文化交流的力量

-精选财经经济类资料- -最新财经经济资料-感谢阅读- 1 文化交流的力量 I lived in the Round Square1 House during its first year as a Chinese and the only international student whose first language is not English. Since one of the six ideals of the house is internationalism， I felt a deep sense of responsibility to represent the hearts and minds of one billion Chinese people and five thousand years of Chinese history. 中国论文网 /9/view-12941908.htm One night during tea we somehow started a conversation about favorite childhood TV shows. Just as it was always the case in conversations like this， I sat quietly in the corner of the room and -精选财经经济类资料- -最新财经经济资料-感谢阅读- 2 listened， trying hard to understand whats going on but did not have a clue. Perhaps because I was quieter than usual that night， Gemma noticed my awkward silence， and made the group to pay its attention. “Let s hear what Charlotte wants to say. It looks like she has something to share.” “Well， ” I said， “I think it is kind of difficult for me to be part of the conversation because I watched Chinese animation2 and TV shows when I was little. It is not because that I dont want to speakit is just that Chinese culture is very different from American culture.” The group went silent for a while. “Well， that makes sense.” A girl finally broke the silence， “But you should not lock yourself up. If you want us -精选财经经济类资料- -最新财经经济资料-感谢阅读- 3 to learn and understand your culture， you should speak up more and share it with us.” She was right. I was too quiet and shy to be a helpful messenger3 of my culture. However， even though I agreed with her suggestion， I also wanted to reject it simultaneously4. It was really a strange frustration and bafflement5 that I could neither understand nor explain at that time. What exactly is my culture？ I asked myself. The first answer that came to my mind was a picture of the Great Wall. Then I thought about the Tiananmen Squarethe Chinese equivalent of the National Mall6and the Chinese National Flag. All of these are symbols that visually represent Chinese culture， but heres the thing： They are relevant to me， but they are not so to someone who is -精选财经经济类资料- -最新财经经济资料-感谢阅读- 4 unfamiliar with China. In order to engage my audience， I need something more tangible and interesting， something that could create empathy regardless of cultural differences.7 That object， as I came to realize much later， is， in fact， my life. Answering the same question， “What exactly is my culture？” through the lens8 of my life， I came up with some better answers. My culture can mean sitting by a round table and sharing 15 dishes with family members. It can be the voice of the anchor of the national evening news broadcast or my Red Tie that I proudly wore as a member of the Young Pioneers.9 It can be the mixed smell of cigarette， sweat， green onions and cup noodles in a crowded train station before and after Chinese New Year when millions of people hopped on trains to head back homes. It can be a beautiful poem written -精选财经经济类资料- -最新财经经济资料-感谢阅读- 5 in ancient Chinese from 2，000 years ago that I recite again and again even to this day. 1. Round Square： 方圆组 织，成立于 1966 年，是一个世界性的 顶尖学校联盟，成员学校间共享教育教 学资源，开展深度的校级师生互访，为 更多拥有共同志向的孩子提供走出国门、 走向世界的机会。 2. animation ： 动画片。 3. messenger： 信使，通信员。 4. simultaneously： 同时地。 5. bafflement： 困惑，不解，下 文出现的 baffle 为其动词原形。 6. National Mall： 华盛顿国家广 场，一个开放型国家公园，从林肯纪念 堂延伸到国会大厦，是美国国家庆典和 仪式的首选场地。 7. engage： 吸引住（注意力、 兴趣等） ；tangible ： 摸得着的，有形的； empathy： 同感，共鸣。 8. lens： R 头。 9. anchor： （电视、广播节目） -精选财经经济类资料- -最新财经经济资料-感谢阅读- 6 主持人；Young Pioneers ： 少年先锋队， 其成员佩戴红领巾。 10. biased： 有偏见的，片面的。 11. 然而我认为，思考中国和其 文化中有趣但细微的部分会更有意义。 虽然我的故事只占了十三亿分之一，但 和其他中国人的经历一样，它经过塑造、 成型、打磨的过程，因为我们说着同样 的语言，有着共同的历史，生活在同样 体制之下，接受着同样的教育，也继承 着同样的传统。subtle： 不易察觉的， 微妙的；polish： 修饰，润色。 12. condense： 压缩，精简。 13. authentic： 真正的，真实的； credible：可信的。 14. revealing： 有启迪作用的， 发人深省的；thought-provoking： 引人 深思的，provoke 意为“引起，激起”。 15. the/a spectrum of： 广泛的， 一系列的，spectrum 意为 “范围，各层 次”；comprise： 构成，组成； -精选财经经济类资料- -最新财经经济资料-感谢阅读- 7 legitimize： 使合法，证明有理。 16. 现下盛行的愤世嫉俗和悲观 主义似乎印证了塞缪尔亨廷顿的理论， 即冷战后引发各地冲突的根本原因不再 是意识形态的不同，而是各种文化间的 差异。prevailing： 普遍的，盛行的； cynicism： 愤世妒俗；pessimism： 悲 观主义，悲观情绪；Samue