阅读理解

　　The meanings of time differ in different parts of the world. Thus, misunderstandings arise between people from cultures that treat time differently. Promptness(迅速，准时) is valued highly in American life, for example. If people are not prompt, they may be regarded as impolite or not responsible. In the United States, no one would think of keeping a business associate waiting for an hour：it would be too impolite.

　　This way of treating time is quite different from that of several other countries. This helps to explain the unfortunate experience of a certain agriculturist from the United States assigned to duty in another country. After what seemed to him a suitable waiting period, he announced that he would like to call on the minister of agriculture. For various reasons the suggested time did not suit the minister; there were indirect indications(迹象) that the time was not yet suitable. The American, however, wanted very much for an appointment, which was finally granted(准予).

　　Arriving a little before the appointed hour ( according to the American way of showing respect), the agriculturist waited. The hour came and passed：five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes. At the point he suggested to the secretary that perhaps the minister did not know he was waiting in the outer office. This gave him the feeling of having done something to solve the problem, but he had not. Twenty minutes passed, then thirty, then forty－five. To an American, there is little that can remove the damage done by an hour's wait in an outer office. Yet, in the country where this story took place, a forty－five－minute waiting period was not unusual. Instead of being the very end of the allowed waiting scale, it was just the beginning. Thus, when the American agriculturist left the office (after giving the secretary an angry message for the minister), his action seemed as unreasonable as it was impolite.

1．What does “to be prompt” mean in the passage?

[　　]

A．It means “to keep one's word”.

B．It means “to make good use of one's time”.

C．It means “to be punctual”.

D．It means “to keep good time”.

2．The minister kept the American waiting because ________.

[　　]

A．the minister didn't think it was wrong to keep people waiting

B．the appointed time didn't suit the minister

C．the minister intended to insult the American

D．the minister forgot the appointment time

3．When fifteen minutes had passed after the. appointed time, the American ________.

[　　]

A．told the secretary that he should not have been kept waiting

B．urged(催促) the secretary in some indirect way to remind the minister that he was waiting for him

C．put forward a suggestion that the secretary go and tell the minister that he was waiting

D．went about finding out whether the minister knew that he was waiting for him in the outer office

4．The American got angry after being kept waiting for nearly an hour for the appointed meeting because ________.

[　　]

5．Who would think the American's action of leaving the office angrily to be unreasonable as it was impolite?

[　　]

A．People in the United States.

B．The reader of the passage.

C．The author of the passage.

D．People in the minister's country.