The way we do things round here

Some years ago, I was hired by an American bank. I received a letter from the head of the Personnel Department that started, "Dear John, I am quite pleased that you have decided to join us." That "quite" saddened me. I thought he was saying "we're kind of pleased you decided to join us although I wish we had hired someone else." Then I discovered that in American English "quite" sometimes means "very", while in British English it means "fairly".

So the first lesson about working in other countries is to learn the language and by that I don't just mean the words people speak. It is body language, dress, manners, ideas and so on. The way people do things highlights many of the differences we see between cultures（文化）．

Some of these differences may be only on the surface-dress, food and hours of work-while others may be deeper and take longer to deal with. Mostly, it is just a question of getting used to the differences and accepting them, like the climate（气候），while getting on with business.

Some of the differences may be an improvement. People are more polite; the service is better; you ask for something to be done and it happens without having to ask again. However, other differences can be troubling, like punctuality（准时）．If you invite people to a party at 7 o'clock your guests will consider it polite to turn up exactly on time in Germany, five minutes early in the

American Midwest, an hour early in Japan, 15 minutes afterwards in the UK, up to an hour afterwards in Italy and some time in the evening in Greece. I prefer not to use the word "late" because there is nothing wrong with the times people arrive. It is simply the accepted thing to do in their own country.

1.The author was unhappy as mentioned in paragraph 1 because he thought_____.

A. the American bank didn’t think much of him

B. the American bank might hire another person

C. it’s difficult to get used to American  culture.

D. it’s easy to misunderstanding Americans

2.The word “highlights”in paragraph 2 probably means_____

A. encourage B. helps to marrow

C. increase D. draws attention to

3. According to the author, what should we do with most cultural differences?

A. Ask the native people for help.    B. Understand and accept them.

C. Do things in our own way.       D. Do in-depth research.

4.. When invited to a party the people who are usually punctual are______.

A. Italians      B. Germans      C. Greeks       D. the British

 

I don’t often lose things and I’m always careful with money, so I was quite surprised when I reached for my wallet and it wasn’t there. At first, I thought it was possible that I could have left it at home. Then I remembered taking it out to pay the taxi, so I knew I had it with me just before I walked into the restaurant. I wondered if it was possible that it could have dropped out of my pocket while I was eating dinner. I turned and walked back to the table where I had been sitting. Unluckily, there were several people sitting at the table at that time, so I had the waiter go over to the table to see if my wallet was on the floor. While the waiter was looking for it, the head of the restaurant came up to me and asked me if anything was wrong. I told him what had happened. He asked me to report the missing wallet to the police. I told him I didn’t want to do so; I was in a hurry because I had to reach my waiting room before two o’clock, where some people were waiting to see me. I also told him that my biggest worry at the moment was how I was going to pay for the meal. He told me not to worry about that. He asked me to write down my name and address, and he said he would send me a bill (帐单).

1.When the writer couldn’t find his wallet, his first thought was that________

A．it had been given to the taxi-driver

B．he had dropped it in the taxi

C．he had lost his wallet again

D．it might be left at home

2.The writer thought he must have the wallet with him because___________.

A．he had paid the taxi-driver

B．he had paid the bill of the meal

C．the waiter had seen it on the table

D．the waiter was looking for it on the floor

3.Why do you think the writer turned and walked back to the table?

A．He would phone the police about the missing of his wallet.

B．He wondered if he had dropped his wallet while eating.

C．The head of the restaurant wanted to know what was wrong.

D．Several people were sitting at the table at that time.

4. The writer of the story is probably a _________.

A．doctor

B．cook

C．school teacher

D．newspaper reporter

 

It must have been around nine o'clock when I drove back home from work because it was already dark． As I came near to the gates I turned off the head lights of the car so as to prevent the beam from swinging (摆动) through the window and waking Jack, who shared the house with me． But I needn't have done so． I noticed that his light was still on, so he was awake anyway—unless he had fallen asleep while reading． I put the car away and went up the steps．

Then I opened the door quietly and went to Jack's room． He was in bed awake, but he didn't even turn towards me．

“What's up, Jack﹖” I asked．

“For God's sake, don't make a noise,” he said．

The way he spoke reminded me of someone in pain who is afraid to talk in case he does himself serious injury．

“Take your shoes off, Neville,” Jack said．

I thought that he must be ill and that I had better give way to him to keep him happy． “There is a snake here,” he explained． “It's asleep between the sheets． I was lying on my back reading when I saw it．I knew that moving was out of the question． I could not have moved even I'd wanted to．” I realized that he was serious． “I was depending on you to call a doctor as soon as you came home,” Jack went on． “It has not bitten me yet but I dare not do anything to upset it． It might wake up． I'm sick of this,” he said．“I took it for granted that you would have come home an hour ago．”

There was no time to argue or apologize for being late．I looked at him as encouraging as I could and went to telephone the doctor．

