Passage B
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 universities: 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.
The best title for this passage is ________.
第一段的最后一句提到， 如果世界上的国家仍然对彼此一无所知， 那么这种大规模人口交换的意义是什么呢？ 文中第二、 三段的内容围绕缺乏对旅行地的了解以及国家之间的刻板印象展开， 因此， A项（旅行不会促进国家间的了解）为正确答案。
What is the author‟s attitude toward tourism?
由全文可知， 作者认为旅行中存在一些问题， 例如缺少与当地居民的接触， 容易产生对于某个国家和民族的误解和刻板印象等。 总体来说， 作者的态度是批评的（critical） 。
Which word in the following is the best to summarize Latin people shout a lot?
倒数第二段的倒数第二句提到， 你需要交几个外国朋友才会发现国家的刻板印象是多么荒谬和有害（to understand how absurd and harmful national stereotypes are） 。 结合题中所说的“shout a lot”可知， 答案应是吵闹的（noisy） 。
The purpose of the author‟s criticism is to point out ________.
作者在在第二段开头指出， 之所以缺乏对旅行地的了解是因为旅游组织故意避免游客和当地居民接触（protect their clients from too much contact with the local population.） 。 由此可推断， 作者认为， 旅行的方式应该改变。 因此， 选B项。
What is “grand tour” now?
第一段的第五句提到“What was once the „grand tour‟, reserved for only the very rich, is now within everybody‟s grasp”， 意思是， 曾经只有最富有的人专享的“大旅行”现在人人都可获得。 因此， 选D项。