You want to know about my staying in America, right? Well, to tell you the truth, it is really an eye-Opening experience to study here.

In China, I had English classes five times a week since fifth grade. However, I didn’t know how different textbook English could he from everyday English until I came to Hotchkiss School. Connecticut.

When I first studied English, I was told to say, "I am fine" when people say "How are you?"   But in the US, I found that people say, "I am good" or "I'm tired".

One day, someone greeted me with "What's up?"  It made me confused. I thought for a moment and then smiled because I didn’t know what to say.

Since then, I have discovered more and more differences between Chinese and us cultures.

To my surprise, US girls spend a lot of time in the burning sun to get a tan（晒黑）. However, in China, girls try every possible way to get their skin paler, or "whiter".

I was also surprised by how hardworking US students are.

In China, schoolwork is almost everything, so we study hard and that's it. But here, a "good" student gets good grades, does a lot for the public and plays sports or music.

The kids here are so talented; I am starting to be sorry that I gave up playing the piano at an early age and that I have never though about sports.

1．According to the writer, textbook English is______ everyday English.

A．quite different from                 B．the same as

C．more difficult than                 D．easier than

2．What does the word “confused” in the fourth paragraph mean in Chinese?

A．困惑                   B．憧憬                    C．悲痛                      D．后悔

3．A good US student spends his／her time______．

A．only in doing homework

B．only on sports or music

C．only in working for the public

D．on studies，sports or music and public work

4．Which is the best title for the passage?

A．My Own Travel in the US                  B．My Studying in the US

C．My Opinion about the US                     D．My Friends in the US

In a society such as the United States or Canada, which has many national, religious and cultural differences, people highly value individualism--the differences among people.  Teachers place a lot of importance on the qualities that make each student special.  The educational systems in these countries show these values.  Students do not memorize all possible basic knowledge.  Instead, they work individually and find answers by themselves.  There is often discussion in the classroom.  At an early age, students learn to form their own ideas and opinions.

In most Asia societies, by contrast, the people have the same language, history and culture.  Perhaps for this reason, the educational system in much of the orient reflects society’s belief in group goals and purposes rather than individualism.  Children in China, Japan and Korea often work together and help one another on assignments.

There are advantages and disadvantages of both systems of education.  For example, one advantage of the system in Japan is that students there learn much more about math, physics, biology and chemistry than American students by the end of high school.  They also study more hours each day and more days each year than North Americans do.  The system is difficult, but it prepares students for a society that values discipline and self-control.  There is, however, a disadvantage.  Memorization is an important learning method in Japanese schools, yet many students say that after an exam, they forget much of the information that they have memorized.

The advantage of the educational system in North America, on the other hand, is that students learn to think for themselves.  The system prepares them for a society that values creative ideas.  There is, however, a disadvantage.  When students graduate from school, they haven’t memorized as many basic rules and facts as students in other countries have.

60．The writer’s purpose of writing this passage is       .

A．to share his idea with others in a new way

B．to introduce two different systems of education through contrast

C．to criticize the society that values memorization

D．to prepare students for society

61．Which is NOT true according to the passage?

A．The system of education in the West is more creative than that in the East

B．Japanese students learn much more about science than American students.

C．Canadian students are more individual than Korean students.

D．Students in North America are not so friendly as those in Asia.

62．From the facts, we can infer that       .

A．Asian students are more likely to do better in teamwork than American students

B．Chinese students are more hard-working in their studies than Mexican students

C．the Western educational system is much better than the Eastern educational system.

D．the Eastern educational system is as difficult as the Western educational system.

63．What is the best title for the passage?

A．Advantages and Disadvantages of Educational System.

B．The Value of Individualism.

C．Educational System---an Obvious Difference between the East and the West.

D．Memorization----an Important Learning Method.

Scholars and researchers have tried to discover what personality characteristics go along with success in intercultural experiences. Their findings have often been unclear or incomplete. But three characteristics stand out in their reports: patience, a sense of humor, and the awareness of being unclear.
Patience, of course, is the ability to keep calm even when things do not go as one wants them to, or hopes they will, or has even been sure they will. Impatience sometimes brings improvements in relations with other people, but usually it does not.
A person with a sense of humor is less likely to take things too seriously and more ready to see the humor in his own reactions than a humorless person. The value of a sense of humor really needs to be paid more attention to.
The awareness of being unclear is a more difficult concept than patience or a sense of humor. Foreigners often find themselves in situations that are unclear to the newcomers. That is, they do not know what is happening in the situation. Perhaps they do not understand the local language well enough, or they do not know how some system or organization works, or they can’t be sure of different people’s roles in what is going on. “It’s like I just got here from the moon,” a Chinese graduate student who newly arrived in the United States said, “things are just so different here.”
【小题1】The passage mainly tells us             .

A．that it’s not easy to travel abroad

B．that humor is very important in communication

C．of some characteristics in dealing with foreigners

D．of three main ways useful for communicating with foreigners