Extended Reading and Translation
I. Reading Tasks
1. Reading for Chinese culture Read the following passage and the questions after it. Then choose the best answers to the questions.
2. Read the following passage carefully and discuss the questions.
II. Translation Task
Read the following carefully and translate it into Chinese.
One of the most important aspects of culture is the establishment of the communication norms within the culture. Norms are the guidelines that we establish (or perceive as established) for conducting transactions. Norms are likely to change from subculture to subculture. Norms exist at the beginning of a communication encounter and grow, change, or solidify as people get to know one another better. Norms tell us what kinds of messages and behavior are proper in a given context or with a particular person or group of people. These norms may be formal (such as parliamentary procedures for organizational meetings); they may be accepted social guidelines ("Never discuss religion or politics at the dinner table); or they may simply develop within the context of a particular setting. For instance, at the sales force's weekly pep meeting, it may be accepted practice for the staff to joke with one another and even heckle the speaker. However, the norms likely will change when the nature of the situation changes. If a regional manager is attending the Monday morning sales meeting, a person who heckles or speaks out of turn might be stared down by everyone else in the group. Sometime we don't know the norm; we have to learn them from experience.
III. Fill-in Blanks
Fill in each of the blanks in the following passage with an appropriate word from those given below in its proper form.
| nonverbal | language | movements | multiply | revealing |
| tone | limited | distinctions | further | remark |
| contact | gestures |
How do we communicate? The first answer that is likely to come to most people’s minds is through ______1______: we speak, we listen, we read, we write. When we think ______2______, we become increasingly aware that we also communicate in ______3______ ways, through gestures and body ______4______. The signals given by our “body language” are often more ______5______ than the words we use. Most of us will have had the experience of someone saying something to us - making a flattering ______6______, for instance - that we felt was insincere. Why did we feel that? Maybe it was the ______7______in which it was said, or something in the person’s movement or eye ______8______with us.
When we turn to communication processes across cultures, the complexities and complications ______9______. Language is again the most obvious example. If you speak only English and the person you try to talk to speaks only Japanese, communication will be ______10______ - though you will. If you both really try, be able to understand each other to some extent by means of ______11______. Even with speakers of the same language, problems may be the result of intracultural differences, that is, ______12______ between subgroups with a culture.
IV. More Reading for Traditional Chinese Culture
· 君子义以为质，礼以行之，孙以出之，信以成之。君子哉！ ——《论语•卫灵公》
The superior man in everything considers righteousness to be essential. He performs it according to the rules of propriety. He brings it forth in humility. He completes it with sincerity. This is indeed a superior man.
· 礼之用，和为贵。 ——《论语•学而篇》
In practicing the rules of propriety, it is harmony that is prized.
· 和而不同，美美与共。
Harmony But Not Uniformity ; Every beauty is beautiful.
· 君子和而不同，小人同而不和。 ——《论语•子路》
A man of virtue pursues harmony but does not seek uniformity; a petty man seeks uniformity but does not pursue harmony.
· 万物并育而不相害，道并行而不相悖。——《礼记•中庸》
All living things are nourished without injuring one another; all roads run parallel without interfering with one another.
V. 拓展视频：Face (Mianzi) - words of the world
视频简要介绍了中国文化中“面子”的含义及其重要性，时长约6分钟。
