When I lived in Spain,some Spanish friends of mine decided to visit England by car,before they left,they asked me about how to find accommodation(住所)．I suggested that they should stay at“bed and breakfast”houses,because this kind of accommodation gives a foreign visitor a good chance to speak English with the family．My friends listened to my advice,but they came back with some funny stories．
“We didn’t stay at bed and breakfast houses,”they said．“Because we found that most families were away on holiday．”
I thought this was strange．Finally I understood what had happened．My friends spoke little English,and they thought“VACANCIES”meant“holidays”because Spanish word for“holiday”is“vacations”．So they did not go to houses where the sign outside said“VACANCIES”,which in English meant there are free rooms．Then my friends went to houses where the sign said“NO VACANCIES”,because they thought this meant the people who owned the house were not away on holiday．But they found that these houses were all full．As a result,they stayed at hotels！
We laughed about this and about mistakes my friends made in reading other signs．In Spanish,a word very similar to“DIVERSION”means fun．In English it means that workman is repairing the road,and that you must take a different road when my friends saw the word“DIVERSION”on a road sign,they thought they were going to have fun．Instead,the road ended in a large hole．
English people have problems too when they learn foreign languages．Once in Paris,when someone offered me some more coffee,I said“Thank you”in French．I meant that I would like some more．However,to my surprise the coffee pot was taken away！Later I found out that“Thank you”in French means“No,thank you”．
(1)I suggested that they stay at bed and breakfast houses because _______．[ ]
A．they would be able to practice their Englis
B．it would be much cheaper than staying in hotels
C．it would be convenient for them to have dinner
D．there would be no problem about finding accommodation
(2)“No vacancies”in English means _______．[ ]
A．no free rooms
B．free rooms
C．not away on holiday
D．holidays
(3)If you see a road sign that says“Diversion”,you will _______[ ]
A．fall into a hole
B．have a lot of fun and enjoy yourself
C．find that the road is blocked by people
D．have to take a different road
(4)I was surprised when the coffee pot was taken away because I _______．[ ]
A．hadn’t finished drinking my coffee
B．was expecting another cup of coffee
C．meant that I didn’t want any more
D．was never misunderstood
答案
1．A; 2．A; 3．B; 4．D;
解析
(1) 从第一段中“because this kind of accommodation gives a foreign visitor a good chance to speak English with the family”可以看出来。
(2) 信息在下文的描述中，即But they found that these houses were all full。
(3) 我说“Thank you”其实是想要一杯咖啡，但是却看到咖啡壶被拿走，所以感到吃惊。
(4) Diversion是英语单词，根据文中“In English it means that workman is repairing the road，and that you must take a different road”可以得到答案。