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 American 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

　　[答案] D

　　[解题思路]

　　文章开篇第一句话指出“A report consistently brought back by visitors to the US is how friendly, courteous, and helpful most Americans were to them”(去过美国的人经常带回报告说，大多数美国人对他们非常友善、好客、且他们都很乐于助人)，因此显而易见D为正确答案。A选项与第一段第四句话“There are, of course, exceptions. Small minded officials, rude waiters, and ill-mannered taxi drivers are hardly unknown in the US”(在美国，心胸狭隘的官员，举止粗鲁的招待和缺乏教养的出租车司机也并非罕见)的意思相反。B选项与原文不符，因为第一段最后一句话提到的“deserve comments”指的是美国人对人热情友好这一现象。而C选项与该段第二句话“To be fair, this observation is also frequently made of Canada and Canadians, and should best be considered North American”(公正地说，人们对加拿大和加拿大人也有这样的评论，因而，应当认为这是北美一个普遍的现象)的意思相反，也是错误选项。