跨文化交际资料--考试.doc

Part I. Multiple Choice
Directions: There are some questions in this section. For each question there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the RIGHT ONE that can best complete the question. Then mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet.

1. Joyce is talking to her friend, Brenda.
Joyce: “I wonder if you’d mind posting this letter for me on your way home, Brenda?”
Brenda:
a. “You’re welcome.”
b. “I don’t care.”
c. “I don’t mind.”
d. “Yes, sure.”
2. In a Factory, Li, the guide, is interpreting for a group of foreign guests. When they have finished visiting one workshop, he would like the group to follow him to the next workshop. He says:
a. “This way, please.”
b. “Come here!”
c. “Follow me!”
d. “Move on!”
3. Xiao Ma is an interpreter. One day a foreign visitor, Mr. Brown, talks to him.
Mr. Brown: “Your English is quite fluent.” Ma:
a. “Thank you. It is kind of you to say so.”
b. “No, not at all.”
c. “No, no, my English is poor.”
d. “Oh, no. Far from that, I still have a long way to go.”
4. Which topic is more appropriate to discuss immediately after an introduction?
a. Politics
b. Religion
c. Marital status
d. Occupation
5. When introducing yourself to someone you don’t know at a party, what would you say?
a. “Hi, I’m_____________.”
b. “Hi, I’d like to meet you.”
c. “Maybe I introduce myself to you and at the same time I make your acquaintance.”
d. “Hi, I’m _____________. Do you know many people here?”
6. You’ve just been asked out to dinner but you don’t want to go with the person who invited you. You might say:
a. “I don’t think so. I already have plans.”
b. “No, I really don’t enjoy being with you.”
c. “I’m dieting so I mustn’t go out to eat.”
d. “Thanks a lot but I’m busy tonight.”
7. Mr. Green’s secretary, Pat Kent, went to the airport to meet Mr. Barnes for her boss.
Miss Kent:
a. “Excuse me, would you be Mr. Barnes?”
b. “Are you Mr. Barnes?”
c. “You are Mr. Barnes, aren’t you?”
d. “Excuse me, would you please tell me if you are Mr. Barnes?”
8. Patrick is sitting in a car with some friends. He has just asked if anyone minds him smoking. One of the friends in the car, Gillian, is allergic to smoke. What would she say?
a. “No, of course not.”
b. “Can’t you stay without smoking?”
c. “Would you mind if I said no, Patrick?”
d. “It’s not OK.”
9. If your English teacher uses a Latin word you don’t know, you might say:
a. “Please repeat.”
b. “I am sorry. What did you say just now?”
c. Nothing and pretend that you have understood.
d. “I’m sorry, I didn’t understand what you said. Could you please repeat that last word?”
10. In London, you want to go to the Heathrow Airport by taxi, you say to the taxi man:
a. “Excuse me, would you possibly take me to Heathrow Airport?”
b. “Excuse me, would you mind taking me to Heathrow Airport?”
c. “Heathrow airport, please.”
d. “Would you please take me to Heathrow airport?”
11. If you were invited to an American friend’s house for dinner, what would be the best time to arrive?
a. 15 minutes later than the appointed time.
b. 15 minutes earlier than the appointed time.
c. On time or 5 minutes late.
d. One hour earlier than the appointed time.
12. At a party or social occasion, when it was time for you to leave someone’s home, which of the following is not true?
a. You would say: “It’s getting late and I’d better be going.”
b. You would wait until the host said something.
c. You would say: “I’m sorry, I have to leave now.”
d. You would make up an excuse (e.g. I have to get up early tomorrow, etc.) and thank the hosts.
13. Xiao Ma is an interpreter. One day a foreign visitor, Mr. Brown, talks to him.
Mr. Brown: “Your English is quite fluent.” Ma:
a. “Thank you. It is kind of you to say so.”
b. “No, not at all.”
c. “No, no, my English is poor.”
d.“Oh, no. Far from that, I still have a long way to go.”
14 You’ve been having digestive problems for a week, and have just started to feel better. You meet a British friend at a party. Your friend says, “How are you?” What should you not do?
a. Start talking in detail about your problem.
b. Say, “Fine, thanks. How are you?”
c. Say, “Not bad, thanks. How are you?”
d. Nothing.
15. How would a host indicate to a guest that it was time to leave?
a. The host would announce: “It’s time to leave.”
b. The host would start cleaning up.
c. The host would start yawning.
d. The host wouldn’t say anything, so the guest would leave at a time he thought was reasonable.
16. Nobody can persuade him to do that. He is very stubborn.
a. as stubborn as a mule
b. as stubborn as a cow
c. as stubborn as a goose
d. as stubborn as a duck
17. _____ refers to one’s sense of belongs to a particular culture or ethnic group.
a. Cultural identity b. Cultural value c. Cultural norm d. Subculture
15. is the first stage of the culture shock where everything is new and exciting.
a. Reintegration stage b. Gradual adjustment stage
c. Honeymoon stage d. Crisis stage
18. _____ is the environment in which the communication takes place and which helps define the communication.
a. Context b. Source c. Receiver response d. Feedback
19. ______ refers to negatively judging aspects of another culture by the standards of one’s own culture.
a. Patriotism b. Ethnocentrism c. Culturecentrism d Racecentrism
20. In the _____ culture, the interest of the individual prevails over the interests of the group.
a. masculinity b. femininity c. individualism d. collectivism
21. Which topic is more appropriate to discuss immediately after an introduction?
a. Politics b. Religion d. Marital status d. Occupation

