Reading Comprehension(20 points)
Directions：There are 4 reading passages in this part．Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements．For each of them there are four choices marked A，B，C and D．You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with o single line throught the center．


41、根据以下内容回答41-60题：
Washington Irving was America’S first man of letters to be known internationally．His works were received enthusiastically both in England and in the United States．He was，in fact，one of the most successful writers of his time in either country，delighting a large public and at the same time winning the admiration of fellow writers like Scott in Britain and Poe and Haw-thorne in the United States．The respect in which he was held partly owing to the man himself，with his warm friendliness，his good sense，his urbanity，his uplifting spirits，his artistic inte-grity，his love of both the Old World and the New．Thackeray described Irving as“a gentle-man，who，though himself born in no very high sphere，was most finished，polished，witty；so-cially the equal of the most refined Europeans．”In England he was granted an honorary degreefrom Oxford--an unusual honor for a citizen of a．young，uncultured nation--and he received the medal of the Royal Society of Literature．America made him ambassador to Spain．
Irving’s background provides little to explain his literary achievements．A gifted but deli-cate child，he had little schoolin9，He studied law，but without zeal，and never did,practice seriously．He was immune to his strict Presbyterian home environment，frequenting b&h social gatherings and the theater．
The main point of the first paragraph is that Washington Irving was__________ ．
A．America’s first man of letters
B．a writer who had great success both in and outside"his own country
C．a man who was able to move from literature to politics
D．a man whose personal charm enabled him to get by with basically inferior work


42、What is implied by the mention of Scott，Poe and Hawthorne?
A．Irving enjoyed great popular admiration．
B．Scott，Poe and Hawthorne were primarily responsible for Irving's success．
C．Irving’s work was not only popular，but also of high literary quality．
D．More Americans than Britains admired Irvin9．


43、Which of the following best describes the effect of Irving’s Presbyterian background on his life?
A．It fostered his love for the theater．
B．It developed his skill in business．
C．It prompted his interest in law．
D．It had aimost no effect on his life．


44、Which of the following best describes the effect of Irving’s personal qualities on his literary success?
A．His personal qualities were entirely responsible for his literary success．
B．His personal qualities were primarily responsible for his literary success．
C．His personal qualities has some effects on his literary Success．
D．His personal qualities had no effects on his literary success．


45、Why might Irving’s literary ability have been surprising to the English?
A．They feared competition from American writers．
B．They did not expect the United States to produce good writers．
C．They disapproved of the language American writers used．
D．They thought of the United States as a purely commercial power．


46、根据以下内容回答46-65题：
As contrasts go，there are few other pairs of culture as distinct from each other as the Japa-nese and the Americans．Japan’s many centuries of history and especially its Buddhist heritage have given the Japanese an attitude of repose(从容)--the best course is to let it be：When the time is ripe，things will work out by．themselves．America，on the other hand，is just a few centuries old and displays an almost volcanic liveliness and restlessness．For the Japanese，social harmony has a prior claim in every circumstance；for the Americans，harmony is the result of the rational interaction of free and fair-minded people．One does not lightly move from traditions in Japan，many of which are centuries old；in the United States，the habits and attitudes of even one’S parent’S generation are suspect．
Every cuhure，through its legal and institutional arrangements，mirrors the society’S reso-lution of some basic human problems．These can provide a useful framework for the analysis of cuhural differences．Organizations also face the same problems and usually take their cue from the prevailing culture in designing solutions to these problems．This suggests that the perspec-tive provided by viewing cuhure through the framework of this problem will be useful for organi-zational analysis as well．The following sections present a discussion of such a framework in the context of the contrast between Japan and the United States．
Before this is presented，however，we must alert the reader that the differences are stated here as being sharper than they may be in reality．On each of the aspects discussed later，there is naturally considerable variation within each culture，because examples demonstrating the cul-tural reality opposite to the one described in this book can be found easily．Thus，the following discussion should be viewed in the way it is presented，as generalizations and tendencies rather than as absolutes．
Cultural differences between the Japanese and the Americans are the__________ ．
A．most obvious
B．slightest
C．Same
D．less suitable


47、Those who are likely to doubt their parents’values and ways of doing things are proba-bly__________ ．
A．the Japanese
B．the Americans
C．both the Japanese and the Americans
D．neither the Japanese nor the Americans


48、How many types of cultural differences are mentioned in the first paragraph?
A．six．
B．Five．
C．Four．
D．Two．


49、The phrase“alert the reader”(Line l，Paragraph 3)means__________ ．
A．remind the reader
B．teach the reader
C．trust the reader
D．deceive the reader


50、The passage is probably the__________ ．
A．main part of a research proposal
B．opening remark of a lecture
C．conclusion of a thesis
D．introduction to a book