普通高中课程标准实验教科书 英语必修4 Unit 4 Body language-Re

Yesterday, another student and I, representing¹ our university's student association², went to the Capital International Airport to meet this year's international students. They were coming to study at Beijing University. We would take them first to their dormitories³ and then to the student canteen. After half an hour of waiting for their flight to arrive, I saw several young people enter the waiting area looking around curiously⁴. I stood for a minute watching them and then went to greet them.
       The first person to arrive was Tony Garcia from Colombia, closely⁵ followed by Julia Smith from Britain. After I met them and then introduced them to each other, I was very surprised. Tony approached Julia, touched her shoulder and kissed her on the cheek! She stepped back appearing surprised and put up her hands, as if in defence⁶. I guessed that there was probably a major misunderstanding. Then Akira Nagata from Japan came in smiling, together with George Cook from Canada. As they were introduced, George reached his hand out to the Japanese student. Just at that moment, however, Akira bowed so his nose touched George's moving hand. They both apologized - another cultural mistake!
       Ahmed Aziz, another international student, was from Jordan. When we met yesterday, he moved very close to me as I introduced myself. I moved back a bit, but he came closer to ask a question and then shook my hand. When Darlene Coulon from France came dashing⁷ through the door, she recognized Tony Garcia's smiling face. They shook hands and then kissed each other twice on each cheek, since that is the French custom when adults meet people they know. Ahmed Aziz., on the contrary⁸, simply nodded at the girls. Men from Middle Eastern and other Muslim countries will often stand quite close to other men to talk but will usually not touch women.
      As I get to know more international friends, I learn more about this cultural "body language". Not all cultures greet each other the same way, nor are they comfortable in the same way with touching⁹ or distance between people. In the same way that people communicate with spoken language, they also express their feelings using unspoken "language" through physical distance, actions or posture¹⁰. English people, for example, do not usually stand very close to others or touch strangers as soon as they meet. However, people from places like Spain, Italy or South American countries approach others closely and are more likely to touch them. Most people around the world now greet each other by shaking hands, but some cultures use other greetings as well, such as the Japanese, who prefer to bow.
      These actions are not good or bad, but are simply ways in which cultures have developed. I have seen, however, that cultural customs¹¹ for body language are very general - not all members of a culture behave in the same way. In general, though, studying international customs can certainly help avoid difficulties¹² in today's world of cultural crossroads!

1 representing   

v.表现( represent的现在分词 )；代表；体现；作为…的代表

参考例句：

• a diagram representing a cross section of the human eye 表现人眼的剖面图
• The competition attracted over 500 contestants representing 8 different countries. 这次比赛吸引了代表8个不同国家的500多名参赛者。

2 association   

n.联盟，协会，社团；交往，联合；联想

参考例句：

• Our long association with your company has brought great benefits.我方和贵公司的长期合作带来了巨大的利益。
• I broke away from the association ten years ago.我10年前就脱离了那个团体。

3 dormitories   

集体宿舍( dormitory的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many colleges now have wired dormitories. 现在许多大学的学生宿舍已经联网。
• Most of the students of this college live in dormitories. 这所学院的多数学生住集体宿舍。

4 curiously   

adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地

参考例句：

• He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
• He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。

5 closely   

adv.紧密地；严密地，密切地

参考例句：

• We shall follow closely the development of the situation.我们将密切注意形势的发展。
• The two companies are closely tied up with each other.这两家公司之间有密切联系。

6 defence   

n.保卫，防御，辩护

参考例句：

• The lawyer produced a clever defence of his client.律师机智地为委托人辩护。
• We must see that there is no gap in our defence.我们必须确保我们的防御没有漏洞。

7 dashing   

adj.时髦的，华丽的；劲头十足的；打扮漂亮的；勇敢的，有锐气的v.冲，猛冲(dash的现在分词)；猛掷

参考例句：

• a dashing young officer 风度翩翩的年轻军官
• Little mountain stream is dashing down to the plain. 小山涧奔腾而下，流向平原。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 contrary   

adj.相反的；adv.相反的(地)；n.反面，相反

参考例句：

• My sister's taste in dresses is contrary to my own.在服装方面，我妹妹的爱好和我完全不同。
• The result is contrary to expectation.结果跟预料恰好相反。

9 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

10 posture   

n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势

参考例句：

• The government adopted an uncompromising posture on the issue of independence.政府在独立这一问题上采取了毫不妥协的态度。
• He tore off his coat and assumed a fighting posture.他脱掉上衣，摆出一副打架的架势。

11 customs   

n.海关，关税

参考例句：

• The customs officials turned the man over to the French police.海关官员把那个人移交给了法国警察。
• They are collecting customs.他们正在收缴关税。

12 difficulties   

n.困难( difficulty的名词复数 )；难度；难事；麻烦

参考例句：

• I am acutely aware of the difficulties we face. 我十分清楚我们面临的困难。
• the difficulties of English syntax 英语句法的难点