Question

I was born and raised in England in a culture where privacy and “keeping yourself to yourself”were valued traditions. Speaking to strangers was not encouraged. People were most hospitable(好客的) and friendly—but only once they had been introduced to new people.

However, I have been lucky enough to spend some time in both Italy and the US, where I found traditions of hospitality and politeness to be very different.

I experienced Italian hospitality first－hand on a crowded railway carriage travelling, one afternoon, from Genoa to Florence. Sinking gratefully into an empty seat, I was berated(斥责) in rapid Italian by a gentleman who was returning to this seat－it had not been “spare” after all. I apologized in English, and got up to allow him back into the seat. The gentleman obviously had no understanding of the English language, but he, too, realized my genuine mistake. He smiled and gestured for me to remain in the seat, and he himself remained standing in the corridor for the remainder of the journey. The other occupants of the carriage smiled and nodded at me and made me feel quite welcome amongst them. I feel that if this had been in England, a foreigner who made a mistake would not always be so kindly treated.

Transport also featured in the differences I noticed between English and American culture. I flew to New York on a plane with mainly English passengers. We sat together in near silence. Nobody spoke to me nor, as I expected, to anyone else they did not know. They felt it was not polite to intrude on someone else's privacy. However, when I travelled across the United States, whether by plane or Greyhound bus, I was never short of conversation. Conversation was going on all around me and whoever sat next to me was happy to introduce themselves and ask me about myself. They obviously felt it would have been rude not to speak to another person, whether they were strangers or not.

6. The purpose of the author is to tell us ________.

A. his travelling experience

B. cultural differences to show hospitality and politeness

C. the culture shock he experienced in Italy and the US

D. how to adapt ourselves to a new culture

7. What do we know about the occupants of the carriage when the author was travelling in Italy?

A. They all laughed at the author for his mistake.

B. They would not bear a mistake like the author's in public.

C. They were all on the side of the gentleman.

D. They all showed their understanding of the author's mistake.

8. The author probably believes the Italian people are________.

A. cold        B. rude           C. hospitable       D. helpful

9. According to the last paragraph, English passengers sat in near silence because________.

A. they were all strangers to each other

B. they were too tired to speak

C. privacy was a valued tradition in England

D. everybody had their own share of privacy

10. The last paragraph mainly tells us ________.

A. the difference between English and American culture

B. why Americans like to start a conversation

C. different attitudes of Englishmen and Americans towards conversation

D. the importance of privacy among Englishmen

Answer 1

6. 解析：选B。推理判断题。综合全文可知，作者是通过自己的旅行经历来说明不同文化中人们“好客”和“礼貌”的表达方式不一样。

7. 解析：选D。细节理解题。从文章第三段最后可知，车厢里所有的人都对作者点头微笑，说明他们理解作者的错误，对作者的错误很宽容。

8. 解析：选C。推理判断题。从文章第三段可知，老人自己站着，让作者坐着，其他的人也都友好地微笑，说明意大利人很热情友好。

9. 解析：选C。推理判断题。文章最后一段说明，英国乘客都不说话，因为他们国家的传统认为探究别人的隐私是很不礼貌的。

10. 解析：选A。文章最后一段通过两个不同的情景对比，说明英国文化和美国文化的差异。