英美文化閱讀理解專項：素材積累

24.FridayandtheThirteenth星期五和13

Friday-theThirteenthhaslongbeenconsideredextremelyunluckybecauseithassomebadassociationswhichcamefrommythologytaleoftheBible,andthecustomsandhabits.AccordingtotheBible,theLordGodcreatedthefirstman,Adam.ThenhetookaribfromAdam'sbodyandoutofitcreatedthefirstwoman,Eve.ItwassaidthatAdamwascreatedonaFridayanditwasonFridaythatAdamandEveatetheforbiddenfruit,andonaFridaytheydied.FridaywasalsothecommondayinEnglandforexecutingcriminals,forwhichitwassometimesknownasHangingDay.

FromtheoldNorsemythpeoplegottheideathat13peoplesittingatatabletohaveadinnerwasunlucky.AndthissuperstitionwasconfirmedbythelastsupperofChristandhisdisciples.BibletellsusthatChristsatdownwithhis12disciples,whichmadeupthenumber13,atthelastsupperwhenJudas,oneofthe12disciples,soldhismasterforthirtypiecesofsilver.ChristwaskilledbynailingonthecrossthefollowingdayonaFriday.(193words)

◆Helper:association聯(lián)系mythology[mi'θ?l?d?i]神話Bible['baibl]圣經(jīng)Adam['?d?m]亞當rib肋骨Eve[i:v]夏娃forbiddenfruit禁果execute['eksikju:t]處死HangingDay絞刑日Norsemyth[miθ]挪威神話superstition[sju:p?'sti??n]迷信disciple[di'saipl]門徒◆Exercises:從所給的A、B、C、D四個選項中選出最佳答案。1.PeoplethinkFridayandtheThirteenthareunluckydaysbecause______.A.theBiblepersuadesthemtothinksoB.theydrawtheconclusionfromcountlessfactsC.theybelieveintheBibleandhavesomebadassociationsD.Christwarnedpeopleofthedaysbeforehedied2.Thefigure13wasfirstconsideredunlucky______.A.beforethelastsupperhappenedB.afterthelastsupperhappenedC.fromthe16thcenturyD.afterChristwaskilled3.Fromthepassageweknowpeoplethinkit______thatAdamandEveatetheforbiddenfruit.A.reasonableB.goodC.badD.natural◆BriefIntroduction:

星期五和13歷來被認為是非常不吉利的日子，這是從神話、圣經(jīng)故事、風俗習慣產(chǎn)生的一些不好的聯(lián)想而來的。據(jù)圣經(jīng)上講，上帝創(chuàng)造了第一個男人--亞當。然后，上帝從亞當身上取下一根肋骨又造了一個女人-夏娃。據(jù)說，亞當是在星期五被造出來的，他和夏娃吃禁果也在星期五，他倆死的日子也是星期五。

