American Сulture. Жукова Е.Ф. - 18 стр.

    Marie thought that Jennifer was the perfect example of how unfriendly
Americans could be. They make you think that they like you and then all of a sudden
they’re not your friend any more.
    In fact, now, when Marie drops in on Jennifer, Jennifer says things like, “Oh,
Marie, it’s nice to see you, but I can’t talk for long. I have an appointment in a few
minutes.”
    Jennifer said she couldn’t take Marie to the airport or pick her up when she came
back because she was busy. She even seemed annoyed that Jennifer had asked!
    Marie thought that was terrible. After all, what are friends for if not to help you
when you need them?


B. Read about the misunderstanding between Jim and Mrs. Jones. Then, with your
    classmates, discuss the situation..
    Mrs. Jones was a foreign-student adviser at Jim’s university. Jim, who had
always paid his tuition on time, was two months late with his payment.
    Mrs. Jones called Jim into her office and asked him why he hadn’t paid. She
thought perhaps there was a problem getting the money out of his country because
that difficulty had arisen before.
    Jim said that that wasn’t a problem. Actually, the money had arrive on time – all
$4,000 – but he didn’t have it now. He had lent it to a friend to buy a car.
    Mrs. Jones wanted to know who Jim’s friend was, but he couldn’t tell her his
name. Mrs. Jones thought that Jim was lying to her. It didn’t seem reasonable, first,
that he would lend someone so much money and, second, that he would forget the
name of the person he had given it to. She became angry and accused Jim of making
up the story.
    Jim was insulted. He had always had a good relationship with Mrs. Jones. How
could she think he would lie to her? He told her that his roommate, from his home
country, had a friend at another school whose car was damaged in an accident – so he
couldn’t get to school. He needed money to buy a car, or he would be in trouble with



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