We have penfriends from all over the world who are interested in friendship, cultural exchange, language learning and travel.

15. Australia

Hello! My name is Lucas. I live in Australia with my parents and my little sister. I have many hobbies including basketball, swimming and traveling around the world. I would love to meet someone from Asia because I’m interested in Asian culture.

Hope to hear from you!

Languages: English, German

13. Germany

Hey there. I’m Lena from Germany. I love dancing and listening to music. I go to practice dancing three times a week. I also enjoy learning languages. Now I am learning English and French at school, so I would like a penfriend who is interested in language learning.

Languages: German, English, French

16. France

Hi! My name is Alex Rutter. I live in Paris. My interests are taking photos, watching movies and being outside. I spend most of my free time with my friends. I want to find a penfriend who is interested in outdoor activities, like hiking or mountain biking.

Languages: French, English

14. Canada

Hi, I am Wendy. I am a kind and honest person with a great sense of humor. I love reading, coin collecting and cooking. I also make my own greeting cards. I would love to meet interesting people from all over the world. Best wishes!

Languages: English, French

1.Who comes from Canada?

A.Lucas. B.Lena. C.Alex. D.Wendy.

2.What does Lena like doing?

A.Reading and collecting coins. B.Dancing and listening to music.

C.Playing basketball and swimming. D.Taking photos and watching movies.

3.Alex would like a penfriend who is interested in ____________.

A.Asian culture B.making cards

C.outdoor activities D.language learning

Fluency in another language is a dream of a newcomer to another country. Besides, understanding the culture and learning to communicate comfortably with people of that culture are as important as learning the rules of the language. Language learning and culture learning go together and may take a long time.

Sometimes people feel that they understand a culture after a few weeks or months. People do learn a lot when they first begin living in another culture, but this is only the first step of learning. It usually involves things like learning everyday activities and some basic customs.

To really understand another culture, people have to go beyond the first step. This is a challenge because it is often difficult to know what to learn. Much of what we call"culture" is hard to see.

Culture is like an iceberg. Imagine in your mind a huge iceberg in the ocean. The only part of the iceberg that you see is the top. You don't see the rest of the iceberg because it is hidden from sight in the water. It is easy to forget that it is there. Most of the iceberg is deep in the ocean, just as much of a culture is deep in the ocean, just as much of a culture is deep within its people.

When you meet someone from another culture, certain culture differences are obvious: You hear another language or you hear your own language spoken with an accent. You see different foods, clothes and sometimes physical characteristics of people. You watch new customs or habits, such as the use of chopsticks, and, bowing or kissing on both cheeks as a greeting. These differences are interesting and important, but they are usually not too difficult to understand. They can be seen easily and quickly.

The part of culture that is like the underwater part of the iceberg consists of assumptions (设想), communication styles, values, and beliefs about what is right and wrong. The hidden part of culture influences much of a person’s way of thinking and communicating. It is the meaning behind his or her verbal and nonverbal language. Learning to communicate well with people from another culture involves understanding the hidden part of culture.

1.To really understand another culture, people should .

A.learn the rules of language B.learn the hidden culture

C.visit some local people D.live with some local people

2.Which of the following does the writer agree?

A.Communication styles can be easily seen and learned

B.Language learning is more important than culture learning

C.Learning about culture is not easy and may take a long time

D.People usually learn a culture after a few weeks or months.

3.The passage is mainly about .

A.learning about culture. B.learning about people

C.the hidden part of the iceberg D.fluency in another language

Answer the questions(根据短文内容回答下列问题)

Mr Harries taught sixth-grade science. On the first day of his class, he gave us a talk about an animal called "birdcat", which died out during the Ice Age. He passed around a skull(头骨)as he talked. We all took notes carefully and later we had a test.

When he returned my paper the next day, there was a big red "×" through each of my answers. I had failed! I had written exactly(确切地)what Mr Harries said. Then I learned that everyone in the class had failed. What had happened? Very simple, Mr Harries said he had made all that "birdcat" there had never been any such animal. So the information in our notes was incorrect. Did you think you would get good marks for incorrect answers?

We felt that wasn't fair. What kind of test was this? And what kind of teacher?

We should have found it out, Mr Harries said. After all, at the very moment he was passing around the "birdcat" skull, in fact a cat's. He had told us many unbelievable things about the animal, such as the size, the colour, the strength… but none of us had questioned.

Mr Harries said he hoped we could learn something from this lesson. Teachers and textbooks are not always correct. In fact no one is. He told us not to let our minds go to sleep, and to speak up if we ever thought he or the textbook was wrong.

Up to now I haven't made any great scientific discoveries, but Mr Harries's class gave my classmates and me something just as important: to look people in the eye and tell them they are wrong.

1.Who taught sixth-grade science?

________________________________________________________________

2.What did the writer and his classmates do during the first science lesson?

They carefully watched the skull and ________________ and then had a test.

3.Did they get good marks or fail the test?

_______________________________________________________________________

4.How did they feel about the test?

__________________________________________________________________________

5.Why did the writer fail in the science test?

Because the information in his notes ________________________________________.

6.How do you like the science teacher?

_________________________________________________________________________

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