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本文作者： 21ST

C

If you have seen the popular documentary, A Bite of China, then you’ll have an idea of what it’s like to take a bite of Chinese food culture. But do you know what it’s like to have a bite of America?

The first difference from China can be summed up in the word “money”. Always remember to give tips when you eat out in America. In most Chinese restaurants, you do not tip the waiters and waitresses. But in America, not tipping is considered rude. Last summer in the United States, we paid as much as 15 percent in tips in some restaurants. It seems high, but this tip rate is quite normal.

Additionally (另外), in the United States, it is considered polite for a restaurant to serve all dishes at once so everyone eats their own dish at the same time. In China, dishes are served as soon as they are finished to maximize (最大化) efficiency (效率). Once I ate out with my friends in a restaurant in China, and my friends had to wait for me to finish eating for almost half an hour because my meal came so much later. I personally like it that all dishes are served at the same time in the United States.

The flavor of American food is best described as “juicy”. Steak is an American favorite and American people often ask for their steak only to be half-cooked so as to make it juicier.

American people also put lots of tasty sauces onto their plates. These complement (补充) the main ingredients of the food and make it taste even better, though they often make the food less healthy at the same time. It is common to add ketchup (番茄酱) and mustard to hotdogs, for example. Americans have tried copying traditional Chinese food in their many “Chinese restaurants”. They modify (更改) Chinese food by adding much more oil to make the taste stronger. However, I dislike American-modified Chinese food because they add too much fat. Nevertheless, I recommend (推荐) you to try real American food, especially if you are a meat-lover.

There are so many aspects of American food culture that it is impossible to cover all of them in a short space. We cannot know all the aspects of a certain food culture, but we can learn about it, taste it, understand and respect it – and enjoy it.

29. What is the article mainly about?

A. Good table manners in America.

B. Differences between Chinese and American food.

C. The author’s impression of American food culture.

D. How to deal with different food cultures.

30. In the US, it is considered polite to _____.

A. give a tip to those who help you B. serve all dishes together

C. serve food separately as quickly as possible

D. give waiters and waitresses a 5 percent tip

31. What can we conclude from the article?

A. Traditional American food tends to be juicy but unhealthy.

B. Real Chinese food is becoming popular in the US.

C. The author prefers local American food to traditional Chinese food.

D. The author thinks Chinese food tastes better and is healthier than American food.

32. What is the author’s attitude toward the modified Chinese food in America?

A. He likes its strong taste.

B. He doesn’t like the amount of sauce that goes with it.

C. He thinks it is not very healthy.

D. He thinks it would taste better if added more oil to it.

D

Nobody laughed when the UK comedy show Little Britain toured the US. Americans didn’t find the “British stereotypes (典型特征)” funny. One character was a woman who was sick whenever she saw a foreigner. Another was a loud and rude 15-year-old girl swearing (咒骂) at her teachers. But back home, British people were laughing hysterically (歇斯底里地) and saying, “Yes! That’s exactly what we’re like!”

A laugh is a laugh in any language, but the reason for it can be very different. Brits and Americans speak the same language, but humor does not always translate.

Take The Office as an example. This was originally (最初) a UK TV series but it was rewritten for the US. Both US and UK series are set in a boring workplace in a boring town. But David Brent, the boss of the UK office, is not a nice guy like Michael Scott in the US version (版本). “We had to make Michael Scott a slightly nicer guy… He couldn’t be too mean,” wrote series creator Ricky Gervais.

Gervais said British people are different from Americans because “We mercilessly (无情地) [make fun] of people we like or dislike… And [of] ourselves.” He believes the differences between the American and British senses of humor are “due to our upbringing”.

“Americans are brought up to believe they can be the next president of the United States,” he wrote. “Brits are told, ‘it won’t happen for you.’”

Things usually turn out fine at the end of every US Office episode (集). Even if they’re not perfect, the characters “learn a lesson” for the future. But in David Brent’s office – and in lots of UK comedy – the last scene is one of complete chaos (混乱) or misery (痛苦). You are often left with the feeling that things just couldn’t get worse. For British people, this seems truer to life and so much funnier.

It’s not just Britain and the US that have comic differences. Few foreigners would understand a Chinese cross-talk show, for example. Cultural differences are no laughing matter. But comic differences can be a window into a culture.

33. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?

A. To show that British humor is not funny at all.

B. To show that American people don’t understand British people.

C. To show that Britain and America have different stereotypes.

D. To show how humor may mean different things in different cultures.

34. Which of the following about The Office is TRUE?

A. David Brent is quite a nice guy. B. Michael Scott is a rather mean guy.

C. Episodes in the UK version often end on a hopeless note.

D. Episodes in the US version often end in a boring way.

35. What is the author’s opinion of comic differences?

A. They are slight differences that can be ignored.

B. They can partly show cultural differences.

C. They show stereotypes of different cultures.

D. They help people communicate with each other.

E

Happy memories are pleasant; sad memories are painful. So what helps us remember the good moments and forget the bad ones? The answer is a mixture of personality, gender (性别) and the methods someone uses to make sense of their feelings.

Professor Florin Dolcos’ team from the University of Illinois, US, studied why people remember different things. The results have been published in Emotion, a journal of the American Psychological Association (美国心理学会).

In the study, scientists asked 71 people – 38 women and 33 men – to fill out a questionnaire. From their answers to the questions, scientists were able to work out their personalities and more than 100 memories of each person.

Scientists analyzed the relationship between personality and memory. They found that people who were outgoing, confident and fun-loving were more likely to remember pleasant experiences than bad ones. People who were sensitive (敏感的) tended to think about bad memories again and again. Both men and women with these personalities also recalled more bad memories.

However, there is a difference between the way men and women try to deal with bad memories.

Some people make an effort to think about a bad memory in a different way while others try to suppress (抑制) it.

For men, the first method – thinking about a bad memory in a different way – can lead them to recall more pleasant memories; the second – suppressing the bad memory – brings neither good memories nor bad ones. For women, however, the second method usually brings more bad memories and an even lower mood than before. This means women are more likely to suffer from depression (抑郁) than men.

“Depressed people recollect (回想) those negative memories and as a result they feel sad,” said Dolcos. “And as a result of feeling sad, the tendency is to have more negative memories recollected. It’s a kind of a vicious circle (恶性循环).”

Scientists suggest the best ways to deal with bad memories are to be outgoing, never let yourself stay in a bad mood for too long and try to think about your memories from a positive angle (角度).

36. Which of the following factors have an effect on people’s memories according to the article?

a. personality b . gender c. social status

d. intelligence quotient (IQ) e. the way they deal with emotions

A. a, b, c B. a, b, e C. b, c, d D. b, d, e

37. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. Men appeared to be more outgoing than women in the study.

B. Both sensitive men and women tend to recall more pleasant memories.

C. Men and women tend to deal with memories in different ways.

D. Men are more likely to suffer from depression than women.

38. What is the main point of the article?

A. To call more attention to bad memories.

B. To suggest ways of dealing with negative emotions.

C. To explain what influences good and bad memories.

D. To compare the differences between the ways men and women deal with memories.