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.
小题1:The writer went to America by ______.
A．plane
B．ship
C．bus
D．train小题2:The writer went to America for______ .
A．education
B．business
C．holiday
D．friendship小题3:The American thought "a ring" should be a________ .
A．phone call
B．present
C．person
D．letter小题4:Englishmen usually wash up________ .
A．after dinner
B．after a journey
C．when they are tired
D．before they telephone someone小题5:The third floor in England is the ______floor in America.
A．first
B．second
C．third
D．Fourth
