英文童话跨文化交际英语考试

2021年1月19日发(作者：指出)
Lesson 1

1. How do you understand the title

This
refers
to
the
situation
in
which
the
author
finds
himself.
He
is
a
child of an Indian father and English mother, so he has Indian citizenship.
He also has a Right of abode to work in the United Kingdom. At the same
time, he is an applicant for a U.S. Green Card.


2. What does globalization mean to different people?

Some
people
believe
that
globalization
will
improve
productivity
throughout
the
world,
and
as
the
world
becomes
richer
and
more
prosperous, living standards everywhere will have the potential to rise.
However,
some
people
take
the
opposite
view,
claiming
that
globalization will have increasingly devastating effects on human life.

3.

What do you think makes the author's situation different to that of
the
majority
of
Indians?
The
author
has
a
promising
job
in
marketing
and business development in a post-modern firm, a so- called network
company
that
is
held
together
through
e-mails
and
teleconferences
alone.
Therefore,
his
fate
is
not
that
of
a
corporate
foot- soldier,
and
even less like that of most other Indians, who are still poor.


4. What do migration and outsourcing mean from an economist's point
of view? Why?

An economist will not care about migration and outsourcing. According
to
theories
of
microeconomics,
free
exchange
will
move
resources
to
their highest valued use, and, as a result, it will maximize global output.
Under such conditions, migration and outsourcing are two sides of the
same
coin,
temporary
disequilibrium
conditions
that
will
lead
to
an
eventual equilibrium.


5. According to the author, what changes has the Industrial Revolution
brought?

The
author
thinks
that
the
Industrial
Revolution
has
brought
global
inequality.
Before
the
Industrial
Revolution.
poverty
was
equally
distributed throughout the globe, and the circumstances of a peasant in
India
and
of
one
in
Europe
were
fairly
similar.
When
the
Industrial
Revolution came, global inequality reached the point where the average
bachelors degree holder in India had to make do with a few dollars a day,
while
his
U.S.
counterpart
with
a
similar
educational
level
enjoyed
a
three-bedroom house, even if both were doing the same work.


6.
What
does
labor
supply
shift
due
to
globalization
mean
to
a
?

Due to labor shift, the labor market that an American worker faces is no
longer a local or national market,but an international one. He will face
more
pressure
from
foreign
labor,
and
his
wages
will
decrease
due
to
fierce competition throughout the world. Therefore, his life won't be so
easy as before.


7. Why does the author think that the backlash as a result of labor shift
in the U.S. and Europe will not go away easily?

He
believes
that
there
is
a
fundamental
contradiction
that
lies
at
the
heart
of
the
liberal
political
and
economic
order.
lt
is
difficult
to
coordinate
these
two
factors.
On
the
one
hand,
the
liberal
economic
order
demands
progression
towards
perfect
competition
which
ultimately
devalues
citizenship
rights.
On
the
other
hand.
the
liberal
political order is determined by the concert of nation-states. Therefore,
labor
shift
has
posed
a
big
problem
that
will
have
long-term
consequences.


8.
How
does
the
author
view
the
dilemma
that
the
economic
entrepreneur and the politician are facing? The economic entrepreneur
places
great
emphasis
on
meeting
the
demands
and
needs
of
the
consumer.
But
for
the
politician,
if
he
follows
what
the
economic
entrepreneur
is
doing,
a
protectionist
regime
could
easily
emerge.
The
reason
for
this
is
that
demand
for
protection
is
a
natural
reaction
to
declining
or
stagnant
income
levels.
The author
thinks
that
there
is
no
easy way out of this dilemma and only a good dose of common sense
and self-restraint can make matters less painful and difficult.





Lesson 2

1. What does the author intend to illustrate by telling us the story of
teaching the color white to a blind person?

The
man
failed
to
make
the
blind
friend
understand
the
color
white.
This tells us that if people do not share same experiences, it will be very
difficult for them to understand one another. Moreover, we should take
for granted that other people have the same perceptions of things as we
do .


2. According to the author, what makes up

The author thinks that culture is made up of those experiences which
we may not share and which may be different for all of us, such as the
habits of everyday life, the cues to which people respond, the automatic
reactions they have to whatever they see and hear.


did
the
Frenchman
make
the
wrong
assumption
about
the
American economic system?

There are two reasons: first, the economic system is not something that
can be immediately perceived, but the Frenchman judged from what he
saw;
second,
he
evaluated
what
he
saw
in
his
own
way,
but
didn’t
notice the potential differences.

4.

Are
misunderstandings
that
take
place
at
the
level
of
feelings
the
most serious ones? Why?

Yes. Because misunderstandings at the level of feelings often come not
from
ill
will,
but
from
good
will;
besides,
when
misunderstandings
at
this level take place, we hurt another person's feelings without wanting
to do it and without knowing that we are doing it.


5.
What
had
made
the
Japanese
young
man
change
his
view
about
Americans?

As
the
author
points
out,
it
is
a
question
of
different
rhythms
in
interpersonal relationships between Americans and Japanese. Americans
are the fast type and Japanese are the slow and life-long type.

6. How many types of individualism are mentioned in this article? What
are they?

Four
types
of
individualism
are
mentioned:
different
ideas
of
individualism
among
African
people,
American
people,
French
people,
and Mexican people.


7.
American
and
English
people
share
a
common
language,
but
differences can also be found between them. How do they differ in their
ideas of an ideal guest?

Typically, for an American, the ideal guest is one who
home, and helps himself without being asked. However, for the British,
an ideal guest is one that seeks to be treated simply as a guest.


8. What suggestions has the author offered us to deal with problems of
communication across cultures?

He
suggests
that
we
should
first
learn
to
appreciate
the
difference
in
cultural values, rather than seek to obtain more language skills or more
information about the mores of a particular culture.

Lesson3

1.
Why
did
the
author
pretend
not
to
hear
his
French
sister-in-
law’s
question
？


Because he wasn’
t exactly sure what she was asking
，
even though he
knew she was referring to his two-and-a half-year-old son who was then
chasing a ball on the beach.

2.
What
differences
are
there
between
French
and
American
child-rearing practices
？

The French perceive that humankind contains both good and evil
，
and
that children therefore need the guiding hand of rational adults in order
to
prepare
them
to
participate
properly
in
society
，
to
bring
out
the
positive in them and to control their innate negative tendencies. Children
must follow the rules. Americans, in contrast
，
tend to view humankind as
basically good
，
and are consequently more tolerant of children finding
their own way
，
learning from mistakes
，
trusting them to do what is right.


3. How does the author present cultural perspectives
？

He
presents
cultural
perspectives
as
a
combination
of
perceptions
，

values
，
beliefs
，
and attitudes. They are the explicit and implicit meanings
shared by members of the culture
，
manifested in products and practices.
In
a
sense
，
cultural
perspectives
can
explain
why
the
people
of
a
particular culture do things in the way they do.



‘’the
American
D
ream
＂
a
cultural
perspective
？

Is
it
seen
by
Americans as myth or reality
？

Yes
，

it is. Whether it is myth or reality
，

different Americans may see it
differently. Those who have really made it will see it as reality
，
but to
those who have failed, it may be just myth.