复合题

Directions: For passages 1 to 4, each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A., B., C. and D. Decide on the best choice and write the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet.

Passage 3

In the United States it is not customary to telephone someone very early in the morning. If you telephone him early in the day, while he is shaving or having breakfast, the time of the call shows that the matter is very important and requires immediate attention. The same meaning is attached to telephone calls made after11:00 p.m. If someone receives a call during sleeping hours, he assumes it is a matter of life or death. The time chosen for the call communicates its importance.

In social life, time plays a very important part. In the United States, guests tend to feel they are not highly regarded if the invitation to a dinner party is extended only three or four days before the party date. But this is not true in all countries. In other areas of the world, it may be considered foolish to make an appointment too far in advance because plans which are made for a date more than a week away tend to be forgotten.

The meanings of time differ in different parts of the world. Thus, the misunderstandings arise between people from cultures that treat time differently. Promptness is valued highly in American life. For example, if people are not prompt, they may be regarded as impolite or not fully responsible. In the U. S. no one would think of keeping a business associate waiting for an hour, and it would be too impolite. When equals meet, a person who is five minutes late is expected to make a short apology. If he is less than five minutes late, he will say a few words of explanation, though perhaps he will not complete the sentence. To Americans, forty minutes of waiting is the beginning of the “insult period”. No matter what is said in an apology, there is little that can remove the damage done by an hour’s wait. Yet in some other countries, a forty minute waiting period was not unusual. Instead of being the very end of the allowable waiting scale, it was just the beginning.

Since time has different meanings in different cultures, communication is often difficult. We will understand each other a little better if we can keep this in mind. 

单选题 The word “customary” in Para. 1 is closest in meaning to _____.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】词汇题。 customary习惯的； 通常的。 四个选项中只有usual“通常的； 惯例的”符合题意。 virtual虚拟的； 实际上的。 practical实际的。 imaginary虚构的， 假想的。
单选题 In terms of promptness Americans _____.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】事实细节题。 根据文章第三段中间部分“If he is less than five minutes late, he will say a few words of explanation”， 可知， 在美国如果一个人迟到5分钟之内， 他会为此进行解释。 选项D符合原文意思。
单选题 When Americans send an invitation they often send it _____.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】事实细节题。 根据文章第二段第二句“...guests tend to feel they are not highly regarded if the invitation to a dinner party is extended only three or four days before the party date”可知在聚会前3到4天通知客人是不礼貌的。 “made for a date more than a week away tend to be forgotten”（而亚洲人认为） 提前一周多的时间通知很容易被忘记， 因此选B。
单选题 It can be inferred from the passage that in some countries _____.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】事实细节题。 根据文章倒数第二段倒数第二句“Yet in some other countries, a forty minute waiting period was not unusual”， 可知在其他一些国家40分钟的等待是很平常的。 故A项符合题意。
单选题 This passage mainly concerns _____.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】全文主旨题。 文章第一段主要是讲挑选打电话的时间非常重要。 第二、 三段主要讲社交生活中时间是一个很重要的因素， 各个国家的人对时间的要求不同。 最后一段是对全文的总结， 提醒人们， 在不同的文化下， 针对不同的时间观念注意自己的行为举止。 因此A项时间与行为符合题意。