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

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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 Americans uncomfortable.
    Our linguistic and cultural blindness and the casualness with which we take notice of the developed tastes, gestures, customs and languages of other countries, are making us lose 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. Then 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 is the most powerful country of the free world, the distributor 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 poll 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.
The author gives many examples to criticize Americans for their______.
选项 A、cultural self-centeredness
B、casual manners
C、indifference towards foreign visitors
D、arrogance towards other countries
答案A
解析 主旨思想题。文章第三段“Our linguistic and cultural blindness and the casualness”提及美国对于其他民族的语言和文化的无视和漫不经心，此信息与选项B对应；第四段“make few concessionsto the needs of foreign visitors”提及美国人很少会顾及外国游客的需要，很少考虑语言给他们所带来的不便，对应选项C的内容；第五段“Then attitudes and information we pick up are conditioned bythose natives—usually the richer一who speak English”提及美国人对外国的了解仅仅基于从当地说英语的有钱人那里获得信息，这说明了美国人的傲慢，对应选项D。归纳总结，以上的内容均是对美国文化中心的例证，由此可知，选项A是对其他三个选项内容的概括，故答案为A。
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