In the United States, friendships can be close, constant, intense, generous and real, yet fade away in a short time if situations change. Neither side feels hurt by this. Both may exchange Christmas greetings for a year or two, perhaps a few letters for a while— then no more. If the same two people meet again by chance, even years later, they pick up the friendship where it left off and are delighted.

In the States, you can feel free to visit people’s homes, share their holidays, or enjoy their lives without fear that you are taking on a lasting obligation(义务). Do not hesitate to accept hospitality（好客） because you can’t give it in return. No one will expect you to do so for they know you are far from home. Americans will enjoy welcoming you and be pleased if you accept their hospitality easily.

Once you arrive there, the welcome will be full and warm and real. Most visitors find themselves readily invited into many homes there. In some countries it is considered inhospitable to entertain at home, offering what is felt as only home—cooked food, not “ doing something for your guest”. It is felt that restaurant entertaining, shows more respect and welcome. Or for other different reasons, such as crowded space, language difficulties, or family custom, outsiders are not invited into homes.

In the United States, both methods are used, but it is often considered more friendly to invite a person to one’s home than to go to a public place, except in purely business relationships. So, if your host or hostess brings you home, do not feel that you are being shown inferior treatment.

Don’t feel neglected if you do not find flowers awaiting you in your hotel room, either. Flowers are very expensive there; hotel delivery is uncertain; arrival times are delayed, changed, or canceled —— so flowers are not customarily sent as a welcoming touch. Please do not feel unwanted! Outward signs vary in different lands; the inward welcome is what matters, and this will be real.

In the United States, you will find friendships ______ if circumstances change.

  A. die suddenly                          B. pass away

  C. disappear gradually                    D. last forever

Americans _____ their foreign friends to make a return for their hospitality.

   A. ask          B. don’t expect             C. never allow     D. wish 

In some other countries, giving a dinner party at home is considered ______ than in a restaurant.

   A. less friendly   B. less hospitable      C. more natural     D. more popular

According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

   A. Flowers are signs of outward welcome.        

  B. Flowers are expensive.

   C. Flowers are available at all time.

D. Flowers are not necessarily sent to guests.

In the United States, friendship can be close, constant, intense, generous, and real, yet it can fade away in a short time if circumstances(环境) change. Neither side feels hurt by this. Both may exchange Christmas greetings for a year or two, perhaps a few letters for a while then no more. If the same two people meet again by chance, even years later, they pick up the friendship where it left out and are delighted.

In the United States, you can feel free to visit people's homes, share their holidays, enjoy their lives without fear that you are taking on a lasting obligation(负担). Do not hesitate to accept hospitality(款待) because you can't give it in return. No one will expect you to do so for they know you are far from home. Americans will enjoy welcoming you and be pleased if you accept their hospitality easily.

Once you arrive there, the welcome will be full, warm and real. Most visitors find themselves readily incited into many homes there. In some countries it is considered inhospitable to entertain at home, offering what is felt as “merely” home cooked food, not “doing something” for your guest. It is felt that restaurant entertaining shows more respect and welcome. Or for various other reasons, such as crowded space, language difficulties, or family custom, outsiders are not invited into homes.

In the United States both methods are used, but it is often considered more friendly to invite a person to one's home than to go to a public place, except in purely business relationships. So, if your host or hostess brings you home, do not feel that you are being shown inferior(低级别的) treatment.

Don't feel neglected if you do not find flowers awaiting you in your hotel room either. Flowers are very expensive there, hotel delivery is uncertain, arrival times are delayed, changed, or canceled－so flowers are not customarily sent as a welcoming touch. Please do not feel unwanted! Outward signs vary in different lands; the inward welcome is what matters, and this will be real.

6. In the United States, you will find friendship ________ if circumstances change.

A. dies suddenly            B. comes back

C. disappears gradually      D. lasts forever

7. Americans ________ their foreign friends to make a return for their hospitality.

A. ask                  B. require                     C. never allow                D. don't expect

8. In the United States,  giving a dinner party at home is considered________ than in a restaurant.

A. less friendly   B. less hospitable   C. more friendly        D. more popular

9. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true in the United States?

