You may know well what you are supposed to do or not to do in your own country. But do you know the customs in other countries? Here are some manners you should pay attention to.
Taking off your shoes or not
It's bad manners to take off your shoes at the door of a London dinner party. But in Asia if you don't take off your shoes before entering a home, you are not polite enough.
What you should do instead: If you see shoes at the door, take off your shoes. If not, keep the shoes on.
Talking over dinner
In some countries, like Japan, don't start talking while everyone else is having dinner. You'll meet with silence—not because your group is unfriendly, but because mealtime is for eating, not talking. Also don't talk in places like churches (教堂) in Europe.
What you should do instead: Keep quiet!
Knowing your right from your left
Some cultures in Africa and the Middle East still like to eat in traditional ways—using their hands. When people eat in this way, food is often offered for several people to share at the same time. That is why it's important to wash your hands before eating. While eating, you have to follow the rule: Eat using your right hand, and use your left hand to do other things.
What you should do instead: Follow the others and use your right hand. Even left-handed children in these cultures are taught to eat with their right hands. If you really can't, explain yourself to others before you eat.
1. How many manners are mentioned in the passage?2. What are you supposed to do if you see shoes at the door?
3. How can you behave well when having dinner in Japan?
4. There are some table manners in Chinese culture. Please give an example.
With the development of economics (经济), the problem of the left-behind children has become a serious social problem. More and more people have realized we should do something to help them.
The biggest problem is that the children are all hungry for the love from their parents. Many of them can just get a call or a letter from their parents half a year, a year or even several years. So some children can’t remember what their parents look like. When they meet their own troubles, they have no one to talk with. Nobody gives them enough care.
Because of being too far away from their parents, the left-behind children’s study is the second biggest problem. From a survey about their study, only two percent of the children get good results while ten percent of them are common and eighty-eight percent of them are poor. What a pity!
There are also many other problems of the left-behind children, such as having no ability to protect themselves, unhealthy lifestyles, spending too much pocket money and too much time on the Internet and so on.
In a word, to solve all the problems of the left-behind children needs the government, families and schools to try their best together.
1. What is the most serious problem of the left-behind children according to the passage?2. What does “left- behind children” mean in Chinese?
3. According to the passage, list at least two problems the left-behind children have.
4. Find the sentence with the similar meaning as “The left-behind children are far from their parents, so their study is the second most serious trouble” from the passage.
Bollywood
What is Bollywood?
Bollywood is the name of the Indian film industry (产业). It’s nearly the same as Hollywood, but the “B” comes from Bombay, the biggest city in India, now called Mumbai (孟买). Bollywood makes nearly 800 films a year: that’s twice the number of films made in Hollywood. The films are made very quickly and some actors are in three or four films at the same time.
Bollywood: Past
People made the first Bollywood film in 1899. At first, the films were silent and then in the 1930s they made films with sound. The first color film started in the 1950s, which showed the beauty of the Indian clothes and costurnes (装束) often worn in Bollywood productions. Traditional Bollywood films included a lot of singing and dancing, but action films also became popular in the 1970s. At first people only watched the films in India, but since the year 2000 Bollywood films have become popular all over the world.
Bollywood: Present
Mumbai is the home of the Indian film industry. Thousands of people work there as actors, cameramen, directors and extras (临时演员). It is common now for directors to make Bollywood films in other countries, such as the US, France and China as Indian audiences (观众) are very interested in other countries. However, international cinema has also come to Bollywood.
Bollywood: Future
The future is good. Big American film companies (公司) like Warner Bros, and Twentieth Century Fox are opening offices in India. This means more color, more dancing and definitely (确定地) more Bollywood.
1. How many films are made in Hollywood every year now?2. Why is it common now for directors to make Bollywood films in other countries?
3. If you want to be an international actor or actress, which place will you go to? Why?
4 . Imagine that you are driving down a road late at night. You look to the side of the road and find that there is a car accident. There are people in the car, and they, are probably hurt. What would you do in that situation? Would you ignore (忽视) the people and keep driving? Or would you stop your car and try to help them?
In the past, most people didn’t think of it as a problem. They would stop to help the injured without thinking twice. But people think differently now. Lots of people don’t want to give help. One of the reasons is that sometimes they might hurt the people they are trying to save, and the injured might sue (控告) them. Sometimes, the people who try to help have to pay lots of money just for doing good to others. Many people do not want to get sued for being nice. So they ignore others in need of help.
Because so many people are afraid of getting into trouble, a few countries have passed a special law. The law provides protection for people who try to help others. Thanks to the law, the injured can’t sue anyone who gives a helping hand, In countries with this law, people are not afraid to help out anymore.
1. How was it for people to help the injured in the past?2. Why don’t people want to help the injured according to the passage ?
3. How does the special law work?
