Japanese couples, too busy for a normal social life, are increasingly turning to
题型：不详难度：来源：
Japanese couples, too busy for a normal social life, are increasingly turning to actors to play their friends on the most important days of their lives.
Several agencies have sprung up(涌现)offering actors to attend weddings or even funerals.The first guest-for-hire company was established about nine years ago and around 10 agencies now send out dozens of pretend friends to family events.
Agencies such as Hagemashi Tai, which means “I want to cheer you up”, charge around ￡100 for each “guest”. Other services such as giving a speech in praise of a bride or the groom cost extra.
The appearance of the small fake friends industry has been linked to social and economic changes in Japan.With lifetime employment (终身雇佣制)a thing of the past, couples feel uncomfortable about inviting work colleagues to their wedding.Increasingly busy and put upon, many Japanese surround themselves with only a very small circle of friends.
When they marry, however, they are under pressure to match the number of their new partner’s wedding guests.
Office Agents, the largest provider of pretend friends, makes sure that its employees have done their homework and know all about the bride or groom before the wedding.
Hiroshi Mizutani, the company’s founder, said the fake friends he provides must look happy, be well dressed and look like people with good jobs.
小题1:Why did fake friends industry come into being in Japan?| A．Because of social and economic changes | B．Because of lifetime employment | | C．Because of normal social life | D．Because of work pressure |
小题2:Pretend friends will be present at the following occasions except ________.| A．weddings | B．funerals | C．work | D．family gathering |
小题3:The agents make sure that ________.| A．fake friends have done their housework | B．fake friends have good jobs | | C．fake friends must look happy and be well dressed | D．fake friends feel uncomfortable |
小题4:What is the best title of this passage?| A．Japanese Couples are Under Pressure to Get Married | B．Japanese Couples’ Social Life | | C．The First Guest-for-hire Company in Japan | D．Japanese Couples Rely on Fake Friends |
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答案
小题1:A
小题2:C
小题3:C
小题4:D |
解析
试题分析：本文讲述的是现在的日本人要依赖这些虚假的朋友在他们的生活中起一定的作用。文章中详细描述了提供这样服务的公司的一些具体的信息。
小题1:A 细节题。根据文章第四段1,2行The appearance of the small fake friends industry has been linked to social and economic changes in Japan.可知A项正确。
小题2:C 细节题。根据文章第二段第一行和最后一行Several agencies have sprung up(涌现)offering actors to attend weddings or even funerals和send out dozens of pretend friends to family events.可知ABD三项都是的，只有C项没有提及。
小题3:C 细节题。根据文章最后一段Hiroshi Mizutani, the company’s founder, said the fake friends he provides must look happy, be well dressed and look like people with good jobs可知C项描述的正确的。
小题4:D 主旨大意题。根据文章主题段第一段Japanese couples, too busy for a normal social life, are increasingly turning to actors to play their friends on the most important days of their lives.
现在的日本夫妻要依赖这些虚假的朋友在他们的生活中起一定的作用。故D项正确。
点评：本文讲述的是现在的日本人要依赖这些虚假的朋友在他们的生活中起一定的作用。文章中详细描述了提供这样服务的公司的一些具体的信息。文章基本上是考查细节题，对此类题型考生可以首先从问题中找到关键词，然后以此为线索，运用略读及查阅的技巧在文中迅速寻找这一细节，找到后再把这一部分内容仔细阅读一遍，仔细比较所给选项与文中细节的细微区别，在准确理解细节的前提下，最后确定最佳答案。 |
举一反三
Divorces in Japan have more than doubled, according to health ministry statistics. One in three Japanese marriages now ends in divorce.
Atsuko Okano was in one of those failed marriages. Three years ago, she found herself alone in her 30s, with children to raise and a future full of question marks and social shame. But she also saw an opening, and became an advisor helping people like herself.
“My husband was cheating on me,” she recalled. ‘I did everything to bring him back to me but it didn’t work, so I dumped him.” Such frankness is a major characteristic of Japan’s recently divorced.
