One day an American friend invited me to a party． It wasn’t a real party, it was some kind of informal get-together． Since it was summer time, he had a cookout where most of his American friends and relatives were known to me, but there were others I had never met before．
It was the most embarrassing （令人尴尬） party for me when I noticed that everybody was wearing jeans and simple T-shirts for the day, while I arrived in proper dress with my shoes and my hair all fixed for a fancy party．It was hard to explain my embarrassment to other guests．When one of them turned around and said, “What nice clothes! What’s the occasion?” I felt my face burning hot with embarrassment． I did not answer at all． If she knew how bad I already felt, she wouldn’t have come near me．But she did． Maybe she didn’t ask intentionally to make me feel bad or uncomfortable, but my reaction had to do with the way I already felt．I could have told her I had to go to another party afterwards, but I did not want to continue the conversation．
Many times I thought about going home and changing, but I knew that they would notice．It would be even worse for me, because I knew they would quickly think that I felt out of place．So I wanted to pretend that I was okay…
I had already realized their customs were different from mine; but after I talked to my friend, I was more convinced that people here are more casual （休闲的，随意的）．They care less about formality, unless it is a special occasion, like a wedding or a very formal invitation．
In contrast, my culture is totally the opposite．For instance, in Cape Verdean culture, if a friend invited me to his house on a special day, even if it is not a real party, one should appear well dressed or otherwise the host will be annoyed thinking you are disrespectful to him or the other guests．We do dress casually for going on picnic or on ordinary days, but not normally to go over to a friend’s when invited, especially if other people will be there．
After all, I think that my problem at the party wasn’t that I wasn’t accepted by the Americans; but my feeling was so bad that I couldn’t fit in the group even if nobody noticed, because I was the one who discovered the difference in the first place．It doesn’t matter if people dress differently, but I was the only one different in the group．I felt I was the one who should adjust to their customs．After that, I decided to learn more about American culture, so now I don’t have as many problems as I’ve had in the past．
1．Which of these statements describes the cookout in the story?
A．It was very formal． B．People wore casual clothing．
C．It took place in a restaurant． D．People care more about formality．
2．This story is mainly about _________．
A．culture differences B．living in the United States
C．what to do at a cookout D．how to get prepared for a cookout
3．It can be inferred from the story that the author _________．
A．left the cookout early B．probably didn’t enjoy the cookout
C．never wears blue jeans D．will never go to a cookout
4．Which of the following can replace the underlined word “intentionally” in the second paragraph?
A．Patiently． B．Willingly． C．Carefully． D．On purpose．