新编跨文化交际英语教程-参考答案Unit-3

Unit3

CulturalDiversity

ReadingI

DifferentLands,DifferentFriendships

Comprehensionquestions

1.WhyisitcomparativelyeasytomakefriendsintheUnitedStates?

BecausefewAmericansstayputforalifetime.Witheachmove,formingnewfriendshipbecomesanecessityandpartoftheirnewlife.

2.Dopeoplefromdifferentcountriesusuallyhavedifferentexpectationsaboutwhatconstitutesfriendshipandhowitcomesintobeing?

Yes.Thedifficultywhenstrangersfromtwocountriesmeetistheirdifferentexpectationsaboutwhatconstitutesfriendshipandhowitcomesintobeing.

3.HowisfriendshipinAmericadifferentfromfriendshipinWestEurope?

InWestEurope,friendshipisquitesharplydistinguishedfromother,morecasualrelationships,isusuallymoreparticularizedandcarriesaheavierburdenofcommitment,whileinAmericatheword“friend”canbeappliedtoawiderangeofrelationshipandafriendshipmaybesuperficial,casual,situationalordeepandenduring.

4.Inwhatcountrydoesfriendshiphavemuchtodowithone’sfamily?Andinwhatcountrydoesitnot?

InGermany,friendshiphasmuchtodowithone‘sfamilyasfriendsareusuallybroughtintothefamily,whileinFranceitdoesn’tas,forinstance,twomenmayhavebeenfriendsforalongtimewithoutknowingeachother‘spersonallife.

5.Whatisfriendshiplikewhenitiscompartmentalized?

Forinstance,amanmayplaychesswithafriendforthirtyyearswithoutknowinghispoliticalopinions,orhemaytalkpoliticswithhimforaslongatimewithoutknowingabouthispersonallife.Differentfriendsfilldifferentnichesineachperson’slife.

6.WhatarefriendshipsusuallybasedoninEngland?

Englishfriendshipsarebasedonsharedactivity.Activitiesatdifferentstagesoflifemaybeofverydifferentkinds.Inthemidstoftheactivity,whateveritmaybe,peoplefallintostepsandfindthattheyparticipateintheactivitywiththesameeasyanticipationofwhateachwilldodaybydayorinsomecriticalsituation.

7.Doyouthinkfriendshipsharessomecommonelementsindifferentcultures?Ifyoudo,whatarethey?

Yes.Thereistherecognitionthatfriendship,incontrastwithkinship,invokesfreedomofchoice.Afriendissomeonewhochoosesandischosen.Relatedtothisisthesenseeachfriendgivestheotherofbeingaspecialindividual,onwhatevergroundsthisrecognitionisbased.Andbetweenfriendsthereisinevitablyakindofequalityofgive-and-take.

8.WhatdoyouthinkisthetypicalChineseconceptoffriendship?IsitsimilartoordifferentfromanyoftheWesternfriendships?

ItseemsthatthetypicalChineseconceptoffriendshiplaysgreatemphasisonpersonalloyaltyandalsohasmuchtodowithfamily.ItmaybesimilartoGermanyfriendshiptosomeextentandquitedifferentfromotherWesternfriendships.

ReadingII

ComparingandContrastingCultures

Comprehensionquestions

1.HowisthemainstreamAmericanculturedifferentfromtheJapaneseculture?

Americansbelievethathumannatureisbasicallygoodandmanisthemasterofnature.Theyarefuture-orientedand“being”-oriented.Theirsocialorientationistowardtheimportanceoftheindividualandtheequalityofallpeople.However,theJapanesebelievethathumannatureisamixtureofgoodandevil.Manisinharmonywithnature.Theyarebothpast-orientedandfuture-oriented.Andtheyareboth“growing-”and“doing-”oriented.Theygiveemphasistoauthoritiesandthegroup.

2.Canyoufindexamplestosupporttheauthor’sviewoftraditionalculturesindifferentvalueorientations?

