When I lived in Spain, some Spanish friends of mine decided to visit England by car. Before they left, they asked me for advice about how to find accommodation. I suggested that they should stay at "bed and breakfast" houses, because this kind of accommodation gives a foreign visitor a good chance to speak English with the family. My friends listened to my advice, but they came back with some funny stories.
"We didn’t stay at bed and breakfast houses," they said, "because we found that most families were away on holiday. "
I thought this was strange. Finally I understood what had happened. My friends spoke little English, and they thought "VACANCIES" meant "holidays", because the Spanish word for "holiday" is "vacation". So they did not go to house where the sign outside said "VACANCIES", which in English means there are free rooms. Then my friends went to house where the sign said " NO VACANCIES", because they thought this meant the people who owned the house were not away on holiday. But they found that these houses were all full. As a result, they stayed at hotels!
We laughed about this and about mistakes my friends made in reading other signs. In Spanish, the word "DIVERSION" means fun. In English, it means that workmen are repairing the road, and that you must take a different road. When my friends saw the word "DIVERSION" on a road sign, they thought they were going to have fun. Instead, the road is blocked by a crowd.
English people have problems too when they learn foreign languages. Once in Paris when someone offered me some more coffee, I said "Thank you" in French. I meant that I would like some more. However, to my surprise the coffee pot was taken away! Later I found out that "Thank you" in French means "No, thank you".
I was surprised when the coffee pot was taken away because I ______.

A:hadn’t finished drinking my coffee B:was expecting another cup of coffee C:meant that I didn’t want any more D:was always understood

A report consistently brought back by visitors to the US is how friendly, courteous, and helpful most Americans were to them. To be fair, this observation is also frequently made of Canada and Canadians ,and should best be considered North American. There are, of course, exceptions. Small- minded officials, rude waiters, and ill-mannered taxi drivers are hardly unknown in the US. Yet it is an observation made so frequently that it deserves comment. 　　For a long period of time and in many parts of the country, a traveler was a welcome break in an otherwise dull existence. Dullness and loneliness were common problems of the families who generally lived distant from one another. Strangers and travelers were welcome sources of diversion, and brought news of the outside world. 　　The harsh realities of the frontier also shaped this tradition of hospitality. Someone travelling 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. 　　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. 　　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. 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

(Despite) much research, there are still certain elements (in) the life cycle of the insect that (is) not fully (Understood) .

A:Despite B:in C:is D:Understood

When I lived in Spain, some Spanish friends of mine decided to visit England by car. Before they left, they asked me for advice about how to find accommodation. I suggested that they should stay at "bed and breakfast" houses, because this kind of accommodation gives a foreign visitor a good chance to speak English with the family. My friends listened to my advice, but they came back with some funny stories.
"We didn’t stay at bed and breakfast houses," they said, "because we found that most families were away on holiday. "
I thought this was strange. Finally I understood what had happened. My friends spoke little English, and they thought "VACANCIES" meant "holidays", because the Spanish word for "holiday" is "vacation". So they did not go to house where the sign outside said "VACANCIES", which in English means there are free rooms. Then my friends went to house where the sign said " NO VACANCIES", because they thought this meant the people who owned the house were not away on holiday. But they found that these houses were all full. As a result, they stayed at hotels!
We laughed about this and about mistakes my friends made in reading other signs. In Spanish, the word "DIVERSION" means fun. In English, it means that workmen are repairing the road, and that you must take a different road. When my friends saw the word "DIVERSION" on a road sign, they thought they were going to have fun. Instead, the road is blocked by a crowd.
English people have problems too when they learn foreign languages. Once in Paris when someone offered me some more coffee, I said "Thank you" in French. I meant that I would like some more. However, to my surprise the coffee pot was taken away! Later I found out that "Thank you" in French means "No, thank you".
I was surprised when the coffee pot was taken away because I ______.

A:hadn’t finished drinking my coffee B:was expecting another cup of coffee C:meant that I didn’t want any more D:was always understood

When I lived in Spain, some Spanish friends of mine decided to visit England by car. Before they left, they asked me for advice about how to find accommodation. I suggested that they should stay at "bed and breakfast" houses, because this kind of accommodation gives a foreign visitor a good chance to speak English with the family. My friends listened to my advice, but they came back with some funny stories.
"We didn’t stay at bed and breakfast houses," they said, "because we found that most families were away on holiday. "
I thought this was strange. Finally I understood what had happened. My friends spoke little English, and they thought "VACANCIES" meant "holidays", because the Spanish word for "holiday" is "vacation". So they did not go to house where the sign outside said "VACANCIES", which in English means there are free rooms. Then my friends went to house where the sign said " NO VACANCIES", because they thought this meant the people who owned the house were not away on holiday. But they found that these houses were all full. As a result, they stayed at hotels!
We laughed about this and about mistakes my friends made in reading other signs. In Spanish, the word "DIVERSION" means fun. In English, it means that workmen are repairing the road, and that you must take a different road. When my friends saw the word "DIVERSION" on a road sign, they thought they were going to have fun. Instead, the road is blocked by a crowd.
English people have problems too when they learn foreign languages. Once in Paris when someone offered me some more coffee, I said "Thank you" in French. I meant that I would like some more. However, to my surprise the coffee pot was taken away! Later I found out that "Thank you" in French means "No, thank you".
I was surprised when the coffee pot was taken away because I ______.

A:hadn’t finished drinking my coffee B:was expecting another cup of coffee C:meant that I didn’t want any more D:was always understood

When I lived in Spain, some Spanish friends of mine decided to visit England by car. Before they left, they asked me for advice about how to find accommodation. I suggested that they should stay at "bed and breakfast" houses, because this kind of accommodation gives a foreign visitor a good chance to speak English with the family. My friends listened to my advice, but they came back with some funny stories.
"We didn’t stay at bed and breakfast houses," they said, "because we found that most families were away on holiday. "
I thought this was strange. Finally I understood what had happened. My friends spoke little English, and they thought "VACANCIES" meant "holidays", because the Spanish word for "holiday" is "vacation". So they did not go to house where the sign outside said "VACANCIES", which in English means there are free rooms. Then my friends went to house where the sign said " NO VACANCIES", because they thought this meant the people who owned the house were not away on holiday. But they found that these houses were all full. As a result, they stayed at hotels!
We laughed about this and about mistakes my friends made in reading other signs. In Spanish, the word "DIVERSION" means fun. In English, it means that workmen are repairing the road, and that you must take a different road. When my friends saw the word "DIVERSION" on a road sign, they thought they were going to have fun. Instead, the road is blocked by a crowd.
English people have problems too when they learn foreign languages. Once in Paris when someone offered me some more coffee, I said "Thank you" in French. I meant that I would like some more. However, to my surprise the coffee pot was taken away! Later I found out that "Thank you" in French means "No, thank you".
I was surprised when the coffee pot was taken away because I ______.

A:hadn’t finished drinking my coffee B:was expecting another cup of coffee C:meant that I didn’t want any more D:was always understood