There are a lot of differences in life in the US that you can only learn by living here. However, we will try to introduce you to some of the more important cultural differences.

Personal Space

When two people are talking to each other, they tend to stand a distance apart. Each person has an invisible boundary (界限) around their body into which other people may not come.

Interestingly，the average personal distance varies from culture to culture. Americans tend to require more personal space than in other cultures. So if you try to get too close to an American during your conversation, he or she will feel that you are “in their face” and will try to back away.

Try to avoid physical contact while you are speaking, since this may also lead to discomfort.

Tipping(小费)

Restaurants do not include a service charge in the bill, so you should tip the waiter 15% of the total bill. If service is slow or particular bad, some Americans will tip only 10%. If service is particularly good, it is appropriate to tip 20%. If service is so bad that you will never eat in the restaurant again, leave two cents. It tells the waiter that you haven’t forgotten to leave a tip. Tipping is only appropriate in restaurants which offer table service. You do not tip the cashier in a fast food restaurant.

Gestures

To wave goodbye or hello to someone, raise your hand and wave it from side to side, not front to back. Wave the whole hand, not just the fingers. Waving the hand front to back or the fingers up and down means “no”, “stop”, or “go away’. Holding your hand up with the palm facing forward but no movement means “stop”.

If you want to point at an object, extend the index finger and use it to point at the object. It is not polite to point at people.

Although showing your fist with the thumb up or your open hand with the tips of the thumb and index finger together forming an “O” means “OK”， these are stereotypes (老套). Americans understand these gestures, but they are mainly used by actors in movies, not in real life.

1. If an American to whom you are speaking backs away a little, you’d better __________.

A. not try to close the gap              B. stop talking with him or her

C. back away too                     D. ask him or her what happened

2.Which of the following statements is TRUE when you eat out in the US?

A. The tip always ranges from 10% to 20% of the total bill.

B. You needn’t leave a tip if you will never eat in the restaurant.

C. It’s unnecessary to tip the waiter in a restaurant.

D. Tipping is not necessary in fast food restaurants.

3.Which of the following gestures is not used in Americans’ daily life?

A               B.             C.               D.

.         

4.We can learn from the passage that in the US ___________________.

A. it’s natural to touch each other in a conversation.

B. it’s polite to leave a tip though the service is bad.

C. there is only one gesture meaning “stop”.

D. Americans use the same gesture to point at people and objects.

 

What will people die of 100 years from now?If you think that is a simple question,you have not been paying attention to the revolution that is taking place in bio-technology(生物技术).With the help of new medicine,the human body will last a very long time.Death will come mainly from accidents,murder and war.Today’s leading killers,such as heart disease,cancer,and aging itself,will become distant memories.

In discussion of technological changes,the Internet gets most of the attention these days.But the change in medicine can be the real technological event of our times.How long can humans live?Human brains were known to decide the final death.Cells(细胞) are the basic units of all living things,and until recently,scientists were sure that the life of cells could not go much beyond 120 years because the basic materials of cells,such as those of brain cells,would not last forever.But the upper limits will be broken by new medicine.Sometime between 2050 and 2100,medicine will have advanced to the point at which every 10 years or so,people will be able to take medicine to repair their organs(器官).The medicine,made up of the basic building materials of life,will build new brain cells,heart cells,and so on—in much the same way our bodies make new skin cells to take the place of old ones.

It is exciting to imagine that the advance in technology may be changing the most basic condition of human existence,but many technical problems still must be cleared up on the way to this wonderful future.

According to the passage,human death is now mainly caused by _______.

A.diseases and aging                                         B.accidents and war

C.accidents and aging                                       D.heart disease and war

In the author’s opinion,today’s most important advance in technology lies in _______.

A.medicine                                                      B.the Internet

C.brain cells                                                    D.human organs

Humans may live longer in the future because _______.

A.heart disease will be far away from us

B.human brains can decide the final death

C.the basic materials of cells will last forever

D.human organs can be repaired by new medicine

We can learn from the passage that _______.

A.human life will not last more than 120 years in the future

B.humans have to take medicine to build new skin cells now

C.much needs to be done before humans can have a longer life

D.we have already solved the technical problems in building new cells

Language learning begins with listening. Children are greatly different in the amount of listening they do before they start speaking, and later starters are often long listeners. Most children will “obey” spoken instructions some time before they can speak, though the word “obey” is hardly accurate as a description of the eager and delighted cooperation usually shown by the children. Before they can speak, many children will also ask questions by gesture and by making questioning noises.

Any attempt to study the development from the noises babies make to their first spoken words leads to considerable difficulties. It is agreed that they enjoy making noises, and that during the first few months one or two noises sort themselves as particularly expressive as delight, pain, friendliness, and so on. But since these can’t be said to show the baby’s intention to communicate, they can hardly be regarded as early forms of language. It is agreed, too, that from about three months they play with sounds for enjoyment, and that by six months they are able to add new words to their store. This self-imitation(模仿) leads on to deliberate(有意的) imitation of sounds made or words spoken to them by other people. The problem then arises as to the point at which one can say that these imitations can be considered as speech.

It is a problem we need to get our teeth into. The meaning of a word depends on what a particular person means by it in a particular situation; and it is clear that what a child means by a word will change as he gains more experience of the world. Thus the use, at seven months, of “mama” as a greeting for his mother cannot be dismissed as a meaning-less sound simply because he also uses it at another time for his father, his dog, or anything else he likes. Playful and meaningless imitation of what other people say continues after the child has begun to speak for himself. I doubt, however, whether anything is gained when parents take advantage of this ability in an attempt to teach new sounds.