When he got home, Neville found that ＿＿＿＿＿．

    A．Jack had fallen asleep while reading     B．Jack had been reading for some time

    C．Jack's light was not turned off          D．Jack was ready to answer the doctor

The underlined phrase in Paragraph 6 means ＿＿＿＿＿．

    A．impossible     B．no problem       C．no doubt     D．without difficulty

Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage﹖

    A．Neville and Jack lived in the same house．

    B．Neville thought that Jack had fallen ill．

    C．Neville really believed that Jack was not making a joke．

    D．Neville refused to argue or to make an apology for being late．

The reason why Neville thought that Jack must be ill is that Jack ＿＿＿＿．

    A．asked Neville to take off his shoes

    B．made a gesture to show the presence of the snake

    C．was afraid to upset the snake sleeping between the sheets

    D．behaved strangely as if he were badly hurt

According to the passage, Neville should have been home at ＿＿＿＿．

    A．7 p．m．     B．8 p．m．     C．9 p．m．    D．6 p．m．

It must have been around nine o'clock when I drove back home from work because it was already dark． As I came near to the gates I turned off the head lights of the car so as to prevent the beam from swinging (摆动) through the window and waking Jack, who shared the house with me． But I needn't have done so． I noticed that his light was still on, so he was awake anyway—unless he had fallen asleep while reading． I put the car away and went up the steps．

Then I opened the door quietly and went to Jack's room． He was in bed awake, but he didn't even turn towards me．

“What's up, Jack﹖” I asked．

“For God's sake, don't make a noise,” he said．

The way he spoke reminded me of someone in pain who is afraid to talk in case he does himself serious injury．

“Take your shoes off, Neville,” Jack said．

I thought that he must be ill and that I had better give way to him to keep him happy． “There is a snake here,” he explained． “It's asleep between the sheets． I was lying on my back reading when I saw it．I knew that moving was out of the question． I could not have moved even I'd wanted to．” I realized that he was serious． “I was depending on you to call a doctor as soon as you came home,” Jack went on． “It has not bitten me yet but I dare not do anything to upset it． It might wake up． I'm sick of this,” he said．“I took it for granted that you would have come home an hour ago．”

There was no time to argue or apologize for being late．I looked at him as encouraging as I could and went to telephone the doctor．

1.When he got home, Neville found that ＿＿＿＿＿．

    A．Jack had fallen asleep while reading     B．Jack had been reading for some time

    C．Jack's light was not turned off          D．Jack was ready to answer the doctor

2.The underlined phrase in Paragraph 6 means ＿＿＿＿＿．

    A．impossible     B．no problem       C．no doubt     D．without difficulty

3.Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage﹖

    A．Neville and Jack lived in the same house．

    B．Neville thought that Jack had fallen ill．

    C．Neville really believed that Jack was not making a joke．

    D．Neville refused to argue or to make an apology for being late．

4.The reason why Neville thought that Jack must be ill is that Jack ＿＿＿＿．

    A．asked Neville to take off his shoes

    B．made a gesture to show the presence of the snake

    C．was afraid to upset the snake sleeping between the sheets

    D．behaved strangely as if he were badly hurt

5.According to the passage, Neville should have been home at ＿＿＿＿．

    A．7 p．m．     B．8 p．m．     C．9 p．m．    D．6 p．m．

 

It must have been around nine o’clock when I drove back home from work because it was already dark． As I came near to the gates I turned off the head lights of the car so as to prevent the beam from swinging (摆动) through the window and waking Jack, who shared the house with me． But I needn’t have done so． I noticed that his light was still on, so he was awake anyway—unless he had fallen asleep while reading． I put the car away and went up the steps．
Then I opened the door quietly and went to Jack’s room． He was in bed awake, but he didn’t even turn towards me．
“What’s up, Jack﹖” I asked．
“For God’s sake, don’t make a noise,” he said．
The way he spoke reminded me of someone in pain who is afraid to talk in case he does himself serious injury．
“Take your shoes off, Neville,” Jack said．
I thought that he must be ill and that I had better give way to him to keep him happy． “There is a snake here,” he explained． “It’s asleep between the sheets． I was lying on my back reading when I saw it．I knew that moving was out of the question． I could not have moved even I’d wanted to．” I realized that he was serious． “I was depending on you to call a doctor as soon as you came home,” Jack went on． “It has not bitten me yet but I dare not do anything to upset it． It might wake up． I’m sick of this,” he said．“I took it for granted that you would have come home an hour ago．”
There was no time to argue or apologize for being late．I looked at him as encouraging as I could and went to telephone the doctor．
【小题1】When he got home, Neville found that ＿＿＿＿＿．

A．Jack had fallen asleep while reading	B．Jack had been reading for some time
C．Jack’s light was not turned off	D．Jack was ready to answer the doctor

【小题2】The underlined phrase in Paragraph 6 means ＿＿＿＿＿．

A．impossible

B．no problem

C．no doubt

D．without difficulty

【小题3】Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage﹖

A．Neville and Jack lived in the same house．

B．Neville thought that Jack had fallen ill．

C．Neville really believed that Jack was not making a joke．

D．Neville refused to argue or to make an apology for being late．

【小题4】The reason why Neville thought that Jack must be ill is that Jack ＿＿＿＿．

A．asked Neville to take off his shoes

B．made a gesture to show the presence of the snake

C．was afraid to upset the snake sleeping between the sheets

D．behaved strangely as if he were badly hurt

【小题5】According to the passage, Neville should have been home at ＿＿＿＿．

A．7 p．m．

B．8 p．m．

C．9 p．m．

D．6 p．m．