Lines and Circles, West and East
NOTHING IN THE WORLD IS ABSOLUTE. Everything is relative, cultural difference being no exception. Culture, as the total pattern of human behavior and its products, oversteps geographical limits and historical conditions in many ways, and it is characterized by its strong penetrativeness and fusibility.
The advancement of the globalized economy and the rapidity and ease of modern communication, transportation, and mass media have resulted in an ever increasing exchange between cultures, unprecedented in scale, scope, and speed. Consequently, an increase in universality and a reduction in difference between cultures is an inevitable trend. It is no surprise to see phenomena characteristic of one culture existing in another. As a result, some people even fear that the world will become a dull place when all the different nationalities behave exactly alike.
Nevertheless, the “cultural sediment” formed through long-range accumulation is not to be easily removed, and the cultural tradition handed down from generation to generation shows great consistency and continuity. The cultures of different regions and nations still have their own distinctive peculiarities, and therefore significance still needs to be attached to the study of the individualities of different cultures against the background of their universality.
By and large, linearity and circularity can be used to indicate the major difference between Western and Chinese cultures. “Western culture” here is a general term, putting aside its interior regional diversities in order to contrast it with Chinese culture. A circle is a round enclosure. A line is a narrow continuous mark. The contrast between the linearity of Western culture and the circularity of Chinese culture embodies itself in such aspects as worldview, core value, outlook on time, and mode of thinking.
这段文字绝对可以，是我原来的《商务英语》课本上的。不过既然是照搬课本，你拿去能用吗？呵呵。
One way in which Eastern culture differs greatly from Western culture is in the concept of “personal space”.It would appear that all people have a kind of “space bubble” around them which they do not to see invaded；yet the size of this “space bubble” varies considerably according to their cultural background.
Several researchers have noted that in general people from Eastern countries stand much closer to one another than Westerners do.For instance，Arabs tend to stand around 40 or 50 centimeters apart，whereas Americans seem to prefer a distance of approximately 100 centimeters.
Another example of this is the way that people behave in public places.As a rule Easterners do not seem to mind moving or standing together in groups.Instead，even when it is unnecessary to crowd together they may still do so；for example，when getting onto an empty bus. On the other hand，Westerners generally avoid crowds.In public places they deliberately distance themselves from strangers.
These different habits also influence people's attitudes to interaction . On a Chinese train journey passengers quickly establish relationships with each other and spend the time joking and chatting amiably.Conversely，Westerners may avoid talking to strangers.On a train journey in Britain the passengers will often choose to reinforce their privacy by reading or looking out of the window.
The desire to maintain privacy is a lot stronger inWestern society. This is particularly notable at times of crisis，such as when people are depressed or unwell.When Westerners are ill they often seek solitude. This attitude is quite unlike that of Asians，who expect friends and family to gather around them and look after them when they are sick.
抄完了，好累啊！呵呵。
这段文字是说东西方人与人之间不同的距离。
比如阿拉伯人站在一起时，彼此距离可能只有四五十厘米，美国人就要大约1米。
在中国的火车上大家会很快和周围的乘客聊天，说笑。在英国的火车上人们一般不和陌生人说话，都会选择看报纸或者看窗外。
西方人如果生病了，他不愿意被人打扰。而中国人生病了就希望亲戚、朋友都在自己周围，都来看望自己。
总体是讲人们之间的社交距离，以及对于隐私的保护。
I.
Cultural differences on politeness between western and Chinese can be found in many aspects of daily communication, including addressing, greeting and parting,compliments, apologies, thanks, etc. In the following, we will look at some cultural different between China and western.
1.Greeting and Parting
When people meet acquaintances or friends, people usually greet each other
. The purpose of greeting is to establish or maintain social contact. So formulaic expressions are often used, but such formulaic expressions often causes conflict because of the great cultural differences between Chinese and native English speakers. In English, people often employ the following expressions to greet each other “Good morning/evening/afternoon. “Fine day, isn’t it? ”How is everything going?” Have you eaten yet?” What are you going to do?” Where have you
been?”etc. Westerners treat them as real question. While in Chinese, we always say “你吃了吗？”“你上哪里去？”“你干什么去？”to show our consideration. Parting may be divided into two steps. Before the final prating, there is usual a leave-taking. Western and Chinese cultures have diverse ways to deal with leave-takings. Firstly, in English society, during the closing phase of an encounter, from ”I” perspective, reasons for terminating the encounter are presented in mitigatory comments. Typical comments are associated with expressions of apology,
such as “I” am afraid I must be off, I have to relieve the baby-sitter” etc.
