资源描述:
《Unit 7 Culture新编大学英语第二版第二册课文翻译.doc》由会员上传分享,免费在线阅读,更多相关内容在行业资料-天天文库。
1、Unit 7 CultureBridgingCulturalGapsGracefully[1]Whyisitthatwhenyoustudyaforeignlanguage,youneverlearnthelittlephrasesthatletyouslipintoaculturewithoutallyourforeignnessexposed?EveryChinese-languagetextbookstartsoutwiththestandardphraseforgreetingpeople;butasanA
2、merican,Iconstantlyfoundmyselftongue-tiedwhenitcametoseeingguestsoffatthedoor.Anabruptgoodbyewouldnotdo,yetthatwasallIhadeverlearnedfromthesebooks.SoIwouldsmileandnod,bowinglikeaJapaneseandtryingtofindwordsthatwouldsmoothoverthevisitors'leavingandmakethemfeelt
3、heywouldbewelcometocomeagain.Inmyfluster,IoftenhidbehindmyChinesehusband'sgraciousness.[2]Thenfinally,listeningtoothers,Ibegantopickupthephrasesthateasedrelationsandsentpeopleoffwithafeelingofmissionnotonlyaccomplishedbutsurpassed.[3]PartingsfortheChineseinvol
4、veacertainamountofritualandagreatdealofone-upmanship.AlthoughI'mnotexpectedtoobserveorevenknowalltherules,asaforeigner,I'vehadtolearntheexpressionsofpolitenessandprotestthataccompanyaleave-taking.[4]TheChinesefeeltheymustseeaguestofftothefarthestfeasiblepoint—
5、downaflightofstairstothestreetbeloworperhapsallthewaytothenearestbusstop.I'vesometimeswaitedhalfanhourormoreformyhusbandtoreturnfromseeingaguestoff,sincehe'sgonetothebusstopandwaitedforthenextbustoarrive.[5]Foralessimportantorperhapsayoungerguest,hemaysimplysa
6、y,“Iwon'tseeyouoff,allright?”Andofcoursetheguestassureshimthathewouldneverthinkofputtinghimtothetroubleofseeinghimoff.“Don'tseemeoff!Don'tseemeoff!”[6]That'sallverywell,butwhenI'mtheguestbeingseenoff,myprotestsarealwaysuseless,andmyhostessorhost,orboth,insists
7、onseeingmedownthestairsandwellonmyway,withourgoingthroughthe“Don'tbothertoseemeoff”ritualateverylanding.IfItrytogofasttodiscouragethemfromfollowing,theyaresimplyputtothediscomfortofhavingtofleeafterme.Bettertoaccepttheinevitable.[7]Besides,that'sgoingagainstCh
8、inesecustom,becausehasteistobeavoided.Whatdoyousaywhenyoupartfromsomeone?“Goslowly.”NotfarewellorGodspeed,but“Goslowly.”TotheChineseitmeans“Takecare”or“Watchyourstep”orsomeothersuc