Passage Two
文章二
The topic of my talk today is gift-giving.
我今天演講的話題是送禮物。
Everybody likes to receive gifts, right?
每個人都喜歡收到禮物,對嗎?
So you may think that gift-giving is a universal custom.
所以你可以認為送禮物是一項普遍的習俗。
But actually the rules of gift-giving vary quite a lot.
但是事實上送禮物的結果非常不一樣。
And not knowing them can result in great embarrassment.
不了解它們會導致巨大的尷尬。
In North America, the rules are fairly simple.
在南美,結果相當簡單。
If you're invited to someone's home for dinner, bring wine or flowers or a small item from your country.
如果你被邀請去某人的家里吃晚餐,帶酒或者是花或者是來自你國家的一個小東西。
Among friends, family and business associates, we generally don't give gifts on other occasions except on someone's birthday and Christmas.
在朋友、家人和事業伙伴之間,我們通常不在除某人的生日和圣誕節之外的其他場合送禮物。
The Japanese, on the other hand, give gifts quite frequently, often to thank someone for their kindness.
在日本,另一方面,送禮物非常頻繁,通常是感謝某人的恩惠。
The tradition of gift-giving in Japan is very ancient.
在日本送禮物的傳統非常古老。
There are many detailed rules for everything from the color of the wrapping paper to the time of the gift presentation.
從包裝紙的顏色到送禮物的時間的每一件事情都有許多細節的規則。
And while Europeans don't generally exchange business gifts, they do follow some formal customs when visiting homes, such as bringing flowers.
盡管歐洲人通常不會交換商業禮物,他們在做客的時候確實遵循著一些正式的傳統,比如帶一些花。
The type and color of flowers, however, can carry special meaning.
然而,花的種類和顏色能承載特殊的含義。
Today we have seen some broad differences in gift-giving.
今天我們看見了一些送禮物里的巨大差別。
I could go on with additional examples, but let's not miss the main point here.
我能繼續舉額外的例子,但是我們捏錯過最重要的東西。。
If we are not aware of and sensitive to cultural differences, the possibilities for miscommunication and conflict are enormous.
如果你沒有意識到文化差異且對其不敏感,錯誤傳達和沖突的可能性極大。
Whether we learn about these differences by reading a book or by living abroad, our goal must be to respect differences among people in order to get along successfully with our global neighbors.
不管我們從書本還是通過在國外生活學習這些差異,我們的目標一定是尊重人們之間的不同來成功地和我們的國際友鄰和睦相處。
Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.
問題19到21是基于你剛剛聽到的文章的。
Question 19. What does the speaker say about gift-giving of North Americans?
問題19. 演講者關于南美送禮物說了什么?
Question 20. What do we learn about the Japanese concerning gift-giving?
問題20.關于日本人送禮物我們了解到什么?
Question 21. What point does the speaker make at the end of the talk?
問題21.演講者在演講末尾表明了什么觀點?