Divorced people – particularly woman – have long been looked down upon in Japan, where self-sacrifice and family stability are regarded as ideals. In the past, bored housewives remained bored. The security of the family unit was the most important thing. Now, young Japanese are increasingly choosing satisfaction in life over the demands of tradition, and more woman are financially independent. As a result, Japanese divorce rates are flying. Experts attribute this to the erosion of a long-standing double standard that granted divorced men respectability, but branded(gave somebody a bad name) divorced women as damaged goods.
Over the past decade, growing numbers of highly educated and successful professional women have challenged that assumption(something taken for granted) by turning their backs on unhappy marriages and paying no attention to the taboo（禁忌）of divorce. The majority of divorce behavior now is started by women.
小题1:This passage mainly talks about the fact that nowadays Japanese women _________. | A．are granted respectability after they get divorced | | B．are becoming brave enough to challenge the taboo of divorce | | C．still consider the security of the family unit to be very important | | D．are becoming more financially independent |
小题2:It can be inferred from Paragraph 2 that Atsuko Okano __________.| A．had some children to raise | | B．was very confident with her future | | C．was not greatly respected by Japanese society | | D．might have found a job to help divorced people |
小题3:The underlined word “dumped” in paragraph 3 probably means _________. | A．looked down upon | | B．had a quarrel with | | C．hated | | D．divorced |
小题4:Which of the following is NOT mentioned as the reason for rising rate of Japanese divorces?| A．Self-sacrifice and family stability are not much appreciated in Japan as before. | | B．More women can support themselves financially. | | C．Divorced men and women can quickly find their new partners | | D．Young Japanese care more about satisfaction in life than their elders did. |
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Some nations think they must have more and more babies, more and more people, if they are to remain strong and free.
Actually, this is not so. Very often in history, small nations have conquered large ones. It’s not so much the size of the army as its organization and the technical level of its weapons. Thus, Greece took over Persia in the 300s B.C., Great Britain took over India in the 1700s, even though Persia and India had far bigger population than Greece and Great Britain.
If a nation wishes to avoid being dominated by its neighbors, its best chance is to raise its standard of living and its level of technology.This can be done best by not allowing its population to grow to such a point that it is sunk in misery and poverty. In fact, the worst way in which a nation can try to avoid being dominated by its neighbor is to increase its population to the point of misery and poverty.
If every nation tries to compete with its neighbors by raising its population, then the whole world will be sunk in misery and poverty. The nations will become weak in a disaster that will leave nothing behind that is worth dominating. No one will have gained anything. Everyone will have lost everything.
Once all this is understood, and people generally agree that population growth must not be allowed to continue, they must also come to understand how that growth can be stopped. Population grows because more people are being born than are dying. There are two ways, then, in which the growth can be stopped. You can increase the number of people who die until it matches the number of people who are being born. Or else you can decrease the number of people who are born until it matches the number of people who are dying.
The first method—increasing the death rate—is the usual way in which population is controlled in all species of living things other than ourselves, but we don’t want that, for disaster lies that way. The intelligent way is to reduce the birth rate. But how can the birth rate be reduced?
小题1: In paragraph 3, the word “This” refers to ______.| A．avoidance of poverty | B．improvement of life and technology | | C．growth of population | D．enhancement of living standard and competition |
小题2: It can be inferred from the passage that if a country had fewer people, ______.| A．it could still remain strong | B．it would be defeated by a strong neighbour | | C．its standard of living could be high | D．its people would live misery |
小题3: What might the author be further discussing after the passage? | A．Needs to balance population. | B．Problems involved in birth control. | | C．Methods of decreasing population. | D．Opposition from some nations. |
小题4: The passage mainly focuses on ______.| A．why we must control population | B．where we can find a solution | | C．how to stop population growth | D．how to become a strong nation |
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Most worthwhile careers require some kind of specialized training. Ideally, therefore, the choice of an __16__ should be made even before choice of a curriculum（课程） in high school. Actually, __17__, most people make several job choices during their working lives, __18__ because of economic and industrial changes and partly to improve __19__ position. The "one perfect job" does not exist. Young people should __20__ enter into a broad flexible training program that will __21__ them for a field of work rather than for a single __22__ .
