5.
Choose the words and complete the passage.
Before
meeting with my friend Leticia from Honduras, Central America, I would ask her
if she was arriving according to North American time or Latin American time.
Smiling, she would answer, "Latin American time, of course." This
meant that she would be1. The concept(概念)of time is very different for Latin Americans and
North Americans.
Life in
the United States is fast-paced. Americans2"The Carly bird gets
the worm" and" First come, first served". North Americans even
have their meals in an efficient(有效率的)way,
Microwaves help heat up their early breakfasts, noon lunches, and five o'clock
dinners.
Time is
money for big businesses. Everyone follows schedules(时創表), Minutes are taken at meetings that are planned.
North Americans are proud of carrying out 3work
and still finding time to spend with family and friends.
Latin
Americans enjoy a slow life. In the cafes, the service is slow. Outside on
street, people walk by, not to lose weight, but to somewhere. Buses arrive and leave
on their own schedule, sometimes sooner or later than the scheduled time. And
if you 4the bus, just wait. One will come along
finally. Mid-morning breakfasts are homemade. Lunch is around three in the
afternoon and dinner could be anytime. No-body really follows a schedule. You
seldom hear the question, "What time is it?"
If you
don't know the cultural5, you may feel angry sometimes. In my
opinion, people in the United States need to live less by the clock and enjoy
more of their days, Although Latin Americans can sometimes be very frustrating(令人沮丧的), they tell us it's good to be6and
one should slow down enough to enjoy simple pleasure in life.