2. 外语
  3. Our culture has caused most Americans to assume not only that our language is universal but that the gestures we use are underst

Our culture has caused most Americans to assume not only that our language is universal but that the gestures we use are underst

admin2011-03-01  29
问题    Our culture has caused most Americans to assume not only that our language is universal but that the gestures we use are understood by everyone. We do not realize that waving good-bye is the way to summon a person from the Philippines to one’s side, or that in Italy and some Latin-American countries, curling the finger to oneself is a sign of farewell.
    Those private citizens who sent packages to our troops occupying Germany after World War II and marked them GIFT to escape duty payments did not bother to find out that "Gift" means poison in German. Moreover, we like to think of ourselves as friendly, yet we prefer to be at least 3 feet or an arm’s length away from others. Latins and Middle Easterners like to come, closer and touch, which makes American uncomfortable.
   Our linguistic and cultural blindness and the casualness with which we take no notice of the developed tastes, gestures ,customs and languages of other countries, are losing us friends, business and respect in the world.
   Even here in the United States, we make few concessions to the needs of foreign visitors. There are no information signs in four languages on our public buildings or monuments; we do not have multilingual guided tours. Very few restaurant menus have translations, and multilingual waiters, bank clerks and policemen are rare. Our transportation systems have maps in English only and often we ourselves have difficulty understanding them.
   When we go abroad, we tend to cluster in hotels and restaurants where English is spoken. The attitudes and information we pick up are conditioned by those natives — usually the richer — who speak English. Our business dealings, as well as the nation’s diplomacy, are conducted through interpreters.
   For many years, America and Americans could get by with cultural blindness and linguistic ignorance. After all, America was the most powerful country of the free world, the distributor of needed funds and goods.
   But all that is past. American dollars no longer buy all good things, and we are slowly beginning to realize that our proper role in the world is changing. A 1979 Harris p011 reported that 55 percent of Americans want this country to play a more significant role in world affairs; we want to have a hand in the important decisions of the next century, even though it may not always be the upper hand.
In countries other than their own most Americans______.
选项 A、are isolated by other people
B、are not well informed due to the problem caused by language
C、need interpreters in hotels and restaurants
D、tend to get along well with the natives
答案B
解析 题干In countries other than their own是原文go abroad的同义转述，因此定位到第四段，美国人在外聚集在说英语的酒店里，对问题的看法和获得的信息受到说英语的当地人的影响，生意、外交也要通过翻译，所以大部分美国人因为语言障碍而信息不很灵通，选[B]。[A)被其他人孤立，美国人由于不懂所在国的语言而呆在宾馆里，并非被他人孤立；[C]在宾馆和饭店中需要翻译，在这两个场所人们都讲英语，并不需要翻译；在国外的美国人通常只和讲英语的当地人来往，故排除[D]。
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