Question

When I lived in Spain，some Spanish friends of mine decided to visit England by car，before they left，they asked me about how to find accommodation（住所）．I suggested that they should stay at “bed and breakfast” houses，because this kind of accommodation gives a foreign visitor a good chance to speak English with the family．My friends listened to my advice，but they came back with some funny stories．

“We didn't stay at bed and breakfast houses，”they said．“Because we found that most families were away on holiday．”

I thought this was strange．Finally I understood what had happened

My friends spoke little English，and  they thought “VACANCIES” meant “holidays” because Spanish word for “holiday” is “vacaciones”．So they did not go to houses where the sign outside said “VACANCIES”，which in English meant there are free rooms．Then my friends went to houses where the sign said “NO VACANCIES”，because they thought this meant the people who owned the house were not away on holiday．But they found that these houses were all full．As a result，they stayed at hotels！

We laughed about this and about mistakes my friends made in reading other signs．In Spanish，a word very similar to “DIVERSION” means fun．In English it means that workman is repairing the road，and that you must take a different road when my friends saw the word “DIVERSION” on a road sign，they thought they were going to have fun．Instead， the road ended in a large hole．

English people have problems too when they learn foreign languages．Once in Paris，when someone offered me some more coffee，I said “Thank you” in French．I meant that I would like some more．However，to my surprise the coffee pot was taken away！ Later I found out that “Thank you” in French means “No，thank you”．

1.My Spanish friends wanted advice about _________．

A．learning English

B．finding places to stay in England

C．driving their car on English roads

D．going to England by car

2.I suggested that they stay at bed and breakfast houses because ________.

A．they would be able to practise their English

B．it would be much cheaper than staying in hotels

C．it would be convenient for them to have dinner

D．there would be no problem about finding accommodation

3. “No vacancies” in English means ____．

A．no free rooms B．free rooms

C．not away on holiday D．holidays

4.I was surprised when the coffee pot was taken away because I _______．

A．hadn't finished drinking my coffee

B．was expecting another cup of coffee

C．meant that I didn't want any more

D．was never misunderstood

 

Answer 1

1.B

2.A

3.A

4.B

【解析】

試題分析: 本文敘述了在不同的文化中相同或者相近的語言往往會表達出不同的含義,并且舉例進行了說明 。

1.B細節(jié)題。根據(jù)第一段Before they left, they asked me for advice about how to find accommodation (住所).說明朋友詢問我關于住宿的話題，故選B項。。

2.A細節(jié)題。根據(jù)第一段because this kind of accommodation gives foreign visitors a good chance to speak English with the family說明這樣做，我的朋友可以鍛煉他們的英語，故選A項。

3.A猜測詞意。根據(jù)Then my friends went to house where the sign said “NO VACANCIES”, because they thought this meant the people who owned the house were not away on holiday. But they found that these houses were all full說明“NO VACANCIES”在英語是指沒有空的房間了，都住滿了，故選A項。

4.B 細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)最后一段提到I meant that I would like some more．However，to my surprise the coffee pot was taken away！ Later I found out that “Thank you” in French means “No，thank you”．可知我說謝謝是想再來一杯，在他們的文化中，是謝謝，我不要了的意思，故選B項。

考點：文化類閱讀。