阅读理解。
When I lived in Spain, some Spanish friends of mine decided to visit England by car.
Before they left, they asked me for advice about how to find accommodation (住所). I
suggested that they should stay at 'bed and breakfast' houses, because this kind of
accommodation gives a foreign visitor a good chance to speak English with the family.
My friends listened to my advice, but they came back with some funny stories.
"We didn't stay at bed and breakfast houses," they said, "because we found that most
families were away on holiday."
I thought this was strange. Finally I understood what had happened. My friends spoke
little English, and they thought 'VACANCIES' meant 'holidays', because the Spanish word
for 'holidays' is 'vacaciones'. So they did not go to house where the sign outside said
'VACANCLES', which in English means there are free rooms. Then my friends went to
house where the sign said 'NO VACANCLES', because they thought this meant the people
who owned the house were not away on holiday. But they found that these houses were
all full. As a result, they stayed at hotels!
We laughed about this and about mistakes my friends made in reading other signs. In
Spanish, the word 'DIVERSION' means fun.In English, it means that workmen are
repairing the road, and that you must take a different road.When my friends saw the word
'DIVERSION' on a road sign, they thought they were going to have fun.Instead, the road
ended in a large hold.
English people have problems too when they learn foreign languages. Once in Paris,
when someone offered me some more coffee, I said "Thank you" in French. I meant that I
would like some more. However, to my surprise, the coffee pot was taken away! Later I
found out that "Thank you" in French means "No, thank you."
1. My Spanish friends wanted advice about _____.[ ]
A. learning English
B. finding places to stay in England
C. driving their car on English roads
D. going to England by car
2. 'NO VACANCIES' in English means _____. [ ]
A. no free rooms
B. free rooms
C. not away on holiday
D. holidays
3. When someone offered me more coffee and I said "Thank you" in French, I _____. [ ]
A. didn't really want any more coffee
B. wanted them to take the coffee pot away
C. really wanted some more coffee
D. wanted to express my politeness
4. I was surprised when the coffee pot was taken away because I _____. [ ]
A. hadn't finished drinking my coffee
B. was expecting another cup of coffee
C. meant that I didn't want any more
D. was never misunderstood
