Question

Social customs and the ways of behaving change. Things that were considered impolite many years ago are acceptable . Just a few years ago, it was considered to be impolite behavior for a man to smoke on the street . No man who thought of himself as being a gentleman would make fool of himself by smoking when a lady was in the room.
Customs are also different from country to country. Does a man walk on the left or on the right of a woman in your country? Or doesn’t it matter? What about table manners?
The Americans and the British not only speak the same language but also share a large number of social customs. For example, in both America and England people shake hands when they meet each other for the first time. Also, most Englishmen will open a door for a wonman or offer their seat to a woman , and so will most Americans. Promptness is important both in England and in America. That is , if a dinner invitation is for 6 o'clock , the dinner guest either arrives close to that time or calls up to explain his delay.
The important thing to remember about social customs is not to do anything that might make other people feel uncomfortable especially if they are your guests. There is an old story about a man who gave a very formal dinner party. When the food was served, one of the guests started to eat his peas with a knife. The other guests were amused or greatly surprised , but the host calmly picked up his knife and began eating in the same way. I t would have been bad manners to make his guest feel foolish or uncomfortable.
【小题1】The underlined phrase” make fool of himself” in the first passage means____

A．make himself strong	B．make himself rich
C．make himself comfortable	D．cause himself to seem like a fool

【小题2】According to the passage , the American and British _____

A．don’t speak the same language

B．don’t have social custom in common

C．do share a lot of social customs

D．do have the exactly same social customs

【小题3】If a dinner invitation is for six o’clock , the guest is supposed to arrive at ____ six

A．nearly a minute or two later than	B．a quarter to
C．a quarter to	D．much later than

【小题4】The last example in the passage shows____

A．The correct way to use a knife at table

B．that it is good manners not to make your guests feel foolish or uncomfortable

C．that social customs and ways of behaving change too fast

D．promptness is important both in England and in America

【小题5】Which of the following do you think is the best title for this passage?

A．Social Customs and Customs	B．Social Life
C．American and British Customs	D．Promptness is Important

Answer 1

【小题1】D
【小题2】C
【小题3】A
【小题4】B
【小题5】A

解析试题分析：这篇短文主要介绍了英美两国在社会风俗和习俗方面需要注意的一些问题。
【小题1】联系上文可知No man who thought of himself as being a gentleman would make fool of himself by smoking when a lady was in the room.的意思是，没有一个认为自己像个绅士的男人会在一个有女士的房间里面吸烟，从而让自己看起来像个傻瓜。故选D，让自己好像一个傻瓜。
【小题2】根据第三段The Americans and British not only speak the same language but also share a large number of social customs .及本段描述，可知英美在社会习惯方面有很多形同之处。故选C。
【小题3】根据That is , if a dinner invitation is for 6 o'clock , the dinner guest either arrives close to that time or calls up to explain his delay.描述，可知应该晚到一两分钟，故选A。
【小题4】根据最后一段I t would have been bad manners to make his guest feel foolish or uncomfortable.描述，可知选B。
【小题5】这篇短文主要描述了一些社会风俗和习俗方面的知识，故选A，社会风俗和习俗。
考点：有关英美风俗习惯的说明文阅读
点评：本文中长句较多，一时很难读懂句子含义，注意多读几遍，不要强求非得理解一词一句的含义，能把握文章大意就行。然后带着问题阅读短文，一般就能顺利找出答题依据。对于不能直接找到根据的问题注意联系上下文，根据短文中心总结出正确答案。