15. you will miss smiles， brief conversations small courtesies with strangers

miss sth： 發覺沒有；覺得遺憾

small courtesies ： friendly smiles， saying hello， or whatever起碼的客套

16. Don't take it personally.——Don’t feel upset because this is their way with strangers. It is not directed against any particular person. They treat all strangers in the same way.

take ： 對待

take sth./ sb. seriously 認真對待某物/某人

take sth./ sb. lightly 輕率對待某物/某人

take sth. personally 　把某件事看成是針對某個人的

take sth. badly/ calmly 對某件事的反應強烈/冷靜

eg ： Unfortunately， no one took the child's words seriously.不幸的是誰也沒有把那孩子的話當回事 .

eg ： To my surprise， his parents took the news calmly.　他的父母對這個消息反應十分冷靜，使我感到驚訝。

eg ：We shouldn't take these young people lightly我們可不能小看那些年輕人

eg ： I'm afraid he took your remarks personally.　我想他認為你的那些話是說他的。

17. This is because people value time highly

value： 珍惜

We must value the time at school.　我們一定要珍惜學校的時光

18. This view of time affects the importance we attach to patience.

affect：影響

e.g.： Alcohol affects a driver's concentration.酒能分散司機的注意力。

e.g.： TV violence has a very bad effect on children 電視節目中的暴力行為對孩子會產生不良影響。

attach： 認為——重要

e.g.： We attach great importance to the training of basic language skills.　我們認為語言基本功的訓練十分重要。

e.g.：　The Chinese government attaches much significance to the country's entry into the WTO.

中國政府認為中國加入世貿組織意義深遠。

19. In the American system of values， patience is not a high priority.

top/high/low priority：重要/次要問題

e.g.： Women's issues are often seen as a low priority.婦女問題往往被看成是次要問題。

e.g.： Population problem is seen as a high priority.人口問題被看成是一個重要問題。

20.We begin to move restlessly about if we feel time isslipping awaywithout some return