Culture is a word in common use with complex meanings

Culture is a word in common use with complex meanings

Đề bài: Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions

Culture is a word in common use with complex meanings, and is derived, like the term broadcasting, from the treatment and care of the soil and of what grows on it. It is directly related to cultivation and the adjectives cultural and cultured are part of the same verbal complex. A person of culture has identifiable attributes, among them a knowledge of and interest in the arts, literature, and music. Yet the word culture does not refer solely to such knowledge and interest nor, indeed, to education. At least from the 19th century onwards, under the influence of anthropologists and sociologists, the word culture has come to be used generally both in the singular and the plural (cultures) to refer to a whole way of life of people, including their customs, laws, conventions, and values. Distinctions have consequently been drawn between primitive and advanced culture and cultures, between elite and popular culture, between popular and mass culture, and most recently between national and global cultures. Distinctions have been drawn too between culture and civilization; the latter is a word derived not, like culture or agriculture, from the soil, but from the city. The two words are sometimes treated as synonymous. Yet this is misleading. While civilization and barbarism are pitted against each other in what seems to be a perpetual behavioural pattern, the use of the word culture has been strongly influenced by conceptions of evolution in the 19th century and of development in the 20th century. Cultures evolve or develop. They are not static. They have twists and turns. Styles change. So do fashions. There are cultural processes. What, for example, the word cultured means has changed substantially since the study of classical (that is, Greek and Roman) literature, philosophy, and history ceased in the 20th century to be central to school and university education. No single alternative focus emerged, although with computers has come electronic culture, affecting kinds of study, and most recently digital culture. As cultures express themselves in new forms not everything gets better or more civilized.The multiplicity of meanings attached to the word made and will make it difficult to define. There is no single, unproblematic definition, although many attempts have been made to establish one. The only non-problematic definitions go back to agricultural meaning (for example, cereal culture or strawberry culture) and medical meaning (for example, bacterial culture or penicillin culture). Since in anthropology and sociology we also acknowledge culture clashes, culture shock, and counter-culture, the range of reference is extremely wide.

Câu 1: It is stated in paragraph 1 that a cultured person ______.

A. has a job related to cultivation

B. does a job relevant to education

C. takes care of the soil and what grows on it

D. has knowledge of arts, literature, and music

Câu 2: The author remarks that culture and civilization are the two words that ______.

A. share the same word formation pattern

B. have nearly the same meaning

C. are both related to agriculture and cultivation

D. do not develop from the same meaning

Câu 3: It can be inferred from the passage that since the 20th century ______.

A. schools and universities have not taught classical literature, philosophy, and history

B. classical literature, philosophy, and history have been considered as core subjects

C. classical literature, philosophy, and history have not been taught as compulsory subjects

D. all schools and universities have taught classical literature, philosophy, and history

Câu 4: The word “attributes” in paragraph 1 most likely means ______.

A. fields

B. qualities

C. aspects

D. skills

Câu 5: The word “static” in paragraph 2 could best be replaced by “______”.

A. unchanged

B. balanced

C. regular

D. dense

Câu 6: Which of the following is NOT true about the word culture?

A. It differs from the word civilization.

B. It evolves from agriculture.

C. Its use has been considerably changed.

D. It is a word that cannot be defined.

Câu 7: The passage mainly discusses ______.

A. the multiplicity of meanings of the word culture

B. the distinction between culture and civilization

C. the figurative meanings of the word culture

D. the derivatives of the word culture

Lời giải:

Đáp án:

1. D	2. D	3. C	4. B
5. A	6. D	7. A

Giải thích:

1. Thông tin: A person of culture has identifiable attributes, among them a knowledge of and interest in the arts, literature, and music. (Một người có văn hóa có những đặc tính có thể xác nhận được, trong số đó có kiến thức và quan tâm đến nghệ thuật, văn học và âm nhạc.)

2. Thông tin: Distinctions have been drawn too between culture and civilization; the latter is a word derived not, like culture or agriculture, from the soil, but from the city. (Sự khác biệt đã được rút ra giữa văn hóa và nền văn minh; từ sau là một từ có nguồn gốc, giống như văn hóa hoặc nông nghiệp, không phải từ đất, mà là từ thành phố.)

3. Thông tin: What, for example, the word cultured means has changed substantially since the study of classical (that is, Greek and Roman) literature, philosophy, and history ceased in the 20th century to be central to school and university education. (Ví dụ, từ có nghĩa là văn hóa đã thay đổi đáng kể từ khi nghiên cứu về văn học, triết học và lịch sử cổ điển (đó là Hy Lạp và La Mã) đã dừng lại ở thế kỷ 20 để trở thành trọng tâm của giáo dục trường học và đại học.)

4. attributes = qualities: thuộc tính, tính chất

5. static = unchanged: yên, không thay đổi

6. Thông tin:

- Culture is a word in common use with complex meanings, and is derived, like the term broadcasting, from the treatment and care of the soil and of what grows on it. (Văn hóa là một từ thông dụng sử dụng với nhiều ý nghĩa phức tạp, và được bắt nguồn, giống như khái niệm phát sóng, từ việc xử lý và chăm sóc đất và những gì nuôi trồng trên đó.)

- Distinctions have been drawn too between culture and civilization... (Sự khác biệt đã được rút ra giữa văn hóa và nền văn minh...)

- ...the word cultured means has changed substantially,... (... từ văn hóa có nghĩa đã thay đổi đáng kể...)

7. Thông tin: Culture is a word in common use with complex meanings,... The multiplicity of meanings attached to the word made and will make it difficult to define. (Văn hóa là một từ thông dụng sử dụng với nhiều ý nghĩa phức tạp,... Tính đa nghĩa của từ gắn liền với từ được tạo ra và sẽ gây khó khăn cho việc định nghĩa.)