《新编跨文化交际英语教程》课后习题答案.docx

1、新编跨文化交际英语教程课后习题答案新编跨文化交际英语教程课后习题答案Unit 1Communication Across CulturesReading IIntercultural Communication：An IntroductionComprehension questions1. Is it still often the case that “everyones quick to blame the alien” in the contemporary world? This is still powerful in todays social and political rhe

2、toric. For instance, it is not uncommon intodays society to hear people say that most, if not all, of the social and economic problems are caused by minorities and immigrants.2. Whats the difference between todays intercultural contact and that of any time in the past? Todays intercultural encounter

3、s are far more numerous and of greater importance than in any time in history.3. What have made intercultural contact a very common phenomenon in our life today? New technology, in the form of transportation and communication systems, has accelerated intercultural contact; innovative communication s

4、ystems have encouraged and facilitated cultural interaction; globalization of the economy has brought people together; changes in immigration patterns have also contributed to intercultural encounter.4. How do you understand the sentence “culture is everything and everywhere”? Culture supplies us wi

5、th the answers to questions about what the world looks like and how we live and communicate within that world. Culture teaches us how to behave in our life from the instant of birth. It is omnipresent.5. What are the major elements that directly influence our perception and communication? The three

6、major socio-cultural elements that directly influence perception and communication are cultural values, worldview (religion), and social organizations (family and state).6. What does ones family teach him or her while he or she grows up in it? The family teaches the child what the world looks like a

7、nd his or her place in that world.7. Why is it impossible to separate our use of language from our culture? Because language is not only a form of preserving culture but also a means of sharing culture.Language is an organized, generally agreed-upon, learned symbol system that is used to representth

8、e experiences within a cultural community.8. What are the nonverbal behaviors that people can attach meaning to? People can attach meaning to nonverbal behaviors such as gestures, postures, facial expressions, eye contact and gaze, touch, etc.9. How can a free, culturally diverse society exist? A fr

9、ee, culturally diverse society can exist only if diversity is permitted to flourish without prejudice and discrimination, both of which harm all members of the society.Reading IIThe Challenge of GlobalizationComprehension questions1. Why does the author say that our understanding of the world has ch

10、anged? Many things, such as political changes and technological advances, have changed the worldvery rapidly. In the past most human beings were born, lived, and died within a limited geographicalarea, never encountering people of other cultural backgrounds. Such an existence, however, nolonger prev

11、ails in the world. Thus, all people are faced with the challenge of understanding thischanged and still fast changing world in which we live.2. What a “global village” is like? As our world shrinks and its inhabitants become interdependent, people from remote culturesincreasingly come into contact o

12、n a daily basis. In a global village, members of once isolatedgroups of people have to communicate with members of other cultural groups. Those people maylive thousands of miles away or right next door to each other.3. What is considered as the major driving force of the post-1945 globalization? Tec

13、hnology, particularly telecommunications and computers are considered to be the major driving force.4. What does the author mean by saying that “the global may be more local than the local”? The increasing global mobility of people and the impact of new electronic media on humancommunications make t

14、he world seem smaller. We may communicate more with people of othercountries than with our neighbors, and we may be more informed of the international events than ofthe local events. In this sense, “the globalmay be more local than the local”5. Why is it important for businesspeople to know diverse

15、cultures in the world? Effective communication may be the most important competitive advantage that firms have tomeet diverse customer needs on a global basis. Succeeding in the global market today requires theability to communicate sensitively with people from other cultures, a sensitivity that is

16、based on anunderstanding of cross-cultural differences.6. What are the serious problems that countries throughout the world are confronted with? Countries throughout the world are confronted with serious problems such as volatileinternational economy, shrinking resources, mounting environmental cont

17、amination, and epidemicsthat know no boundaries.7. What implications can we draw from the case of Michael Fay? This case shows that in a world of international interdependence, the ability to understand andcommunicate effectively with people from other cultures takes on extreme urgency. If we areuna

18、ware of the significant role culture plays in communication, we may place the blame forcommunication failure on people of other cultures.8. What attitudes are favored by the author towards globalization? Globalization, for better or for worse, has changed the world greatly. Whether we like it or not

19、,globalization is all but unstoppable. It is already here to stay. It is both a fact and an opportunity. Thechallenges are not insurmountable. Solutions exist, and are waiting to be identified and implemented.From a globalistic point of view, there is hope and faith in humanity.Case StudyCase 1In th

20、is case, there seemed to be problems in communicating with people of different cultures inspite of the efforts made to achieve understanding. We should know that in Egypt as in many cultures, the human relationship is valued so highlythat it is not expressed in an objective and impersonal way. While

21、 Americans certainly value humanrelationships, they are more likely to speak of them in less personal, more objective terms. In thiscase, Richards mistake might be that he chose to praise the food itself rather than the total evening,for which the food was simply the setting or excuse. For his host

22、and hostess it was as if he hadattended an art exhibit and complimented the artist by saying, What beautiful frames your picturesare in. In Japan the situation may be more complicated. Japanese people value order and harmonyamong persons in a group, and that the organization itselfbe it a family or

23、a vast corporationismore valued than the characteristics of any particular member. In contrast, Americans stressindividuality as a value and are apt to assert individual differences when they seem justifiably inconflict with the goals or values of the group. In this case: Richards mistake was in mak

24、ing greatefforts to defend himself. Let the others assume that the errors were not intentional, but it is not rightto defend yourself, even when your unstated intent is to assist the group by warning others of similarmistakes. A simple apology and acceptance of the blame would have been appropriate.

25、 But for poorRichard to have merely apologized would have seemed to him to be subservient, unmanly. When it comes to England, we expect fewer problems between Americans and Englishmenthan between Americans and almost any other group. In this case we might look beyond the gestureof taking sugar or cr

26、eam to the values expressed in this gesture: for Americans, Help yourself; forthe English counterpart, Be my guest. American and English people equally enjoy entertaining andbeing entertained but they differ somewhat in the value of the distinction. Typically, the ideal guestat an American party is

27、one who makes himself at home, even to the point of answering the dooror fixing his own drink. For persons in many other societies, including at least this hypotheticalEnglish host, such guest behavior is presumptuous or rude.Case 2A common cultural misunderstanding in classes involves conflicts bet

28、ween what is said to bedirect communication style and indirect communication style. In American culture, people tend tosay what is on their minds and to mean what they say. Therefore, students in class are expected toask questions when they need clarification. Mexican culture shares this preference

29、of style withAmerican culture in some situations, and thats why the students from Mexico readily adopted thetechniques of asking questions in class. However, Korean people generally prefer indirectcommunication style, and therefore they tend to not say what is on their minds and to rely more onimpli

30、cations and inference, so as to be polite and respectful and avoid losing face through anyimproper verbal behavior. As is mentioned in the case, to many Koreans, numerous questions wouldshow a disrespect for the teacher, and would also reflect that the student has not studied hard enough.Case 3The c

31、onflict here is a difference in cultural values and beliefs. In the beginning, Mary didntrealize that her Dominican sister saw her as a member of the family, literally. In the Dominican view,family possessions are shared by everyone of the family. Luz was acting as most Dominican sisterswould do in

32、borrowing without asking every time. Once Mary understood that there was a differentway of looking at this, she would become more accepting. However, she might still experience thesame frustration when this happened again. She had to find ways to cope with her own emotionalcultural reaction as well as her practical problem (the batteries running out).Case 4It might be simply a question of different rhythms. Americans have one rhythm i