英國從前常常在星期五處死罪犯、因此星期五有時也叫"絞刑日"。

從挪威神話中，人們產(chǎn)生一種想法：13個人坐在一起聚餐是不吉利的。這種迷信被耶穌和其12個門徒的最后的晚餐加以證實。圣經(jīng)上說，在最后的晚餐上，耶穌和他的12個門徒坐在一起，正好是13人。他的門徒之一-----猶大，為了三十個銀幣而出賣了自己的老師。第二天，耶穌便被釘死在十字架上，這天碰巧是星期五?！鬕eysandExplanations:1-3CAC1.選C。從第一段ithassomebadassociationswhichcamefrommythologytaleoftheBible,andthecustomsandhabits.可知，這是人們從神話、圣經(jīng)故事、風俗習慣產(chǎn)生的一些不好的聯(lián)想而來的。2.選A。從最后一段AndthissuperstitionwasconfirmedbythelastsupperofChristandhisdisciples.可知，最后的晚餐只是使人們更加相信原來認為13不吉利這種觀念。在這之前這種觀念就已存在了。3.選C。從文章所描述的來看，星期五之所以被認為不吉利是因為在這一天發(fā)生了一些不吉利的事，因此偷食禁果應(yīng)該是不好的事情，他們也因此失去了樂園。25.Beefeaters衛(wèi)兵(倫敦塔的守衛(wèi)人)TheYeomanWardersareaveryselectgroupofmilitaryguards,whoaretheceremonialguardiansoftheTowerofLondon.Theyarenicknamed‘TheBeefeaters’,whichprobablyoriginatesfromtheirfoodrationofmeat,backinthe15thcentury.TheYeomanWardershaveexistedsince1485.Originally,theBeefeatersjobwastoguardtheprisonerskeptintheTowerandtheCrownJewels–thevaluablecollectionofroyaljewelleryandregaliawhichincludesthecrownswornbythemonarchattheircoronation.However,thesedaystheTowerofLondonisatouristattraction,notaworkingprison,andtheBeefeatersaretourguidesandatouristattractionthemselves.InordertobecomeaYeomanWarder,apersonmusthaveretiredafterservingatleast22yearsinthearmedforces.Theymustalsohaveachievedvariousmilitarymedals.TheBeefeatersliveinaccommodationinsidetheTower.Theywearaspecialnavyandreduniformwhichisvaluedatover￡1000(15,000RMB),andhaveanotherdressuniformvaluedatover￡3000(45,000RMB)forspecialeventsinvolvingtheKingorQueen.On3rdSeptember,thefirstfemaleBeefeatertookupherduties.MoiraCameronbeatfivemalecandidatesforthejob,whichwasawardedonmerit.TheChiefYeomanWarderJohnKeohanesaidthatthisappointmentreflectedtheimportantroleofwomeninthearmedforcesthesedays.Moirasaidthatshewasusedtoworkinginamale-orientatedenvironmentafterher22yearsintheforces.However,sheadmittedthattheuniformlargepocketsareperfectforcarryingalipstickandmirror!Aspartofhertrainingforthejob,shewilllearnallabouttheTowerofLondon’s900-yearhistory.ShedescribedbecomingaBeefeateras“agreatprivilege”and“awonderfuljob”.(294words)◆Helper:select精選的ceremonial[seri'm?unj?l]慶典的 guardians監(jiān)護,守衛(wèi)originates起源于 ration配給 regalia[ri'geilj?(如王冠等)王位的標志monarch['m?n?k]帝王,君主coronation[k?r?'nei?(?)]n加冕(儀式) warder監(jiān)獄看守accommodation住宿，住處candidates候選人,報考者awardedonmerit擇優(yōu)錄取male-orientated以男性為主的privilege['privilid?]特權(quán)◆BriefIntroduction:倫敦塔的守衛(wèi)人都是從部隊護衛(wèi)隊精挑出來的，是倫敦塔的禮兵。他們有著“吃牛肉者”的綽號，很可能來源于15世紀時的肉類定量配給。最初，倫敦塔衛(wèi)兵的工作是看守犯人和王冠上的寶石---包括君主在加冕禮上戴的王冠等非常值錢的鑲嵌有寶石和象征王位的東西?，F(xiàn)在的倫敦塔的衛(wèi)兵是作為導游或者本身就作為吸引游客的人。