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  3. A report consistently brought back by visitors to the 13. S. is how friendly, courteous, and helpful most Americans were to them

A report consistently brought back by visitors to the 13. S. is how friendly, courteous, and helpful most Americans were to them

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问题      A report consistently brought back by visitors to the 13. S. is how friendly, courteous, and helpful most Americans were to them. To be fair, this observation is also frequently made of Canada and Canadians, and should best be considered North American. There are, of course, exceptions. Smallminded officials, rude waiters, and ill-mannered taxi drivers are hardly unknown in the U. S. Yet it is an observation made so frequently that it deserves comment.
     For a long period of time and in many parts of the country, a traveler was a welcome break in an otherwise dull existence. Dullness and loneliness were common problems of the families who generally lived distant from one another. Strangers and travelers were welcome sources of diversion, and brought news of the outside world.
     The harsh realities of the frontier also shaped this tradition of hospitality. Someone traveling alone, if hungry, injured, or ill, often had nowhere to turn except to the nearest cabin or settlement. It was not a matter of choice for the traveler or merely a charitable impulse on the part of the settlers. It reflected the harshness of daily life: if you didn’t take in the stranger and take care of him, there was no one else who would. And someday, remember, you might be in the same situation.
     Today there are many charitable organizations which specialize in helping the weary traveler. Yet, the old tradition of hospitality to strangers is still very strong in the U. S. , especially in the smaller cities and towns away from the busy tourist trails.  "I was just traveling through, got talking with this American, and pretty soon he invited me home for dinner -- amazing." Such observations reported by visitors to the U. S. are not uncommon, but are not always understood properly. Tile casual friendliness of many Americans should be interpreted neither as superficial nor as artificial, but as the result of a historically developed cultural tradition.
     As is true of any developed society, in America a complex set of cultural signals, assumptions, and conventions underlies all social interrelationships.  And, of course, speaking a language does not necessarily mean that someone understands social and cultural patterns. Visitors who fail to "translate" cultural meanings properly often draw wrong conclusions. For example, when an American uses the word "friend", the cultural implications of the word may be quite different from those it has in the visitor’s language and culture. It takes more than a brief encounter on a bus to distinguish between courteous convention and individual interest. Yet, being friendly is a virtue that many Americans value highly and expect from both neighbors and strangers.  
The frontier settlers’ hospitality can be explained as ______.
选项 A、a charitable impulse
B、a result of travellers’ choice
C、a means to enrich their life
D、a reflect of hard life
答案D
解析 推断题。文章第三段提到，拓荒地区(frontier)的残酷现实(harsh realities)也是形成美国人礼貌传统的原因。一个孤独的旅游者有问题自然求助于路边最近的居住点，这对旅游者来说不是一个选择问题(即：他别无选择)，对就近的定居者来说，提供必要的帮助也不仅仅是出于怜悯(charitable impulse)。这反映的是日常生活的严酷现实：如果定居者不接收并帮助他，就没有别人了，另外，有一天定居者本人也可能处于同一境地。可见拓荒地区定居者的热情可以解释为对残酷现实的反映，故D正确。
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