You must make the adjustment through experience, and sometimes, emotional distress. This is the way it usually happens. First, of course, you experience a period of excitement. You have a sense of freedom—you feel liberated from the rules and customs of your own culture, and immensely interested in those of American culture. This period is sometimes called the “the honeymoon” stage. Then certain customs in the United States began to irritate you. For example, we shall consider punctuality—the need to be “on time”. Americans look at their watches frequently. They try to be on time for work, for class, for meetings, for games, for religious services, and even for certain events. If you arrange to meet Americans for lunch at 12 but to be there at 12:30, you will probably find that they have either (a) left (b) eaten without you, or (c) become very annoyed (even if they are not hungry). Perhaps you are annoyed that American friendliness seems superficial; or that Americans always act as though they are in a hurry; or that the food never seems to be prepared in the right way. Perhaps you do not even feel annoyed, just homesick. The reaction can set in within two weeks of your arrival, or six months later, and its symptoms vary greatly. You might have trouble sleeping; you might on the other hand sleep too much. You might find yourself angry at the time, or depressed, or suffering from a vague physical illness. You may begin to dislike the United States and its people. Nothing is really wrong with you. You are simply suffering cultural shock. You have a lot of familiar signs and signals, you have discovered that some of your assumptions about human beings are incorrect, and you wish you could make sense of the United States. Then another change comes over you. Sooner or later you begin to laugh at yourself or at the strange things you see in American life, and at that point you begin to recover. Soon, you find yourself living, peacefully, with the same American customs that used to upset you. You have become bicultural. 1．Which of the following makes newcomers in the United States very angry? A.mericans’ punctuality and superficial friendliness. B.Americans’ complaint. C.Americans’ education. D.Americans’ impatience. 2．The following are the possible symptoms of cultural shock EXCEPT _____. A.sleeping difficultyB.sleeping too muchC.a vague physical illnessD.a dislike for one’s own culture 3．According to the passage, which of the following is the best way of surviving in the United States? A.By ignoring the differences. B.y becoming bicultural. C.By becoming an American . D.By forgetting one’s own culture. 4．Which of the following best summarizes the passage? A.Life in the United States. B.Customs in the United States. C.auses and symptoms of cultural shock. D.Traveling in the United States.

No one can tell you how to adjust to life in the United States. You must make the adjustment through experience, and sometimes, emotional distress. This is the way it usually happens.

First, of course, you experience a period of excitement. You have a sense of freedom—you feel liberated from the rules and customs of your own culture, and immensely interested in those of American culture. This period is sometimes called the “the honeymoon” stage.

Then certain customs in the United States began to irritate you. For example, we shall consider punctuality—the need to be “on time”. Americans look at their watches frequently. They try to be on time for work, for class, for meetings, for games, for religious services, and even for certain events. If you arrange to meet Americans for lunch at 12 but to be there at 12:30, you will probably find that they have either (a) left (b) eaten without you, or (c) become very annoyed (even if they are not hungry).

Perhaps you are annoyed that American friendliness seems superficial; or that Americans always act as though they are in a hurry; or that the food never seems to be prepared in the right way. Perhaps you do not even feel annoyed, just homesick. The reaction can set in within two weeks of your arrival, or six months later, and its symptoms vary greatly. You might have trouble sleeping; you might on the other hand sleep too much. You might find yourself angry at the time, or depressed, or suffering from a vague physical illness. You may begin to dislike the United States and its people.

Nothing is really wrong with you. You are simply suffering cultural shock. You have a lot of familiar signs and signals, you have discovered that some of your assumptions about human beings are incorrect, and you wish you could make sense of the United States. Then another change comes over you. Sooner or later you begin to laugh at yourself or at the strange things you see in American life, and at that point you begin to recover. Soon, you find yourself living, peacefully, with the same American customs that used to upset you. You have become bicultural.

1．Which of the following makes newcomers in the United States very angry?

A.mericans’ punctuality and superficial friendliness.

B.Americans’ complaint.

C.Americans’ education.

D.Americans’ impatience.

2．The following are the possible symptoms of cultural shock EXCEPT _____.

                               

A.sleeping difficulty	B.sleeping too much
C.a vague physical illness	D.a dislike for one’s own culture

3．According to the passage, which of the following is the best way of surviving in the United States?

A.By ignoring the differences.

B.y becoming bicultural.

C.By becoming an American     .

D.By forgetting one’s own culture.

4．Which of the following best summarizes the passage?

A.Life in the United States.

B.Customs in the United States.

C.auses and symptoms of cultural shock.

D.Traveling in the United States.