For those of you who where born in the year of the pig, good luck and much success! This is your year.

When talking to a Westerner¹, however, you’ve got to be a little careful when you talk about pigs. Chinese people view the pig as a smart （聪明） and prosperous² (rich, lucky) animal. Western ideas tend to be a little more negative（否定的）.

A pig in the West is seen as a dirty, lazy, and fat animal. If anyone ever called you a pig, you wouldn’t be smiling. When a person doesn’t like someone, sometimes he will call that person a pig.

If you ever meet a Westerner who was born in the year of the pig, don’t say, “Oh, you’re a pig!” Most Westerners³ will be understanding. They will be sure that you made some kind of a mistake. However, don’t take any chances. You might just offend（触怒）someone who does not share your positive（积极）ideas about pigs.

1. You gave to be careful when you talk to a Westerner about pigs because______.

A. they worship⁴ pigs best of all

B. they consider pigs as bad animals

C. they aren’t used to talking about pigs.

D. they don’t like the topic about pigs at all

2. According⁵ to the passage we can see that Chinese people think of the pig as a _______

animal.

A. clever B. rich C. good D. all the above

3. A Westerner will call someone a pig if he _______ that man.

A. dislikes B. is afraid of C. looks up to D. makes fun of

4. When you call a Westerner a pig, who was born in the year of the pig, most of them ___________.

A. will be angry B. will be very surprised

C. can forgive（原谅） D. may quarrel with you

5.From the passage we can conclude⁶ that _________.

A. different people have different ideas about the same thing

B. Westerners do not like pigs as much as the Chinese

C. in general, Westerners and the Chinese don’t like pigs

D. all of the Chinese like pigs better than Westerners

Keys: 1-5 BDACA