An American friend has invited you to visit his family. You've never been to an American's home before, and you're not sure what to do. Should you take a gift? How should you dress? What time should you arrive? 1 When you're the guest, you should just make yourself at home.
2 Giving your host a gift is not just a social nicety in some cultures-it's expected. But in American culture, a guest is not obligated to bring a present. Of course, some people do bring a small token of appreciation to their host. Appropriate gifts for general occasions might be flowers, candy or-if the family has small children-toys. If you choose not to bring a gift, 3
American hospitality begins at home-especially when it involves food. Most Americans agree that good home cooking beats restaurant food any day. When invited for a meal, you might ask, "Can I bring anything?" Unless it's a potluck, where everyone brings a dish, the host will probably respond, "No, just yourself." For most informal dinners, you should wear comfortable, casual clothes. Plan to arrive on time, or else call to inform your hosts of the delay. During the dinner conversation, it's customary to compliment the hostess on the wonderful meal.
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When you've had plenty, you might offer to clear the table or wash the dishes. But since you're the guest, your hosts may not let you. Instead, they may invite everyone to move to the living room for dessert with tea or coffee.
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A.The question of whether or not to bring a gift often makes guests upset.
B.What should you do when you get there?
C.What are you doing?
D.Of course, the biggest compliment is to eat lots of food!
E.it doesn’t matter either.
F.After an hour or so of general chit-chat, it's probably time to leave.
G.Do you believe so?
【短文大意】本文为说明文，简单地介绍一些美国的待客礼仪，例如：去被人家做客要不要带礼物，该做些什么事情等。
解析：1.B。联系前文Should you take a gift? How should you dress? ---（“该带一个礼物吗？该怎么穿？该几点到？”）推知这里填“到了那里该做什么？”
2.A。从本小段下面的文字说的是带礼物的事情，推知这段开头是问是否带礼物引出下文。
3.E。从前文的“在一般情况下，带花或是糖果，如果这家人有小孩，玩具应当是恰当的礼物。如果你选择--”推知这里用“不带礼物也不要紧。”
4.D。从前文的“用餐时，习惯上，人们会称赞女主人烹调的美食。”推知这里用“当然，最大的赞美是多吃！”可以承接前文。
5.F。按照叙述的顺序和内容，这里是总结性的话，故用“聊个大约一小时或许就该离去了。”来结束全文。
