Question

    Time talks. It speaks more plainly than words. Time communicates in many ways.

Consider the different parts of the day, for example. The time of the day when something is done can give a special meaning to the event. It is not customary to telephone someone every early in the morning. If you telephone him early in the day, the time of the call shows that the matter is very important and requires immediate attention. If someone receives a call during sleeping hours, he assumes it is a matter of life or death. The time chosen for the call communicates its importance.

In social life, time plays a very important part. In the United States, guests tend to feel they are not highly regarded if the invitation to a dinner party is extended only three or four days before the party date. But this is not true in all countries. In other areas of the world, it may be considered foolish to make an appointment too far in advance because plans which are made for a date more than a week away tend to be forgotten.

The meaning of time differs in different parts of the world. Thus, misunderstandings often arise between people from cultures that treat time differently. Promptness(准时) is valued highly in American life, for example. If people are not prompt, they may be regarded as impolite or not fully responsible. In the U.S., no one would think of keeping a business partner waiting for an hour; it would be too impolite. A person who is five minutes late is expected to make a short apology.

This way of treating time is quite different from that of several other cultures. This helps to explain the unfortunate experience of a certain agriculturist from the United States, assigned to duty in another country. After a long delay, the agriculturist was finally agreed an appointment with the Minister of Agriculture. Arriving a little before the appointed hour, the agriculturist waited. The hour came and passed. At this point he suggested to the secretary that perhaps the minister did not know he was waiting in the outer office. This gave him the feeling of having done something to solve the problem, but he had not. Twenty minutes passed, then thirty, then forty-five. To an American, that is the beginning of the “insult period”. No matter what is said in apology, there is little that can remove the damage done by an hour’s wait in an outer office. Yet in the country where this story took place, a forty-five-minute waiting period was not unusual.

In the West, particularly in the United States, people tend to think of time as something fixed in nature. As a rule, Americans think of time as a road stretching into the future, along which one progresses. The road has many sections, which are to be kept separate— “one thing at a time”. People who cannot plan events are not highly regarded. Thus, an American may feel angry when he has made an appointment with someone and then finds a lot of other things happening at the same time.

Since time has such different meanings in different cultures, communication is often difficult. We will understand each other a little better if we can keep this fact in mind.

1.According to the passage, an announcement broadcast during class must be very important  because ________．

A.it is a customary time to make. B.it makes everyone surprised.

C.it requires immediate attention. D.it speaks more plainly than words.

2.The author mentions an agriculturist’s experience in order to show ________．

A.the value of promptness for Americans.

B.the cultural differences in treating time.

C.the bad manners of the Minister of Agriculture.

D.the importance of time in different parts of the day.

3.The underlined word “insult” in Paragraph5 probably means ________．

A.boring. B.patient.

C.shameful. D.hopeless.

4.We can learn from the passage that people will understand better if ________．

A.they are concerned with the value of time.

B.they know how to communicate with each other.

C.they escape dealing with many things at one appointed time.

D.they keep in mind that different cultures treat time differently.

Answer

1.C

2.B

3.C

4.D

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。短文介绍了时间的重要性以及时间在不同文化中的不同意义。

1.推理判断题。由第二段“If you telephone him early in the day, the time of the call shows that the matter is very important and requires immediate attention. The time chosen for the call communicates its importance ”可知，如果你在一天的早些时候给他打电话，打电话的时间表明这件事很重要，需要立即处理。通话时间的选择体现了通话的重要性。所以判断出，根据这篇文章，在课堂上的一则课堂广播一定是非常重要的，因为事情需要立即处理。故选C项。

2.推理判断题。由第五段“This way of treating time is quite different from that of several other cultures”可知，这种对待时间的方式不同于其他几种文化。所以这是本段的主题句，所以段落中所举的例子都是为了支持本段的主题句。故判断出作者提到一位农学家的经历，是为了展示对待时间的文化差异。故选B项。

3.词义猜测题。由第五段“This gave him the feeling of having done something to solve the problem, but he had not. Twenty minutes passed, then thirty, then forty-five. To an American, that is the beginning of the “insult period”. No matter what is said in apology, there is little that can remove the damage done by an hour’s wait in an outer office”可知，这给了他一种已经解决了问题的感觉，但他没有。二十分钟过去了，然后是三十分钟，然后是四十五分钟。对美国人来说，这是“侮辱期”的开始。不管道歉的内容是什么，在外面的办公室里等一个小时所造成的损害是无法消除的。所以通过上下文可以判断出，段落5中划线的“insult”一词可能是指shameful“丢脸的”。故选C项。

4.细节理解题。由最后段“Since time has such different meanings in different cultures, communication is often difficult. We will understand each other a little better if we can keep this fact in mind”可知，由于时间的意义根据文化的不同而不同，交流就常常会有障碍。如果我们认识到这一事实，那么我们就可能更好的理解对方。所以我们可以从这段短文中学习到，如果人们记住不同文化对时间需要不同地对待，他们会更好地理解对方。故选D项。