READING 2 Doing Things Differently

Doing Things DIFFERENTLY

Read the following article. Pay special attention to the words in bold. 11.3

Travel to any country in the world, and you will discover something. The country is similar to your own in some ways, and different in others. Each country has its own unique1 ways of doing things. That is certainly true for the United States. Some of these things may surprise you.

For example, Americans use ounces, feet, and Fahrenheit to measure. But most other countries of the world use the metric system of grams, meters, and Celsius.

Food portions in the United States are usually much larger than in other parts of the world. Researchers found that the average size of a meal in a restaurant in Paris is 25 percent smaller than the size of a meal in a restaurant in Philadelphia. The serving sizes in stores are larger in Philadelphia, too. Sodas are 52 percent bigger, and yogurt servings are 82 percent bigger!

American money looks different from money in most other countries. The green, white, and black design of American bills is plainer and less interesting than the colorful bills of other countries.

In most countries, sales tax is included in the price of items. In the U.S., the price tag doesn’t include the tax. Visitors to the U.S. often don’t know this. They are surprised that items are more expensive than the price on the tag.

But it’s not just food, measurements, and money that are different in the United States. Americans may act differently, too. For example, Americans often make small talk2 with strangers. Because of this, some people think Americans are friendlier than people in other countries. However, many people say that Americans talk louder and laugh more frequently. This makes them think that Americans are ruder than people from other countries!

Do these differences make the United States better or worse than other countries? No, they don’t. They just give the United States its own unique personality3 .

1 unique: very unusual; the only one of its kind 2 small talk: friendly conversation about unimportant subjects 3 personality: the set of qualities that makes a person or place different from other people or places

The Grand Canyon is a popular tourist destination. It is 277 miles (446 km) long, up to 18 miles (29 km) wide, and a mile (1.6 km) deep.