When people in the U. S. have company or when they’re invited to (formal or informal) get-togethers, they usually make a point of trying to make others feel comfortable and relaxed. On the whole, they tend to be informal. Men shake hands, but usually only when they’re introduced. Male friends and business associated (同事) who haven’ t seen each other in a while may shake hands when they say hello. Women usually don’t shake hands when being introduced to each other. When a woman and man are introduced, shaking hands is up to the woman. Americans rarely shake hands to say goodbye, except on business occasions. American women are used to being independent. They are used to going to places by themselves, making their own money, and often living alone. Sometimes they will ask men for help, but they usually don” t want to be protected. Since the women’s movement started, it’s not always clear whether women expect men to open doors or help them into their coats. American women may start conversations with men or even ask them to dance.

There are a lot of Americans who don’t smoke or drink, and many who don’t want people to do those things in their houses. It” s always best to ask for permission before you bring alcohol to a dinner or before you light up a cigarette, if you are with people you don’t know very well. Non-smokers have become more militant (好战的) about smoking in public places. Many restaurants, for example, have set up special areas for smokers.

Houseguests may bring gifts when they come to visit, and they often offer to help in some way. As a guest, you may want to ask your host or hostess if there’s anything you can do to help in the kitchen. In many cases, the gesture is more important than actually helping.

“..., the gesture is more important than actually helping.” Here “gesture” means ________.

A.态度    B.话题    C.姿态    D.言行

.When American people are introduced to each other, _______.

A.men seldom shake hands

B.women often shake hands

C.a woman decides if she will shake hands with a man

D.a man decides if he will shake hands with a woman

______is not mentioned(提到)in the passage.

A.How to visit an American family   B.When American women’s movement started

C.American women are independent  D.Non-smokers hate smoking in public places

Which one is not right?

A.None of Americans want people to smoke or drink in their houses.

B.Many Americans don’t smoke or drink.

C.Many special areas for smokers have been set up in the U.S..

D.It’s best to ask before you smoke in America.

It is commonly believed among many Chinese that Westerners who take “Yes’,and “No” by their facial expressions are more straightforward than Chinese. Normally Westerners don * t have to adopt Chinese ways like sweeping the floor or constantly checking the clock to indicate to a guest that it’ s time to leave. They don’ t have to hesitate in saying “No” when they are not able to, or don’ t want to, offer help to a friend in need. There is no embarrassment attached to this behavior. But it is too simple to conclude that Westerners are more direct speakers than the Chinese.
There are many occasions when the way Westerners express themselves makes Chinese look more straightforward and honest. When I was a fresh international student,the director of our program once asked students in an e-mail what we thought about a young professor. I simply said ’ “She seems to know a lot but doesn* t know how to teach. ” And the director replied with “Thank you for being honest. ”
Only years later when I better understood the new culture,I realized why I had gone too far. If that question were asked now,the reply would have three paragraphs devoted to the qualities of the professor before the last line came out — ” There are some gaps in her teaching method. ” Still tough, but at least it wouldn't be considered rude.
Indeed, the reserved social norms and the deeply - rooted “face issue" make honest speaking risky in China ; Americans have their own ways of being polite. This results partly from political correctness. It also results from several generations of people who have been told they have done well even when they have failed. It may not be unfair to suggest that many Americans are oversensitive and obsessed with a perfect self image.
So,the next time you hear about indirect Chinese,it would be worth challenging the source and pointing out that the cultural comparisons are much more complex. But maybe you should do it in a roundabout way,to be polite.
【小题1】The passage mainly aims to ?

A. tell us something about culture distinctions
B. remind us of the conflicts between cultures
C. ask us to take positive attitudes to Chinese cultures
D. keep us informed of the various communications
【小题2】According to the passage, the young professor lacked   .
A. confidence in her job
B. teaching experience
C. interaction with her students
m
D.responsibility for her students
【小题3】   The underlined words “obsessed with" (para.4) probably means   .
A.satisfied withB.proud ofC.addicted toD.stuck in
【小题4】   It can be inferred from the passage that    .
A. the writer has a good knowledge of American culture
B. Americans are much more straightforward than Chinese
C. the new professor was very angry with the writer' s comments
D. different culture backgrounds make cultures comparison complicated

We’ve considered several ways of paying to cut in linehiring line standersbuying tickets from scalpers (票贩子)or purchasing line?cutting privileges directly fromsayan airline or an amusement park.Each of these deals replaces the morals of the queue (waiting your turn) with the morals of the market (paying a price for faster service)

Markets and queues—paying and waiting—are two different ways of allocating thingsand each is appropriate to different activities.The morals of the queue“First comefirst served”have an egalitarian(平等主义的) appeal.They tell us to ignore privilegepowerand deep pockets.

