Coming together through culture

浙江 江 丽

Patricia Hansen Casquinho, 15, was born and raised in Portugal, but lived in Ham⁃burg,Germany,before coming to America.Casquinho came to America for various reasons,from wanting to learn more about American culture to sharing more about her own.

“Watching American movies made me come here to experience high school life in America and also share my culture with others.I've been enjoying it really,”Casquinho said.

As expected for most people,adjusting to a new country was hard for Casquinho.However, with the help of her friends, Casquinho was able to make adjustments and posi⁃tively look forward to living in America.

Upon staying in America, Casquinho noticed some differences between America and Germany.“Americans are open, friendly and superficial.They're open to new cul⁃tures.Also, there are different kinds of food and music here.The diversity is pretty great.”

Along with the differences in culture, Casquinho also listed some differences in the school systems, shar⁃ing how some concepts that American schools have aren't found in German schools.“We don't have classes with diff⁃erent people from different grades.We don't have SATs or SOLs; we just have final exams.It's very different.We start later and finish earlier.We don't have school sports teams, so there's not a lot of school spirit.We don't have the concept of high school; we just have 5th through 12th grade all in one school.”

Differences aside, Casquinho is enjoying the American high school experiences with the school's endless efforts of getting students involved in sports and clubs in school.As part of her American high school experience, Casquinho has joined some clubs and taken part in activities around the school and hopes to join more.

Casquinho enjoys her experiences in America so far, with some of her favorite experi⁃ences being her time at school and some sports games she's attended.Overall, Casquinho hopes she'll be able to learn from her time in America to be able to share her experiences with others when she goes back home.Reading

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Ⅰ.Answer the following questions according to the text.

1.What's the purpose of Casquinho's coming to America?

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2.Was adjusting to a new country easy or hard for Casquinho?Who helped her to fit in well?

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3.What's the attitude of Casquinho to her experiences in America?

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Ⅱ.Fill in the table below according to the text.

________________________Differences between America and Germany Cultural differences ❖Americans are 1._______, friendly and superficial.Also, there_____________________________are different kinds of food and music.❖American schools have classes with different people from differ⁃ent grades,while 2._______schools don't have.❖American schools have exams like SATs or SOLs, while German schools just have 3______._exams.School system differences ❖German schools start later and finish 4______._.❖German schools don't have sports teams and are in short of school 5._______.❖There isn't the concept of 6._______school in Germany.German schools just have 5th through 12th grade all in one school.

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Sentence for writing

Upon staying in America, Casquinho noticed some differences between America and Germany.一在美国住下来，卡斯基尼奥就注意到美国和德国之间的一些不同。

【信息提取】Upon+n./V⁃ing在句中作状语，意为“一……就……”。

【句式仿写】他一到教室，就意识到他把钥匙落在家里了。