專八閱讀：旅游與增進民族了解

　　The tourist trade is booming. With all this coming and going, you'd expect greater understanding to develop between the nations of the world. Not a bit of it! Superb systems of communication by air, sea and land make it possible for us to visit each other's countries at a moderate cost. What was once the 'grand tour', reserved for only the very rich, is now within everybody's grasp? The package tour and chartered flights are not to be sneered at. Modern travelers enjoy a level of comfort which the lords and ladies on grand tours in the old days couldn't have dreamed of. But what's the sense of this mass exchange of populations if the nations of the world remain basically ignorant of each other?

　　Many tourist organizations are directly responsible for this state of affairs. They deliberately set out to protect their clients from too much contact with the local population. The modern tourist leads a cosseted, sheltered life. He lives at international hotels, where he eats his international food and sips his international drink while he gazes at the natives from a distance. Conducted tours to places of interest are carefully censored. The tourist is allowed to see only what the organizers want him to see and no more. A strict schedule makes it impossible for the tourist to wander off on his own; and anyway, language is always a barrier, so he is only too happy to be protected in this way. At its very worst, this leads to a new and hideous kind of colonization. The summer quarters of the inhabitants of the cite universitaire： are temporarily reestablished on the island of Corfu. Blackpool is recreated at Torremolinos where the traveler goes not to eat paella, but fish and chips.

　　The sad thing about this situation is that it leads to the persistence of national stereotypes. We don't see the people of other nations as they really are, but as we have been brought up to believe they are. You can test this for yourself. Take five nationalities, say, French, German, English, American and Italian. Now in your mind, match them with these five adjectives： musical, amorous, cold, pedantic, native. Far from providing us with any insight into the national characteristics of the peoples just mentioned, these adjectives actually act as barriers. So when you set out on your travels, the only characteristics you notice are those which confirm your preconceptions. You come away with the highly unoriginal and inaccurate impression that, say, 'Anglo-Saxons are hypocrites' of that 'Latin peoples shout a lot'. You only have to make a few foreign friends to understand how absurd and harmful national stereotypes are. But how can you make foreign friends when the tourist trade does its best to prevent you?

　　Carried to an extreme, stereotypes can be positively dangerous. Wild generalizations stir up racial hatred and blind us to the basic fact〞how trite it sounds!That all people are human. We are all similar to each other and at the same time all unique.

　　1. The best title for this passage is

　　[A] Tourism contributes nothing to increasing understanding between nations.

　　[B] Tourism is tiresome.

　　[C] Conducted tour is dull.

　　[D] Tourism really does something to one's country.

　　2. What is the author's attitude toward tourism?

　　[A] apprehensive. [B]negative. [C] critical. [D] appreciative.

　　3. Which word in the following is the best to summarize Latin people shout a lot?

　　[A] silent. [B] noisy. [C] lively. [D] active.

　　4. The purpose of the author's criticism is to point out

　　[A] conducted tour is disappointing.

　　[B]the way of touring should be changed.

　　[C] when traveling, you notice characteristics which confirm preconception.

　　[D] national stereotypes should be changed.

　　5. What is 'grand tour' now?

　　[A] moderate cost.

　　[B]local sight-seeing is investigated by the tourist organization.

　　[C] people enjoy the first-rate comforts.

　　[D] everybody can enjoy the 'grand tour'。

　　答案及解析請看下頁：

　　答案詳解

　　1.A 旅游對增進民族了解毫無建樹。第二段開始點出,許多旅游組織直接負責旅游事宜,他們有意識不讓旅游者接觸當?shù)鼐用?讓他們過著一種關(guān)懷備至又與世隔絕的生活。住的是國際飯店,吃的是國際食品,喝的是國際飲料,在原處觀看當?shù)鼐用?。嚴格有序的計劃使旅游者難以自己一人閑逛,語言的障礙,又使他們樂意接受保護。第三段涉及堅持民族模式化――老一套的想法,所以一開始旅游,你見到的民族特性就只是證實了你自己設想的基本事實――所有人民都是人類。只有交朋友才能知道民族模式是多么荒謬、有害,可是旅行社竭力制止,你又怎么能交上外國朋友呢?這一切說明A項對。

　　B.旅游很累。C.導游觀光很單調(diào)乏味。D.旅游確實對國家有貢獻。

　　2.C 批評。

　　3.B 吵吵鬧鬧的。

　　4.B 旅游的方式應改變。整篇文章(除第一段外)都環(huán)繞旅游方式不理想來進行批評。第二段集中在導游觀光使旅游者難以和當?shù)厝嗣窠佑|。第三段,見到的只是證實了旅游者本人事先形成的思想/先入之見,旅游根本達不到了解對方的目的。第四段講了民族固定模式(先入之見的模式)的可怕后果。要使人懂得所有的人們都是人類,彼此相似,又各具特點,就得改變旅游的方式。

　　A.導游觀光令人失望。C.旅游時,你見到的 特性證實了你的先入之見。D.民族模式應當改變。這三條都是批評的具體內(nèi)容。

　　5.D 人人都能享受大旅游。大旅行是專指英國富家子弟上學中的一門課程-到歐洲大陸觀光。不是人人都能享受。這里用grand tour表示人人都能享受類似 grand tour的一切,甚至超過,如第一段指出：現(xiàn)代旅游者享受的舒適設施,達到了大旅行中老爺、小姐們做夢都沒有想到的水平。海陸空高級交流聯(lián)絡通訊系統(tǒng),使人們有可能錢花得不多就能訪問、觀光別的國家。所以說,曾是有錢人專享的大旅行,普通人也能領(lǐng)略。“grand tour”有引號,表明作為比喻。A.費用不高。文內(nèi)是費用合適、中等、恰當。B.當?shù)赜^光受組織審查。C.人們喜歡一流舒適設施。