题目内容

[音频]Time is, for the average American, of utmost importance. To the foreign visitor, (1)seem to be more concerned with getting things (2) on time (according to a predetermined schedule) than they are with developing deep interpersonal relations. (3), for the American, are meant to be planned and then (4)in the smallest detail. It may seem to you that most Americans are completely controlled by the little machines they wear on their (5), cutting their discussions off abruptly to make it to their next appointment on time. Americans’ language is filled with(6)to time, giving a clear indication of how much it is valued. Time is something to be “on,” to be “kept,” “filled,” “saved,” “(7),” “gained,” “planned,” “given,” “made the most of,” even “killed.” The international visitor soon learns that it is considered very rude to be late -- even by 10 minutes -- for an appointment in America. Time is so (8)in America, because by considering time to be important one can clearly achieve more than if one “wastes” time and doesn’t keep busy. This philosophy has proven its worth. It has (9) Americans to be extremely productive, and productivity itself is highly valued in America. Many American (10)stress the value of guarding time, using it wisely, and setting and working toward specific goals. Americans believe in spending their time and energy today so that the fruits of their labor may be enjoyed at a later time.

查看答案

搜索结果不匹配？点我反馈

更多问题

[音频]When Captain Cook asked the chiefsin Tahiti why they always ate apart and alone, they (1), “Because it is right.”If we ask Americans why they eat with (2), or why their men wear pants instead of skirts or why they may be (3)to only one person at a time, we are likely to get similar and very uninformative (4)because it's right, because that's the way it's done, because it's the custom or even I don't know.The reason for these and countless other patterns of social behavior is that they are (5)by social norms shared rules or guide lines which prescribe the behavior that is appropriate in a given situation.Norms define how people ought to behave under particular (6)in a particular society.We conform to norms so readily that we are hardly aware they exist. In fact we are much more likely to notice (7)from norms than conformity to them.You will not be (8)if a stranger tried to shake hands when you were introduced, but you might be a little startled if they bowed, (9)to stroke you or kissed you on both cheeks.Yet each of these other (10)of greeting is appropriate in other parts of the world. When we visit another society whose norms are different, we quickly become aware that things we do this way, they do that way.

[音频]My favorite TV show? “The Twilight Zone.” I especially like the episode called “The Printer’s Devil.” It’s about a (1)editor who’s being driven out of business by a big newspaper syndicate – you know, a group of papers owned by the same people. He is about to (2)when he is interrupted by an (3)who says his name is Smith. The editor is not only offered 5,000 dollars to pay off his newspaper’s debts, (4)Smith character also offers his services for free. It (5)the guy operates the printing machine with amazing speed, and soon he is turning out newspapers with shocking headlines. The small paper is successful again. The editor is amazed at how quickly Smith gets his stories – only (6)after they happen – but soon he is presented with a contract to sign. Mr. Smith, it seems, is really the devil! The editor is frightened by this news, but he is more frightened by the idea of losing his newspaper, so he agrees to sign. But soon Smith is reporting the news even before it happens – and it’s all (7) – one disaster after another. Anyway, there is (8)to tell, but I don’t want to ruin the story for you. I really like these old episodes of the Twilight Zone, because the stories are (9). They are not realistic. But then again, in a way they are, because they (10)human nature.

[音频]Contrary to the old warning (1)waits for no one, time slows down when you are on the move.It also slows down more as you move faster, which means astronauts some day may survive so long in (2)they would return to an earth of the (3).If you could move (4)light, your time would (5).If you could move faster than light, your time would move backward.Although no form of matter (6)moves as fast as or faster than light, scientific experiments have already (7)accelerated motion causes a traveler's time to be stretched.Albert Einstein (8)in 1905, when he introduced the concept of relative time as part of his Special Theory of Relativity.A search is now under way to confirm the suspected existence of particles of matter that move at a speed greater than light, and therefore, might serve as our passports to the past.An obsession(9)—saving, gaming, wasting, losing and mastering it, seems to have been a part of humanity for as long as humans have existed.Humanity also has been (10)trying to capture the meaning of time.

[音频]Among the kinds of social gestures most significant for (1)teachers are those which are identical in form (2)in meaning in the two cultures.For example, a Colombian who wants someone to (3)often signals with a hand movement in which all the fingers of one hand, cupped, (4)as they move rapidly back and forth.Speakers of English have a similar gesture though the hand may not be cupped and the fingers may be held more loosely, but for them the gesture means (5)or go away, quite the opposite of the Colombian gesture.Again, in Colombia, a speaker of English would (6) know that when he indicates height he must choose between (7)depending on whether he is referring to a human being or an animal.If he keeps the palm of the hand (8)to the floor, as he would in his own culture when making known the height of a child, for example, he will very likely be greeted by laughter; in Colombia this gesture is reserved for the description of animals.In order to describe human beings he (9)the palm of his hand at a right angle to the floor.Substitutions of one gesture for the other often create not only humorous but also embarrassing moments.In both of the examples above, speakers from two (10)have the same gesture, physically, but its meaning differs sharply.