Unfortunately many young people have to make career plans __23__ benefit of help from a competent vocational counselor or psychologist. Knowing __24__ about the occupational world, or themselves for that matter, they choose their lifework on a hit-or-miss __25__. Some drift from job to job. Others __26__ to work in which they are unhappy and for which they are not fitted.
One common mistake is choosing an occupation for __27__ real or imagined prestige (声望). Too many high-school students - or their parents for them - choose the professional field, __28__ both the relatively small percentage of workers in the professions and the extremely high educational and personal __29__. The imagined or real prestige of a profession or a white-collar job is __30__ good reason for choosing it as life"s work. __31__, these occupations are not always well paid. Since a large percentage of jobs are in mechanical and manual work, the __32__ of young people should give serious __33__ to these fields.
Before making an occupational choice, a person should have a general idea of what he wants __34__ life and how hard he is willing to work to get it. Some people desire social prestige, others intellectual satisfaction. Some want security; others are willing to take __35__ for financial gain. Each occupational choice has its demands as well as its rewards.
| 小题1: | | A．identification | B．accommodation | C．occupation | D．entertainment |
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| 小题2: | | A．thereby | B．however | C．though | D．therefore |
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| 小题3: | | A．thoroughly | B．mainly | C．entirely | D．partly |
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| 小题5: | | A．therefore | B．since | C．furthermore | D．forever |
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| 小题6: | | A．fit | B．make | C．take | D．leave |
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| 小题7: | | A．means | B．job | C．way | D．company |
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| 小题8: | | A．to | B．for | C．with | D．without |
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| 小题9: | | A．little | B．few | C．much | D．a lot |
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| 小题10: | | A．chance | B．purpose | C．basis | D．opportunity |
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| 小题11: | | A．apply | B．appeal | C．turn | D．stick |
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| 小题13: | | A．concerning | B．following | C．ignoring | D．considering |
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| 小题14: | | A．preferences | B．requirements | C．tendencies | D．ambitions |
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| 小题16: | | A．Therefore | B．Moreover | C．Nevertheless | D．However |
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| 小题17: | | A．majority | B．mass | C．minority | D．number |
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| 小题18: | | A．proposal | B．suggestion | C．approval | D．consideration |
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| 小题19: | | A．towards | B．out of | C．against | D．without |
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| 小题20: | | A．turns | B．parts | C．risks | D．choices |
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I don’t ever want to talk about being a woman scientist again. There was a time in my life when people asked constantly for stories about what it’s like to work in a field dominated (控制) by men. I was never very good at telling those stories because truthfully I never found them interesting. What I do find interesting is the origin of the universe, the shape of space-time and the nature of black holes.
At 19, when I began studying astrophysics, it did not bother me in the least to be the only woman in the classroom. But while earning my PhD at MIT and then as a post-doctor doing space research, the issue started to bother me. My every achievement --- jobs, research papers, awards --- was viewed through the lens of gender (性别) politics. So were my failures.
Then one day a few years ago, out of my mouth came a sentence that would eventually become my reply to any and all annoyance. I don’t talk about that any more. It took me 10 years to get back the confidence I had at 19 and to realize that I didn’t want to deal with gender issues. After all, I don’t study sociology or political theory.
Today I research and teach at Bamard, a women’s college in New York City. Recently, someone asked me how many of the 45 students in my class were women. You cannot imagine my satisfaction at being able to answer 45. I know some of my students worry how they will manage their scientific research and a desire for children. And I don’t dismiss those concerns. Instead, I have given them this: the visual of their physics professor heavily pregnant doing physics experiments. And in turn they have given me the image of 45 women driven by a love of science. And that’s a sight worth talking about.
