A
Growing up in Puerto Rico, our family was no different from so many others. My parents got married after my father came back when the war ended. Both of my parents were struggling with the hard economic realities of the time. But somehow, they found time to cherish those cultural values that shaped our everyday life.
In our daily life, we celebrated together with our friends or family members every birthday, every graduation, and all holidays with music and dancing, typical foods. When we visited our family in the countryside—a trip that took about two hours in a car, with five children fighting as to who would get a window or the front seat—we would break into a song, and somehow the trip would turn into one full of happiness and fun. We would sing not only interesting children’s songs but also beautiful love songs—songs about the love of the country though we didn’t understand the meaning of the words many times.
I came to Philadelphia for the first time in 1973 to do a residency (实习) in family medicine. I remember the many hours of work. I was facing issues of life and death and suffering the clearly social unfairness and issues of poverty and race. These were all aggravated by my feeling of cultural differences.
An important turning point in my life happened one Saturday night when I attended a concert of Puerto Rican singer and composer Antonio Caban Vale. The music showed my familiar rhythms, and the words spoke to my heart. I had found a space to express, celebrate, and share my culture in Philadelphia. Therefore, I believe diversity is seen as an advantage and not as a disadvantage. As a Puerto Rican, I am a mixture of races and I believe in my strength because of this.
1. What do we know about the author’s parents?
A. They lived a well-off life.
B. They were famous in Puerto Rico.
C. They had different cultural values.
D. They took cultural values seriously.
2. Which word is closest in meaning to the underlined word “aggravated”?
A. Worsened. B. Appreciated.
C. Criticized. D. Caused.
3. What did the concert make the author aware of?
A. The possibility of celebrating her own culture.
B. The right to share one’s culture with others.
C. The happiness of possessing unique cultural values.
D. The right of cultures to coexist in society.
【答案】1. D 2. A 3. D
【解析】
这是一篇夹叙夹议文。作者通过自己家庭的文化价值及自己在文化差异中的经历等内容阐述了自己对文化差异的看法。
【1题详解】
推理判断题。从第一段最后两句“ Both of my parents were struggling with the hard economic realities of the time. But somehow, they found time to cherish those cultural values that shaped our everyday life. (我的父母当时都经济困难。但是他们总会找到时间坚持那些文化价值，塑造我们每一天的生活)”可知，即使在困难时期，作者的父母也非常重视文化价值观。故选D项。
【2题详解】
词义猜测题。根据第三段中的“I was facing issues of life and death and suffering the clearly social unfairness and issues of poverty and race.”可知，我面临着生死攸关的问题，遭受着明显的社会不公，贫穷和种族问题。所以作者对文化差异的感受加剧了这些问题。所以划线词“aggravated”意为“恶化，加重”，故选A项。
【3题详解】
推理判断题。根据最后一段中最后两句“Therefore, I believe diversity is seen as an advantage and not as a disadvantage. As a Puerto Rican, I am a mixture of races and I believe in my strength because of this.(因此，我相信多样性是优势而不是劣势。作为一名波多黎各人，我是不同民族的混合，我也因此相信自己的力量)”可知，Therefore后面的内容是结果，而原因自然是前面提到的作者听音乐会的经历，作者由听音乐会的经历受到启发，认为对社会而言，文化差异是优势而不是劣势，由此可推知，作者认为不同的文化有权利共存。故选D项。
