Question

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.

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 misunderstand Americans

2.The word "highlights" in Paragraph 2 probably means_____.

 A. encourages  B. helps to narrow

 C. increases    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

 

Answer 1

【答案】

 

1.A

2.D

3.B

4.B

【解析】

試題分析：文章大意：本文是一篇說明文。文章通過對比英美文化的不同，介紹了我們做事方式的差異。

1.事實細節題。從文章第一段分析，作者對于“quite”一詞的理解偏差導致了作者心情不愉快。因為作者認為這家美國銀行并沒有器重他。故選 A。

2.猜測詞義題。由文章第二段可知，無論我們說話還是做事，必須要注意我們文化之間的差異性。many of the differences we see between cultures 就是我們要注意的內容。highlight 本意“強調”，此處表示“注意”。故選 D。

3.推理判斷題。由文章第三段信息句 Mostly， is just a question of getting used to the differences and itaccepting them，like the climate，while getting on with business.可知，適應文化差異就像在外出差適應當地的氣候一樣，學會適應和接受。故本題選 B。

4.事實細節題。由第四段信息句 If you invite people to a party at 7 oclock your guests will consider itpolite to turn up exactly on time in Germany 可知，德國人是最準時的人。故選 B。

考點：考查文化類閱讀理解