Before children start speaking _______.

A. they need equal amount of listening

B. they need different amounts of listening

C. they are all eager to cooperate with the adults by obey spoken instructions

D. they can’t understand and obey the adult’s oral instructions

Children who start speaking late _______.

A. may have problems with their listening

B. probably do not hear enough language spoken around them

C. usually pay close attention to what they hear

D. often take a long time in learning to listen properly

A baby’s first noises are _______.

A. an expression of his moods and feelings

B. an early form of language

C. a sign that he means to tell you something

D. an imitation of the speech of adults

The problem of deciding at what point a baby’ imitations can be considered as speech _______.

A. is important because words have different meanings for different people

B. is not especially important because the changeover takes place gradually

C. is one that should be properly understood because the meaning of words changes with age

D. is one that should be completely ignored(忽略) because children’s use of words is of-ten meaningless

The speaker implies _______.

A. parents can never hope to teach their children new sounds

B. children no longer imitate people after they begin to speak

C. children who are good at imitating learn new words more quickly

D. even after they have learnt to speak, children still enjoy imitating

Language learning begins with listening.Children are greatly different in the amount of listening they do before they start speaking,and later starters are often long listeners. Most children will“obey”spoken instructions some time before they can speak,though the word“obey”is hardly accurate as a description of the eager and delighted cooperation usually shown by the child.Before they can speak,many children will also ask questions by gesture and by making questioning noises.

Any attempt to study the development from the noises babies make to their first spoken words leads to considerable difficulties.It is agreed that they enjoy making noises, and that during the first few months one or two noises sort themselves as particularly expressive as delight,pain,friendliness,and so on.But since these can’t be said to show the baby’s intention to communicate,they can hardly be regarded as early forms of language.It is agreed,too,that from about three months they play with sounds for enjoyment,and that by six months they are able to add new words to their store.This selfimitation(模仿) leads on to deliberate(有意的) imitation of sounds made or words spoken to them by other people.The problem then arises as to the point at which one can say that these imitations can be considered as speech.

It is a problem we need to get out teeth into.The meaning of a word depends on what a particular person means by it in a particular situation and it is clear that what a child means by a word will change as he gains more experience of the world.Thus the use at seven months of“mama”as a greeting for his mother cannot be dismissed as a meaningless sound simply because he also uses it at other times for his father,his dog,or anything else he likes.Playful and meaningless imitation of what other people say continues after the child has begun to speak for himself,I doubt,however whether anything is gained when parents take advantage of this ability in an attempt to teach new sounds.

1.Before children start speaking        .

A．they need equal amount of listening

B．they need different amounts of listening

C．they are all eager to cooperate with the adults by obeying spoken instructions

D．they can’t understand and obey the adult’s oral instructions

2.Children who start speaking late        .

A．may have problems with their listening

B．probably do not hear enough language spoken around them

C．usually pay close attention to what they hear

D．often take a long time in learning to listen properly

3.The problem of deciding at what point a baby’s imitations can be considered as speech        .

A．is important because words have different meanings for different people

B．is not especially important because the changeover takes place gradually

C．is one that should be properly understood because the meaning of words changes with age

D．is one that should be completely ignored(忽略) because children’s use of words is often meaningless

4.The speaker wants to tell us that        .

A．parents can never hope to teach their children new sounds

B．children no longer imitate people after they begin to speak

C．even after they have learnt to speak,children still enjoy imitating

D．children who are good at imitating learn new words more quickly

 

What will people die of 100 years from now? If you think that is a simple question, you have not been paying attention to the revolution that is taking place in bio-technology(生物技术). With the help of new medicine, the human body will last a very long time. Death will come mainly from accidents, murder and war. Today’s leading killers, such as heart diseases, cancer, and aging itself, will become distant memory.
In discussion of technological changes, the Internet gets most of the attention these days. But the change in medicine can be the real technological event of our times. How long can humans live? Human brains were known to decide the final death. Cells(细胞) are the basic units of all living things, and until recently, scientists were sure that the life of cells could not go much beyond 120 years because the basic materials of cells, such as those of brain cells, would not last forever. But the upper limits will be broken by new medicine. Sometime between 2050 and 2100, medicine will have advanced to the point at which every 10 years or so, people will be able to take medicine to repair their organs(器官). The medicine, made up of the basic building materials of life, will build new brain cells, heart cells, and so on---in much the same way our bodies make new skin cells to take the place of old ones.
It is exciting to imagine that the advance in technology may be changing the most basic conditional human existence, but many technical problems still must be cleared up on the way to this wonderful future.
【小题1】According to the passage, human death is now mainly caused by _______.

A．diseases and aging	B．accidents and war
C．accidents and aging	D．heart diseases and war

【小题2】In the author’s opinion, today’s most important advance in technology lies in _____.

A．medicine

B．the internet

C．brain cells

D．human organs

【小题3】 Humans may live longer in the future because ______.

A．heart disease will be far away from us

B．human brains can decide the final death

C．the basic materials of cells will last forever

D．human organs can be repaired by new medicine

【小题4】 We can learn from the passage that _____.

A．human life will not last more than 120 years in the future

B．human have to take medicine to build new skin cells now

C．much needs to be done before humans can have a longer life

D．we have already solved the technical problems in building new cells.