2016外研社杯阅读大赛南昌大学选拔赛题

The family is the center of most traditional Asians' lives. Many people worry about their families' welfare, reputation, and honor. Asian families are often 1___ , including several generations related by 2___ or marriage living in the same home. An Asian person's misdeeds are not blamed just on the individual but also on the family--including the dead 3___ .

Traditional Chinese, among many other Asians, respect their elders and feel a deep sense of duty 4___ them. Children repay their parents' 5___ by being successful and supporting them in old age. This is accepted as a 6___ part of life in China. 7___, taking care of the aged parents is often viewed as a tremendous 8___ in the United States, where aging and family support are not 9___ highly. 10___, in the youth-oriented United States, growing old is seen as a bad thing and many old people do not receive respect.

Pilipinos, the most Americanized of the Asians, are 11___ extremely family-oriented. They are 12___ to helping their children and will sacrifice greatly for their children to get an education. 13___ , the children are devoted to their parents, who often live nearby. Grown children who leave the country for economic reasons 14___ send large parts of their income home to their parents.

The Vietnamese family 15___ people currently 16___ as well as the spirits of the dead and of the as-yet unborn. Any 17___ or actions are done from family considerations, not individual desires. People's behavior is judged 18___ whether it brings shame or pride to the family. The Vietnamese do not particularly believe in self-reliance; in this way, they are the 19___ of people in the United States. Many Vietnamese think that their actions in this life will influence their 20___ in the next life.

1. A. enlarged B. extended C. expanded D. lengthened

2. B. interaction C. blood

3. A. pioneer B. settlers C. immigrant D. ancestors

4. A. toward

5. A contributions B. sufferings C. sacrifices D. tributes

6. A. formal B. natural C. regular D. peculiar

7. A. In comparison B. To the same extent C. In a way D. In contrast

8. A. relief B. responsibility C. burden D. business

9. A. rewarded B. honored C. regarded D. complimented

10. A. In fact B. In return D. As a result

11. A. meanwhile B. furthermore C. however

12. A. confined B. dedicated C. corresponded D. exposed

13. return B. In exchange C. In vain D. In turn

14. A. occasionally B. intentionally C. typically D. steadily

15. A. insists on B. consists of C. persists in D. resists to

16. A. living B. lively C. alive

17. A. incidences B. decisions C. accidents D. expedition

18. A. by

19. A. counterpart B. opposite C. competitor D. opponent

20. A) station B. status C. stature D. State

Optimism is a good characteristic, but if carried to an excess it becomes foolishness. We are prone to speak of the resources of this country as inexhaustible; this is not so. The mineral wealth of the country , the coal, iron, oil, gas, and the like, does not reproduce itself and therefore is certain to be exhausted ultimately; and wastefulness in dealing with it today means that our descendants will feel the exhaustion a generation or two before they otherwise would. But there are certain other forms of waste which could be entirely stopped--the waste of soil by washing, for instance, which is among the most dangerous of all wastes now in progress in the United States, is easily preventable, so that this present enormous loss of fertility is entirely unnecessary. The preservation or replacement of the forests is one of the most important means of preventing this loss. We have made a beginning in forest preservation, but... So rapid has been the rate of exhaustion of timber in the United States in the past , and so rapidly is the remainder being exhausted, that the country is unquestionably on the verge of a timber famine which will be felt in every household in the land. The present annual consumption of lumber is certainly three times as great as the growth; and if the consumption and growth continue unchanged, practically all our lumber will be exhausted in another generation, while long before the limit to complete exhaustion is reached the growing scarcity will make itself felt in many blighting ways upon our national welfare. About twenty percent of our forested territory is now reserved in national forests; but these do not include the most valuable timberland, and in any event the proportion is too small to expect that the reserves can accomplish more than a mitigation of the trouble which is ahead for the nation.

21. The author of the passage is likely to be a(n) _____.