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UNIT 3 Social Customs
Integrated Skills Development
Passage
Different Cultures and Different Customs
There are many things that we do in our own culture that we never ask questions about. We do things without thinking about them because we have always done them in the same way. When we are in another culture or with people from a different culture, we see that people do things in many different ways. One of the first differences we notice is the forms of address that are used in the culture. The language that people use to address each other tells us many things about a culture.
There are many ways of addressing teachers and students and introducing oneself in other cultures. In many parts of the world, students must show politeness and respect to teachers; one way of doing this is not to use the teacher's name. Some teachers in the U.S. don't think it is rude if their students call them by their first names. This may be their way of having a close informal relationship with students. In the U.S., one way to show closeness and friendliness is to use a person's first name.
When Americans greet each other, introduce each other, and have conversations, they usually stand about an arm's distance (about eighteen inches) to two feet (twenty-four inches) apart. This is not always a comfortable distance for people in other cultures, who may prefer less or more distance.
It is sometimes difficult to know when to shake hands with Americans. In business situations men always shake hands when they first meet each other. Recently, especially in the business world, women have begun shaking hands, too. In social situations when two people meet, they often shake hands. You may find that younger women shake hands more often than older women do.
When Americans shake hands, they usually only shake hands for a few seconds. When they shake, they shake hands firmly, not loosely. "He shakes hands like a dead fish" refers to someone whose handshake is not firm enough. In American culture, a weak handshake is a sign of a weak character. In other countries people shake hands differently. They may take the other person's hand loosely and may shake it for more than a few seconds.
Every language has certain rules of speaking and every culture has rules about how people should interact with each other. These rules are not usually written down, but are learned by people living together in one culture. When you learn about other cultural ways of doing things, you start to think about what you've been doing in your own language and culture.
New Words and Expressions
apart
ad. 分別；相距
character
n. 性格；特性；角色
cultural
a. 文化上的；文化的
dead
a. 死的
firmly
ad. 堅定地，堅固地
