Question

C

What is time? Is it a thing to be saved or spent or wasted, like money? Or is it something we have no control over, like the weather? Is it the same all over the world? That’s an easy question, you say. Wherever you go, a minute is 60 seconds, an hour is 60 minutes, a day is 24 hours, and so forth. Well, maybe. But in America, time is more than that. Americans see time as a valuable resource(資源). Maybe that’s why they like the expression, “Time is money.”

Because Americans believe time is a limited resource, they try to keep and manage it. People in the US often attend meetings or read books on time management. It seems that they all want to organize their time better. People try their best to press more life out of their time.

To Americans, being on time is a way of showing respect(尊重) for other people’s time. Being more than 10 minutes late usually calls for an apology(道歉) and an explanation. People who are running late often call ahead to let others know that they can’t be on time. Of course, the less formal(正式的) the situation is, the less important it is to be exactly on time. At informal get-togethers, for example, people often arrive as much as 30 minutes late. But they usually don’t try that at work.

American lifestyles show how much people respect the time of others. When people plan an event, they often set the time days or weeks before it. Once the time is fixed, it is almost impossible to change it. If people want to come to your house for a friendly visit, they will usually call first to make sure it is convenient. Only very close friends will just “drop by” unannounced. Also, people seldom call others late at night for fear they might be in bed. The time may be different, but most people think twice about calling after 10:00 pm.

Even Americans would agree that no one can master time. Time, like money, slips all too easily through our finger. And time, like the weather, is very hard to predict. However, time is one of life’s most valuable gifts.

1.From Paragraph 1, we can learn that ___________.

A. Americans waste lots of money and time

B. people can only control 60 minutes a day

C. Americans regard time as something valuable

D. money is more important than time in America

2.In Paragraph 3 and Paragraph 4, the writer mainly tells us that ___________.

A. Americans respect others’ time in daily life B. Americans never call after ten o’clock

C. Americans visit friends without calling first D. Americans arrive days before an event

3.The underlined phrase “think twice” probably means “___________”.

A. pay attention B. learn wisely C. feel relaxed D. consider carefully

4.According to this passage, ___________.

A. most American people treasure their time

B. people can master and predict time easily

C. Americans like time better than anything else

D. people are supposed to be on time in all situations

5.This passage mainly talks about ___________.

A. some of the American lifestyles B. how Americans treat time

C. all kinds of ways to spend time D. different opinions about time

Answer 1