In China it is relatively usual to ask people their age, but in the west this question is generally regarded as impolite. This is particularly true _1_ women, and even more _2_if the inquirer （问者） is a man.

However, it is very_3 _to ask children their age, and some adults may not mind being asked _4_ . In fact, some elderly people are quite happy to _5_ the age, especially if they feel they look young _6_ their age. Nevertheless, it is not very wise to ask a _7 _question like "How old are you?". If elderly people want to talk about their age, and perhaps receive a compliment（恭维话） on how young they look, they may easily bring _8_ the topic themselves and ask the other to _9_ how old they are. _10_ such a situation, it is quite acceptable to discuss age _11_ They normally expect to be complimented on their youthfulness, rather than _12_ that they look very old.

_13 _Westerners do not usually ask people directly how old they are, this does not_14_ that they are not interested to know how old other people ate. They may ask _15_ for the information, _16_ they may try to _17_ the topic indirectly, sometimes discussions about educational _18 _and the number of years of working experience may provide some_19_, but this is not always the _20_ . Of course, individuals also vary in what they are interested or willing to talk about.

1. A. to B. for C. of D. with

2. A. that B. than C. so D. such

3. A. average B. normal C. expected D. unusual

4. A. too B. Also C. neither D. either

5. A. release B. reflect C. reveal D. remark

6. A. to B. with C. for D. at

7. A. open B. strange C. impolite D. direct

8. A. about B. up C. along D. to

9. A. guess B. know C. learn D. predict

10. A. For B. In C. With D. On

11. A. free B. with freedom C. freely D. in a free way

12. A. being told B. told C. to tell D. to be told

13. A. Even B. Though evenC. Even though D. Even that

14. A. include B. intend C. mean D. conclude

15. A. no one else B. anyone else C. someone else D. everyone else

16. A. still else B. or else C. so else D. rather else

17. A. approach B. solve C. address D. discuss

18. A. knowledge B. leve l C. Background D. systems

19. A. topics B. clues C. evidences D. suggestions

20. A. case B. truth C. reality D. fact

参考答案 ：

1.A 固定搭配。be true of sb.对……适用，符合于，如：The same is true of all political par-

ties.这同样适用于所有的政党。

2.C so：adv.这样，那样；表示前面提到的不礼貌。

3.B由however（表示转折含义）可知，问小孩子年龄是“正常的”，所以B项正确。average：

adj.一般的，通常的，平均的；expected：期望的；unusual：adj.不寻常的。

4.D either用在否定句中是“也……”的意思。前面说小孩子不在乎被问到年龄，后面说有些成年人也不在乎。

5.C reveal：vt.展现，显示，揭示；release：vt.释放，发布；reflect：Vt.反映，反射；remark：n./Vt.备注，评论。

6.C for相对于……，如：She’s tall for her age，isn’t she?与同年人相比她长得算高的，对吗？

7.D HOW old are you?是一个“直接的”问题，而不是“开放的”、“奇怪的”或是“不礼貌的”问题。

8.B bring up：提出；bring about：使发生，致使；bring along：领来；bring to：使恢复知觉。

9.A根据句意，“猜测”这里更恰当，更能表现出老人乐于和别人交流关于自己年龄的问题。

10.B in such situation：在这种情况下；in和sit-uation固定搭配。

11.C这里空格处作状语，修饰discuss，所以A可以排除；B和D项表达的和C项意思相同，但一般不这样说，比较罗嗦，直接用freely即可。

12.D rather than是连词，前后的连接的结构形式应该一致，所以选择不定式。

13.C even是副词，不可以连接句子，所以A项可以排除；B和D项没有这种说法。even

though：尽管，表示转折关系。

14.C根据句意C项（意味着）最恰当。

15.C根据上文，人们可能不直接问别人的年龄，由此可以推断他们更可能向其他人（someone else）打听信息，而不是就不打听了（ask no one else）。

16.B两个句子都是以“they may”开头，可见它

们是并列关系，因此B正确。

17.A approach：vt.接近，动手处理；approach the topic：逐步开始谈论这个话题，选择A项和后面的indirectly恰好对应，比D项（讨论）更恰当。

18.C educational background：教育背景，其内容涵盖上学的年份，由此可以推测出一个人的大概年龄；educational level：教育程度，只是指一个人的最高学历，内容单一。

19.B clue：线索，即有助于找到问题答案的线索，根据句意是最恰当的选项。

20.A be the case：是这样的情况。