4 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.
A. confusion B. delivered C. reflection D. offer E. context
F. set G. signaled H. fluent I. torn J. culture K. genuine |
This is a story about how a foreigner got confused about a Mexican word even though she could speak 1 Spanish. It happened when she 2 foot on Mexican soil for the first time. She asked an ice-cream seller for an ice-cream, and he said “ahorita.” She thought it would be 3 immediately because the word can be directly translated to “right now.” But she waited for half an hour and still no ice-cream came. When she asked the seller about it, he said “ahorita” again, with his face showing 4 . She felt 5 between waiting and walking away. Finally, she had to go home, so she 6 to the seller that she could not wait any longer. Years later back in Mexico, she came to realise that the meaning of “ahorita” changes according to its 7 . It could mean “tomorrow,” “within five years,” “never,” or even “no, thanks” when one wants to refuse an 8 . “Ahorita Time” is a 9 of different cultural understandings of time. That is, understanding “ahorita” takes not a fluency in the language, but a fluency in the 10 .
