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1、Unit5SpeakingChineseinAmerica在美国说中文Once,atadinnerontheMontereyPeninsula,California,mymotherwhisperedtomeconfidentially:"Sau-sau(brother'swife)pretendstoohardtobeapoliterecipient!Whybotherwithsuchnominalcourtesy?Intheend,shealwaystakeseverything."有一次,在加州蒙特雷半岛上用餐
2、时,我母亲私下悄悄地对我说:“嫂嫂想做个彬彬有礼的客人,但是装得太厉害了!何必费劲讲究形式上的客套呢?到最后她还是什么都要。”Mymotheractedlikeawaixiao,anemigrant,nolongerpatientwitholdtaboosandcourtesies.Toproveherpoint,shereachedacrossthetabletooffermyelderlyauntfromBeijingthelastscallopfromthegarlicseafooddish,alongwith
3、theflanksteakandthecucumbersalad.我母亲行事像个“外侨”,即一个移民国外的侨民,因为她已经不耐烦老一套的禁忌和礼数了。为了证明她刚才的观点,她手伸过桌子,把蒜香海鲜拼盘里的最后一个扇贝,连同牛腩排及黄瓜沙拉一起,递给我从北京来的年长舅妈。Sau-saufrowned."B'yao,zhenb'yao!"shecried,pattinghersubstantialstomach.Idon'twantit,reallyIdon't.嫂嫂皱起了眉头,“不要,真不要!”她一边大声说一边拍着自己
4、已经吃得很饱的肚子。我不要了,真的不要了。"Takeit!Takeit!"mymotherscoldedinChinese,aspredictablyasthelunarcycles.“拿去吧!拿去吧!”我母亲用中文责备道。预料到她就会这样,就像月亮盈亏周期似的。"Full,I'malreadyfull,"Sau-saumutteredweakly,eyingthescallop.“饱了,我已经饱了,”嫂嫂低声嘀咕着,眼睛却瞟着扇贝。"Ai!"exclaimedmymother."Nobodywantsit.Itwi
5、llonlyrot!"“哎!”我母亲感叹着说,“没人愿意吃,只能让它坏掉了!”Sau-sausighed,actingasifsheweredoingmymotherafavorbytakingthescrapoffthetrayandsparingusthetroubleofwrappingtheleftoversinfoil.嫂嫂叹了口气,从碟子上拿去了那个扇贝,就好像是帮了我母亲一个大忙,并省去了我们用箔纸将剩菜打包的麻烦似的。Mymotherturnedtoherbrother,anexperiencedCh
6、inesemagistrate,visitingusforthefirsttime."InAmerica,aChinesepersoncouldstarvetodeath.Ifyoudon'tbreachtheoldrulesofetiquetteandsayyouwantit,theywon'taskyouagain."我母亲转头看着她兄长——一位经验丰富的中国地方法官,这是他初次来看我们。她说:“在美国,一个中国人可能会饿死。要是你不打破老一套的礼数说你要吃,他们就不会再问你了。”Myunclenoddedand
7、saidheunderstoodfully:Americanstakethingsquicklybecausetheyhavenotimetobepolite.我舅舅点点头,说他完全理解:美国人待人接物快速迅捷,因为他们没有时间客气来客气去。IreadanarticleinTheNewYorkTimesMagazineonchangesinNewYork'slittleculturalcolonyofChinatown,wheretheauthormentionedthattheinterwovenconfigura
8、tionofChineselanguageandculturerendersitsspeechindirectandpolite.Chinesepeopleareso"discreetandmodest",thearticlestarted,thattherearen'tevenwordsfor"yes"and"no".我在《纽约时报杂志》上读