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Culture: Intermediate
各位聽眾，大家好！今天我們為您播出“美語三級跳”節目“社會文化”單元的中級課程。
Jane 和Will初次約會，聊到彼此的家庭背景。我知道Jane 的父母來自中國，所以我很想聽聽，作為一個亞裔美國人，Jane的成長經歷是什么樣的。
Professor: That's right, Winnie, let's listen to what they have to say.
Will: So Jane, you said that both your parents are from China. How do they like living in America?
Jane: They really like it, but of course they miss their friends and family back home sometimes.
Will: Yeah, I can imagine. So do you consider yourself Chinese or American?
Jane: Well, that's a complicated question. Of course I'm American, but I'm ethnically Chinese as well.
Will: I see. So you consider yourself both?
Jane: That's right.
Will總是問一些嚴肅的問題! 他問Jane，覺得自己是中國人還是美國人。Jane回答說，自己既是中國人，也是美國人。
Professor: Right. Jane is an American citizen, but she is also ethnically Chinese. Ethnically？我明白了，ethnic是民族的意思。
Professor: Exactly. For example, I could say that Hispanics are one of the largest ethnic groups in America. 所以，從民族上講，Jane認為自己是華人。Professor, 拉美裔人，是美國人口最多的少數族裔之一？那么，亞裔人口又怎么樣呢？
Professor: Asians make up about 4.5 percent of the American population.
Will: Did you face a lot of stereotypes growing up?
Jane: Of course, all minorities face some stereotypes. For me, lots of people assume that because I'm Asian, I'm smart and good at math.
Will: That doesn't sound like a bad stereotype to have!
Jane: No, it's not a very offensive stereotype. But it's still wrong for people to assume things about me because of how I look. I hate math!
Will: Me too! I guess that's one thing we have in common.
stereotype, s-t-e-r-e-o-t-y-p-e, stereotype，是“刻板印象”、“先入為主的看法”。Jane說，因為她是亞裔，所以很多美國人對她持有stereotype，一看她的亞洲臉，就認定她的數學一定很好!
Professor: But Jane thinks that stereotypes are wrong, doesn't she? 當然啦! Jane說，以貌取人是不對的。她其實很討厭學數學。
Professor: That's right. She and Will both hate math, so that's one thing they have in common.
Will: Did people tease you when you were growing up because you're Asian?
Jane: My school was very politically correct, so people tried really hard not to say things that would offend me.
Will: Right. Race can be a sensitive subject in America. People like to talk about it, but only in a polite way.
Jane: That's true. People these days try hard to be tolerant, and are careful not to say things that other people may think are racist. 看來Jane 是在比較 tolerant——“寬容”的環境下 長大的。人們沒有因為她是亞裔而嘲弄她。不過，Professor, 什么叫“politically correct”？
Professor: Being politically correct is making sure that the things that you say won't offend people in minority groups and disadvantaged groups.
哦，politically correct，在政治上保持正確，也就是言行上避免有歧視少數族裔或弱勢群體之嫌。
Professor: Right. People don't want to say anything racist, so they make sure all their words are very polite. 沒錯，racist——“種族歧視性”言行，肯定不能讓你做到 politically correct.
Jane: It's pretty easy for me living in the US because it is such a diverse country. There are many other minorities, so I don't feel different.
Will: That's true. The US is a country of immigrants, so it is very diverse.
Jane: Yup. My university is especially diverse. It tries to find students from all over the world.
Will: Oh yeah, my university has lots of minority students too. I've really enjoyed learning about lots of different cultures from them.
Professor: Winnie, do you know what "diverse" means?
Diverse就是“多樣化”。Jane和Will的大學都很diverse, 不僅有來自各族裔的學生，還有來自世界各地的留學生! Professor, Jane和Will初次約會就談了宗教、種族這些嚴肅話題，而且聊得挺高興。我看他們真是天生一對兒!
A: 我覺得上面說得很對，我來美國最大的文化沖擊就是這種多元化! Learning about all these different cultures is definitely fun, but sometimes it's challenging not to offend anybody!
B: 那你干嘛還說我買LV包包嘛!
A: 我這不是為你好嗎?!
B: 哈哈，yeah yeah I get your point. Actually everybody has some kind of hobby that they end up pouring cash into! Let's follow up with our friend the tech-head in Business Etiquette and see what he ends up buying!
