同等学力英语阅读及翻译专项练习 11

Americans usually consider themselves a friendly people. Their friendships, however, tend to be shorter and more casual than friendships among people from other cultures. It is not uncommon for Americans to have only one close friend during their lifetime, and consider other “friends” to be just social acquaintances. This attitude probably has something to do with American mobility and the fact that Americans do not like to be dependent on other people. They tend to “compartmentalize” ( 划分 ) friendships, having “friends at work”, “friends on the softball team”, “family friends”, etc.

Because the United States is a highly active society, full of movement and change, people always seem to be on the go. In this highly charged atmosphere, Americans can sometimes seem brusque ( 无礼的 ) or impatient. They want to get to know you as quickly as possible and then move on to something else. Sometimes, early on, they will ask you questions that you may feel are very personal. No insult is intended; the questions usually grow out of their genuine interest or curiosity, and their impatience to get to the heart of the matter. And the same goes for you. If you do not understand certain American behavior or you want to know more about them, do not hesitate to ask them questions about themselves. Americans are usually eager to explain all about their country or anything “American” in which you may be interested. So much so in fact that you may become tired of listening. It doesn't matter because Americans tend to be uncomfortable with silence during a conversation. They would rather talk about the weather or the latest sports scores, for example, than deal with silence.

On the other hand, don't expect Americans to be knowledgeable about international geography or world affairs, unless those subjects directly involve the United States . Because the United States is not surrounded by many other nations some Americans tend to ignore the rest of the world.

1. The general topic of the passage is ______.

A. American culture B. American society

C. Americans' activities D. Americans' personality

2. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

A. Americans do not like to depend on other people.

B. Friendships among Americans tend to be casual.

C. Americans know a lot about international affairs.

D. Americans always seem to be on the go.

3. The phrase “highly charged” (Paragraph 2) most probably means ______.

A. extremely free B. highly responsible

C. very cheerful D. full of mobility and change

4. It can be inferred from the passage that ______ .

A. Americans want to participate in all kinds of activities

B. Americans' character is affected by their social and geographical environment

C. Americans do not know how to deal with silence

D. curiosity is characteristic of Americans

5. According to the passage, Americans tend to ignore the rest of the world because ______.

A. they are not interested in other countries

B. they are too proud of themselves

C. their country does not have many neighboring nations

D. they are too busy to learn about other countries

美国人通常认为他们自己是友好的民族。然而，美国人的友谊往往比其他文化人们的友谊更短暂、更随意。对于美国人来说，一个人一生只有一个亲密朋友，把其它“朋友”只看成社交场上的熟人，这并不罕见。这种态度可能与美国人的流动性有关，也与这样的事实有关：美国人不喜欢依赖别人。美国人往往把友谊分类，有“工作中的朋友”、“垒球队的朋友”和“家庭朋友”等等。

由于美国是一个非常活跃的社会——总是处于运动和变化之中，所以美国人似乎总是在流动。在这种流动频繁的环境下，美国人有时可能显得无礼或不耐烦。他们希望尽可能快地了解你，然后转向别的事情。交往初期，他们有时会问一些你觉得非常隐秘的问题。他们绝对不是有意冒犯你；他们问这些问题完全是出于感兴趣或好奇心，或是他们没有耐心去了解事情的实质。你同样也可以这么做。如果你不懂美国人的某种行为，或是你希望更多地了解他们，你就应该毫不犹豫地问他们一些问题。美国人通常会热心地向你解释有关他们国家的所有事情，或是任何你可能感兴趣的“美国的”事情。实际上，他们太热心了，以至于你可能会听腻了。这没有关系，因为，在交谈中，美国人往往对缄默感到不自在。比如，他们宁愿谈论天气或最新的体坛赛况也不愿意应付缄默的场面。

另一方面，不要指望美国人了解世界地理或国际事务，除非这些事务与美国直接有关。因为与美国接壤的国家不太多，所以有些美国人往往忽视世界上其它国家的事务。

参考答案 ： 1 ． D 2 ． C 3 ． D 4 ． B 5 ． C