Travel Manners
Every culture has its own unwritten list of behavior that is acceptable. Every society also has its taboos, or types of behavior that are considered a violation (违反) of good manners.
The word taboo comes from the Tongan language and is used in modern English to describe verbal and nonverbal behavior that is forbidden or to be avoided.
Verbal taboos usually involve topics that people believe are too private to talk about publicly, or relate to one’s manner of speaking. In many cultures, for example, it is considered bad manners to discuss subjects such as sex or religion in public. In some countries, the volume of one’s voice may annoy people.
Certain gestures made with the hands can have very different meanings depending on the country you are in. Crossing your middle finger over your forefinger is the sign for good luck in many western countries.
Behavior that is acceptable and non-offensive in one culture can be highly offensive in another. When visiting a foreign country, be aware of some of the basic differences, as this will help to ensure a more enjoyable trip.
| A．Nonverbal taboos usually relate to body language. |
| B．In Vietnam and Argentina, however, it is a rude gesture. |
| C．In spite of what some people may think, taboos are not universal. |
| D．Cancer is a taboo subject and people are frightened to talk openly about it. |
| E．Learn a country’s customs so that you don’t hurt the local people unconsciously. |
| F．They might think that someone who is speaking or laughing loudly is rude or aggressive. |
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Spoken in Mexico for centuries, Ayapaneco is one of 68 surviving languages in the mainly Spanish-speaking nation. The two speakers are Manuel Segovia and Isidro Velazquez. Though they live only 500 meters from each other in the village, the two men seldom talk to each other. Daniel, an American expert, who is working to make a dictionary of Ayapaneco, says the two men “don’t have a lot in common,” and that Segovia can be “active” while Velasquez tends to mind his own business and stay at home.
While Segovia still speaks to his wife and son in Ayapaneco, neither of them can manage more than a few words. Velasquez hardly speaks his native tongue any more. Daniel is working to preserve the language in dictionary form before its last surviving speakers pass away. According to Daniel, Ayapaneco and the other languages began dying out with the introduction of public Spanish education in the mid-20th century. For decades, local children weren’t allowed to speak anything else. Many people to cities, starting in the 1970s, also helped the dying out of native languages.
Ayapaneco is the name given to the language; Segovia and Velazquez call it “Nuumte Oote”, which means “true voice”. Neither man, however, speaks the same language. The dictionary will contain two versions(版本) of the language when it comes out later this year. Those behind the dictionary aren’t the only ones trying to save Ayapaneco. The National Language Institute plans to hold classes so that Segovia and Velasquez can pass on what they know to children.
It is thought that there are about 6,000 languages spoken on earth and that about half will disappear over the next 100 years. Let’s hope the “true voice” isn’t one of them.
1. Segovia and Velasquez seldom talk to each other in Ayapaneco because they___________________.
| A．both dislike the language |
| B．don’t get along well with each other |
| C．are too busy to talk to each other |
| D．don’t share the same interests |
a. No teacher liked to teach it. b. Local children had to speak Spanish.
c. many villagers went to live in cities. d. The surviving speakers didn’t like to use it.
| A．a, b | B．a, c | C．b, d | D．b, c |
| A．Write a dictionary of Ayapaneco. |
| B．Let Ayapaneco be taught at school. |
| C．Introduce a public Ayapaneco education. |
| D．Ask villagers to speak Ayapaneco. |
| A．agrees that it is natural that Ayapaneco should die out |
| B．thinks Daniel’s effort to preserve Ayapaneco won’t work |
| C．thinks highly of Ayapaneco and wants people to learn it |
| D．hopes that Ayapaneco will not die out in the future |
In an effort to prevent language loss, scholars from a number of organizations -----UNESCO and National Geographic among them—have for many years been documenting dying languages and the cultures they reflect.
Mark Turin, a scientist at the Macmillan Centre Yale University, who specializes in the languages and oral traditions of the Himalayas, is following in
Documenting the Thangmi language and culture is just a starting point for Turin, who seeks to include other languages and oral traditions across the Himalayan reaches of India , Nepal, Bhutan, and China . But he is not content to simply record these voices before they disappear without record.
At the University of Cambridge Turin discovered a wealth of important materials-including photographs, films, tape recordings, and field notes—which had remained unstudied and were badly in need of care and protection.
Now, through the two organizations that he has founded -----the Digital Himalaya Project and the World Oral Literature Project -----Turin has started a campaign to make such documents, for the world available not just to scholars but to the younger generations of communities from whom the materials were originally collected. Thanks to digital technology and the widely available Internet, Turin notes, the endangered languages can be saved and reconnected with speech communities.
1. Many scholars are making efforts to ______.
| A．rescue disappearing languages |
| B．promote global languages |
| C．search for language communities |
| D．set up language research organizations. |
| A．Telling stories about language users |
| B．Writing books on language teaching. |
| C．Having full records of the languages |
| D．Living with the native speaker. |
| A．The cultural studies |
| B．His personal experience in Nepal. |
| C．His language research in Bhutan. |
| D．The documents available at Yale. |
| A．Write, sell and donate. |
| B．Collect, protect and reconnect. |
| C．Record, repair and reward. |
| D．Design, experiment and report. |
【推荐3】“Shuan Q” is a meme (网络流行语) which can be used as a popular way to say “I’m speechless” with a matching emoji (表情包) at ached behind. No one can deny the power of the Internet. Some believe it makes language weaker but some see a brighter side, believing it makes online communication easier between strangers.
An elementary school teacher in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, says that the evolution of Internet slang is not all fun and carefree. From his daily observations, he believes the “geographic boundary” between Internet slang and formal language is disappearing. On many occasions, the composition she has received from pupil have been flooded with abbreviated slangs (网络梗).