Part II Case Analysis
Directions ：You are required to state cultural phenomenon in each case.

Part III Reading Comprehension
Directions: Read the following text and answer the questions briefly.
Context is probably the most important cultural dimension and also the most difficult to define. It is a concept developed by cultural anthropologist Edward I. Hall. In his model, context refers to the stimuli, environment, or ambience surrounding an event. Communicators in low-context cultures (such as those in North America, Scandinavia, and Germany) depend little on the context of a situation to convey their meaning. They assume that listeners know very little and must be told practically everything. In high-context cultures (such as those in Japan, China, and Arab countries), the listener is already "contextual" and does not need to be given much background information. Low-context cultures tend to be logical, analytical, and action oriented. Business communicators stress clearly articulated messages that they consider to be objective, professional, and efficient. High-context cultures are more likely to be intuitive and contemplative. Communicators in high-context cultures pay attention to more than the words spoken. They emphasize interpersonal relationships, nonverbal expression, physical setting and social setting. They are more aware of the communicator’s history, status, and position. Communication cues are transmitted by posture, voice inflection, gestures, and facial expression. Establishing relationships is an important part of communicating and interacting.
In terms of thinking patterns, low-context communicators tend to use linear logic. They proceed from Point A to Point B to Point C and finally arrive at a conclusion. High-context communicators, however, may use spiral logic, circling around a topic indirectly and looking at it from many tangential or divergent viewpoints. A conclusion may be implied but not argued directly.
Members of high-context culture are more collectivists. They emphasize membership in organizations, groups, and teams; they encourage acceptance of group values, duties, and decisions. They typically resist independence because it fosters competition and confrontation instead of consensus. In group-oriented cultures like many Asian Societies, for example,
Self-assertion and individual decision-making are discouraged. "The nail that sticks up gets pounded down" is a common Japanese saying. Business decisions are often made by all who have competence in the matter under discussion. Similarly, in China management also focus on the group rather than on the individual, preferring a "consultative" management style to an autocratic style.
1. According to cultural anthropologist Edward I. Hall, what does context refer to?

