、偶然的行为是不行的。换言之，如果他随时随地表现为礼让，或者，如果生活在某一区域或国家的人都表现为礼让，那末，你才能判定礼貌行为不是一种个人现象，而是一种社会文化现象。 C 意为：各种美德仅表现在朋友关系中。这一点文章最后一段没提到。最后一段所举的朋友一词的例子旨在说明：在不同文化中，相同的概念未必有同一内涵或外延。 D 意为：社会关系等于一系列复杂的文化习俗。根据该段第一句，二者是决定与被决定关系，并非等同关系。见上文分析。 57.（C）意为；为自己的日常生活增添情趣。 第二段指出，在美国历史的很长一段时期（即所谓拓荒时代），对许多地区来说，一个旅行者的到来是很受欢迎的，因为它可以对平时单调的生活起一个调节（break）作用。离群索居的家庭共同的问题是日常生活的单调与寂寞，陌生人或旅行者的到来可以使他们暂时摆脱这种生活状况，另外。他们也可以因此获得外界信息。 A 意为：改善艰苦的生活。根据上文分析可见，陌生人受欢迎的原因主要是因为他们所带来的精神效应，而非物质生活效应。第三段提到，拓荒地区（frontier）的残酷现实也是形成美国人礼貌传统的原因。一个孤独的旅游者有问题自然求助于路边最近的居住点，这对旅游者来说不是一个选择问题（即：他别无选择），对就近的定居者来说，提供必要的帮助也不仅仅是出于怜悯（charitable impulse）。这反映的是日常生活的严酷现实：如果定居者不接收并帮助他，就没有别人了，另外，有一天定居者本人也可能处于同一境地。 B 意为：考虑到他们所做的长途跋涉。 D 意为：出于怜悯。见上文分析。 58.（B）意为：在美国得以广泛的保持。 第二、三段探索了形成美国人友善好客传统的原因之后，第四段指出，虽然现在有许多专门的机构帮助旅行者，但是，友善好客的旧传统在美国仍根探蒂固，这突出表现在远离旅游热线的一些小城市中。本段最后一句指出，许多美国人随意表现出的友善不应该被看作是表面或虚假的应酬，而应该看作是一种历史文化现象。另外，文章最后一段指出，友善好客是倍受美国人珍视的美德，他们同样希望邻国人和其他外国人也表现出这一美德。 A 意为：经常是表面上的、虚假的。见上文分析。 C 意为：总是能被正确理解。相反，第四段指出，许多外国人对美国人的一些友好表示感到不可思议（amazing），这反映了他们对美国历史文化传统的不理解。参阅第四段第三、四、五句。 D 意为：与一些旅游热线有关。不对，见上文分析。 翻译句子 1、Strangers and travelers were welcome sources of diversion, and brought news of the outside world. [参考译文] 陌生人和旅游者是受欢迎的消遣的来源，他们带来外部世界的新闻。 [结构剖析] 句子的主干结构是 Strangers and travelers were…and brought…。 [阅读重点] 注意 diversion 在这里的含义是解闷，取乐的事情，消遣，娱乐，而不是转移，转向的意思。 2、The casual friendliness of many Americans should be interpreted neither as superficial nor as artificial, but as the result of a historically developed cultural tradition. [参考译文] 许多美国人的这种随意的友好态度不应该被看成是肤浅的或虚假的，而应该被作为一种历史上发展而来的文化传统的结果来解释。 [结构剖析] 这个句子的主干结构是 The casual friendliness should be interpreted neither as A nor B…but as C，使用了被动语态。其中 neither…nor… 结构后用的是同样词性的成分：形容词 superficial 和 artificial。 [阅读重点] 注意 neither…nor…but 结构的使用：既不是……也不是……而是……，重点在but之后。as the/a result of：作为……的结果，由于……而……。 3、As is true of any developed society, in America a complex set of cultural signals, assumptions, and conventions underlies all social interrelationships. [参考译文] 就如同在任何一个发达社会里一样，在美国，所有社会相互关系下面都隐含着一系列复杂的文化信号、假设和传统观念。 [结构剖析] 句子的主干结构是 … cultural signals, assumptions, and conventions underlies…interrelationships。 [阅读重点] 注意 as 在这里是一个代词，表示这一情况，这一事实。可以参考以下的例句来理解 as 的用法：The night had turned cold, as is usual around here. 夜晚变得很冷，在这一带经常如此。 补充难句翻译 1、There are, of course, exceptions. Small-minded officials, rude waiters, and ill-mannered taxi drivers are hardly unknown in the US. Yet it is an observation made so frequently that it deserves comment. [参考译文] 当然，例外是存在的。在美国，心胸狭窄的官员，粗鲁的侍者，和没有礼貌的出租车司机也并不少见。然而人们常常得出这样的观察意见，这使得它值得被讨论一下。 [阅读重点] 第一句中的 of course 作插入语，用逗号与句子的其它部分分开，在开始阅读的时候可以不看。注意第二句话中使用了双重否定表示肯定：hardly unknown 等于pretty well-known。另外注意 so…that 结构的用法：太……以至于。另外 observation 这里的意思是因观察而得出的意见。另外 it deserves comment 中的 it 指代前面的 observation。 [参考译文] 一个人独自旅行的时候，如果饿了，受伤了或生病了，除了最近的小屋或者村落就无处可以投靠了。 [参考译文] 对于旅行者来说，这不是一个可以有多个选择的问题，对于村落里的定居者来说，这也不仅仅是一个发善心的冲动行为。 [大纲词汇] courtesy n.谦恭有礼，有礼貌的举止（或言词） [衍生词汇] courteous a.谦恭有礼的，殷勤的 [经典例句] His boss is genuinely courteous to his subordinates. [经典例句] To be fair，his success owes much to his wife's help. [大纲词汇] exception n.