要成為倫敦塔衛(wèi)兵，必須在軍隊服役至少22年后退役，而且要獲得各種各樣的軍章。倫敦塔的衛(wèi)兵住宿在倫敦塔，他們穿著昂貴的特制海軍藍和紅色的制服。9月3日，歷史上第一位女性倫敦塔衛(wèi)兵上崗了，莫伊拉在擇優(yōu)錄取的過程中擊敗五位男性選手得到這份工作。衛(wèi)隊長說這次對莫伊拉的任用體現(xiàn)了當今女性在軍隊中的重要地位。莫伊拉說她在軍隊22年后，習慣于在以男性為主的環(huán)境下工作，她承認制服的大口袋裝口紅和鏡子很合適。她認為成為倫敦塔衛(wèi)兵是特別待遇，是一種特權(quán)，是一份極好的的工作?！鬍xercises:1.FromthetextweknowtheBeefeatersusedto__________.A.eatonlybeefinsteadofotherfoodB.showtouristsaroundtheLondonTowerC.watchoverprisonerssoastopreventescapeorviolenceD.wearcrownsintheTower2.TheTowerofLondonisnowusedas_________.A.aprisonB.apalaceC.atouristattractionD.afoodstore3.ThefactthatMoiraCameronworksasaBeefeatershowsthat________.A.womenarecleverthanmenB.FewerandfewermenwanttobeguardsC.womenguardsareneededinLondonTowerD.womenplayamoreandmoreroleinthearmy4.Theunderlinedsentence“However,sheadmittedthattheuniformlargepocketsareperfectforcarryingalipstickandmirror!”indicatesthat__________.A.theuniformhaslargepocketsB.sheisafemaleafterallsoshealsolovesbeautyC.shedoesn’tliketheuniformatallexceptitslargepocketsD.asaguardianoftheTowerofLondonshehastocarryalipstickandmirror5.WhoismorelikelytoworkasaguardianoftheTowerofLondonthisyear?A.Peter:Hehasachievedmanymilitarymedalsandretiredafterservingthearmyfor24years.B.Mary:Sheisservinginthearmy.Shejoinedthearmy22yearsagoandtwoyearslatershewillleavethearmy.C.Smith:Hegetsvariousmedalsandhewillretirefromthearmy.D.Rose:Sheis22yearsoldandisservingthearmy.Shealsogetsvariousmedals◆KeysandExplanations:1.選C。細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第二段的第一句Originally,theBeefeatersjobwastoguardtheprisonerskeptintheTower…可以看出C正確。D項本身錯誤，國王才能戴王冠；A說法太絕對，B是現(xiàn)在做的事情。2.選C。細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第三段的首句thesedaystheTowerofLondonisatouristattraction,notaworkingprison知道倫敦塔現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)成為游覽勝地。3.選D。根據(jù)第六段最后一句TheChiefYeomanWarderJohnKeohane所說的話知道婦女在武裝力量中所起的作用越來越大。通過文章中所說的擇優(yōu)錄用和她擊敗男對手得出B錯誤，但是不能就此推出女子比男子聰明，排除A。并沒有證據(jù)表明倫敦塔需要一位女性做衛(wèi)兵，排除C。4.選B。推理判斷題。該段前面說明她已經(jīng)習慣于在以男性為主的地方工作，但是對于服裝的大口袋她首先想到的是裝口紅和鏡子很合適，這說明她和所有的女性一樣愛美，這也是女人的天性，故選B。C、D本身不符合文章的意思，錯誤；D符合文章是意思，是事實情況，但是并不是她所說話的真實意義，是表面意思，注意indicate的意思是“暗示”。5.選A。細節(jié)理解題。實際本題也屬于理解應(yīng)用題，根據(jù)第四段可以看出要作為倫敦塔的典獄官需要符合下列條件：1）在軍隊服役至少22年后退役2）要獲得各樣的勛章。Mary還在服役，Smith沒有提供參軍的時間，Rose的年齡才22，顯然服役時間不夠，因此只有A符合題意。