During last year’s Two Sessions, several representatives put forward proposals such as “regulating online language” and “banning vulgar (粗俗) words”, specifically to address this issue, expressing the need to reduce online language misuse and strengthen the protection of Chinese.
However, many experts and scholars of linguistics and communication including Feng Zhiwei disagree. Feng, believes that Internet language is a natural product of the dynamic development of language, and it is not necessary to ban it.
1. What can we learn about internet slangs from paragraph 2 and 3?| A．They are formal. | B．They are funny and carefree. |
| C．They are flooded among pupils. | D．They were supported by all people. |
| A．They are natural. | B．They are misused. |
| C．They should be banned. | D．They are disappearing. |
| A．Doubtful | B．Objective | C．Indifferent | D．Favorable |
The answer Americans give, of course is, “Fine.” But when Russians hear this they think one of two things: you are experiencing a rare moment of fineness or you are lying.
Ask a Russian, “How are you?” and you will hear, for better or worse, the truth. I have experienced many painful minutes of silence after my grandmother made her stock response: “Terrible,” to which she might add, “Why? Because being old is terrible and I am very old.”
“‘Fine’ makes Russians think that Americans have no soul,” I explained recently to an American-born friend. “That they just want to go home, eat a frozen dinner in front of the TV, and wait out the hours before going to work to make money again.” He laughed, “You know, there’s something to that.”
The thing most Russians don’t realize is that, in English, “How are you?” isn’t a question at all, but a form of “hi”, like the Russian “privyet!”
Psychologists at the University of Michigan have shown that, while Russians are, indeed, easier to be depressed than Americans, their open acceptance of bad experiences might be healthier.
Recently, when I looked through a few American guides on traveling to Russia, I was disappointed to find that they all suggested that tourists adopt the American approach to “How are you”.
1. When you ask a Russian “how are you” the Russian will ________.
| A．answer “fine” | B．tell you the truth |
| C．make no answer | D．get angry and walk away |
| A．he is not honest | B．he will go home |
| C．he likes watching TV | D．he is living a bad life |
| A．happy | B．angry |
| C．puzzled | D．touched |
【推荐2】It’s really true what people say about English politeness: it’s everywhere. When passing through a crowd in a narrow place, people say “sorry”. When getting off a bus, English passengers say “thank you” to the driver. In Germany, people would never dream of doing these things. After all, squeezing past others is sometimes unavoidable, and the bus driver is only doing his job. I used to think the same way, without questioning it, until I started traveling to the British Isles and came to appreciate some more polite ways of communicating with people, and here are some more polite ways of interacting with people in UK.
People thank each other everywhere in England, all the time. When people buy something in a shop, customer and shop assistant in most cases thank each other twice or more. In Germany, it would be surprising to hear more than one thank-you in such a conversation. British students thank their lecturers when leaving the room. English employers thank their employees for doing their jobs, which is different from Germans, who would normally think that paying their workers money is already enough.
Another thing I observed during my stay was that English people rarely criticize (批评) others. Even when I was working and mistakes were pointed out to me, my employers repeated several times but none of their explanations were intended as scolding me. It has been my impression that by avoiding scolding, English people are making an effort to make others feel comfortable. This also is showed in other ways. British men still open doors for women, and British men are more likely to treat women to a meal than German men. However, I do need to point out here that this applies to English men a bit more than it would to Scottish men!
1. What is the author’s feeling of English politeness?| A．He thinks highly of it. | B．He thinks little of it. |
| C．He thinks it unnecessary. | D．He thinks it goes too far. |
| A．To catch readers’ attention. | B．To stress English politeness. |
| C．To describe German culture. | D．To give tips on how to be polite. |
| A．Rude. | B．Direct. | C．Acceptable. | D．Creative. |
| A．Telling stories. | B．Giving reasons. |
| C．Referring to theories. | D．Making comparisons. |
【推荐3】The meaning of silence varies among cultural groups. Silences may be thoughtful or they may be empty when a person has nothing to say. A silence in a conversation may also show uneasiness or worry. Silence may be viewed by some cultural groups as uncomfortable. Therefore, they attempt to fill every gap. People in other cultural groups value silence and view it as necessary for understanding.
Many Native Americans value silence and feel it is a basic part of communicating, as traditional Chinese and Thai people do. Therefore, when a person from one of these cultures is speaking and suddenly stops, what may be implied (暗示) is that the person wants the listener to consider what has been said. In these cultures, silence is a call for reflection.
Other cultures may use silence in other ways, particularly when dealing with conflicts among people. For example, Russian, French and Spanish persons may use silence to show agreement about the topic under discussion. However, Mexicans may use silence when instructions are given by a person in authority rather than be rude to that person by arguing with him or her. In still another use, persons in Asian cultures may view silence as a sign of respect, particularly to an elder or a person in authority.
Nurses and other care-givers need to be aware of the possible meanings of silence when they come across the personal anxiety their patients experience. Nurses should recognize their own personal and cultural construction of silence so that a patient’s silence is not interrupted too early or allowed to go on unnecessarily. A nurse who understands the healing (治愈) value of silence can use this understanding to help patients.
1. What can we learn about silence in conversations from Paragraph 1?| A．It varies with culture. |
| B．It is a sign of boredom. |
| C．It improves friendship. |
| D．It is used to show anger. |
| A．The Chinese. | B．The Thais. | C．The Mexicans. | D．The Russians. |
| A．Break it as soon as possible. |
| B．Let it go as the patients please. |
| C．Use its value to help patients. |
| D．Explain its harm to their patients. |
| A．Usages of Silence |
| B．Different Meanings of Silence |
| C．Sounds and Silence |
| D．Silence Is Gold in Some Cultures |
