【正文】 3. Language points 2. Text structure 4. Homework 1. Proverbs Proverbs of time Read the following proverbs. Have you ever learnt them? What are the Chinese versions for them? 1. 1. Time works wonders. 2. Time tries truth. 時間創(chuàng)造奇跡。 時間檢驗(yàn)真理。 3. Time is the best healer. 4. Time and tide wait for no man. 時間是治愈創(chuàng)傷的良藥。 時間不等人。（時不我待。） 5. All time is no time when it is past. 機(jī)不可失，時不再來。 Americans save time carefully. (Para. 1) Americans’ attitude towards time and how they try to save time in daily life and in business (Paras. 27) Time is a precious source. (Para. 2) Americans save time in their daily life. () Americans save time in doing business. () Americans produce laborsaving devices in order to save time.() It is taken as a sign of skillfulness or being petent to solve a problem or fulfill a job successfully with speed in the US. () Structure of the Passage Structure Analysis Americans believe no one stands still. If you are not moving ahead, you are falling behind. *This attitude results in a nation of people mitted to researching, experimenting and exploring. *Time is one of the two elements (that Americans save carefully), the other being labor. Para. 2 “ We are slaves to nothing but the clock,” it has been said. *Time is treated as if it were something almost real. We budget it, save it, waste it, steal it, kill it, cut it, account for it。 we also charge for it. It is a precious resource. Many people have a rather acute sense of the shortness of each lifetime. Once the sands have run out of a person’ s hourglass, they cannot be replaced. We w a n t e v e r y m i n u t e to c o u n t . P a r a . 3 A f o r e i g n e r’ s f i r s t impression of the . is likely to be that everyone is in a rush — often under pressure. City people always appear to be hurrying to get where they are going, restlessly seeking attention in a store, or elbowing others as they try to plete their shopping. Racing through daytime meals is part of the pace of life in this c o u n t r y . Working time is considered precious. Others in public eatingplaces are waiting for you to finish so they, too, can be served and get back to work within the time allowed. You also find drivers will be abrupt and people will push past you. You will miss smiles, brief conversations, and small exchanges with strangers. Don’ t take it personally. This is because people value time highly, and they resent someone else “ wasting” it beyond a certain appropriate p o i n t . Many new arrivals to the States will miss the opening exchanges of a business call, for example. They will miss the ritual interaction that goes with a weling cup of tea or coffee that may be a convention in their own country. They may miss leisurely business chats in a r e s t a u r a n t or c o f f e e h o u s e . *Normally, Americans do not assess their visitors in such relaxed surroundings over extended small talk。 much less do they take them out for dinner, or around on the golf course while they develop a sense of trust. *Since we generally assess and probe professionally rather than socially, we start talking business very quickly. Time is, therefore, always ticking in our inner ear. Consequently, we work hard at the task of saving time. We produce a steady flow of laborsaving devices。 we municate rapidly through faxes, phone calls or s rather than through personal contacts, which though pleasant, take longer—especially given our trafficfilled streets. We, therefore, save most personal visiting for afterwork hours or f o r s o c i a l w e e k e n d g a t h e r i n g s . *To us the impersonality of electronic munication has little or no relation to the significance of the matter at hand. In some countries no major business is conducted without eye c o n t a c t , r e q u i r i n g f a c e to f a c e conversation. In America, too, a final agreement will normally be signed in person. However, people are meeting increasingly on television screens, conducting “ teleconferences” to settle problems not only in this country but also—by satellite—internationally. Para. 7 The . is definitely a telephone country. Almost everyone uses the telephone to conduct business, to chat with friends, to make or break social appointments, to say “ Thank you,” to shop and to obtain all kinds of information. Telephones save the feet and endless amounts of time. This is due partly to the fact (that the telephone service is superb here, whereas the postal service is less efficient). Para. 8 Some new arrivals will e from cultures where it is considered impolite to work too quickly. Unless a certain amount of time is allowed to elapse, it seems in their eyes as if the task being considered were insignificant, not worthy of proper respect. Assignments are, consequently, felt to be given added weight by the passage of time. In the ., however, it is taken as a sign of skillfulness or being petent to solve a problem, or fulfill a job successfully, with speed. *Usually, the more important a task is, the more capital, energy, and attention will be poured into it in order to “ get it moving” . stand still keep or stay in a particular position or state 保持某種狀態(tài) The house has stood empty/ idle for months. The plot now stands revealed. Exercises: 要堅定 , 不要讓他們對你指手畫腳。 Stand firm don39。t let them tell you what to do. linking verb +adj (or adjectivelike phrase) stand 1. Stand up. 2. Xiamen University stands near the sea. 3. Stand stil