1 . Social customs and ways of behaving change. Things which were considered impolite many years ago are now acceptable. Just a few years ago, it was considered impolite behavior for a man to smoke on the street. No man who thought of himself as being a gentleman would make a fool of himself by smoking when a lady was in a room.
Customs also differ from country to country. Does a man walk on the left or the right of a woman in your country? Or doesn’t it matter? What about table manners? Should you use both hands when you are eating? Should you leave one on your lap, or on the table?
The Americans and the British not only speak the same language but also share a large number of social customs. For example, in both America and England people shake hands when they meet each other for the first time. Also Englishmen will open a door for a woman or offer their seat to a woman, and so will most Americans. If a dinner invitation is for 7 o’clock, the dinner guest either arrives close to that time or calls up to explain his delay.
The important thing to remember about social customs is not to do anything that might make other people feel uncomfortable, especially if they are your guests. There is an old story about a man who gave a formal dinner party. When the food was served, one of the guests started to eat his peas (豆) with a knife. The other guests were amused or shocked, but the host calmly picked up his knife and began eating in the same way. It would have been bad manners to make his guest feel foolish or uncomfortable.
1. What’s the Chinese meaning of the underlined word?| A．礼貌的 | B．可接受的 | C．粗鲁的 | D．拒绝的 |
| A．He should find an excuse. | B．He should ask for excuse. |
| C．He should say “sorry”. | D．He should telephone to explain his being late. |
| A．Social Customs and Behavior | B．Social Life. |
| C．American and British Customs. | D．To be on time is Important. |
| A．tries his best to make his guests feel comfortable |
| B．makes his guests feel excited |
| C．tries to avoid being naughty to his guests |
| D．tries to avoid being foolish |
| A．The guest who ate his peas with a knife. |
| B．The other guests who were amused or shocked. |
| C．The host who picked up his knife and began eating in the same way. |
| D．None of the above. |
2 . A lot of people wonder how Chinese parents raise such stereotypically successful kids. They wonder what these parents do to produce so many math whizzes(奇才) and music prodigies(神童), what it’s like inside the family, and whether they could do it too. Well, I can tell them, because I’ve done it. Here are some things my daughters, Sophia and Louisa, were never allowed to do:
• attend a sleepover
• have a play date
• be in a school play
• complain about not being in a school play
• watch TV or play computer games
• choose their own extracurricular activities
• get any grade less than an A
• not be the No.1 student in every subject except gym and drama
• play any instrument other than the piano or violin
• not play the piano or violin.
I’m using the term “Chinese mother” loosely. I know some Korean, Indian, Jamaican, Irish and Ghanaian parents who qualify too. Conversely, I know some mothers of Chinese heritage, almost always born in the West, who are not Chinese mothers, by choice or otherwise. I’m also using the term “Western parents” loosely. Western parents come in all varieties. All the same, even when Western parents think they’re being strict, they usually don’t come close to being Chinese mothers. For example, my Western friends who consider themselves strict make their children practice their instruments 30 minutes every day. An hour at most. For a Chinese mother, the first hour is the easy part. It’s hours two and three that get tough.
Despite our squeamishness(神经过敏) about cultural stereotypes, there are tons of studies out there showing marked and quantifiable differences between Chinese and Westerners when it comes to parenting. In one study of 50 Western American mothers and 48 Chinese immigrant mothers, almost 70% of the Western mothers said either that “stressing academic success is not good for children” or that “parents need to foster the idea that learning is fun. ” By contrast, roughly 0% of the Chinese mothers felt the same way. Instead, the vast majority of the Chinese mothers said that they believe their children can be “the best” students, that “academic achievement reflects successful parenting,” and that if children did not excel at school then there was “a problem” and parents “were not doing their job. ” Other studies indicate that compared to Western parents, Chinese parents spend approximately 10 times as long every day drilling academic activities with their children. By contrast, Western kids are more likely to participate in sports teams.
1. Why can Sophia and Louisa become geniuses?| A．Because they listen to their mother’s arrangement. |
| B．Because they are gifted in mathematics and music. |
| C．Because Chinese parents can always cultivate successful children. |
| D．Because they are restricted to do something. |
| A．Cultural differences between China and the West. |
| B．Westerners tend to be more strict with their children. |
| C．Time for children to learn music. |
| D．The difference between Chinese mothers and Western mothers. |
| A．Participate in extracurricular activities with classmates. |
| B．Study hard and ignore everything else. |
| C．Practice your familiar musical instruments. |
| D．Strike a proper balance between work and rest. |
| A．Western mothers feel very different from Chinese mothers. |
| B．Western mothers have prejudice against Chinese mothers. |
| C．Western children develop more comprehensively than Chinese children. |
| D．Chinese mothers put too much pressure on their children to study. |