2. Do communicators in Germany depend much on the context of a situation to convey their meaning?

3. What do people in high-context cultures emphasize while communicating?

4. What are the differences between the low-context and high-context communicators in thinking patterns?

5. Why do members of high-context cultures resist independence?

Culture is an intriguing concept. Although we can easily read a definition of it, when we begin to consider that definition and what it implies, culture becomes a prodigious and commanding notion. Formally defined, culture is the deposit of knowledge, experiences, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, timing, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a large group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving. Culture manifests itself in patterns of language and in forms of activity and behavior that act as models for both the common adaptive acts and the styles of communication that enable us to live in a society within a given geographic environment at a given state of technical development at a particular moment in time. It also specifies and is defined by the nature of material things that play an essential role in common life. Such things as houses, instruments and machines used in industry and agriculture, forms of transportation, and instruments of war provide a material foundation for social life. Although this definition is considerable and covers a wide range of human endeavor, we can easily see that culture is persistent, enduring, and omnipresent, and that is includes all of the behavioral reinforcements that we receive during the course of our lifetime. Culture also helps dictate the form and structure of our physical realm, and it encompasses and specifies the social environment permeating our lives.
The effect of culture on our lives is largely unrealized. Over the period of time we have been raised in our culture, many of the influences culture has had on us have become buried in the primitive portions of our brains beneath the neocortex, where they largely are below our levels of awareness. Whether any cultural knowledge is transmitted by heredity is unknown, but even this possibility cannot as yet be ruled out. Perhaps another way to understand cultural influence is by way of analogy with electronic computers: As we program computers to do what they do, our culture to a great extent programs us to do what we do and to be what we are. Our culture affects us in a deterministic manner from conception to death—and even after death in terms of funeral rites.
The effect of this cultural influence is found in our everyday modes of behavior and on our communication practices. Culture includes all of the behavioral reinforcements we receive during our lifetime, and it is through rewarding reinforcements that we learn how to act and how to communicate in a manner that is both effective and acceptable within our cultural context. Of course, culture is not the sole determinant of beh communication. There are also many social, physical, and psychological factors that motivate our behavior. But, these various motivating forces occur within specific cultural contexts. In a sense, the influence of culture on communication can be summed up by the idea that what we talk about and how we talk about it is for the most part determined by the culture in which we have lived.
Questions
1. How is culture manifested?

2. According to the author, is it true to say that communication is completely determined by culture? Quote the text to support your answer.

3. Does the author anticipate any challenges of the views he states in the text? Quote the text to support your answer.

4. According to the author, does an individual contribute to the cultural deposit? Quote the text to support your answer.

5. According to the author, is it true to say that cultural values are hereditary? Quote the text to support your answer.

Time, as we know it, is a very recent invention. The modern time sense is hardly older than the United States. It is a byproduct of industrialism…
Time is our tyrant. We are chronically aware of the moving minute hand, even of the moving second hand. We have to be. There are trains to be caught, clocks to be punched, tasks to be done in specified periods, records to be broken by fractions of a second, machines that set the pace and have to be kept up with. Our consciousness of the smallest units of time is now acute. To us, for example, the moment 8:17 a.m. means something—something very important, if it happens to be the starting time of our daily train. To our ancestors, such an odd eccentric instant as without significance—did not even exist. In inventing the locomotive, Watt and Stephenson were part inventors of time.
Another time—emphasizing entity is the factory and its dependent, the office. Factories exist for the purpose of getting certain quantities of goods made in a certain time. The old artisan worked as it suited him; with the result that consumers generally had to wait for the goods they had ordered from him. The factory is a device for making workmen hurry. The machine revolves so often each minute; so many movements have to be made, so many pieces produced each hour. Result: the factory worker (and the same is true of the office worker) is compelled to know time in its smallest fractions. In the handwork age there was no such compulsion to be aware of minutes and seconds.
Our awareness of time has reached such a pitch of intensity that we suffer acutely whenever our travels take us into some corner of the world where people are not interested in minutes and seconds. The unpunctuality of the Orient, for example, is appalling to those who come freshly from a land of fixed mealtimes and regular train services. For a modern American or Englishman, waiting is a psychological torture. An Indian accepts the blank hours with resignation, even with satisfaction. He has not lost the fine art of doing nothing. Our notion of time as a collection of minutes, each of which must be filled with some business or amusement, is wholly alien to the Oriental, just as it was wholly alien to the Greek. For the man who lives in a pre-industrial world, time moves at a slow a