题文
When I worked as a waitress in Chicago, US, my coworkers and I would sigh whenever we heard someone with a foreign accent coming into our restaurant. We knew what it meant to serve a non-American: no tip. We would work just as hard as we always did, but we might not get paid.Americans have an unspoken rule about tipping: they give tips to almost everyone who offers them a service of some kind. Americans tip their waiters, barbers and taxi drivers. An appropriate tip is between 15 and 20 percent of the amount charged for the service (But the charge for the tip doesn’t appear on the bill. The customer is expected to add it himself/herself.) Tipping less than this sends a message to your waiters that you think they’ve done a bad job serving you. And to leave no tip at all is simply unacceptable.
It’s not that American waiters are greedy. In many countries, waiters are paid a salary for their work. They’ll earn money even if no one comes into the restaurant. This system offers much more safety for waiters than the American version. In the US, waiters know that a night without customers means a night without pay.
Some countries include a tip for waiters – a “service charge” – on the bill itself. Since the tip is included with the other charges, waiters don’t need to worry about people forgetting to tip. But in the US, waiters do not receive a salary, and service charges only appear on bills when there are six or more customers at the table.
Since almost all American customers are familiar with the system, they know to add a tip without being told. But visitors to the US may expect waiters to be paid a salary, or think that the tip is included on the bill.
So much as we waiters loved hearing stories about other places from our foreign customers, we were always nervous when they got ready to leave the restaurant. We were never sure what to expect.
小题1:If you order $200 worth of food, which of the following is a proper total payment?A．$200B．$215C．$220D．$230小题2:Why don’t some foreigners tip a waiter according to the writer?.A．because they are unfamiliar with the American tip system .B．because they are too mean to give tips to any waiter.C．because they have difficulty communicating with waiters.D．because they are not really easy to become satisfied.小题3:What can we learn from the passage?
A. The service charge never appear on the bill in the USA.
B. Customers are usually expected to tip waiters in the USA.
C. Dining out in other countries is much more expensive than in the USA.
D. Waiters in other countries earn much more money than those in the USA.
小题4:What is the main purpose of the passage?A．To complain about the difficult life of American waiters.B．To warn other waiters not to serve any foreign customer.C．To call on foreign customers to leave tips for American waiters.D．To tell us something about American waiters’ salary system. 题型：未知 难度：其他题型
答案
小题1:D
小题2:A
小题3:B
小题4:D
解析
本文叙述在美国服务行业的小费是普遍现象，是一个不成文的规定，因为在美国，服务员没有工资，只有客人给的服务费，才是自己的收入。
小题1:这是细节理解题。根据An appropriate tip is between 15 and 20 percent of the amount charged for the service (But the charge for the tip doesn’t appear on the bill. 故选D。
小题2:这是细节理解题。根据But visitors to the US may expect waiters to be paid a salary, or think that the tip is included on the bill.外国人不熟悉这里小费的事情，故选A。
小题3:这是细节理解题。根据Americans have an unspoken rule about tipping: they give tips to almost everyone who offers them a service of some kind.故选B。
小题4:这是写作意图题。根据从全文来看，讲述了美国的服务人员的小费问题，故选D。
点评：阅读理解题目中的作者意图题目可以包括意图、态度、目的题目， 在考试中出现的比率很大。不同的文章可能有不同的写作意图,但写作意图通常有以下三种：1）to entertain readers（娱乐读者，让人发笑） 2) to persuade readers（说服读者接受某种观点）3) to inform readers（告知读者某些信息）
考点
据考高分专家说，试题“When I worked as a w.....”主要考查你对 [社会现象类阅读 ]考点的理解。社会现象类阅读
社会现象类阅读概念：
这类文章通过写人记事来揭示文章的主题，显示其社会意义，一般采用顺序或倒叙来叙述。题目经常是一些细节问题。考查的方面可以是原因和其中引发的思考。
社会现象类阅读解题技巧：
这类文章通过写人记事来揭示文章的主题，显示其社会意义，一般采用顺序或倒叙来叙述。题目经常是一些细节问题。考查的方面可以是原因和其中引发的思考。阅读这类文章要理清思路。
1、浏览试题，明确要求。
在阅读文章前，最好先浏览一下文章后面的题干和选项。知道了问题后再去看文章，可使思路更敏捷，而且也便于阅读时留意文中出现的与选项有关的信息。
2、通读全文，抓住主要内容。
在不影响理解的前提下，尽可能地阅读以便在尽可能短的时间内理解文章或段落的内容。阅读时，如遇到不熟悉的单词、词组或一时看不懂的句子，不要停下来苦思冥想，继续读下去，通过上下文的词语和句子可能就理解了。
3、抓住中心思想和段落大意。
通读全文时，要特别注意主题句。每篇文章或每个段落都有与文章有关的句子，尤其是科技、政论性文章的主题句一般都在文章的开头或结尾，插在中间的很少。所以，文章的第一段或开头的第一、二个句子往往包含着文章的中心思想、作者的意图或全文的概述，因此要特别注意，彻底理解。
4、有针对性地仔细阅读，找寻所需信息。
在前面的基础上，可进行有针对性地阅读了。把与问题无关的内容一扫而过，而对于和问题有关的内容认真阅读，还可以用笔在下面做出记号。再把这些信息与问题的要求结合起来，逐条分析，综合判断，找出正确答案。
5、进行合理的推理判断。
对文章有了全面的了解之后，可以按照文章要求以及上下文之间的关系，做出推理判断。在进行推理判断的时候，需要综合考虑句型、语法、句子之间的逻辑关系、文化背景等方面的因素。
6、认真复读，验证答案。
要用全文的中心思想统帅各个题目，研究其内在联系和逻辑关系，并依次审核那些还未打上的题目，确保理解无误。
