Misunderstandings
A man, wearing dirty clothes, with dirty hair and only 35 cents in his pocket, got on a bus and headed straight for the restroom. He thought that if he hid in the restroom, he could ride to New York without paying. But a passenger at the back of the bus saw him. She tapped（拍）the person in front of her on the shoulder and said, "There's a bum in the restroom. Tell the bus driver. ”That passenger tapped the person sitting in front of him. "Tell the bus driver there's a bum in the restroom, ”he said.
The message was passed from person to person until it reached the front of the bus. But somewhere along the way, the message changed. By the time it reached the bus driver, it was not “There's a bum in the restroom” but “There's a bomb（炸弹）in the restroom. ”The driver pulled over to the side of the highway（高速公路）at once and called the police. When the police arrived, they told the passengers to get off the bus and stay far away. Then they closed the highway. That soon caused a 15-mile-long traffic jam. With the help of a dog, the police searched the bus for two hours. Of course, they found no bomb.
Two similar-sounding English words also caused trouble for a man who wanted to fly from Los Angeles to Oakland, California. His problems began at the airport in Los Angeles. He thought he heard his flight announced, so he walked to the gate, showed his ticket, and got on the plane. Twenty minutes after take-off, the man began to worry. Oakland was north of Los Angeles, but the plane seemed to be heading west, and when he looked out his window all he could see was ocean. "Is this plane going to Oakland? ”he asked the flight attendant. "No, "she said. "We're going to Auckland-Auckland, New Zealand. ”
Because so many English words sound similar, misunderstandings among English-speaking people are not uncommon. Most misunderstandings are much less serious. Every day, people speaking English ask one another questions like these: "Did you say seventy or seventeen? ”“Did you say that you can come or that you can't? ”
Similar-sounding words can be especially confusing（混淆）for people who speak English as a second language. When a Korean woman who lives in the United States arrived at work one morning, her boss asked her, "Did you get a plate? ” “ No,”she answered, wondering what in the words he meant. She worked in an office. Why did the boss ask her about a plate? All day she wondered about her boss's strange question, but she was too embarrassed to ask him about it. At five o'clock, when she was getting ready to go home, her boss said, “Please be on time tomorrow.
You were 15 minutes late this morning. ""Sorry, "she said. "My car wouldn't start, and. . ”
Suddenly she stopped talking and began to smile. Now she understood. Her boss hadn't asked her, “Did you get a plate? "He had asked her, “Did you get up late? ”
Auckland and Oakland. "A plate" and" up late". When similar-sounding words cause a misunderstanding, probably the best thing to do is just to laugh and learn from the mistake. Of course, sometimes it's hard to laugh. The man who traveled to Auckland instead of Oakland didn't feel like laughing. But even that misunderstanding turned out all right in the end. The airline paid for the man's hotel room and meals in New Zealand and for his flight back to California. "Oh well, "the man later said. “I always wanted to see New Zealand. "
A表示正确, B表示错误。
11. A man got on the bus and hid in the bus restroom with a bomb.
12. The 15-mile-long traffic jam was caused by the man in the restroom.
13. The man who traveled to New Zealand actually wanted to fly to California.
14. The boss of the Korean woman asked her if she had got a plate that day.
15. Misunderstandings happen sometimes because of the similar-sounding words.
11.B
【解析】细节理解题。根据A man, wearing dirty clothes, with dirty hair and only 35 cents in his pocket, got on a bus and headed straight for the restroom. He thought that if he hid in the restroom, he could ride to New York without paying以及下文可知，一个流浪汉为了逃票，藏到了卫生间中，乘客们在传话中，将bum（流浪汉）误传为bomb（炸弹），所以这个男人没有带炸弹，故填B。
12.B
【解析】细节理解题。根据That soon caused a 15-mile-long traffic jam. With the help of a dog, the police searched the bus for two hours. Of course, they found no bomb以及上文可知，乘客们在传话中，将bum（流浪汉）误传为bomb（炸弹），司机将车停下，警察封锁了高速公路造成了堵塞，并不是因为这个男人造成了交通堵塞，故填B。
13.A
【解析】细节理解题。根据"Is this plane going to Oakland? ”he asked the flight attendant. "No, "she said. "We're going to Auckland-Auckland, New Zealand. ”可知，这个男人想要去美国的奥克兰而不是新西兰的奥克兰，故填A。
14.B
【解析】细节理解题。根据Suddenly she stopped talking and began to smile. Now she understood. Her boss hadn't asked her, “Did you get a plate? "He had asked her, “Did you get up late? ”可知，老板问他“你起床晚了吗？”而不是“你有盘子吗？”，故填B。
15.A
【解析】细节理解题。根据Because so many English words sound similar, misunderstandings among English-speaking people are not uncommon以及When similar-sounding words cause a misunderstanding, probably the best thing to do is just to laugh and learn from the mistake可知，由于单词相似的读音，有时候误解会发生，故填A。
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