Forexample,thetraditionalIndianculturebelievesthatmanissubjugatedbynatureanditisbeing-oriented(whichcanbeexemplifiedbyitscastesystem).Also,traditionalChinesecultureispast-oriented,foremphasishaslongbeengiventolearningfromtheoldandpast.

3.WhydoAmericanstendtoequate“change”with“improvement”andregardrapidchangeasnormal?

Concerningorientationtowardtime,Americansaredominatedbyabeliefinprogress.Theyarefuture-oriented.Theybelievethat“timeismoney”andhaveanoptimisticfaithinthefutureandwhatthefuturewillbring.Sotheytendtoequate“change”with“improvement”andconsiderarapidrateofchangeasnormal.

4.Whatdoes“ElectricEnglishman”meanwhenitisusedtodescribetheAmerican?

Asforactivity,Americansaresoaction-orientedthattheytendtobehyperactive.That’swhythattheyhavebeendescribedas“ElectricEnglishmen”,whoalwayskeepthemselvesbusy.

5.Howwouldyouexplainthefactthatcontradictoryvaluesmayexistinthesameculture?

Astimechangesfasterandfasterandthereismorecontactbetweencultures,itismorelikelytofindcontradictoryvaluesexistinginthesameculture.Thisisespeciallythecaseinasocietythatisbeingtransformedfromatraditionaloneintoamodernone.Forexample,intheJapaneseculture,somepeoplemaystillbeverypast-orientedandsomeareratherfuture-oriented,andeventhesamepeoplemaybesometimespast-orientedincertainsituationsandsometimefuture-orientedinothersituations.

6.Whatcanwegetfrommodelsofthiskindaboutculturaldifferences?

Modelsofthiskindarequiteusefulingivingroughpicturesofstrikingcontrastsanddifferencesofdifferentcultures.However,suchamodelonlycomparesculturesonsomebasicorientations.Itdoesnottelluseverythingabouteveryconceivableculture.Wehavetorecognizethatmodelsofthiskindareover-simplificationsandcanonlygiveapproximationsofreality.

whichthemanger(s)willtakegoodcareoftheemployeesandtheemployeesareexpectedtodevotethemselvestothedevelopmentofthecompanyand,ifitisnecessary,tosacrificetheirownindividualinterestsfortheinterestsofthecompany,fromwhich,inthelongrun,theemployeeswillbenefitgreatly.ButfortheFrench,acompanyisjustaloosely-knitsocialorganizationwhereinindividualsaresupposedtotakecareofthemselvesandtheirfamilies.Moreover,thewaytheFrenchmakedecisionsinthefamilymightalsobedifferentfromthetypicalJapaneseone,whichmaynotofteninvolvefemalesandthepowertodecideusuallylieswiththedominatingmale.AstherearesuchculturaldifferencesbetweentheJapaneseandtheFrench,Mr.Legrand’sdecisionmadeMr.Tanakafeeldumbfounded.

Case11

Incidentssuchasthesecanpointtopossibleculturaldifferencesinso-called“polite”behavior,andatthesametimehighlightthetendencyforpeopletoreactemotionallytounexpectedbehavior.

Peopleinmostcultureswouldprobablyagreethatanapologyisneededwhenanoffenceorviolationofsocialnormshastakenplace.However,theremaybedifferingopinionsastowhenweshouldapologize(whatsituationscallforanapology)andhowweshouldapologize.TomanyWesterners,JapaneseapologizemorefrequentlyandanapologyinJapanesedoesnotnecessarilymeanthatthepersonisacknowledgingafault.TomanyJapanese,WesternersmayseemtoberudejustbecausetheydonotapologizeasoftenastheJapanesewoulddo.Inthiscase,forinstance,theattitudeoftheAustralianstudent’sparentsisshockingtotheJapanesebutwillbeacceptableinanEnglish-speakingsociety,forthestudentisalreadyanadultandcanberesponsibleforherowndeeds.

Case12

Inthiscase,itseemsthattheChinese