A simple flower made headlines in the British press last week. How could that be?
British Prime Minister David Cameron and his ministers were attending a reception hosted by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. They insisted on wearing poppies(罌粟花) in their buttonholes.
What’s wrong with that?
According to the Global Times, Chinese officials apparently had asked the UK delegation not to wear poppies. The British said that poppies meant a great deal to them on that day and they would wear them all the same.
So what’s the significance of the poppy? It’s a flower which has different cultural and symbolic meanings for British and Chinese people.
From the Chinese point of view, the poppy is a symbol of China’s humiliation at the hands of European powers in the Opium Wars of the 19th century. Britain forced China to open the borders to trade —including in the opium —which was made from poppies grown in India.
Yet from the British viewpoint the poppy is a reminder of the killing during Word War I. Red poppies grew on the battlefields of Flanders in Belgium where many thousands of British soldiers died or were buried. Since then, Poppy Day (November 11) has become a time in the UK to wear poppies and remember the sacrifices of British soldiers and civilians in times of war.
So you can see that the poppy sets off strong feelings in the hearts of Chinese and British people for different reasons. And it makes sense for us to try to understand each other’s standpoint.
Of course cultural differences can also be interesting and funny. And what one nation thinks is an acceptable gift may be viewed differently by their guest from overseas. US President Barack Obama gave a gift of an iPod to Britain’s Queen —a dull person with no interest in music. Obama also presented Gordon Brown with a fine selection of American movies. But they were in US format and impossible to play on British DVD players.
Many countries have diplomats stationed overseas. Diplomats provide information and advice to their governments back home. However, sometimes it would seem that even diplomats can overlook the cultural significance of a small flower.
(   ) 小題1:.  British Prime Minister David Cameron probably attended a reception in Beijing on         .
A．October 1B．November 11C．December 31D．January 1
(   ) 小題2:.  The poppy reminds the Chinese of         .
A．the shame caused by European countries in the 19th century
B．the British soldiers who were killed and buried during World War I
C．the Chinese soldiers killed during World War II
D．the suffering caused by Britain during World War I
(   ) 小題3:. The diplomatic problem in Beijing is mainly caused by         .
A．the translation mistakeB．the language difference
C．the cultural differenceD．the different lifestyle
(   ) 小題4:.  We can infer that         .
A．Britain’s Queen is not interested in art
B．Gordon Brown was fond of American movies US President Barack Obama sent him
C．US President Barack Obama received a gift for music
D．Britain’s Queen may not like the iPod US President Barack Obama presented her
(   ) 小題5:.  What is the main idea of the 9th paragraph?
A．Cultural difference can also be interesting and funny.
B．Cultural differences can cause a big problem.
C．US President Barack Obama likes to present gifts to other leaders.
D．US leaders and British leaders get along well with each other.

小題1:.B
小題1:.A
小題1:.C
小題1:.D
小題1:.A

小題1:根據(jù)They insisted on wearing poppies(罌粟花) in their buttonholes.及下文Since then, Poppy Day (November 11) has become a time in the UK to wear poppies可知日期是November 11，選B。
小題1:根據(jù)From the Chinese point of view, the poppy is a symbol of China’s humiliation at the hands of European powers in the Opium Wars of the 19th century 可知中國(guó)人認(rèn)為是件丟臉的事情，故選A。
小題1:根據(jù)So what’s the significance of the poppy? It’s a flower which has different cultural and symbolic meanings for British and Chinese people.描述可知主要是中英文化的不同。故選C。
小題1:根據(jù)a dull person with no interest in music 可知英國(guó)女王可能不喜歡奧巴馬的禮物。故選D。
小題1:根據(jù)Of course cultural differences can also be interesting and funny. 及下文描述可知選A。
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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

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A．the manufacturers boast a lotB．time is limited
C．the prices are increasingly highD．our love of speed seems never-ending
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A．Simple life in the past.B．Imaginary life.
C．Times of inventions.D．Time for constant activity.
小題3:. What is the author’s attitude towards the modern technology?
A．Critical.B．Optimistic.C．Objective.D．Negative.
小題4:. What does the passage mainly discuss?
A．The present and past times.B．Modern technology and its influence.
C．Imaginations and inventions.D．Machinery and human beings.

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A man was selling medicine at a fair（集市）．At first he sold bottles of a cure（藥劑）for colds（感冒）for just a dollar a bottle．
Many people wanted to buy it and the man's young assistant moved quickly through the crowd collecting money and handing out bottles of the cure．
Then，when he had a big crowd， the man held up a very small bottle．
“And now，ladies and gentlemen，he shouted，“Here is the medicine you have been waiting for．The cure for old age．Drink just one bottle of this and you will live forever．?
“And，ladies and gentlemen，the man continued，“I'm not going to charge（向……要價(jià)……）you a hundred dollars a bottle for this wonderful medicine．I'm not going to charge you fifty dollars a bottle．I'm not going to charge you twenty-five dollars a bottle．Now，ladies and gentlemen，I'm going to charge you just ten dollars a bottle． Think，my friends，for ten dollars you can live forever．?
Most of the people in the crowd did not believe this．
One person shouted，“If it can make you live forever，why don't you drink it？?
Then an other person cried，“Yes， you look as if you're at least sixty years old．?
“Thank you，sir，thank you，the man answered，“I'm so glad you said that． My real age is three hundred and twenty-nine．?
The crowd laughed at this but there were still some people who wanted to believe the man ．One of them spoke to the man's assistant as she passed by ，“Is that true？?he asked．“Is he three hundred and twenty-nine？?
“Don't ask me，?the assistant said，“I've only worked for him for a hundred and fifty years．?
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A．a(chǎn) cure for colds
B．bottles
C．a(chǎn) cure for old age
D．a(chǎn) medicine that made people live forever
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A．one dollar a bottleB．twenty-five dollars a bottle
C．ten dollars a bottleD．fifty dollars a bottle
小題3: What does the word “assistant” mean in this passage？
A．仆人B．朋友C．同伴D．助手
小題4:What does this passage really mean？
A．The cure for old age is very useful and not so expensive．
B．The man is not honest，and so is his assistant．
C．The cheaper the medicine is，the more people will buy．
D．The two men are very honest，and they would like to help people live forever．

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

Warm water freezes more quickly than cold water. Sir Francis Bacon said that almost four hundred years ago. But few people believed him. Later, a Canadian scientist George Kell proved the English scholar was right. Dr.Kell filled an open jar（罐子）with cold water. He filled another with warm water. He put them both in the same low temperature. And the warm water froze first.
What was the reason? Some of the warm water changed into vapour. It went into the air. This meant that less of the warm water was left to freeze. And so the warm water froze faster than the cold water.
小題1: Sir Francis Bacon was__________________.
A．a(chǎn)n American chemistB．a(chǎn)n English scholar
C．a(chǎn) Canadian scientistD．a(chǎn) French physicist
小題2: Dr.Kell’s jars were both_____________________.
A．put in a place of the same low temperature
B．filled with warm water
C．left empty
D．put on a long table
小題3: The cold water froze more slowly because_____________.
A．there was less of it leftB．there was more of it left
C．something else was added to it D．its jar was much bigger
小題4: Dr.Kell proved what Bacon said in _____________ way.
A．a(chǎn) difficultB．a(chǎn) hardC．a(chǎn) wrongD．a(chǎn) simple

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