AtapsychologyconferenceinEnglandyearsago,awomansaidtome:“I’llknockyouupinthemorning.”Iwastakenabackbyherstrangesuggestion,butitoccurredtomethatImightnothaveunderstoodwhatshereallymeant.Asitturne
AtapsychologyconferenceinEnglandyearsago,awomansaidtome:“I’llknockyouupinthemorning.”Iwastakenabackbyherstrangesuggestion,butitoccurredtomethatImightnothaveunderstoodwhatshereallymeant.Asitturnedout,whatshehadmeantwas,“I’llknockonyourdoorinthemorningsothatwecanmeetforbreakfasttodiscussthepanelwe’reon.”
Thisexampleofthedifferenceinthemeaningof“knockyouup”inBritishandAmericanEnglishshowsthecomplicatedsituationsthatcanresultfromculturalmisunderstandings.Aculturalmisunderstandingoccurswhensomething—aword,gesture,object,socialcontext,oralmostanythingyoucanthinkof—hasadifferentmeaningintwocultures.Sometimesthemisunderstandingsgetresolved,sometimestheyleadnowhere,andsometimestheycanbecomethestartingpointofsomethingmuchmoreextreme,fromlovetowar.
Raceisoneareawhereculturalmisunderstandingsarecommon.WeAmericanstendtoassumethatracialcategoriesarebiologicalratherthansocial,soitmaynotoccurtousthatpeoplefromothercultureshaveadifferentsetofracialconceptsandclassifythemselvesandusdifferently.SomeAfricanAmericanscomplainthatcertainimmigrantsfromothercountries,suchasHaitiorJamaica,“actasiftheyaren’tblack.”Theculturalmisunderstandingisthat,intheimmigrants’countriesoforigin,theywouldneverdescribethemselvesas“black”.Thisdoesn’tmeanthattheythinktheyarewhite.Itjustmeansthattheircultureshavemorecategories,likemarabouorgrimaudinHaiti,orfairorbrowninJamaica,thanareusedintheUnitedStates.Meanwhile,whitepeopleinAmerica,unawareofthisculturaldiversity,sometimesrefertoalldarker-skinnedpeopleas“black”withoutrealizingthatanissueexists.
Resolvingculturalmisunderstandingscancleartheairorevenleadtolaughter.Sometimes,though,whenitcomestorace,unidentifiedculturalmisunderstandingscancreatetension,unhappinessanddistrust.
小题1:Themainpurposeofthefirstparagraphisto .A．showthatlanguagemisunderstandingswouldcausebigproblemsB．showthedifferencesbetweenBritishandAmericanEnglishC．explainin