The principle seems right on playgrounds and at bus stops.But the morals of the queue do not govern all occasions.If I put my house up for saleI have no duty to accept the first offer that comes alongsimply because it’s the first.Selling my house and waiting for a bus are different activitiesproperly governed by different standards.

Sometimes standards changeand it is unclear which principle should apply.Think of the recorded message you hearplayed over and overas you wait on hold when calling your bank“Your call will be answered in the order in which it was received.”This is essential for the morals of the queue.It’s as if the company is trying to ease our impatience with fairness.

But don’t take the recorded message too seriously.Todaysome people’s calls are answered faster than others.Call center technology enables companies to“score”incomings calls and to give faster service to those that come from rich places.You might call this telephonic queue jumping.

Of coursemarkets and queues are not the only ways of allocating things.Some goods we distribute by meritothers by needstill others by chance.Howeverthe tendency of markets to replace queuesand other non?market ways of allocating goods is so common in modern life that we scarcely notice it anymore.It is striking that most of the paid queue?jumping schemes we’ve considered—at airports and amusement parksin call centersdoctors’officesand national parks—are recent developmentsscarcely imaginable three decades ago.The disappearance of the queues in these places may seem an unusual concernbut these are not the only places that markets have entered.

1.According to the authorwhich of the following seems governed by the principle“First comefirst served”

ATaking buses.

BBuying houses.

CFlying with an airline.

DVisiting amusement parks.

2.The example of the recorded message in Paragraphs 4 and 5 illustrates________.

Athe necessity of patience in queuing

Bthe advantage of modern technology

Cthe uncertainty of allocation principle

Dthe fairness of telephonic services

3.The passage is meant to________.

Ajustify paying for faster services

Bdiscuss the morals of allocating things

Canalyze the reason for standing in line

Dcriticize the behavior of queue jumping

 

Time and how we experience it have always puzzled us.Physicists have created fascinating theories, but their time is measured by a pendulum (钟摆) and is not psychological time, which leaps with little regard to the clock or calendar.As some-one who understood the distinction observed, "When you sit with a nice girl for two hours it seems like a minute, but when you sit on a hot stove, a minute seems like two hours"

Psychologists have long noticed that larger units of time, such as months and years, fly on swifter wings as we age.They also note that the more time is structured with schedules and appointments, the more rapidly it seems to pass.For example, a day at the office flies compared with a day at the beach.Since most of us spend fewer days at the beach and more at the office as we age, an increase in structured tune could well be to blame for why time seems to speed up as we grow older.

Expectation and familiarity also make time seem to flow more rapidly.Almost all of us have had the experience of driving somewhere we’ve never been before. Surrounded by unfamiliar scenery, with no real idea of when we’ll arrive, we experience the trip as lasting a long time. But the return trip, although exactly as long, seems to take far less time. The novelty of the outward journey has become routine. Thus taking a different route on occasions can often help slow the clock.

When was become as identical as identical as beads(小珠子)on a string, they mix together, and even months become a single day. To counter this, try to find ways to interrupt the structure of your day—to stop time, so to speak.

Learning something new is one of the ways to slow the passage of time. One of the reasons the days of our youth seems so full and long is that these are the days of learning and discovery. For many of us, learning ends when we leave school, but this doesn’t have to be.

1.The underlined sentence in Paragraph 1 is used to show         .

A.psychological time is quite puzzling

B.time should not be measured by a pendulum

C.physical time is different from psychological time

D.physical theory has nothing to do with the true sense of time

2.Why do units of time fly faster as we grow older?

A.Our sense of time changes.

B.We spend less time at the beach.

C.More time is structured and scheduled.

D.Time is structured with too many appointments.

3.In Paragraph 3 “novelty” probably means         .

A.excitement B.unfamiliarity

C.imagination D.amusement

4.The purpose of the passage is to         .

A.give various explanations about time

B.describe how we experience time psychologically

C.show the different ideas of physicists and psychologists on time

D.explain why time flies and how to slow it down psychologically

 

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