Unit Four Great World Cultures
Passage 2 Clues to World Cultures
Background introduction: cross-culture communication
In today’s multicultural society effective communication is now more than important.
At work we find ourselves working with increasingly multicultural teams so it is paramount we have an understanding of the cultural differences that exist among our coworkers. For instance, it is often assumed by mother tongue speakers that those non native speakers, who speak their language well, should also have a high understanding of their culture. Being a ‘fluent fool’ (speaking the language but knowing little about the culture)is often a cause for misunderstandings within multicultural teams. Learning how to use cross-cultural communication skills will greatly improve our success when doing international business and working with multicultural teams.
Just as Suzy Kassem once said, “To become a true global citizen, one must abandon all notions of ‘otherness’ and instead embrace ‘togetherness’.”
Para. 1 and Para.2
Q: What does story A tell about?
An Irish woman stepped into a local pharmacy in a Latin American city for medicines. However, the pharmacist didn’t pay attention to her when she came into the store. That was because the Irish woman didn’t greet him or ask for attention. She just stood there quietly.
1.Irish: an island in northern Atlantic Ocean.
2.Latin American city: a city in Latin America, west of Atlantic Ocean. As the two places are so distant from each other, people customs must be different in a lot of ways. Then, it is not so strange that the Irish woman meets this problem.
3.waiting on: serve 服侍, 招待
4.turned his attention to: pay attention to.
5.annoyed: 讨厌的，烦恼的
6.insulted: offended. 侮辱的
Para. 3 - Para.6
Q1: Why did the host family serve the evening meal so late?
Because they were waiting for the guest to say he was hungry.
Q2: Why did the American guest eat more food than he wanted?
Because his host kept putting food on his plate. And he didn’t want to leave food or seem impolite, so he ate it all.
1.wives: The word wife here is in plural form suggesting the male host has more than one wife. As the man is a Middle-Eastern businessman, it is quite easy to explain. The dominant religion in today’s Middle East is Islam, in which Allah Almighty first allowed polygamy to protect the orphans. Prophet Mohammad practiced polygamy in his life.
2.burst: to explode.爆炸
3.I can’t eat another bite! I’m already full. I’ve had enough, so I cannot manage more. 一口都吃不了了。
4.amazed: surprised吃惊的, 惊奇的
Para. 7 - Para.8
1.semesters: academic terms 学期
2.hitchhike: to get a free ride or life沿途免费搭他人的便车旅行.
3.they put their thumbs out or pointed them backwards and smiled; friendly drivers stopped. This is a typical western gesture to signal drivers to stop so that the traveler can take a free ride in his car. Whenever they want to get a ride, they put their thumbs up to the drivers. So there is a phrase in English for this “to thumb a ride”.
4.motion: to make a gesture 做手势
5.mean looks: 鄙夷的表情
Q: Why weren’t the students so lucky in Greece and Turkey?
The “hitchhiking” thumb gesture has an insulting meaning in those cultures. Drivers thought these young people were being rude and disrespectful. So the drivers ignored them even had a fight.
