基础训练篇（6）

I attended a birthday party in 1991. My teacher was then 59 years old. (1)__________ her fellow teacher said that we (2)_____________(celebrate) her 39th birthday! We were all (3)____________ (surprise) and puzzled.

After the party I was told by the fellow teacher that American women have a special saying about (4)___________ (birth). If a woman is (5)________ 40, or even if she is 80, her birthday is always the 39th. If she is in her thirties, her birthday will be the 29th. And in her (6)____________, it’s the 19th. They usually have their “real” birthday when they are (7)__________ 20.

This shows that American women, (8)_________________ (special) elderly women, are very sensitive about their ages. But my teacher always says, “We want to be (9) ______________. ” so about the age of Western women, my advice is (10)_____________ if you don’t know it, don’t ask about it; if you really know it, don’t mention it.