“You speak very good English”

The other day I heard an American say to a Chinese student of English. “You  41  very good English.” But the student answered, “ No, my English is very poor.” The foreigner was quite

  42  at the answer. Thinking he had not made himself  43  or the student had not heard him clearly, he said, “Yes, indeed, you speak it very well.” But the Chinese student still  44  saying  “No”.  45  the foreigner gave up and didn’t know what to say.

What’s wrong with the student’s answer? It is because he didn’t accept a compliment as the American people  46  . He should have said “Thank you” instead of “No”. He actually understood what the American had said. But he thought he should be modest. If someone says to a woman, “ You look  47  beautiful with the new clothes  48  .” she should be very happy and answer, “Thank you.” In our country we think  49  modest is a virtue and showing off is a bad behavior. But in the West, if you are modest and say, “ No,   50  I can’t do it well,” then the others will take it for granted (理所當然)that you  51  can not do it. If you often say,“No”, you will certainly be looked down upon by  52  . When  53  for a job, if one says something like “Yes, I can certainly do it” instead of “ Let me have a try on the job”, he or she can expect to get it. So in the West, one should always be confident.  54  self-confidence, he can’t go anywhere. Confidence is of great  55  to one in a country where competition is quite keen.(激烈)

1.A. say     B. talk        C. speak    D. tell

2.A. surprising  B. surprised       C. laughed         D. laughing

3.A. understood        B. understand   C. to understand        D. understanding

4.A. keep  B. keeping         C. keeps    D. kept

5.A. At first        B. By the way    C. In the end     D. First of all

6.A. did     B. done     C. to do     D. do

7.A. such  B. such a   C. so D. so a

8.A. for     B. on          C. in  D. into

9.A. being B. be          C. having   D. have

10.A. I’m afraid B. I’m not sure  C. I don’t mind  D. I don’t know

11.A. hardly      B. really    C. badly     D. luckily

12.A. another   B. other    C. the other       D. others

13.A. asking       B. ask         C. provide          D. providing

14.A. With         B. Without         C. by D. under

15.A. importantly      B. unimportant C. important      D. importance

 

He did his best to make them      what he meant, but it didn’t help.

A. understood           B. understand           C. to understand

 

While Tom and Mary were on holidays at the seaside, they enjoyed ___1___ the seagulls. They ___2__ a lot about these lovely birds.

They will often come close to you on the beach when they are eating something. If you ____3___ a piece of bread to them, they will soon catch it.

Seagulls swim well, but they don’t often dive ___4___ fish. They are also good at flying ___5___ their large wings. When a seagull is flying, he puts his legs in his body.

Tom often watched them ____6___ close to the ground because he liked the way they ___7__ the air with their wings and brought down their feet before they ___8__ the ground.

Mary liked to see them sliding(滑行) over the ___9__ as they often did, without their ___10___ moving. But she said she didn’t like the noise they made.

1  A. watch          B. to watch        C. watching      D. watched

2  A. Understood      B. learned          C. found         D. thought

3  A. throw        B. take             C. send          D. pull

4  A. of           B. above            C. for           D. into

5  A. with         B. to               C. for           D. of

6  A. to come      B. came            C. come         D.to coming

7  A. help        B. beat               C. put          D. kept

8  A. hit           B. arrived             C. got        D. touched

9  A. Water        B. land               C. sky         D. ground

10 A. eyes         B. feet                C. legs          D. wings

Several years ago, a farmer owned some land along the sea. He advertised(征聘) for workers, but no one wanted to work for him. Most people didn’t want to work there   1   they didn’t like the bad storms. Finally, a   2   man, who looked weak and more than fifty years old, came to see the farmer. “Are you a good farmhand?” the farmer asked him.

“Well, I   3   sleep well when the wind blows.” answered the little man.

Although the answer was strange, the farmer let the man stay to work. The little man worked 4   around the farm, busy from morning till evening. The farmer felt very pleased with his work.

Then one night the wind began to blow strongly. Jumping out of the bed, the farmer   5 into the little man’s room. He shook the little man and cried, “Get up! A   6   is coming!”

The little man said slowly, “No sir, I told you—I can   7   well when the wind blows.”

The farmer was very angry, but he had to hurry outside to get ready for the storm. To his   8   , everything was ready outside.   9   could be blown away.

The farmer   10   what the man meant, so he returned to his bed to sleep while the wind was still blowing.

1. A. so                        B. but                           C. because                    D. although           

2. A. big                       B. little                         C. young                      D. strong

3. A. can                      B. must                        C. need                        D. should             

4. A. well                      B. badly                        C. loudly                      D. clearly

5. A. walked                 B. rushed                      C. moved                            D. drove

6. A. man                            B. dog                          C. ship                         D. storm      

7. A. work                    B. play                         C. sleep                        D. listen       

8. A. anger                    B. pride                        C. surprise                    D. confidence   

9. A. Everything            B. Something                C. Anything                D. Nothing

10. A. understood          B. preferred                  C. heard                       D. did