Piczo

Log in!
Stay Signed In
Do you want to access your site more quickly on this computer? Check this box, and your username and password will be remembered for two weeks. Click logout to turn this off.

Stay Safe
Do not check this box if you are using a public computer. You don't want anyone seeing your personal info or messing with your site.
Ok, I got it
Back To Home Page
My Pages
COMPREHENSION :***TEXT(13) ***AMERICAN CULTURE***

American Customs  
.
America is well-known for its equality, liberty, fraternity. Everyone is very friendly and informal. Children often call their parents by their first names and at work; subordinates do not normally use "Mister" when addressing their supervisors. To those visitors who come from a more rigid and stratified society, such casualness can be confusing, leading to terrible blunders . Conversely, many worldly, sophisticated Americans appear mortified   because   they   feel America is not "civilized," with a capital "C." However, we know of terribly embarrassing incidents from mistakes which only an innocent foreigner would have made.

• Public   display affection between the sexes are very common, unlike perhaps where you have come from.. Many couples also live together without being married-and may never marry. But you must realize their   bond   is probably as strong as the bond of marriage. So don't think one of them is available for a "date.",

• America is a notoriously "open" society, and to most foreigners Americans often appear exceptionally and "instantly" friendly. But sometimes such openness can lead to serious   misunderstanding   , especially between men and women. A casual invitation to have drinks and/or dinner does not mean that your American host also wants to become "intimate" with you afterwards. So be careful not to read too much into a friendly invitation .

I.COMPREHENSION

:
A. True or False? Justify
1.American casualness may confuse foreign visitors.

2.American couples can't live together unless they are married.

B.Answer the following questions according to the text.

:
1. Do all couples marry? Give a reason for your answer.


2. What evidence can you find in the text showing that Americans are casual people?


3. Why can openness lead to misunderstanding in America?


C. What do the coloured words in the text refer to:
..
1. they    
2. them  
D. Match the words in the list with the definitions given according to their meanings in the text :
.
A.Extremely ashamed

B.Show.

C.Stupid careless mistake.

D.State of being joined or together.

E.Failure to understand rightly or correctly.
1. blunders

2.   display

3. mortified

4.   bond

5. misunderstanding