Like most English children, I
learned foreign languages at school. When I made my first visit to the United
States, I was sure I could have a nice and easy holiday without any language
problem. But how wrong I was!
At the
American airport, I was looking for a public telephone to tell my friend Danny
that I had arrived. An American asked if he could help me. "Yes," I
said, '1 want to give my friend a ring."
"Well, that's nice. Are you
getting married?" he asked. "No," I replied, "I just want
to tell him I have arrived." "Oh," he said, "there is a
phone downstairs on the first floor." "But we're on the first floor
now," I said.
"Well, I
don't know what you are talking about Maybe you aren't feeling too well after
your journey," he said. "Just go and wash up, and you will feel a lot
better." And he went off, leaving me wondering where on earth I was: At
home we wash up after a meal to get the cups and plates clean. How can I wash
up at an airport?
At last we did
meet. Danny explained the misunderstanding: Americans say "to give someone
a call", but we English say "to give somebody a ring". When we
say "to wash your hands", they say "to wash up". And
Englishmen start numbering from the ground floor so the first floor is the
second for Americans.
1.The writer went to America by ______.
A. plane
B. ship
C. bus
D. train
2.The writer went to America for______ .
A. education B.
business C. holiday
D. friendship
3.The American thought "a ring"
should be a________ .
A. phone call B.
present C. person
D. letter
4.Englishmen usually wash up________ .
A. after
dinner B. after a journey
C. when they
are tired D. before they telephone someone
5.The third floor in England is the ______floor
in America.
A. first
B. second C. third
D. Fourth