全國公共英語PETS-2精品閱讀81

To Americans, punctuality is a way of showing respect for other people's time. Being more than 10 minutes late to an appointment usually calls for an apology, and maybe an explanation. People who are running late often call ahead to let others know of the delay. Of course, the less formal the situation, the less important it is to be exactly on time. At informal get-togethers, for example, people often arrive as much as 30 minutes past the appointed time. But they usually don't try that at work.
    對美國人來說，守時(shí)是一種尊重他人時(shí)間的表現(xiàn)。通常若約會遲到超過10分鐘，就應(yīng)該向?qū)Ψ降狼富蚪忉屧?。知道自己會遲到的人往往會先打個(gè)電話，讓對方知道自己會晚一點(diǎn)到。當(dāng)然，會面場合愈不正式，精確準(zhǔn)時(shí)的重要性就愈小。舉例來說，在非正式的聚會中，人們往往會在約定時(shí)間過后30分鐘才到，不過，他們上班通常就不會這樣做。