跨文化案例選集

(完整word版)跨文化案例選集1(完整word版)跨文化案例選集1(完整word版)跨文化案例選集1Case1I’veNotConsideredMarriageYetJohn，28yearsold，anAustralianstudingChineseinBeijing，metLiHuaatadanceparty。LiHua,22,tookaninstantlikingtoJohnthefirsttimetheymet，astimewenton,theysawmoreandmoreofeachother.Aftersixmonthsorso,LiHuasuggestethatJohnmeetherparents.SincethiswasthefirsttimeJohnhadvisitedaChinesefamily,hebecamequitenervousthemomenthewasintroducedtoLiHua’sparents，eldersisterandsiser—in—law.SoonafterservinghimsomeChineseteaandfruit,LiHua’smotherbeganquestiongJohnabouthisbackground，hisfamilyandrelatives，aswellashiseconomicstatus。Johndidhisbesttoanswerallofthequestions，sometimesinbrokenChinese。Afewminuteslater，LiHua’sfatherturnedtowardsJohn,andaskedaverydirectquestion。HewantedJohntotellhimwhenhewouldmarryLiHuaandwherehewasgoingtoliveandwork.John,beingabitsurprisedatthequestion,repliedthathehadn'tthoughtaboutmarriage。LiHua’sfathergotveryupsetandangry.HestampedhisfootandaskedJohntoleave.AsJohnwasabouttoleave，LiHua'sfatherwarnedhimagainstseeinghisdaughteragain.Johnlert,withoutknowingwhathehaddonetoenragethefamily.QuestionsfordiscusssionHowcouldyouexplaintoLiHua’sparentsabouttherelationshipbetweenLiHuaandJohn?HowcouldyouexplaintoJohnLiHua’sparenets’behavior?Case2Canwetalkaboutus?Annaasksherfiance，Ben,“Canwetalkaboutus？”ImmediatelyBentensesup,seeingtrouble.Heprepareshimselfforanunpleasantconversationsandreluctantlyagrees。AnnathenthankesBenforbeingsosupportiveduringthelastfewmonthswhenshewasunderenormouspressureatherjob。Shetellehimshefeelscloserthanevertohim.ThensheinvitesBentotellherwhatmakeshimfeellovedandclosetoher.AlthoufhBenisrelievedtolearnthereisnocrisis，he’salsobaffled：“Ifthereisn’taproblem,whydowomenneedtotalkabouttherelationship?Ifit'sworking,letitbe.”QuestionsfordiscusssionCouldyouexplainwhyBenwasrelucatanttohaveatalkwithhisfiancee?Case3FeelingLeft—outAftergraduatingfromBeijingInternationalStudiesUniversity，ChenLiangpursuedanMAprogramatauniversityinBoston,theU。S.Eatlyinthesameprogram,hemadefriendswithsomeoftheAmericanstudentsstudyinginthesameprogram。Onedayafterclass,hisAmericanfriend，Dick,askedChentojoinhisintheuniversitycafeteria。OntheirwaytheyranintoDick'sgirlfriend，Lisa，whowasonherwaytoalecture.Walkingshouldertoshoulder,DickandLisacarriedonanintimateconversation，asiftheyhadn’tseeneachotherforages.Meanwhile，ChenLiangwaswalkingbehindthem,nottakingpartintheconversation.WhentheywerenearingthecafeteriaLisasaidshehadtoleaveforthelecture.Dickembracedherandgaveheralongandpassinatekiss.Seeingthis,Chenturnedawayandwalkedofftowardthecafeteria.WhenDicklookedup,hesawChenwalkingintothecageteria。DickwaspuzzledastowhyChendidn’twaitforhis，andwenttothecafeteriaalone。QuestionsfordiscusssionCouldyouexplaintoDickwhyChenLiangwalkedintothecafeteriawithoutwaitingforhim?Case4ShoesforStreetWalkingItissaidthatinRome，infrontofashoestore,therewassuchasigntoattractEnglish—speakingcustomers：Shoesforstreetwalking.Comeinandhaveafit.ThesigncaughttheattentionofmanyEnglish—speakingtourists,butnottolookattheshoesdisplayedinthewindows,buttoreadthesignandthenbreakoutintolaughter.TheItalianshopownerdidnotrealizethat“astreetwalker"meansaprostitute,while“tohaveafit”doesnotmeantohaveatry,buttobecomesuddenlyandviolentlyangryorupset.Nowondertheamusementandlaughter?。―engYanchangetal。,1989)QuestionfordiscussionWhydidtheItalianshopownermakesuchablunder？Case5ARogerwasthePersonnelExecutiveofalargeAmericanmultinationalfirm。In1996，RogerwasworkinginBraziltohelppromotetheirbusiness。Oneevening，therewasaparty,attendedbybothhisemployeesfromtheUnitedStatesandmanyBrazilianbusinesspeople。Attheparty,RogerbumpedintoRosalita,aBrazilianwomanhehadknownforsometime.RogergenerallyhadaverygoodimpressionofRosalitaandalwaysfeltateasewithher,sothathefeltfreetotelljokesandsharepersonalthoughts，andtalkaboutBrazilandBrazilianlifewithouthavingthejittersofoffendingRosalita.Duringtheparty，RosalitasaidtoRoger,“I’dliketointroduceyoutooneofmygoodfriends.Sheisaverycapablewomanandispresentlythinkingofworkinginajointventuresoshecanprovideabetterlivingforherlargefamily.Sheisverymuchinterestedinyourcompany.”Hearingthat,Rogersmiledandreplied，“OK,butIjusthopeIdon’tgethustled?！