A
When I was 16 years old，I made my first visit to the United States.It wasn’t the first time I had been abroad.Like most English children，I learned French at school and I had often been to France，so I was used to speaking a foreign language to people who didn’t understand English.But when I went to America I was really looking forward to having a nice easy holiday without any language problems.
How wrong I was! The misunderstanding began at the airport.I was looking for a public telephone to give my friend Danny a ring and tell him that I had arrived.A friendly old man saw me looking like being lost and asked if he could help me.
“Yes，” I said.“I want to give my friend a ring.”
“Well，that’s nice，” he said.“Are you getting married？But aren’t you a bit young？”
“Who is talking about marriage？” I replied.“I just want to give my friend a ring to tell him I’ve arrived.Can you tell me where there’s a phone box？”
“Oh！” he said.“There’s a phone downstairs.”
When at last we did meet，Danny explained the misunderstanding to me.
“Don’t worry，”he said to me.“I had many difficulties at first too.There are lots of words which the Americans use differently in meaning from us British.You’ll soon get used to all the funny things they say.But most of the time British and American people can understand each other！”
文章大意：作者在本文中讲述了自己第一次到美国时因为英式英语和美式英语的不同而导致的语言误解。
21．Where was the writer from？__C__
A．He was from America. B．He was from France.
C．He was from England. D．He was from China.
解析：细节理解题。根据第一段中的“Like most English children，I learned French at school and I had often been to France...” 可知，作者来自英国。故选C。
22．The writer thought __A__ in America.
A．he wouldn’t have any language difficulties
B．he would not understand the Americans
C．the Americans might not understand him
D．he would have difficulties at the airport
解析：细节理解题。根据第一段中的“But when I went to America I was really looking forward to having a nice easy holiday without any language problems.” 可知，作者原以为在美国不会遇到语言麻烦。故选A。
23．From the passage we can see that “give somebody a ring”__D__.
A．means the same in America as in England
B．means “call somebody” to the old man
C．means “be going to get married”
D．has different meanings in America and in England
解析：推理判断题。根据文中那位美国老人和作者的对话可知，本题答案为D。
