Social customs and the ways of behaving change. Things that were considered impolite many years ago are acceptable . Just a few years ago, it was considered to be impolite behavior for a man to smoke on the street . No man who thought of himself as being a gentleman would make fool of himself by smoking when a lady was in the room.
Customs are also different from country to country. Does a man walk on the left or on the right of a woman in your country? Or doesn’t it matter? What about table manners?
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, most Englishmen will open a door for a wonman or offer their seat to a woman , and so will most Americans. Promptness is important both in England and in America. That is , if a dinner invitation is for 6 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 very formal dinner party. When the food was served, one of the guests started to eat his peas with a knife. The other guests were amused or greatly surprised , but the host calmly picked up his knife and began eating in the same way. I t would have been bad manners to make his guest feel foolish or uncomfortable.
小題1:The underlined phrase” make fool of himself” in the first passage means____
| A．make himself strong | B．make himself rich |
| C．make himself comfortable | D．cause himself to seem like a fool |
小題2:According to the passage , the American and British _____
| A．don’t speak the same language |
| B．don’t have social custom in common |
| C．do share a lot of social customs |
| D．do have the exactly same social customs |
小題3:If a dinner invitation is for six o’clock , the guest is supposed to arrive at ____ six
| A．nearly a minute or two later than | B．a quarter to |
| C．a quarter to | D．much later than |
小題4:The last example in the passage shows____
| A．The correct way to use a knife at table |
| B．that it is good manners not to make your guests feel foolish or uncomfortable |
| C．that social customs and ways of behaving change too fast |
| D．promptness is important both in England and in America |
小題5:Which of the following do you think is the best title for this passage?
| A．Social Customs and Customs | B．Social Life |
| C．American and British Customs | D．Promptness is Important |
A flag is flown outside a window to show that someone who lives in the house is having a birthday. Presents are placed around the child’s bed while he is sleeping so he will see them at once when he wakes up.
India
The birthday child wears new clothes to mark the special time. Certain birthdays are more important than others. These are the third and seventh for girls and fifth for boys.
The birthday child receives an especially large present. The family also puts flowers on the birthday child’s chair to make it beautiful.