26.Taxes,TaxesandMoreTaxes美國的稅收Americansoftensaythatthereareonlytwothingsapersoncanbesureofinlife;deathandtaxes.Americansdonothaveacorneronthe"death"market,butmanypeoplefeelthattheUnitedStatesleadstheworldwiththeworsttaxes.Taxesconsistofthemoneywhichpeoplepaytosupporttheirgovernment.TherearegenerallythreelevelsofgovernmentintheUnitedStates:federal,state,andcity;therefore,therearethreetypesoftaxes.Salariedpeoplewhoearnmorethanafewthousanddollarsmustpayacertainpercentageoftheirsalariestothefederalgovernment.Thepercentagevariesfrompersontoperson.Itdependsontheirsalaries.Thefederalgovernmenthasagraduatedincometax,thatis,thepercentageofthetax(14to70percent)increasesasaperson'sincomeincreases.WiththehighcostoftaxespeoplearenotveryhappyonApril15,whenthefederaltaxesaredue.Thesecondtaxisforthestategovernment:NewYork,California,NorthDakota,oranyoftheotherforty-sevenstates.Somestateshaveanincometaxsimilartothatofthefederalgovernment.Ofcourse,thepercentageforthestatetaxislower.Otherstateshaveasalestax,whichisapercentagechargedtoanyitemwhichyoubuyinthatstate.Forexample,apersonmightwanttobuyapacketofcigarettesfortwenty-fivecents.Ifthereisasalestaxofeightpercentinthatstate,thenthecostofthecigarettesistwenty-sevencents.Thisfigureincludesthesalestax.Somestatesuseincometaxinadditiontosalestaxtoraisetheirrevenues.Thestatetaxlawsarediverseandconfusing.Thethirdtaxisforthecity.Thistaxcomesintwoforms:propertytax(peoplewhoownahomehavetopaytaxesonit)andexcisetax,whichischargedoncarsinacity.Thecitiesusethesefundsforeducation,policeandfiredepartments,publicworksandmunicipalbuildings.SinceAmericanspaysuchhightaxes,theyoftenfeelthattheyareworkingonedayeachweekjusttopaytheirtaxes.Peoplealwayscomplainabouttaxes.Theyoftenprotestthatthegovernmentusestheirtaxdollarsinthewrongway.Theysaythatitspendstoomuchonuselessandimpracticalprograms.AlthoughAmericanshavedifferentviewsonmanyissues,theytendtoagreeononesubject:taxesaretoohigh.（426words）◆Helper:federal聯(lián)邦percentage百分數(shù)graduatetax累進稅due應(yīng)付的；到期的charge收費item產(chǎn)品revenue['revinju:]收入diverse多樣的confusing使人糊涂的propertytax財產(chǎn)稅excise[ek'saiz]tax國內(nèi)貨物稅fund[f?nd]資金municipal[mju(:)'nisip?l]市政的haveacorneronthemarket壟斷（某種商品的市場）◆BriefIntroduction:美國人常說有兩件事情是確定的，一個是死亡，另一個是稅收。在“死亡”上美國沒有壟斷，但是許多人認為美國用它最糟糕的稅收領(lǐng)跑著世界。稅收就是人們上繳給政府的那部分錢。美國通常分成聯(lián)邦、州和城市三級，那么稅收也就有三種。支領(lǐng)薪水人的收入達到幾千就要向聯(lián)邦交一定比例的稅收，聯(lián)邦稅是累進稅，就是薪水越高交的比例也就越高。4月15日是交聯(lián)邦稅的期限。州稅收與聯(lián)邦稅比起來要少，有的州有銷售稅，有的有收入所得稅。州稅是多樣的。城市稅有兩種形式，財產(chǎn)稅和國內(nèi)貨物稅。由于要交這么高的稅收，美國人常常感到他們每星期有一天是為交稅而工作的，人們也總是抱怨稅收。常會抗議政府亂用納稅人的錢。盡管他們在許多問題上意見不一致，但是對于稅收太高這一點上傾向是一致的?！鬍xercises:從所給的A、B、C、D四個選項中選出最佳答案。1.Howdoyouunderstandthesentence"Americansdonothaveacorneronthe'death'market"? A.ItmeansthatAmericans,justlikeallotherpeople,mustdie. B.ItmeansthatAmericansdonothaveasecretplacetokeepfromdeathintheirlife. C.ItmeansthatAmericansarenotgoodatdoingbu