小题1:Why doesn’t the author want to talk about being a woman scientist again?| A．She is unhappy working in male-dominated fields. | | B．She is fed up with the issue of gender discrimination. | | C．She is not good at telling stories of the kind at all. | | D．She finds space research more important than that. |
小题2:We learn from Paragraph 2 that people would contribute the author’s failures to _______.| A．the very fact that she is just a woman | | B．her involvement in gender politics | | C．the very fact that she is just a scientist | | D．her over-confidence as a female scientist |
小题3:Why does the author feel satisfied when talking about her class?| A．Female students no longer have to bother about gender issues. | | B．Her students’ achievement has brought back her confidence. | | C．Her female students can do just better than male students. | | D．More female students now love science than before. |
小题4:What does the image that the author presents to her students suggest?| A．Women students needn’t have the concerns of her generation. | | B．Women have more troubles on their way to academic success. | | C．Women can balance a career in science and having a family. | | D．Women now have no problems pursuing a science career. |
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What do Chinese college graduates have in common with ants? The recent 16 Ant Tribes about the life of some young people 17 flock （群集） to Beijing after 18 university，describes the graduates，like ants，as smart but 19 as individuals，drawing strength from living together in communities.
The book，which is based 20 two years of interviews with about 600 low-income college graduates in Beijing， 21 in mid-September，about a month ahead of an announcement by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security that 74% of the 6.11 million new graduates from universities and colleges had been 22 by Sept．1.
The book’s chief editor，Lian Sir，tells that piece of statistic says23 about the real situation for many of these graduates．“I am always 24 how many of these employed college graduates are leading a happy life,” Lian said．“I hope this book could offer a window on these graduates，whose stories are __25 known.”
The setting of the book is several so-called “settlement villages for college students” in the outskirts （市郊） of Beijing，where a large 26 of college graduates 27 ．Most of these graduates work for 28 or medium-sized businesses， 29 less than 2,000 Yuan a month．They live together because it’s 30: The rent in these communities is only around 350 Yuan a month．Many of them travel several hours a day for short-term jobs or job interviews.
Tangjialing，a small 31 20 kilometers from Tian’anmen Square，has around 3,000 32 villagers，but has become a 33 for more than 50,000 migrants （移民），most of whom 34 from universities or colleges all over the country．Lian describes the students’ 35 as five or six-storey buildings built by local farmers with 12 rooms on each floor and two or three people crammed （挤） together in each room of about 10 square meters．Up to 70 or 80 people share the same toilet and kitchen.
| 小题1: | | A．film | B．story | C．book | D．magazine |
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| 小题2: | | A．who | B．what | C．which | D．whose |
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| 小题3: | | A．leaving | B．entering | C．visiting | D．enjoying |
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| 小题4: | | A．necessary | B．meaningless | C．important | D．strong |
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| 小题6: | | A．came up | B．came on | C．came along | D．came out |
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| 小题7: | | A．fired | B．interviewed | C．employed | D．trained |
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| 小题8: | | A．much | B．little | C．some | D．more |
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| 小题9: | | A．wondering | B．researching | C．studying | D．telling |
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| 小题10: | | A．seldom | B．well | C．always | D．often |
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| 小题11: | | A．deal | B．plenty | C．amount | D．number |
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| 小题13: | | A．small | B．big | C．famous | D．unknown |
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| 小题14: | | A．earning | B．thinking | C．shopping | D．paying |
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| 小题15: | | A．expensive | B．comfortable | C．cheap | D．convenient |
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| 小题16: | | A．city | B．town | C．community | D．village |
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| 小题17: | | A．original | B．young | C．rich | D．poor |
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| 小题18: | | A．school | B．hotel | C．home | D．company |
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| 小题19: | | A．come | B．differ | C．graduate | D．suffer |
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| 小题20: | | A．lives | B．dormitories | C．buildings | D．restaurants |
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