Cultural Difference

Last summer two foreigners came to my grandmother's home. They are [were] （1） Mr. and Mrs. Reoge. They were from America. The place where my grandparents are now living in [living] （2） was the very house they used to spend their childhoods [in] （3）。 Their coming [arrival] （4） was a big surprise to me. I talked with them in that I can [so that I could] （5） practise my spoken English. Suddenly， Mr. Reoge said to me：“Your English is very good！” Mr. Reoge， a real native speaker， praised my English！ I couldn't help smiling， but I heard myself said [saying ] （6） ， “No， no！” Almost immediately I realized what kind of a mistake I had made. It's the difference between western and eastern cultures. [In the west you are not supposed to say “no” ， while nodding your head with a smile. ]（7）

　　I still remember clearly how in a strange way Mr. Reoge looked at me while I was smiling with happiness， but saying， “no”。 He was confused！

　　Though I've learnt a lot of cultural differences between Eastand West from books， it is the first time that I am strongly impressed by it[have ever been deeply impressed by them in real life]. （8）

　　复旦大学附中高三（5）王蕾

　　评 语

　　作者能在这么短的篇幅内表达一个较深刻的主题是很不容易的。全文用词和文章构架也较为老练，并能较好地运用对话展开叙述。文章中某些语言上的不足之处点评修改如下：

　　（1）时态用错了。

　　（2）、（3） Where从句中 living in后面的介词 in应该去掉。因为从句的连接词where是连接副词，在从句中作状语。而“they used to spend their childhoods”这句话后面要加上介词in.因为这句话在这里作 houses 的后置定语，省掉了连接代词which 或that，请比较下列两句话：

　　This is the house （which）I lived in two years ago.

　　This is the house where （=in which） I lived two years ago.

　　（4）用 arrival 较好。

　　（5）这里连接词和时态都用错了。

　　（6）这里要用现在分词。

　　（7）作者似乎没能把意思表达彻底，故加上方括号内这句话，使意思更明了。

　　（8）It is the first time that从句中，一般要用现在完成时。