跨文化交际实用教程 复习 culture puzzle

Unit1

1. What would you do if someone told you to use his or her first name, but you

felt uncomfortable doing this?

a) You could continue to use the person's last name without explaining why.

b) You could try to use the person's first name even though you feel un-

comfortable doing this.

c) You could ask the person,“Is it OK if I use your last name?\"

2.

Situation; An American woman received a letter from a recently married

Japanese friend. The Japanese woman wrote in her letter,“My

husband is not very handsome. Your husband is much more hand-

some than mine.\" The American woman was very surprised at

what her friend wrote.

1) Why do you think the American was surprised?

a) The American woman saw a picture of her friend's husband and thought

that he was very handsome.

b) The American woman didn't think her own husband was handsome.

c) In the U.S., it is disrespectful to say that one's husband is not handsome.

2) Why do you think the Japanese woman wrote,“My husband is not very

handsome\"?

a) The Japanese woman was trying to tell her American friend that she did

not like her husband very much.

b) It is uncommon in Japan to compliment one's husband.

c) The Japanese woman didn't think her husband was handsome, but she

liked his personality.

Unit2；

1.

What would you do if you met a woman and you didn't know if she should

be called \"Mrs.\

a) You could use“Ms.\".

b) You could try not to use her name.

c) You could check the woman's left hand to see if she's married.

Can you think of anything else you could do?

2.

What would you do if you were introduced to someone and you didn't know

whether or not to shake hands?

a) You could keep your hands in your pockets in order to avoid shaking hands.

b) You could wait and see what the other person does and then you could do

the same (shake or don't shake hands).

c) You could be the first person to give your hand.

Unit3

What would you do if you gave your American boss an expensive gift and he

or she said,“I'm sorry. I really can't accept this gift.\"

a) You could say,“If you don't accept this gift, I'll quit.\" or“I won't take this

class anymore.

b) You could try to find out his or her reasons for not accepting the gift.

c) You can insist many times on giving the gift until he or she accepts it.

U.S. Cultural Note: Most of the time Americans do accept gifts that people

give to them. However, in the workplace, bosses sometimes feel uncomfort-

able accepting gifts and are not always allowed to do so. The following are

some of the reasons:

-They do not want to feel that they have to do something special or

different for the employee who gives the gift.

-They don't want the other employees to think that they have favorites

among the employees.

They may find it difficult to criticize their employee's work if they've

just received a gift from him or her.

Many companies have a policy saying that the boss is not allowed to

accept gifts from employees.

2.

Situation: (Joe and Gary, both Americans, are friends. They have just run

into each other at a store.)

Joe: Hey, Gary, How've you been? (Joe is happy to see Gary, He slaps him

on the back.)

Gary: Oh, hi, Joe. How's it going? (Gary does not seem happy to see Joe.)

Joe: Pretty good. Everything okay with you? It looks like something is

bothering you.

Gary: If you want to know the truth, I'm pretty angry at you.

Joe: What did I do?

Gary: Well, I heard that you went out with Jennifer two nights ago. You know

I've had my eye on her for a long time.

What do you think Joe's reaction will be?

a) Joe will apologize and will promise not to go out with Jenifer again.

b) Joe will say something like,“Wait a minute. You don't own her. You've

never been out with her before.\"

c) Joe will get angry with Gary because Gary got angry with him.

U.S. Cultural Note: Americans often ask each other, “What's wrong?\" if

they see a person's expression showing that something is bothering him or

her. Many people think that you should say what is wrong instead of just

acting upset or angry. If a person acts upset, angry, or bothered, but doesn't

say anything about it, some Americans think that person is being childish.

Unit4

What would you do if a stranger pronounced your name incorrectly? First, think about what you would do in your own language and culture, and then

what you would do if you were talking in English with an American.

a) You wouldn't say anything.

”

b) You would say,“Excuse me, but my name s..\".

c) You would not say,“Excuse me.\" You would just say, \"'..

unit5

Situation: An American invited a group of Japanese students over to his house.

He and his wife had spent a great deal of time preparing food and

getting the house ready. They were looking forward to the party and

hoped that the Japanese would enjoy themselves. They came at about

8:00 at night and right away seemed to be enjoying themselves.

There was a lot of dancing and singing and good conversation. Then,

almost suddenly, one of the students said \"Thank you'\" to the hosts

and said that it was time to go. After that, all of the Japanese began to

get ready to leave. The American and his wife couldn't understand

why this happened. They felt insulted because everyone left so early

and at the same time.

Can you explain what happened?

a) The Americans must have done something that offended the Japanese.

b) The Japanese were not having a good time.

c) Japanese usually leave as a group and try not to stay too long so as not to

offend their host.

Unit6

Background: Janice, an American businesswoman, and Maya, a business-

woman from Mexico, both work for the same company. Maya has just come

to the U.S. to work in the American office of her company. Below are several

situations involving Janice and Maya.

In the following cultural puzzles, circle the letter before the nonjudgmental

questions that will help Maya get the most helpful answers. After you

choose the best question for each situation, read the U.S. Cultural Note

that explains the American behavior,

1.

Situation: Maya is introduced to Janice. Maya notices that Janice often smiles

as she talks to the men and women in the company. In Maya's

culture, a woman who smiles frequently when she tallks to men is

probably flirting. Maya asks a co-worker from her own culture:

a) Janice is not a good woman, is she?

b) Why does Janice flirt with strange men?

c) What does it mean when an American woman smiles at a man?

°U.S. Cultural Note: Americans, especially American women, smile more

than people from many other cultures. The smile is usually just a sign of

friendliness.

2.

Situation: Maya and Janice are having lunch. Maya cuts her hand while she

is opening a soft drink can. She says,“Oh, that hurts!\" Janice says,

“T'm sorry! Are you all right?\" Later Maya says to a friend from her country:

a) Why do Americans act like any problem is their fault?

b) Do Americans feel that it is their fault when someone gets hurt using an

American product?

c) When I cut my hand, Janice said, 'T'm sorry.' It wasn't her fault. Do most

Americans apologize when it' s not their fault?

U.S. Cultural Note: Some Americans say,“T'm sorry\" if others tell them sad

news or that someone is hurt. The American means,“I' m sorry about what

happened. I feel sympathy for you.\" In this case,“T'm sorry is not an apology.

3.

Situation: Maya sees the president of her company (an American) serve some

coffee to a visitor. In her country, a company president would

always ask a secretary to perform tasks like that. She asks Janice:

a) I saw the company president serve coffee to a visitor. For me, that was very

unusual. Does that seem unusual to you?

b) Don't American secretaries like to take care of their bosses?

c) Is the president' s secretary sick?

4.

Situation: Maya visits Janice' s house one Saturday afternoon. She is listening

to a conversation the family is having. Janice, her husband and the

children are discussing where to go for their summer holiday.

Janice wants to go to New York City, but the children want to go camping instead. Janice listens carefully to the children's reasons.

Later, Maya asks another American:

a) Why do American children have so much power in the American family'?

b) Why do American parents let their children tell them what to do?

c) Do Americans often let their children help make decisions?

U.S. Cultural Note: Americans often encourage their children to express and

defend their opinions in family decision-making. Parents feel this helps the

children learn to express their ideas clearly.