盪nfortunately,Roger'sreplymadeRosalitaquiteupset.Verysoonsheexcusedherselfaspolitelyasshecould，anddidnotspeakwithRogerfortherestoftheevening.QuestionfordiscussionRogerwasconfusedbyRosalita’sbehavior.Couldyougivehimanexplanation?Case6LookOut!AforeignstudentintheU.S。wassittingbyawindowreadingabook。Sheheardsomeoneyelling“Lookout！”,soshestuckherheadoutofthewindow.Justthenaboardhurtleddownfromabove,narrowlymissingher.Shelookedup,halfinangerandhalfinfright.Therewasamanontheroofdoingrepairs.“Didn'tyouhearmecall‘Lookout’?”hedemanded.“Yes，andthat’swhatIdid，”shereplied.QuestionsfordiscussionInthiscase,whatdoes“l(fā)ookout"mean?Couldyougiveasimilarcaselikethis？Case7DifferentAttitudesTowardaFlyinaBeerIfinthedininghall，aflywasseeninaglassofbeer，anEnglishmanwouldsay,“MayIhaveanother,please?”；aFrenchmanwouldpourthebeerout；aSpanishmanwouldputthemoneyonthetableandleavewithoutaword；aJapanesewouldsummonthemanagerandcriticize，“Doyoudoallyourbusinesslikethis?”；anArabwouldgivethebeertothewaiterandsay，“I'llbuyyouadrink?！?andthemorehumorousAmericanwouldsaytothewaiter，“Pleaseservetheflyandbeerseparately.Ifthecustomerlikesthefly，hecouldputitintohisbeerhimself?！盋ase8BorrowMoneyandLendMoneyWhileIwasstudyinginAmerica，ImetanAmericanclassmatenamedJimmy.OnedayIwaseagertobuyabook，butIdidnothaveenoughmoney,soIborrowedthreedollarsfromhim.Beforehelentmethethreedollars，Jimmyaskedmethreetimes,“Areyousureyouwillreturnthemoneytome?”Fourdayslater，hekeptremindingmeabouttheloanuntilIpaidhimbackthemoney。Interestinglyenough，weekslaterheborrowed$30frommeandsaidhewouldpaymebackinaweek。Afteronemonth,therewasnosignofthemoneysoIremindedhim。Tomysurprise,hesaid,“I’msorry,whydidn’tyouremindmeearlier?”andreturnedthemoneyinstantly。Americansdon'treadilygivemoneytoothersnorreceiveothers’readily。IfyoulentmoneytoanAmericangenerously，andsaid，“Don'tmentionitagain。Youdon'thavetopaymeback?！?，hewouldbeangryandthinkyouwerelookingdownonhim，notbelievinghisabilitytorepaythemoney。Case9TwelveCupsofTeaWhenIfirstwenttoHongKong，IhadnoideaaboutChinesetea—drinkingandfoundmyselfcaughtinaveryawkwardsituation。IvisitedaChinesefamilyandwasimmediatelygivenacupoftea。IwasnotthirstyandIdidnotparticularlylikethattypeoftea,butoutofpolitenessIfinishedthecup。ButthemoreIdrank，themoreIwasgiven.IkeptinsistingthatIdidnotwantanymore,butthehosttooknonotice。Idrankabouttwelvecupsofteathatafternoon!ThehostmusthavethoughtthatIwasverygreedy，butIdidnotknowhowtoavoidgettingmoreteapoured.(HelenOatey,1988）Case10Haveyouhadyourlunch?Whereareyougoing?WhenIfirstwenttoHongKonganumberofyearsago,IhadnoideaabouttheChineselanguageortheChineseculture。Shortlyaftermyarrival,Iwenttothebankonmywaytoschool。IwasextremelysurprisedwhenthebankclerkaskedmeifIhadhadlunch.InBritishculture，thequestionwouldberegardedasanindirectinvitationtolunch,andbetweenunmarriedyoungpeopleitindicatesayoungman’sinterestindatingagirl.Sincehewasacompletelystranger，Iwasquitetakenaback。Iproceededtoschoolandwasevenmoresurprisedwhenoneoftheteachersaskedmethesamequestion.BynowIrealizedthatitcouldnotbeaninvitation,butIwaspuzzledastowhytheykeptaskingit.Inthefollowingdays，asIwasaskedthequestionagainandagain，Icametotheconclusionthatpeoplemustbeconcernedaboutmyhealth。Iwassomewhatunderweight,andIassumedtheymustbeworriedthatIwasnoteatingproperly。Onlylater,didIfindoutthatthequestionhadnorealsignificanceatall,itwasmerelyagreeting。Case11LiHongzhang’sEmbarrassmentLiHongzhang,oneofthetopofficialsintheQingDynasty，wasinvitedtovisittheUnitedStates。Hewaswarmlywelcomed.Oneday,LiwashostingabanquetfortheAmericanofficialsinapopularrestaurant.Asthebanquetstarted,accordingtotheChinesecustom,Listoodupandsaid,“Iamveryhappytohaveallofyouheretoday。Thoughthesedishesarecoarseandnotdeliciousandgoodenoughtoshowmyrespectforyou,Ihopeyouwillenjoythem…"（今天承蒙各位光臨，不勝榮幸。我們略備粗饌，聊表寸心,沒有什么可口的東西，不成敬意，請大家多多包涵。。。。.。）Thenextday，theEnglishversionofhiswordswasshowninthelocalnewspaper.Tohisshock，therestaurantownerflewintoarage。HethoughtitwasaninsulttohisrestaurantandinsistedthatLishouldshowhimtheevidenceofwhichdishwasnotwell—madeandwhichdishwasnotdelicious.Otherwise,Liintentionallydamagedthereputationoftherestaurants,andheshouldapologize.AllthefussmadeLiratherembarrassed.Case12Litzisaprofessorofcross—culturalcommunicationinauniversityinFinland。SheinvitedherChinesestudentshomeforaneveningparty。TheschemafromLitz’spointofviewincludesthefollowing：1.