Western people believe that to be willing to visit and converse with someone is to have respect for him.; to terminate the visiting is not of one’s own free will, but because of some other arrangements, therefore they always try to make their leaving sound reluctant by finding some reasons and apologize for it to make the leaving acceptable for both parties. English speakers often signal several times before leaving. “Well, it’s been nice to see you again. I do enjoy our talk and the lovely dinner, but I must be going soon”. Thank you very much for
asking me over. I hope we’ll be able to get together again before long…” Consolidation in a wider range of common acquaintances also occurs, in expressions such as “Say hello to Jack for me” or “Remember me to John”. In Chinese society, during the closing phase of and encounter, usually, from a “you ”perspective, reasons for ending the encounter are set forth in mitigatory expressions. Such expressions include“你挺忙的，我就不多打扰了。”“你一定累了，早点休息吧，我
要告辞了。”, etc. With these words, they may stand up from their seats. Chinese leave-taking is very short and quick. Western people think it so abrupt that they have not prepare for it. While moving to the door, Chinese employ expressions of apology like“对不起没，打扰了。”“对不起，占用你不少时间。”It should be noted that these expressions employed by Chinese guests to show concern for their hosts can only be appropriate for business visits in the English environment2..AddressingBoth western and Chinese people have two kinds of personal names---a surname and
a given name. But the order and the use of these names in the two languages are somewhat different. In Chinese, the surname comes first and then the given name. And people like add“小”before their family name. Such as“小王”、“小郑”、“小李”、“小徐”and so on.. While westerners names are written and spoken with the given name first and the family name last. So John Smith's family name is Smith, not John. In a formal setting, address men as "Mister" (abbreviated as "Mr."), married women as "Misses" (abbreviated as "Mrs."), and unmarried women as "Miss" (abbreviated as "Ms."). These days many women prefer to be addressed using
the abbreviations "Ms." or "M.", pronounced "miz". If the person has an M.D. or Ph.D., they will often be addressed as "Doctor" (abbreviated as "Dr."). Faculty are addressed as "Professor" (abbreviated as "Prof.").In an informal situation,westerners will introduce each other by first name, without titles, and occasionally by just the last name. If you are introduced to somebody by first name, you can address him or her by first name the next time you meet. The only exception would be for someone who holds an important position, such as the university president or provost. Unless they tell you otherwise, faculty should be addressed
using their title and last name (e.g., "Professor Smith"). When in doubt, use the formal manner of address, since it is better to err on the side of formality.
It is also appropriate to ask how they prefer to be addressed. Children should always address adults in the formal fashion, using their title and last name.
Another difference is about the form of addressing. From the viewpoint of sociolinguistics, forms of addressing can serve as an indication of the relationship of power and solidarity in the society. In calling their superiors or elders, the Chinese are accustomed to the nonreciprocal or asymmetrical addressing, in other words. They use “title +surname” to address their superior or elders rather than call them surnames, while the superior or elders call the addressers their names. The Chinese tend to abide by the polite principle of depreciating oneself and respecting others to show appropriate respects towards the persons being addressed, otherwise, the addresser may be considered as ill mannered, ill educated or rude. But in English speaking countries, people have a tendency to follow the reciprocal or symmetrical addressing. Although they are different in age and status, they can call the other directly, namely, their names, even first names except when they call the doctors, not arousing offence between them, but demonstrating the sense of intimacy and the conception of” Everyone is created equal”. Chinese people feel unnatural addressing a westerner by his given name, feeling that it indicates too close a relationship, and westerners, on the other hand,
may feel that if a Chinese insists on using his surname, it indicates an unwillingness to be friendly and maintains a gap between them. So the use of forms like” Miss Mary” or “Mr. Smith ” may be a Chinese forms of compromise. With Miss Mary, the use of the given name indicates friendliness, but the addition of the title indicates the respect they feel they ought to show. And with Smith, the lack of a title indicates friendliness, but the use of the surname prevents if sounding too intimate. However, both addressing used by the Chinese sound very strange and uncomfortable to the westerner.
3.Compliments and ResponseTo compliment is to praise the addressee’s virtues, ability, behavior, appearance, clothing, personality and belongs. Appropriate compliments can serve as effective supplementary means in inter-personal communication. Western and Chinese culture are at polar opposites about compliment. An western hostess, if she is complimented for her cooking skill, is likely to say,” Oh, I am so glad that you liked it. I cook it especially for you.” Not so is a Chinese hostess, who will instead apologize for giving you “Nothing”. They will say“随便作几个菜，不好吃。”If translate this into English“I just made some dishes casually and they are not very tasty. Perhaps the foreigner will think why you invite me to you family and have the untasty food. You aren't respect me. The English-speaking people are more active to praise others and to be praise than Chinese people. For example, the Americans are “straight forwardness”, the Chinese take pride in “modesty”. That modesty has left many a Chinese hungry at an Americans table, for Chinese politeness calls for three refusals before one accepts an offer and the Americans hosts take ”no ” to mean “no ”, whether it is the first, second or third time. Still bigger differences exist in people’s attitude towards compliments, i.e., in the response to compliments. Chinese are tend to efface themselves in words or refuse it, although they do feel comfortable about the compliments . So many westerners simply feel puzzled or even upset when their Chinese friends refused their compliments. The Chinese people are not intending to be modest with the sacrifice of friendship in so doing, but it is rather
due to the traditional Chinese philosophy, that of modesty. The Chinese people regard modesty as a most valuable virtue, so they seldom agree to the compliment on their own.
一般情况下你论文的第一部分就是绪论即要介绍你整篇论文的目的和意义，还要表明你的观点以及论证的论点的方法途径。正文主要就是提出问题-----分析问题-----解决问题了。我写论文的时候 无意间找到了一个很大的一个叫知源论文的，里面有好多资料，可以参考的。
