Meetingpeoplefromanotherculturecanbedifficult.Fromthebeginning,peoplemaysendthewrongsignal（信号）.Ortheymaypaynoattentiontosignalsfromanotherpersonwhoistryingtodeveloparelationship.Differentculturesempha

　　Meetingpeoplefromanotherculturecanbedifficult.Fromthebeginning,peoplemaysendthewrongsignal（信号）.Ortheymaypaynoattentiontosignalsfromanotherpersonwhoistryingtodeveloparelationship.

　　Differentculturesemphasize（强调）theimportanceofrelationshipbuildingtoagreaterorlesserdegree.Forexample,businessinsomecountriesisnotpossibleuntilthereisarelationshipoftrust.Evenwithpeopleatwork,itisnecessarytospendalotoftimein"smalltalk",usuallyoveraglassoftea,beforetheydoanyjob．InmanyEuropeancountries--liketheUKorFrance--peoplefinditeasiertobuildupalastingworkingrelationshipatrestaurantsorcafesratherthanattheoffice.

　　Talkandsilencemayalsobedifferentinsomecultures.IoncemadeaspeechinThailand．Ihadexpectedmyspeechtobeasuccessandstartalivelydiscussion;insteadtherewasanuncomfortablesilence.Thepeoplepresentjuststaredatmeandsmiled．Aftergettingtoknowtheirwaysbetter,IrealizedthattheythoughtIwastalkingtoomuch.Inmyownculture,weexpressmeaningmainlythroughwords,butpeopletheresometimesfeeltoomanywordsareunnecessary.

　　EvenwithinNorthernEurope,culturaldifferencescancauseseriousproblems.Certainly,EnglishandGermanculturessharesimilarvalues;however,Germansprefertogetdowntobusinessmorequickly.Wethinkthattheyarerude.Infact,thisisjustbecauseoneculturestartsdiscussionsandmakesdecisionsmorequickly.

　　Peoplefromdifferentpartsoftheworldhavedifferentvalues,andsometimesthesevaluesarequiteagainsteachother.However,ifwecanunderstandthembetter,amulticulturalenvironment（多元文化环境）willofferawonderfulchanceforustolearnfromeachother.

　　小题1:Insomecountries,eatingtogetheratrestaurantsmaymakeiteasierforpeopleto_____.A．developcloserrelationsB．sharethesamecultureC．gettoknoweachotherD．keepeachothercompany小题2:TheauthormentionshisexperienceinThailandtoshowthat_________.A．theEnglishprefertomakelongspeechesB．toomanywordsareofnouseC．peoplefromThailandarequietandshybynature