In the United States, it is important to be on time, or punctual, (1) _____ an appointment, a class, a meeting, etc. However, this may not be true in all countries. An American professor discovered this difference while teaching a class in a Brazilian university. The two-hour class was (2) _____ to begin at 10 a.m. and end at 12. On the first day, when the professor arrived (3) _____ , no one was in the classroom. Many students came after 10 a.m. Several arrived after 10:30 a.m. Two students came after 11 a.m. Although all the students greeted the professor as they arrived, (4) _____ apologized for their lateness. Were these students being rude? He decided to study the students' behaviour.
The professor talked to American and Brazilian students about lateness in (5) _____ an informal and a formal situation: at a lunch with a friend and in university calls, (6) _____ . He gave them an example and asked them (7) _____ they would react. If they had a lunch appointment with a friend, the (8) _____ American student showed clearly lateness as 19 minutes after the agreed time. On the other hand, the average Brazilian student would be 33 minutes late.
In an American university, students are expected to arrive at the appointed hour. (9) _____ , in Brazil, neither the teacher nor the students always arrive at the appointed hour. Classes not only begin at the scheduled time in the United States, but also end at the scheduled time. In the Brazilian class, only a few students left the class at 12:00; many remained past 12:30 to discuss the class and ask more questions. Arriving late may not be very important in Brazil, (10) _____ is staying late.