Those private citizens who sent packages to our troops occupying Germany after World War II and marked them GIFT to escape duty payments did not bother to find out that "Gift" means poison in German. Moreover, we like to think of ourselves as friendly, yet we prefer to be at least 3 feet or an arm's length away form others. Latins and Middle Easterners like to come closer and touch, which makes Americans uncomfortable.
Our linguistic（语言上的）and cultural blindness and the casualness with which we take notice of the developed tastes, gestures, customs and languages of other countries, are losing us friends, business and respect in the world.
Even here in the
When we go abroad, we tend to cluster in hotels and restaurants where English is spoken. The attitudes and information we pick up are conditioned by those natives-usually the richer-who speak English. Our business dealings, as well as the nation's diplomacy, are conducted through interpreters.
For many years,
But all that is past. American dollars no longer buy all good things, and we are slowly beginning to realize that our proper role in the world is changing. A 1979 Harris poll reported that 55 percent of Americans want this country to play a more significant role in world affairs; we want to have a hand in the important decisions of the next century, even though it may not always be the upper hand. 26. What makes women blind to the deceptive nature of high heels? A) The multi-functional use of high heels. B) Their attempt to show off their status. C) The rich variety of high heel styles. D) Their wish to improve their appearance.注：B选项show off炫耀，C是迷惑选项。 27. The author's presentation of the positive side of high heels is meant ______________. A) to be ironic B) to poke fun at women C) to be fair to the fashion industry D) to make his point convincing注：讽刺意味的 28. The author uses the expression "those babies" (Line 3, Para.2) to refer to high heels __________. A) to show their fragile characteristics B) to indicate their feminine features C) to show women's affection for them D) to emphasize their small size 29. The author's chief argument against high heels is that ____________. A) they pose a threat to lawns B) they are injurious to women's health C) they don't necessarily make women beautiful D) they are ineffective as a weapon of defense 30. It can be inferred from the passage that women should _______________. A) see through the very nature of fashion myths B) boycott the products of the fashion industry C) go to a podiatrist regularly for advice D) avoid following fashion too closely In department stores and closets all over the world, they are waiting. Their outward appearance seems rather appealing because they come in a variety of styles, textures, and colors. But they are ultimately the biggest deception that exists in the fashion industry today. What are they? They are high heels - a woman's worst enemy (whether she knows it or not). High heel shoes are the downfall of modern society.
Fashion myths have led women to believe that they are more beautiful or sophisticated for wearing heels, but in reality, heels succeed in posing short as well as long term hardships. Women should fight the high heel industry by refusing to use or purchase them in order to save the world from unnecessary physical and psychological suffering.
For the sake of fairness, it must be noted that there is a positive side to high heels. First, heels are excellent for aerating（使通气）lawns. Anyone who has ever worn heels on grass knows what I am talking about. A simple trip around the yard in a pair of those babies eliminates all need to call for a lawn care specialist, and provides the perfect-sized holes to give any lawn oxygen without all those messy chunks of dirt lying around. Second, heels are quite functional for defense against oncoming enemies, who can easily be scared away by threatening them with a pair of these sharp, deadly fashion accessories.
Regardless of such practical uses for heels, the fact remains that wearing high heels is harmful to one's physical health. Talk to any podiatrist（足病医生）, and you will hear that the majority of their business comes from high-heel-wearing women. High heels are known to cause problems such as deformed feet and torn toenails. The risk of severe back problems and twisted or broken ankles is three times higher for a high heel wearer than for a flat shoe wearer. Wearing heels also creates the threat of getting a heel caught in a sidewalk crack or a sewer-grate（阴沟栅）and being thrown to the ground-possibly breaking a nose, back, or neck. And of course, after wearing heels for a day, any woman knows she can look forward to a night of pain as she tries to comfort her swollen, aching feet. 31. The picture of the reading ability of the American people, drawn by the author, is _____. A) rather bleak B) fairly bright C) very impressive D) quite encouraging注：选一个烂的，bleak黯淡无光
32. The author's biggest concern is ____________. A) elementary school children's disinterest in reading classics B) the surprisingly low rate of literacy in the
