Question

The stereotype(模式化的思想) is that Americans are lazy, but studies show that people in the USA get less vacation time than people in other parts of the world. A typical American worker gets two or three weeks off out of a whole year for vacation, but most US workers cannot. They usually have to be spread out throughout the year. Even when US workers are on vacation. they are often expected to be in communication with their bosses by email and mobile phone. Most US businesses do not encourage their employees(雇員) to take all the vacation days they are allowed to. In fact. most US companies discourage it.

Other countries, especially countries in Europe, have much more vacation time. In Germany many people have six weeks of paid vacation. Maybe this is why Europeans and other travellers take a vacation in far-off foreign places. Most American families like to stay closer to their homes, hardly leaving the country.

Most companies in countries outside the USA have to give paid time off to their employees. However, in the USA there is no law requiring employers to give workers paid vacation. In fact the USA is the only developed country that doesn't promise to give yearly time off to workers. There have been efforts to pass laws giving US workers one week of paid vacation, but so far those efforts have not been successful.

Even when US workers do have time off, many are afraid to take it because they worry they may lose their jobs. Other workers worry that if they go on vacation, they will have a mountain of work when they return.

1.The underlined word "discourage" in Paragraph 1 means .

A. encourage B. protect C. look forward to D. ask someone not to do

2.From Paragraph 3, we can infer Americans probably expect .

A. to get one week of paid vacation B. to pass a law that protects children

C. to work in foreign companies D. to travel in foreign countries

3.Americans choose not to have a vacation because .

A. they feel tired when they travel in a faraway place B. they are afraid to lose their jobs when they return

C. the law in the USA doesn't allow them to go to a faraway place D. it's not easy to communicate with their bosses outside

4.Which is the right order of the passage?

a. Many Germans have six weeks of paid vacation.

b. Many American workers are afraid to take their vacations.

c. The USA has no law requiring employers to give workers paid vacation.

d. US workers usually keep communicating with their bosses on vacation.

e. US workers have less vacation time than people in other countries in the world.

A. d-b-e-a-c B. e-d-a-c-b C. d-a-e-b-c D. e-a-b-d-c

5.What are Americans like from the passage?

A. Hard. B. Free. C. Lazy. D. Silly.

Answer 1