A taboo(忌諱，禁忌) is a social action that is not allowed. Every culture in the world has its own taboos. The breaking of a taboo sometimes makes people feel uncomfortable. I learned this through my own experience.
Last weekend, Wang Lin and I showed two foreigners around our city. Mr Singh was from India and Mr. White from USA. When I held out my left hand to shake hands with him, Mr. Singh seemed to be unhappy. Mr. White, however, was quite casual. He said hello to me with a big smile and a wave of his hand.
In the evening, we stopped at a restaurant for dinner. I noticed that Mr. Singh didn’t touch the beef and Mr. White seemed not to like chickens’ claws. During the meal, Wang Lin said sorry to Mr. Singh and continued to explain that we didn’t know it was a taboo in India to shake one’s left hand. Mr. Singh explained that since oxen are sacred(神圣的) in India, people don’t eat beef there. Mr. White joined in and said that it was not usual in the states for people to eat chickens’ claws. He went on to say that Americans don’ t usually get into each other’ s personal space. Marriage, job and age are their taboos. Isn’ t it a good lesson to remember?

Henry was a carpenter（木匠）of our village. Once I asked him to make a dining table for my wife. He made it just the right size to fill the space between the two windows. When I arrived home that evening, Henry was drinking a cup of tea and writing out his bill for his work.. My wife said to me, quietly，“That’s his ninth cup of tea today.” But she said loudly, "It's a beautiful table，dear，isn't it?" "I won't decide about that until I see that bill.” I said.
Henry laughed and gave me his bill for the work. It said：
BILL
One dining table June 10，1995
Cost of wood 17.00
Paint（油漆） 1.50
Work，8 hours（1 an hour) 8.00
Total（總計(jì)） 36.50
When I was looking at the bill，Henry said，"It’s been a fine day，hasn’t it?” “ Quite sunny.” "Yes，”I said. "I’m glad it is only the 10th of June.” "Me too，” said Henry, "You wait--it'll be a bit hotter by the end of the month.” "Yes. Hotter--and more expensive. Dining tables will be 20 more expensive on June 30th，won't they，Henry?”
Henry looked hard at me for half a minute. There was a little smile in his two blue eyes. I gave his bill back to him. "If it isn't too much trouble，Henry，”I said，"Please add it up again. You can forget the date.”
I paid him 26. 50 and he was happy to get it.
【小題1】Why did Henry talk about weather when the writer was looking at the bill?

根據(jù)括號(hào)內(nèi)的英(漢)語(yǔ)提示，完成句子。

1.My grandfather has (去世) for three years.

2.The movie that has monsters always(使……感興趣)children a lot.

3.The Party is considering (提供) the farmers with more care.

4.I’ve (實(shí)現(xiàn)) only half of what I hoped to do.

5.Not only they (帶來) snack and drink, but also brought cards for entertainment when they had a picnic in the forest.

6.You are supposed to be (polite) than before when you become a student of No. 1 Middle School.

7.Mr. Smith told us that there _______(be) 29 days in February every four years.

8.More and more trees _________(plant) around our city every year so we can enjoy much fresher air now.?

9.Most students of ClassTwo are doing morning exercises while the rest (clean) the classroom now.?

When my family moved to America from a small village in Guangdong, China, we brought not only our luggage, but also our village rules, customs and culture. One of the rules is that young people should always respect(尊敬) elders. Unluckily, this rule led to my very first embarrassment in the United States.

I had a part-time job as a waiter in a Chinese restaurant. One time, when I was serving food to a middle-aged couple, the wife asked me how the food could be served so quickly. I told her that I had made sure they got their food quickly because I always respect the elderly. As soon as I said that, her face showed great displeasure. My manager, who happened to hear what I said, took me aside and gave me a long lecture about how sensitive(敏感) Americans are and how they dislike the description “old”. I then walked back to the table and apologized to the wife. After the couple heard my reason, they understood that the problem was caused by cultural differences, so they laughed and were no longer angry.

In my village in China, people are proud of being old. Not so many people live to be seventy or eighty, and people who reach such an age have the most knowledge and experience. Young people always respect older people because they know they can learn from their rich experience.

However, in the United States, people think “growing old” is a problem since “old” shows that a person is going to retire(退休) or that the body is not working well. Here many people try to keep themselves away from growing old by doing exercises or jogging, and women put on makeup, hoping to look young. When I told the couple in the restaurant that I respect the elderly, they got angry because this caused them to feel they had failed to stay young. I had told them something they didn’t want to hear.

After that, I changed the way I had been with older people. It is not that I don’t respect them any more; I still respect them, but now I don’t show my feelings through words.

1.Jack brought the couple their food very fast because______.

A. the manager asked him to do so   B. he respected the elderly

C. the couple wanted him to do so    D. he wanted more pay

2.In Jack’s hometown, ______.

A. people dislike being called “old”　　　　　

B. people are proud of being old

C. many people reach the age of seventy or eighty

D. the elderly are the first to get food in restaurants

3. After this experience, Jack ______.

A. lost his job in the restaurant      　

B. made friends with the couple

C. no longer respected the elderly　　　

D. changed his way with older people

4.Which of the following is TRUE?

A . The more Jack explained, the angrier the couple got.

B. Jack wanted to show his feelings through words after his experience.

C. The manager went back to the table and apologized to the couple.

D. From this experience, Jack learned more about American culture.

5.Which is the best title for this passage?

A.  Different countries, different customs     B.  Old people, old customs

C.  Different restaurants, different services    D.  Differences between old and young