Practice 2: Retell the text.

When greeting a person, the Chinese follow the polite principle of 1. self-depreciation and paying 2. respect to the person being addressed. Students, attendants and 3. subordinates are required to address elders and 4. superiors according to their 5. designation. Differently, the westerners tend to address others directly by their 6. first names no matter 7. what their ages and 8. status are. And they think it is a Chinese 9. compromise to use the 10. forms like “Miss Jenny” or “Mr. Green”.

Practice 3: Complete the following dialogue according to the text.

A: Can you tell me the main difference between the Chinese and the westerners in greeting people?

B: I’d love to. The Chinese always want to be 1. polite and respectful to the persons being addressed.

A: Do they still bow to each other when they meet?

B: They used to, but now they 2. simply nod as a greeting. A: How do the young people address their elders and superiors?

B: 3. They use “title + surname” instead of 4. calling them surnames. A: Do they exchange name cards?

B: Certainly. In business, name cards are exchanged 5. upon meeting a stranger. A: In what way do the westerners greet each other?

B: They often 6. call the others directly their names and don’t care about 7. their ages or status. A: Why do the Chinese address a westerner by “Miss Jenny” or “Mr. Green”? B: It may be 8. a Chinese compromise not to indicate 9. too close a relationship or to show 10. unwillingness to be friendly. A: Oh, I see. Thank you very much. B: You are very welcome.

e.g. Americans consider it a common form of greeting to hug each other. 美国人认为拥抱是一种普通的问候方式。

It is considered as highly inappropriate and rude to address our elders by their given names.

对年长者直呼其名被认为是极为不妥和粗鲁的。

Read and Do

Keys to Language Points

1. Translate the following sentences into English. 1) 大家认为有必要对青年学生进行传统教育。

It is considered necessary to give the young students traditional education. 2) 我认为放弃这个面试的机会太遗憾了。

I consider it a great pity to give up the chance of the interview. 2. Translate the following sentences into English. 1) 我们每个人都必须遵守这个重要的决定。

Everyone of us ought to abide by this important decision. 2) 不管做什么事，都应遵循科学规律。

Whatever you do, you should abide by scientific laws. 3. Translate the following sentences into English. 1) 他不再像以前那个样子了。 He is not what he used to be.

2) 以前中国人见面时，通常相互鞠躬致意。

Chinese used to bow to greet each other when they met. 4. Translate the following sentences into English. 1) 朋友之间往往只用“嗨”来打招呼。

Friends tend to say “Hi” as a greeting to each other. 2) 书信有可能被电子邮件所替代。

Written letters tend to be replaced by E-mails.

5. Translate the following sentences into English. be / get used to sth. / doing sth.

1) 他已经非常不习惯没有网络的生活。

He hasn’t been quite used to the life without network. 2) 我不习惯在大庭广众之下被人表扬。 I am not used to being praised in public. rather than / rather ... than ... 1) 我愿意工作而不是闲着。

I prefer to work rather than remain idle. 2) 与其说这是谈话，不如说是演讲。 It may be called a lecture rather than a talk.

6. Translate the following sentences into English.

1) 虽然新来的经理很有才能 (talented)，但是，他也无法应付公司严峻的局面(situation)。

Talented as the new manager is, he is not able to deal with the tough situation of the company.

2) 虽然他只是一名中学生，但他昨天的演讲超越了大学生。

Middle school student as he was, his speech yesterday was superior to a college student’s.

7. Translate the following sentences into English. 1) 老师总是强调学好英语的重要性。

The teacher always insists on the importance of learning English well. 2) 我们提出帮助他，他谢绝了。他坚持依靠自己。

We offered to help him but he refused. He insisted on self-reliance.

Task 2: Fill in each blank with the proper form of the word given in each bracket.

1. He is a man with kindness, sincerity and modesty (modest). 2. You should look at the person being addressed (address) to show your respect towards him or her.

3. I haven’t been used to living (live) in this new city. 4. The government has taken great measures to improve social (society) welfare. 5. When offered (offer) the seat in the bus, the old lady thanked the young girl again and again.

6. When in great anger, the husband rudely (rude) knocked the vase down and broke it into pieces.

7. The book reflects (reflect) the glorious achievements made by the Chinese people in the past thirty years.

8. Nowadays some people have a tendency (tend) of sending their children abroad for further study.

9. They will hold the meeting to exchange (exchange) academic ideas and teaching experiences.

10. It is improper (proper) for you to call the old man directly by his given name.