Unit 5
Warm-up
Step 1 Talk about the pictures
In the first picture the woman thinks that everyone in China knows how to play kung fu. In the second picture the woman assumes that it’s cold everywhere in Russia. Stereotypes about cultures still exist. They may be a fallacy and may sound weird. For example, when you meet a person from Africa, you may think his living place must be very hot, but actually some African countries, such as Kenya, have a very nice and comfortable weather, neither cold nor hot.
Step 2 Sharing your ideas
The key to removing cultural misunderstandings is to let others understand the ideas and history that lie underneath Chinese cultural. On the one hand, we should take the initiative in explaining to foreign friends the reasons for certain thoughts and practices in Chinese cultures. On the other hand, we should also know more about our country’s history and philosophy, and promote our culture in international communication.
Reading 1
Language focus 1. synonymous 2. Against all odds 3. dominant 4. offensive
5. icons 6. conservative 7. piling up 8. blend 9. rituals 10. delighted
Global understanding 1) Spring Festival 2) watered down 3) purists 4) hotpot
5) cultural customs 6) interpersonal relationships 7) adapted to 8) dominant
Detailed understanding
1. Both the Spring Festival and Valentine’s Day are associated with the beginning of spring. With the Spring Festival, its connection to spring is self-explanatory, while for Valentine’s Day, its date marks the end of winter and the start of the season for love. And both festivals emphasize the importance of family love in all forms, whether it is between lovers, or between children and parents. 2. The author rejects this cultural view, but he equally rejects the blending of festivals in a hotpot where all the traditions mix into one.
3. Culture improves interpersonal relationships via cultural customs. Socially-acceptable performances such as smiles, handshakes or bows can help people communicate meaning more clearly. Once individuals pick up these habits, they
can use them to convey ideas without causing misunderstandings.
4. The reason why Confucians dismissed Buddhism is that Buddhism as a religious culture advocates avoiding family responsibilities.
5. The author is glad to celebrate both. He thinks Saint Valentine would be joyful to see family members embrace each other on the Spring Festival, and Confucius would definitely be content to see people express their love to one another on Valentine’s Day at the celebration of love at the heart of the human experience.
Cultural thinking
Culture exchange should involve absorbing other cultures and at the same time, promoting our own. One way to preserve our tradition is through introducing our culture to the world. Sharing our culture doesn’t mean giving foreign friends tangible items that remind them of our country. Our cultural traditions can be shared through storytelling, music, song, dance, or art. To do so, we should first learn more about our own history and traditions, and then present our history in creative ways to the foreigners in cross-cultural communication. For example, as we meet new people in a foreign country and start to establish friendships, we may take part in their celebrations or significant events. We can also explain to our new friends how we celebrate our milestones like new births, birthdays, and marriages in our home country. Such cultural exchanges create opportunities for meaningful dialogues, and we can preserve our traditions by introducing them to people in other countries.
Reading 2
Language focus 1. settle down
2. confrontation 3. put up with 4. shoved 5. virtually 6. confusion 7. yelled 8. stern 9. made off 10. anxiously
Global understanding 1) left 20 yuan 2) shoved 3) careful 4) plates and bowls 5) slipped 6) back pocket 7) broken man 8) delivery boy
Detailed understanding 1. B 2. A 3. B 4. D 5. C
Cultural thinking
1) The author sticks to his own habits in another culture. I can understand him but I don’t support this behavior.
2) Answer 1: I don’t think his girlfriend is right to tell him he must tip a delivery boy. To tip a delivery boy is not that popular in China, and the author has the right to choose whether to tip and how much to tip.
Answer 2: Yes, his girlfriend is right. Compared with a waitress who serves guests dishes in a restaurant, a delivery boy makes more efforts to provide customers with convenience. Therefore, it’s better to tip a delivery boy. 3) Answer 1: If I travel to a foreign country, I would follow the local cultural traditions. As one of the Chinese idioms goes, “入乡随俗;”or as the well-known proverb says, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” It is advisable to follow the local cultural traditions when one travels to a foreign country. Answer 2: If I travel to a foreign country, I would stick to my own habits. This can be considered as a way to promote our country’s culture, which may finally advance cultural exchange and integration.
Integrated thinking
1) Cultural exchange and cultural integration are inevitable in this increasingly globalized world. They make us more conscious of our own culture and appreciate it even more. Furthermore, they help us discover a lot of differences between other cultures and ours, so that we can learn some values from other cultures. Also, embracing other cultures opens up opportunities for us to expand our abilities. Being in a place out of the comfort zone, we can develop the capacity to adapt to a foreign environment and learn to communicate and express ourselves in a proper manner.
Cultural exchange and cultural integration are wonderful in many ways, but don’t come without their costs. As cultures across the globe are integrated with each other, many countries feel that their own culture is being lost in what could be described as the growing “world culture.” As new views and ideas compete for our attention, certain cultural perspectives are left discarded and forgotten. It is sometimes argued that this is robbing certain locals of their heritage.
2) Answer 1: An example showing positive impact on local culture:
When the ideas of Renaissance spread from Italy to other parts of Europe, they stimulated the development of science and culture in those countries. Answer 2: An example showing negative impact on local culture:
Under the influence of globalization, many minority languages have gradually disappeared and been replaced by the lingua franca.
Culture mosaic
1 Chopsticks for my steak, please
1) I think haipai xican is a very unique and interesting cultural phenomenon. It’s a result of integration of Eastern culture and Western culture in an international city — Shanghai.
2) Answer 1: I prefer to eat Western cuisine with chopsticks. In China, I keep an open mind on eating Western cuisine with chopsticks as long as the dishes themselves are delicious. I believe most Chinese people can understand this because chopsticks are easier for us to use.
Answer 2: I would like to eat Western cuisine without chopsticks. Especially when I travel to the West, I prefer to adapt myself to the local culture, such as
eating a steak with a knife and fork in a Western country. Such manners can help me show respect to the local culture.
2 Chinese viewers criticize Disney’s new Mulan for being inauthentic I agree with the negative comments, since their criticism is from an expert point of view. However, I prefer to adopt a tolerant attitude toward such Chinese-themed movies made by foreigners. Although there are some inaccurate details in Mulan, this film in general has set a good example of spreading the traditional Chinese culture and introducing the image of a brave Chinese woman to foreign countries. Besides, a tolerant attitude would encourage more and more producers of movies and TV series to tell famous traditional Chinese stories in English or other languages. The more comes out, the more chances for movie critics to correct other cultures’ misunderstandings about Chinese culture.
3 Legacies of the Silk Road
Cultural exchange in this globalized world has brought about many changes. I will give some examples from the aspects of food and language. Food:
Nowadays in China, especially in large cities, we can see many restaurants serving foreign dishes, such as Pad Thai in a Thai restaurant, sushi in a Japanese restaurant, and pizza and pasta in an Italian restaurant. Similarly, in some foreign countries, there are many Chinese restaurants, either in Chinatowns or in other places across the country. Language:
More and more Chinese people can communicate in English and some other languages, while more foreign people begin to learn Chinese. An increasing
number of people are bilingual or trilingual, some of whom even mix their mother tongue with foreign language when they speak.
因篇幅问题不能全部显示，请点此查看更多更全内容