单选题 Americans usually consider themselves a friendly people. Their friendships, however, tend to be shorter and more casual than friendships among people from other cultures. It is not uncommon for Americans to have only one close friend during their lifetime, and consider other "friends" to be just social acquaintances. This attitude probably has something to do with American mobility and the fact that Americans do not like to be dependent on other people. They tend to "compartmentalize (划分) friendships, having "friends at work", "friends on the softball team", "family friends", etc.
Because the United States is a highly active society, full of movement and change, people always seem to be on the go. In this highly changed atmosphere, Americans can sometimes seem brusque (无礼的) or impatient. They want to get to know you as quickly as possible and then move on to something else. Sometimes, early on, they will ask you questions that you may feel very personal. No insult is intended; the questions usually grow out of their genuine interest or curiosity, and their impatience to get to the heart of the matter. And the same goes for you. If you do not understand certain American behavior or you want to know more about them, do not hesitate to ask them questions about themselves. Americans are usually eager to explain all about their country or anything "American" in which you may be interested. So much so in fact that you may become tired of listening. It doesn"t matter because Americans tend to be uncomfortable with silence during a conversation. They would rather talk about the weather or the latest sports scores, for example, than deal with silence.
On the other hand, don"t expect Americans to be knowledgeable about international geography or world affairs, unless those subjects directly involve the United States. Because the United States is not surrounded by many other nations, some Americans tend to ignore the rest of the world.

单选题 The general topic of the passage is ______.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 本题考查对段落大意的归纳，即短文的主题。本文谈的是在特定的美国文化和社会中所形成的美国人的性格，这可从短文每段中的首句含义(美国人通常认为自己是一个友好的民族；美国人似乎永远都在忙忙碌碌；别指望美国人会对世界地理和国际事务了解多少)中得出“美国人的性格特点为：忙忙碌碌，注重现实，为人友好”这一结论。故选项D符合题意。

单选题 Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE according to the passage?

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 本题是一道排除题，回答这一类问题时，要注意记忆文章相关的内容，找出每一选项的证据来。如本文的最后一段提到：don"t expect Americans to be knowledgeable about international geography or world affairs…(不要指望美国人对世界地理和国际事务有多少了解……)。由于与美国交界的国家不多，美国人一般对其他国家的事务置之不理，这正是美国人对国际事务了解不多的原因。而选项C刚好与所述事实相反，即为正确答案(其他各项均符合文章事实)。