Whatistime?Isitathingtobesavedorspentorwastedlikemoney?Orisitsomethingwehavenocontroloverliketheweather?Istimethesameallovertheworld?

That'saneasyquestionyousay.Whereveryougoaminuteis60secondsanhouris60minutesadayis24hoursandsoforth.ButinAmericatimeismorethanthat.Americansseetimeasavaluableresource.Maybethat'swhytheyarefondoftheexpression"Timeismoney."

BecauseAmericansbelievetimeisalimitedresourcetheytrytoconserveandmanageit.PeopleintheU.S.oftenattendseminarsorreadbooksontimemanagement.Itseemstheyallwanttoorganizetheirtimebetter.Professionalscarryaroundpocketplanners--someinelectronicform--tokeeptrackofappointmentsanddeadlines.Peopledoalltheycantosqueezemoretimeoutoftheirtime.TheearlyAmericanheroBenjaminFranklinexpressedthisviewbest:"Doyoulovelife?Thendonotwastetimeforthatisthestufflifeismadeof."

ToAmericanspunctualityisawayofshowingrespectforotherpeople'stime.Beingmorethan10minuteslatetoanappointmentusuallycallsforanapologyandanexplanation.Peoplewhoarerunninglateoftencallaheadtoletothersknowofthedelay.Ofcoursethelessformalthesituationisthelessimportantitistobeexactlyontime.Atinformalget-togethersforexamplepeopleoftenarriveasmuchas30minutespasttheappointedtime.

TooutsidersAmericansseemtiedtotheclock.Peopleinotherculturesvaluerelationshipsmorethanschedules.Inthesesocietiespeopledon'ttrytocontroltimebuttoexperienceit.EvenAmericanswouldadmitthatnoonecanmastertime.Time--likemoney--slipsalltooeasilythroughourfingers.Andtime--liketheweather--isveryhardtopredict.Neverthelesstimeisoneoflife'smostpreciousgifts.Andunwrappingitishalfthefun.

What’sthemaintopicofthispassage?

A.Whatistime?

B.Howtocontroltime?

C.Makegooduseoftime.

D.TimeamongAmericans.

What’sthemeaningoftheunderlinedword“conserve”?

A.protect B.develop C.produce D.assist

Thesentence“Americansseemtiedtotheclock”probablymeans