B4U4Reading.mp33:43
來自英語快樂嗑English
英漢對照課文文本
COMMUNICATION: NO PROBLEM?
交際：沒有問題了嗎？
Yesterday, another student and I, representing our university's student association, went to the Capital International Airport to meet this year's international students. They were coming to study at Beijing University. We would take them first to their dormitories and then to the student canteen. After half an hour of waiting for their flight to arrive, I saw several young people enter the waiting area looking around curiously. I stood for a minute watching them and then went to greet them.
昨天，我和另一個同學代表我們大學的學生會去首都國際機場迎接今年的留學生。他們要來北京大學學習。我們首先會把他們帶到宿舍，然後去學生食堂。在等了半個小時之後，他們的航班到了，我看見幾個年輕人走進了等候區，好奇地向四周張望。站著觀察了他們有一分鐘後，我便走過去打招呼。
The first person to arrive was Tony Garcia from Colombia, closely followed by Julia Smith from Britain. After I met them and then introduced them to each other, I was very surprised. Tony approached Julia, touched her shoulder and kissed her on the cheek! She stepped back appearing surprised and put up her hands, as if in defence. I guessed that there was probably a major misunderstanding. Then Akira Nagata from Japan came in smiling, together with George Cook from Canada. As they were introduced, George reached his hand out to the Japanese student. Just at that moment, however, Akira bowed so his nose touched George's moving hand. They both apologized—another cultural mistake!
第一個到達的是從哥倫比亞飛來的託尼.加西亞，隨後緊跟著的是英國的朱莉婭.史密斯。在與他們碰面並介紹他們彼此認識之後，我（對看到的情景）感到很吃驚。託尼走近朱莉婭，摸了摸她的肩，並親了她的臉！她後退幾步，看上去有些吃驚，並舉起了手，好像是在自衛。我猜想這裡可能有個大誤會。隨後，來自日本的永田明微笑著走了進來，同時進來的還有加拿大的喬治.庫克。當我為他們作介紹時，喬治把手伸向了這位日本學生。然而此時永田正在鞠躬，他的鼻子碰到了喬治伸過來的手。兩人都互相道歉——這又是一個文化差異！
Ahmed Aziz, another international student, was from Jordan. When we met yesterday, he moved very close to me as I introduced myself. I moved back a bit, but he came closer to ask a question and then shook my hand. When Darlene Coulon from France came dashing through the door, she recognized Tony Garcia's smiling face. They shook hands and then kissed each other twice on each cheek, since that is the French custom when adults meet people they know. Ahmed Aziz., on the contrary, simply nodded at the girls. Men from Middle Eastern and other Muslim countries will often stand quite close to other men to talk but will usually not touch women.
另一位國際學生艾哈邁德.阿齊茲是約旦人。昨天當我們見面我向他們作自我介紹時，他靠我很近。我往後退了一點兒，他又向前問了我一個問題，然後同我握手。法國的琳達.庫隆匆忙走進門的時候，她認出了託尼.加西亞微笑的面孔。兩個人握了握手，並且在對方的面頰上吻了兩下。通常，法國成年人見到熟人就是這麼做的。而艾哈邁德.阿齊茲卻只是朝女孩們點點頭。來自中東或一些穆斯林國家的男士，在談話時通常站得離其他男士很近，但一般不會與女士接觸。
As I get to know more international friends, I learn more about this cultural "body language". Not all cultures greet each other the same way, nor are they comfortable in the same way with touching or distance between people. In the same way that people communicate with spoken language, they also express their feelings using unspoken "language" through physical distance, actions or posture. English people, for example, do not usually stand very close to others or touch strangers as soon as they meet. However, people from places like Spain, Italy or South American countries approach others closely and are more likely to touch them. Most people around the world now greet each other by shaking hands, but some cultures use other greetings as well, such as the Japanese, who prefer to bow.
隨著認識的國際朋友越來越多，我瞭解到更多不同文化背景下的“身勢語”。各種文化背景下的人互敬問候的方式不盡相同，身體接觸和互相間距的程度也不盡相同。在使用口頭語言交流的同時，人們還使用不出聲的語言——身體間的距離、動作和姿態等來表達情感。比如，英國人通常不會站在離別人太遠的地方，也不會一見面就（用身體）接觸陌生人。但是，來自像西班牙、意大利或南美等國家的人會站在離別人很近的地方，而且很可能（用身體）接觸對方。現在世界上大多數人見面都會互相握手問候，但有些文化（背景下的人）會採取另外一些寒暄方式，比如，日本人更願意鞠躬。
These actions are not good or bad, but are simply ways in which cultures have developed. I have seen, however, that cultural customs for body language are very general - not all members of a culture behave in the same way. In general, though, studying international customs can certainly help avoid difficulties in today's world of cultural crossroads!
這些行為都無所謂好與壞，只不過是文化發展的不同方式而已。然而我發現身勢語的文化習俗是多元的——同一個（民族）文化中也並非所有成員的行為都一樣。但總的來說，在當今文化交融的世界，學習不同國家的習俗能幫助我們避免交往中的困難。
（以上內容來源於人民教育出版社，版權歸人民教育出版社所有。由本號進行整理分享，旨在方便師生使用，侵聯刪。）
