Strangers and travelers were welcome sources of diversion, and brought news of the outside world.
[3] The harsh realities of the frontier also shaped this tradition of hospitality.
Someone traveling alone, if hungry, injured, or ill, often had nowhere to turn except to the nearest cabin or settlement.
It was not a matter of choice for the traveler or merely a charitable impulse on the part of the settlers.
It reflected the harshness of daily life: if you didn’t take in the stranger and take care of him, there was no one else who would.
And someday, remember, you might be in the same situation.
[4] Today there are many charitable organizations which specialize in helping the
weary traveler.
Yet, the old tradition of hospitality to strangers is still very strong in the US, especially in the smaller cities and towns away from the busy tourist trails.
“I was just traveling through, got talking with this American, and pretty soon he invited me home for dinner -- amazing.”
Such observations reported by visitors to the US are not uncommon, but are not always understood properly.
The casual friendliness of many Americans should be interpreted neither as superficial nor as artificial, but as the result of a historically developed cultural tradition.
[5] As is true of any developed society, in America a complex set of cultural signals, assumptions, and conventions underlies all social interrelationships.
And, of course, speaking a language does not necessarily mean that someone understands social and cultural patterns.
Visitors who fail to “translate” cultural meanings properly often draw wrong conclusions.
For example, when an American uses the word “friend,” the cultural implications of the word may be quite different from those it has in the visitor’s language and culture.
It takes more than a brief encounter on a bus to distinguish between courteous convention and individual interest.
Yet, being friendly is a virtue that many Americans value highly and expect from both neighbors and strangers. 55. In the eyes of visitors from the outside world, ________. [A] rude taxi drivers are rarely seen in the US
[B] small-minded officials deserve a serious comment
[C] Canadians are not so friendly as their neighbors
[D] most Americans are ready to offer help
56. It could be inferred from the last paragraph that ________.
[A] culture exercises an influence over social interrelationship
[B] courteous convention and individual interest are interrelated
[C] various virtues manifest themselves exclusively among friends
[D] social interrelationships equal the complex set of cultural conventions 57. Families in frontier settlements used to entertain strangers ________. [A] to improve their hard life
[B] in view of their long-distance travel [C] to add some flavor to their own daily life
[D] out of a charitable impulse 58. The tradition of hospitality to strangers ________. [A] tends to be superficial and artificial
[B] is generally well kept up in the United States
[C] is always understood properly
[D] has something to do with the busy tourist trails
Text 3
[1] Technically, any substance other than food that alters our bodily or mental
functioning is a drug.
Many people mistakenly believe the term drug refers only to some sort of medicine or an illegal chemical taken by drug addicts.
They don’t realize that familiar substances such as alcohol and tobacco are also drugs.
This is why the more neutral term substance is now used by many physicians and psychologists.
The phrase “substance abuse” is often used instead of “drug abuse” to make clear that substances such as alcohol and tobacco can be just as harmfully misused as heroin and cocaine.
[2] We live in a society in which the medicinal and social use of substances (drugs) is
pervasive: an aspirin to quiet a headache, some wine to be sociable, coffee to get going in the morning, a cigarette for the nerves.
1997考研英语阅读手译