例外，除外 with the exception of 除……之外 [经典例句] His brothers are all very tall，but he is an exception. [扩充词汇] small-minded a.心胸狭隘的，眼界小的；固执己见的 [联想记忆] far-sighted a.有远见的 clear-headed a.头脑清楚的 [扩充词汇] ill-mannered a.无礼的，举止粗鲁的 [经典例句] The truth of the incident was hardly know to anyone. [大纲词汇] break n.打断，中止；中间休息 [经典例句] We have a study break of four days every semester. [大纲词汇] otherwise ad.另样地，用别的方法；在其他方面；conj.要不然，否则 [经典例句] He reminded me what I should have otherwise forgotten. [大纲词汇] existence n.存在，实在；生存，生活（方式） [经典例句] They are working for a better existence. [经典例句] He lives distant from his other relatives. [大纲词汇] diversion n.转向，转移 [扩充词义] diversion n.消遣，娱乐 [经典例句] Big cities have a lot of diversions. [扩充词汇] harsh a.粗糙的，难听的，严厉的，严酷的 harshness n.粗糙，严酷，严厉 [经典例句] Their adaptiveness came from coping with harsh conditions. [大纲词汇] frontier n.国境，边境；尖端，新领域 [大纲词汇] hospitality n.好客，殷勤，款待 [衍生词汇] hospitable a.好客的，殷勤的 [经典例句] We were deeply moved by the hospitality of the farmers. [大纲词汇] settlement n.解决，决定，调停；居留区，住宅区 [经典例句] Israelis and Palestinians have serious disputes over Israeli new settlements. [大纲词汇] injure v.损害，伤害，损伤 [衍生词汇] injured a.受损害的，受伤的 [经典例句] He found his injured finger caused a lot of trouble. [大纲词汇] charity n.慈善（团体），仁慈，施舍 [衍生词汇] charitable a.慈悲的，仁爱的，慷慨施舍的 [经典例句] He always takes part in charitable activities. [大纲词汇] impulse v.推动； n.推动；冲动，刺激 [经典例句] She tried to repress the impulse to dial his number. [经典例句] He expressed appreciation on the part of his classmates. [大纲词汇] take in 接受，吸收；了解，理解；欺骗 [经典例句] Andy took in a stray dog. [大纲词汇] take care of 照料，照顾；承担，处理，负责 [经典例句] He asked his girl friend to take care of his dog while he went away for business. [经典例句] The company specialize in car manufacture. [大纲词汇] weary a.疲倦的；令人厌烦的；v.使疲倦，使厌倦 [经典例句] The pilot was extremely weary with the long time flying. [经典例句] I was travelling through when I saw the accident. [大纲词汇] amaze v.使惊奇，使惊愕，使惊叹 amazing a.令人惊讶的 [经典例句] The acrobatic show was amazing to all of us. [大纲词汇] superficial a.表面的，肤浅的，浅薄的 [经典例句] We were not satisfied with the superficial explanation of the incident. [大纲词汇] artificial a.人工的，人造的；认为的，矫揉造作的 [经典例句] She was wearing an artificial smile when appearing at the door. [大纲词汇] result n.结果，成果，成绩v.（in）导致，结果是；（from）起因于，因…而造成 as a result 结果，因此 as a result of 由于……的结果 [经典例句] We regard our failure as the result of his carelessness. [经典例句] We expect that a set of rules and regulations will be drawn up. [大纲词汇] convention n.大会，会议；惯例，常规，习俗；公约，协定 [经典例句] Convention now permits women to wear more colorful clothing. [大纲词汇] underlying a.含蓄的，潜在的；在下面的 [衍生词汇] underlie v.引起，潜存于…之下 [经典例句] Many facts underlay my decision. [构词方法] inter-前缀，表示互相，在…之间 [联想记忆] interact v.互相作用 interdependent a.互相依赖的 [经典例句] He drew the final conclusion through careful analysis. [大纲词汇] distinguish v.（from）区分，辨别；辨认出；使杰出 [经典例句] It is very hard to distinguish the two colors. [大纲词汇] keep up 保持，维持；继续进行，坚持 [经典例句] The lady always keep up her genuine warmth to people. |
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