A. Flowers are not customarily sent as a welcoming touch.

B. Flowers are expensive.

C. Flowers are sometimes signs of outward welcome.

D. Flowers must be sent to guests.

10. Which of the following is the BEST title for this passage?

A. Americans' Hospitality           B. Americans' Friendship

C. Americans' Invitation            D. Americans' Welcome

For each blank in the following passage there are four words or phrases marked A,B, C and D. Fill in each blank with the word or phrase that best fits the context.
When I was a college student, I did a lot of travelling abroad. That was because a professor  50 me to do so. She said,“Now is the time for you to travel around the world,    51    your knowledge through actual experiences and have fun!” I agreed with her.
Since I started to work for a    52   company, however, I have done most of my travellling through the Internet. By using the Internet, I have seen the sights of many cities on my computer screen. And I have really made business   53  , too. With the help of the Internet, I have also got    54   about food in different countries.
Therefore, I was beginning to feel that actual trips were   55  necessary when I happened to read a famous chef’s comment on the Internet. He said,“It is very difficult to have real Italian food in a foreign country, because we enjoy food and the atmosphere around us at the same time. So why don’t you fly over to Italy and enjoy real Italian   56  ?” Those words reminded me of my   57  advice. As information technology   58  ,you might be able to do without making some real trips. But this also means that you will miss the various   59  you can get from travelling.
Today there are people who   60  direct communication with others and spend much of their time on the Internet. It is not surprising to see a group of people   61  not with each other but into their micro phones. It seems as if such people are   62  by an invisible wall. They seem to be losing out on a good chance to   63  and talk with other people. I do not think that they are taking good advantage of information technology. We should use information technology as a tool to make our daily communication more fruitful. However, we should never let it   64 our time for face-to-face communication. Let’s make use of information technology more  wisely, and have great fun in experiencing the actual world.

In the United States, friendships can be close, constant, intense, generous and real, yet fade away in a short time if situations change. Neither side feels hurt by this. Both may exchange Christmas greetings for a year or two, perhaps a few letters for a while— then no more. If the same two people meet again by chance, even years later, they pick up the friendship where it left off and are delighted.
In the States, you can feel free to visit people’s homes, share their holidays, or enjoy their lives without fear that you are taking on a lasting obligation(义务). Do not hesitate to accept hospitality（好客） because you can’t give it in return. No one will expect you to do so for they know you are far from home. Americans will enjoy welcoming you and be pleased if you accept their hospitality easily.
Once you arrive there, the welcome will be full and warm and real. Most visitors find themselves readily invited into many homes there. In some countries it is considered inhospitable to entertain at home, offering what is felt as only home—cooked food, not “ doing something for your guest”. It is felt that restaurant entertaining, shows more respect and welcome. Or for other different reasons, such as crowded space, language difficulties, or family custom, outsiders are not invited into homes.
In the United States, both methods are used, but it is often considered more friendly to invite a person to one’s home than to go to a public place, except in purely business relationships. So, if your host or hostess brings you home, do not feel that you are being shown inferior treatment.
Don’t feel neglected if you do not find flowers awaiting you in your hotel room, either. Flowers are very expensive there; hotel delivery is uncertain; arrival times are delayed, changed, or canceled —— so flowers are not customarily sent as a welcoming touch. Please do not feel unwanted! Outward signs vary in different lands; the inward welcome is what matters, and this will be real.
【小题1】In the United States, you will find friendships ______ if circumstances change.

A．Flowers are signs of outward welcome.

B．Flowers are expensive.

C．Flowers are available at all time.

D．Flowers are not necessarily sent to guests.

For any person who must speak in public, to business or pleasure groups, humor is a helpful, and necessary, tool for getting your message across. Why does humor work a lot? There are several reasons.
People will enjoy what you have to say if it is presented with humor. But, more importantly, if you are in a situation where important, and perhaps controversial（有争议的）, ideas must be presented to less than open minds, humor allows those ideas to be presented in a non-threatening (无威胁的) manner. Abraham Lincoln was famous for his ability to relate humorous stories to make a point. Humor used carefully throughout a presentation will also keep the listener’s interest high. In a word, individuals learning how to use humor in their speeches can strengthen arguments, support interesting presentations and, most of all, entertain their audience in a positive and comfortable way. 
While popular culture may well hold many kinds of humor, some of it has no place in presentations that are designed to educate and encourage the audience. If you want to become a professional stand-up (单人表演的) comedian whose goal is 100% entertainment, then you may be able to use some of the reference materials like The Art of Using Humor in Public Speaking. They can help you develop your skills and sources of humor. To that end, your participation in this study of humor will become necessary. Hopefully, you will come to appreciate the special difficulty of entertaining the audience with good and clean humor.
【小题1】 How many reasons does the author give for using humor?