Social customs (习俗) and ways of behaving change all the time. Things that were considered impolite many years ago are now 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 a fool of himself by smoking when a lady was in the room.
Customs also differ from country to country. Does a man walk on the left or the right of a woman in your country? Or doesn’t matter? What about table manners (行为)?
The Americans and British people 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 woman or offer their seats to women, and so will most Americans. Promptness (准时) is important both in England and in America. That is, the dinner guest (客人) either arrive close to the time that has been made or calls up to explain his delay (耽误).
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 (服务), 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. It would have been bad manners to make his guest feel foolish or uncomfortable.
【小题1】The underlined phrase “make a fool of himself” in the first paragraph means        .

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____

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.

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

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

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

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

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

Paul and I live in the same building. His room is on the sixth floor but mine is on the fifth. He’s very careless and sometimes he gets into trouble.

Last Friday afternoon the young man and his friends went to spend the weekend on a wild island. They could swim, fish, play the guitar and sleep in the quiet place at night. They enjoyed themselves there and could do anything they wanted. On the third morning they decided to get back to the land. But their boat hit a rock and soon went down. With the villagers’ help, they swam to the bank. Luckily none of them was hurt. They took a taxi and half an hour later they arrived at our town, but it was two in the night. The young man was hungry and thirsty. He wished to get home as soon as possible. Something was wrong with the lift, so he had to go up the stairs. He stopped by my door and brought out a key. Of course he could not open the door. Half an hour passed but he failed. He became angry and shouted, “I’ll cut you down with a knife!”

The noise woke me up and I opened the door. I understood at once what was happening and said, “You’re trying to open a wrong door, Paul!”

“Sorry, I can’t agree with you, Charlie!” said the young man, “It’s my room. You’ve entered it by mistake!”

1. Paul and his friends enjoyed themselves on the island because ______.

A. It was very quiet there

B. there were many fish there

C. they could forget all the trouble   

D. they could do what they wanted

2. Paul couldn’t open the door because ______.

A. it wasn’t his room                                           B. he couldn’t find the right key

C. he didn’t find the keyhole                                 D. he was too hungry to do it

3.Charlie opened the door to ______.

A. help Paul                                                      B. stop Paul making the noise

C. see what happened outside                              D. call the police station

4.Which of the following is WRONG?

A. Paul thought he did right.

B. Paul didn’t know where he lived.

C. Paul stopped by a door on the fifth floor.

D. Paul thought he had reached the sixth