2015届考考前热身专练：政治经济文化、教育类阅读2.doc

2015届高考考前热身专练：政治经济文化、教育类阅读 1、A report brought back by most visitors to the US is how friendly, polite, 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 American’s friendliness and helpfulness 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 distraction, and brought news of the outside world． The tough realities of the border also shaped this tradition of hospitality. Someone traveling alone, if hungry, injured, or ill, often had nowhere to turn except to the nearest settler agent. It was not a matter of choice for the traveler or only a charitable impulse (冲动） on the part of the settlers. It reflected the hardship of daily life: if you didnt 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 exhausted 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 routes. 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 understood neither as superficial（表面的）nor as artificial（虚伪的）, but as the result of a historically developed cultural tradition. As is