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（氣候），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（準(zhǔn)時）．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.
【小題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
【小題2】The word “highlights”in paragraph 2 probably means_____
A．encourage B．helps to marrow
C．increase D．draws attention to
【小題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.
【小題4】. When invited to a party the people who are usually punctual are______.
A．Italians B．Germans C．Greeks D．the British


【小題1】A
【小題2】D
【小題3】B
【小題4】B

解析試題解析：社會文化類閱讀。本文講述了作者通過自己的親身經(jīng)歷體會到的各國在文化、語言方面的差異，告訴我們一個道理：了解文化差異并且適應(yīng)和接受文化的差異。。
【小題1】A 細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第一段第三行I thought he was saying "we're kind of pleased you decided to join us although I wish we had hired someone else.可以得出A正確。
【小題2】D詞義猜測題。根據(jù)第二段內(nèi)容：所以在其他國家工作的第一課就是學(xué)習(xí)語言，我所指的不只是文字和人說的話，而是肢體語言，衣著，舉止，思想等。人們做事的方式讓我們注意到不同文化之間的差異。所以D正確。
【小題3】B細(xì)節(jié)理解題。革命軍第三段的最后一句話Mostly, it is just a question of getting used to the differences and accepting them, like the climate（氣候），while getting on with business.可以得出B正確。
【小題4】Ｂ細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第四段最后一句話．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,可以得出B正確。
考點(diǎn)：社會文化類短文理解。

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A．the underground B．the rain
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A．the renovating of family toilets will save plenty of water
B．a(chǎn)bout half of waste water has been treated already
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D．there is plenty surface water and large amount of rain at present
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A．make people’s living more convenient
B．improve people’s living standards
C．ease employment pressure
D．meet the total demand of water
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c．introduce or use some new technology
d．speed the economic development of Shanghai
e．renovate some family toilets f．build more sewage treatment factories
A．a(chǎn), b, c, d B．b, c, e, f C．b, c, d, e D．a(chǎn), b, e, f
【小題5】We can infer from the passage that          .
A．the boom of economy will need a larger amount of water in the future
B．citizens today in Shanghai drink the best quality of water in the world
C．not everyone today in Shanghai is aware of water shortage
D．a(chǎn)ll the family toilets will be renovated to save water within 3 years

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