浙江工业大学英美文化课后问题1-8

Q1.Whywouldn’taprovenAmericansalespersonbesenttoGreatBritainandbeexpectedtosellthereaccordingtotheauthor?Whatmightbethetroublesherunsintoasyouimagine?Answer:BecauseaprovenAmericansalespersonisamonoculturalsalespeopleandmaybewithoutbeingawareofit.Noonelikesforeignerswhoarearrogantabouttheirownculture.SoitishardtohimtosellthingsinGreatBritain.HemightbemisunderstoodbyBritisherbecauseofthedifferenceofvocabularybetweenBritainandAmerica.What,smore,thedifferentaccentandthedifferentlifestylemightbethetroublesherunsinto.Q2.Howshallweinterpret“Britishareformal”inculturallearning?Answer:Astereotypelike“Britishareformal”onlyrepresentsashallowlevelofunderstanding.ThisisonlythefirststeptowardunderstandinghowBritishpeopleviewformality,anditneedstobefollowedbymanyothersteps.Q3.IllustrateChinaasagroup-orientedsociety.Answer:InChinacooperationisstronglyemphasized,therearemanyphraseemphasizetheimportanceofcooperation,suchas“团结就是力量”、“众人拾柴火焰高”.Chinesealwayshelpeachotherbecauseit'sunthinkabletorefusehelptoafriendinneed.AndChinesealwaystendtohavefunorchatordoshoppingtogether.What'smore,Chinesethinkindividualsacrificeshisorherneedstothoseofthegroup.Q4.TalkabouttheculturalreasonsinChinesestudents’cheating.Answer:Chineseisagroup-orientedsociety,whichmeansthatcooperationisstronglyemphasized.It'sunthinkabletorefusehelptoafriendinneed.Whenafriendaskyouforgivinghimtheanswerwhichisyou'vealreadyhad.Youwillfeeluncomfortableandevenfellguiltyifyoudon'tgivehimtheanswer.Q5.Whatarelow-contextcommunicationandhigh-contextcommunications?TrytouseexamplestoillustratecommunicationbetweenAmericanstendtobelowcontextwhilecommunicationbetweenChinesetendtobehigh-context.Answer:Low-contextcommunication:peopleareexpectedtopaymoreattentiontothewordsusedincommunicationthantothecontextinwhichthingsaresaid.High-contextcommunication:peopleareexpectedtopaymuchattentiontothecontextinwhichcommunicationtakeplace.Americansusuallytellothersthattheyaretireddirectlywhentheyaretired,butChinesestillsaytheyarenottiredandevenenergetictootherswhentheyarereallytired.Q6.Whatareambiguousandunambiguousinvitations?Whatshouldbetheappropriateresponsestothem?Answer:Ambiguousinvitation:Averbalinvitationisintheuseofindefiniteadverbslike“soon”,“sometime”,andmodalverbslike“should”,“must”,whichcarrynoprecisetimereferenceorentailnopersonalcommitment.Unambiguousinvitation:includetimeandplacereferencesandrequirestheinvitee'simmediateresponse.Theresponsetounambiguousinvitationshouldbeimmediate,andmustfirstexpresshisorhergratitudefortheinvitationandthenexplainwhycan'tcome,andmustgiveacredibleexcusetoavoidsoundingimpolite.Theresponsetoambiguousinvitationcanbecausal.Q7.Canyoulistatleast4aspectsofnonverbalcommunication?Andtrytoillustrateculturaldifferenceintheinterpretationofdirecteyecontact.Answer:Facialexpressions,gestures,eyecontact,posture,andeventhetoneofvoice.IntheAmericanculture,directeyecontactdoesn'tmeanmuch,itissimplyawayofacknowledginganotherperson'spresence.Andtheynevertrustapersonwhodoesn'tlookthemintheeyes.Inmanyotherpartsoftheworld（especiallyinAsiancountries）,directeyecontactisusuallyrudeandimpolite.Q8.Whatarethe4zonesofdistanceinsocialspace?Howrelationshipisrevealedfromthedistancebetweenpeople?Answer:Thefourzonesofdistanceinsocialspace:intimate,personal,socialandpublic.①Intimatedistance:peopleweconsidertobetheclosesttous.②Personaldistance:workassociates,casualacquaintancesorfriendswearenotascloseto.③Socialdistance:strangersornewacquaintances.④Publicdistance:tolargeaudiences.