Just as our degree of individual freedom uncomfortable to many foreign visitors, foreign attitudes toward truth seem uncertain to Americans.
In many countries people will tell you what they think you want to hear, whether or not it is true. To them, this implies politeness. To Americans, it is considered misleading-even dishonest--to distort facts on purpose, however kind the motive. The point is ---our priorities(优先) are different; in the United States truth has a higher priority than politeness. We are taught from babyhood that “Honesty is the best policy.” Elsewhere, politeness, honor, family loyalty, “machismo” or many other values might come far ahead of honesty if one is listing priorities.
But with us, trust and truth are of paramount importance. If we say of a man, “You cannot trust him.” This is one of the most damning statements that can be made about him.
In view of such profound differences in values, it is natural that misunderstandings and irritations often occur, especially in exact areas such as the negotiation of contracts. A Mexican has said, “With us b business is like a courtship(求爱).” Americans lack this grace, but on the other hand you can count on their word. You know where you are with them; except in advertising, they will not be “whispering sweet nothings” that they do not mean in order to make you feel desirable!
“How far is it to the next village?” the American asks a man standing by the edge of the road. In some countries, because the man realizes that the traveler is tired and eager to reach his destination, he will politely say “Just down the road.” He thinks this is more encouraging, gentler, and therefore the wanted answer. So the American drives on through the night, getting more and more angry, feeling “tricked.” He thinks the man deliberately lied to him, for obviously he must have known the distance quite well.
Had conditions been reversed, the American would feel he was “cheating” the driver if he implied the next town was close when he knew it was really 15miles further on. Although, he, too, would be sympathetic to the weary driver, he would say, “you have a good way to go yet; it is at least 15 more miles.” The driver might be disappointed, but he would know what to expect.
This often-epeated question of accuracy versus courtesy leads to many misunderstandings between people of different cultures. If you are aware of the situation in advance, it is sometimes easier to recognize the problem.
67．The best title for the passage should be_______.
A．Truth or politeness   B．Truth or lying
C．Cultural differences D．Honest Americans
68．In American’s view, people who tell you what they think you want to hear, whether or not it is true, are_______.
A．polite       B．honest      C．kind        D．misleading
69．According to the author, misunderstandings and angers often occur as a result of_______.
A．the exactness of negotiation    B．the importance in trust and truth
C．deep differences in values       D．lack of respect
70．According to the author, Americans_______.
A．treat a business deal like a courtship
B．list honor on the top of the list of values
C．do not whisper sweet nothings in advertising
D．expect to know the exact distance when asking the way

How to Order

Ordering from BooksFirst is easy and safe.

Selecting Your Books

When you have found a book you would like to order, just click on Add to Basket and it will be added to your shopping basket. To make it easy to keep track of the books you’ve selected, My Shopping Basket will display your choices wherever you are on the site. When you’re ready to place your order, select View Basket.

View Basket

This is where you select the postal destination for your order, indicate whether you would like Next Day Delivery in the UK and choose gift-wrapping. You can also amend (修改) the contents of your basket by making any changes and then selecting Update Basket.

Overseas customers ordering three or more books can also request reduced airmail charges here. When you’re happy with the contents of your shopping basket, go to the Secure Checkout.

The Order Form

After you’ve completed the order form, you will receive an on-screen acknowledgment. This will be followed by an email confirming the details of your order.

We will then inform you when your order has been sent. If this is your first order, we will also inform you of your personal BooksFirst account number.

Your First Order

We’ll send you a personal account number after you have placed your first order. For following orders all you need to do is enter your personal account number and email address.

Returning Customers

If you have ordered from us before, online, by mail or telephone, you will have already owned a personal account number. You then only need to complete the full order form. Using your account number allows us to find your details from our records (they are not accessible online).

However, you do not need your BooksFirst personal account number to place an order—simply present all the required details on the order form. If you don’t have a note of your account number just Contact us so that we can supply it to you.

1.We can probably read this advertisement ______.

A．in a newspaper     B．in a magazine       C．on the Internet     D．on TV

2.Yours choices will be displayed in order to ______.

A．To make it easy to keep track of the books.

B．To make sure you’ve selected a book.

C．To make an advertisement.

D．To show this is the postal destination.

3.Which of the following is true?

A．You must put what you choose in a basket as you do in a supermarket.

B．You can find your Shopping Basket nowhere but in View Basket.

C．You will get your personal account number the third time you order..

D．You can get an account number after you place an order online

4.The purpose of this advertisement is______.

A．to promote the sale of books

B．to show the procedure of ordering books online

C．to help readers apply for account numbers

D．to supply account numbers to readers

In view of all sorts of rumors and guesses, experts carried out some careful and scientific research and         the possibility of a second earthquake in this area.

   A. blamed      B. discounted   C .attended  D. charged  

My father’s reaction to the bank building at 43rd Street and Fifth Avenue in New York city was immediate and definite: “You won’t catch me putting my money in there!” he declared, “Not in that glass box!”

　  Of course, my father is a gentleman of the old school, a member of the generation to whom a good deal of modern architecture is upsetting, but I am convinced that his negative response was not so much to the architecture as to a violation of his concept of the nature of money. In his generation money was thought of as a real commodity (实物) that could be carried, or stolen.

　　Consequently, to attract the custom of a sensible man, a bank had to have heavy walls, barred windows, and bronze doors, to affirm the fact, however untrue, that money would be safe inside. If a building’s design made it appear impenetrable（难以渗透的), the institution was necessarily reliable, and the meaning of the heavy wall as an architecture symbol reflected people’s prevailing attitude toward money.

　　But the attitude toward money has, of course, changed. Excepting pocket money, cash of any kind is now rarely used; money as a tangible commodity has largely been replaced by credit. A deficit (赤字) economy, accompanied by huge expansion, has led us to think of money as product of the creative imagination. The banker no longer offers us a safe: he offers us a service in which the most valuable element is the creativity for the invention of large numbers. It is in no way surprising, in view of this change in attitude, that we are witnessing the disappearance of the heavy-walled bank.

　　Just as the older bank emphasized its strength, this bank by its architecture boasts of imaginative powers. From this point of view it is hard to say where architecture ends and human assertion (人们的说法) begins.

36. The main idea of this passage is that________.

A. money is not as valuable as it was in the past

B. changes have taken place in both the appearance and the concept of banks

C. the architectural style of the older bank is superior to that of the modern bank

D. prejudice makes the older generation think that the modern bank is unreliable

37. How do the older generation and the younger one think about money respectively?

A. The former thinks more of money than the latter.

B. The younger generation values money more than the older generation.

C. Both generations rely on the imaginative power of bankers to make money.

D. To the former money is a real commodity but to the latter be a means to produce more money.

38. The words “tangible commodity” (Line 2, Para. 4) refer to something ______.

　 A. that can be replaceable              B. that is usable

　 C. that can be touched                 D. that can be reproduced

39. According to this passage, a modern banker should be _______.

A. ambitious and friendly                             B. reliable and powerful

C. sensible and impenetrable                         D. imaginative and creative

40. It can be inferred from the passage that the author’s attitude towards the new trend in banking is _______.

A. cautious        B. regretful       C. positive        D. hostile

（南京市2009届高三第一次调研考试，英语，22）Everyone in this country enjoys the same right ______ religion, race or sex.

A．regardless of                                             B．in view of                                          

C．in spite of                                                  D．in case of