Question

Many years ago, I had my first chance to visit Russia. “Russians are a very polite people,” I had been told before my arrival. One of my friends explained that a gentleman will pour the lemonade(檸檬水) for the ladies and show other good manners.

Toward the end of my three-week trip, I was invited by my Russian friend Nicolai Vasilevich and his wife Yulya out to dinner. At the end of a wonderful meal, Yulya asked if I would like a banana. I politely declined (婉謝) and thanked her, and explained I was most satisfied（滿意的） with the meal. But my mind was racing: “What should I do? Should I offer her a banana though they are as close to her as they are to me? What is the polite thing to do?”

“Would you like a banana?” I asked Yulya.

“Yes,” she smiled, but didn’t try to take any of the three bananas in the fruit basket.

“Which one would you like?” I asked again.

“That one,” she pointed at one of the bananas. So thinking about Russian politeness, I picked the banana Yulya had pointed at. Then I peeled it half way and handed it to her. Smiles on Yulya’s and Nicolai’s faces told me I had done the right thing. After this experience, I spent much time letting the world know that in Russia, the polite thing was to peel bananas for ladies.

However, sometime during my third trip I learned I was wrong.

“Oh no, David,” a Russian politely corrected me. “In Russia, when a man peels a banana for a lady, it means he has a romantic（浪漫的）interest in her. ” How embarrassed (尷尬) I felt.

So to communicate properly with people of different cultures, we should watch carefully how people of the same culture communicate with each other. Besides, don’t be afraid to ask questions about their culture.

1.Before his first visit to Russia, the writer learned Russian gentlemen are polite to ___.

A. foreigners B. strangers

C. friends D. women

2.The underlined word “peeled” in paragraph 6 means “_______”.

A. took the skin off something

B. put something back

C. made something clean

D. cut something in two

3.Which of the following seems to be true according to the passage?

A. The writer’s third trip lasted about three weeks.

B. Russian gentlemen never peel bananas for ladies.

C. The writer tried to follow Russians’ behavior in Russia.

D. Yulya was pleased with the writer’s behavior but Nicolai wasn’t.

4.The writer wrote the passage mainly to ______.

A. show us how polite Russian people are

B. tell us his funny experience in Russia

C. ask us to care about cultural differences

D. remind us what we should do in Russia

Answer 1