2012年广州二模英语试题答案(3)

32. Which of the following are mentioned by the author as British influences on Indian society?
a. Place names b. Language c. Food
d. Architecture e. Sport f. Education
A. a, b, d, e      B. b, d, e, f     C. a, b, e, f    D. b, c, e, f
33. Why does the author use the example of Chinese food in India?
A. To show how foreign customs are adapted to suit local conditions.
B. To argue that overseas influences have enriched the lives of local people.
C. To explain why foreign influences on local culture should be limited.
D. To indicate the loss of local cultural traditions resulting from foreign influences.
34. In the last part of the passage, the author again refers to his village to show .
A. life there has improved a lot
B. its culture has become less Indian
C. culture continues to change over time
D. his disapproval of modern youth
35. The main purpose of the passage is to .

高考网Www.gaoKw.CoM

A. inform B. persuade C. describe D. criticise
C
Are you an optimist? Do you look at your glass and see it as half full? Do you believe that every cloud has a silver lining and that generally things turn out for the best? Do you believe that if something is meant to be, it will be? If you reply "yes" to all of these questions, then you are an optimist. You probably are enthusiastic，cheerful and outgoing. You may well be successful at
work and in love.
But you may be misguided because things don't turn out for the best. You may believe that when one door closes another one opens (for example，you may fail to land a new job，another chance will come around soon), Wrong. When one door closes, another door slams in your face. That's bitter reality.
Now a book has been published which confirms what we pessimists (悲观者）have suspected all along. It's called The Positive Power of Defensive Pessimism. Its author argues that defensive pessimism can lead to positive results. Defensive pessimism is a strategy used to manage fear， anxiety and worry. Defensive pessimists prepare for things by setting low outcomes for themselves. They carefully consider everything that may go wrong and plan for ways to handle these problems. And this gives them a sense of control. Lawrence Sanno, a psychology professor, says, "What's interesting about defensive pessimists is that they tend to be very successful people, so their low opinion of the situation's outcomes is not realistic. They use it to motivate themselves to perform better. ”
So far, so good. This is not rocket science. Defensive pessimists prepare carefully and consider what might go wrong, whether at work, on a date or even in a sports game. It makes sense to have a back-up plan. There are many sayings in English urging caution. For example, “Don't put all your eggs in one basket," and “ Don't count your chickens until they hatch. “ To have a confident and optimistic approach to life's problems is good. But listen to what Woody Alien ，the American comedian says, ”Confidence is what you have before you understand the problem.“
There are pros and cons to being an optimist and a pessimist. Don't feel bad if you see the glass half empty. You are a realist. But lighten up and hook up with someone who sees the same glass half full.
36. What is the passage mainly about?
A. A book that has recently been published.
B. The dangers of being too optimistic.
C. The benefits of defensive pessimism.
D. How to become successful in life. 高考网WWw.gAoKw.coM

37. The underlined word “ it" in paragraph 3 refers to_____.
A. the final outcome B. their low opinion
C. people's motivation D. their performance
38. The underlined sentence “This is not rocket science" in paragraph 4 means_____.
A. the cost is not so high B. there is no real proof
C. it's not a dangerous thing to do D. it is quite simple to understand
39. The writer would probably describe himself as_____.
A. an optimist B. a realist C. a defeatist D. a scientist
40. Which of the following English expressions would a defensive pessimist believe?
A. “Every cloud has a silver lining.
B. "The glass is half full not half empty. ，
C. "Whatever will be, will be.
D. “Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
D
During lectures, my students often ask which is the most difficult language to learn. It's not easy to answer because there are many factors to take into consideration. For a person's first language these factors are unimportant because people learn their mother tongue naturally. So the question of how hard a language is to learn is only relevant when learning a second language. 高考网WWw.gAoKw.coM

Studies have shown that native speakers of Spanish find Portuguese much easier to learn than, say, native speakers of Chinese, because Portuguese is very similar to Spanish, while Chinese is very different. So a person's first language affects their learning of a second language. The greater the differences between a second language and the first, the harder it will be for most people to learn. Many Westerners think that Chinese is the hardest language to learn because of its writing system and pronunciation. But for Japanese speakers, who already use Chinese characters in their own language, learning writing is less difficult than for speakers of languages using the Roman alphabet.
A recent study reported that British embassy staff found that the second hardest language to learn was Japanese. More surprising was the language that they found most problematic — Hungarian. In this case the issue was not the writing system (as both English and Hungarian use a similar alphabet) but grammatical complexity. Hungarian has 35 cases (forms of a noun according to whether it is subject, object, genitive, etc. ) and it was this that caused the British diplomatic personnel most difficulty. One suspects they would have even more problems with Tabassaran, a Caucasian language with 48 cases, if they ever had to learn it.

高考网Www.gaoKw.CoM

Teachers and the circumstances in which a language is learned also play important roles，as does each learner's motivation for learning. If people learn a language because they need to use it professionally, they often learn it faster than people studying a language that has no direct use in their day-to-day life.
Put simply，no language is easy Io learn well，though languages which are related to our first language are easier. Learning a completely different writing system is a huge challenge, but that does not necessarily make a language more difficult than another. In the end, it is impossible to say that there is one language that is the most difficult language in the world.
41. According to the passage, who is likely to have the most difficulty learning a new language?
A. A Korean person learning French. B. A Spanish person learning Portuguese.
C. A German person learning English. D. A Chinese person learning Japanese.
42. Which language do British embassy staff find most difficult to learn? . 高考网wWw.GaoKw.cOm

A. Japanese. B. Caucasian. C. Hungarian. D. Tabassaran.
43. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a factor affecting language learning?
A. The amount of time spent studying the new language.
B. The environment in which language learning takes place.
C. The reasons a person has for learning the new language.
D. The similarity between a person's first language and the new language.
44. Why does the author believe there's no single hardest language?
A. All languages are equally difficult to learn well.
B. With enough effort, any language can be learned well.