Givinginvitation:byphone/bymail2.

Prepareeverythingbeforethearrivalofguests3.

Receivingguests:openthedoor/expresswelcome/taketheirovercoats/introduceguests/offerthemdrinks/makethemcomfortable4.

Servingfood：setthetable/soupfirst/maincourse/desert5.

Postdinneractivities：chat/playmusic/offermoredrinks6.

Seeingguestsoff:thankthemforcoming/goodnightLitz’seveningpartywasnotverysuccessful，becauseshewasupsetbyoneofherguests.HerewastheinitialconversationbetweenLitzandLin：Litz：（opensthedoor)Oh,Lin，howniceyoucouldcome！Lin:It’snotdifficulttofindyourhouse。Litz:Comeonin。Lin:(comesin)Litz:CanItakeyourcoat？Lin:No，thanks。Litz:Ok，thiswayplease.Lin：(takeoffhercoatandhangsit）Analysis：LitzwashurtbecauseLindidnotletherhanghercoat。Litz’sofferingtohangLin’scoatisoneofLitz’sways(it’sonLitz'sschema）.OnLin'sside,shethoughtthatLitzwashersupervisorandthatitwasinappropriatetolethersupervisorhanghercoat。Herewehaveaninstanceofoneactionattachedwithdifferentculturalvalues。Case13FindinganInterestedBuyerGeorageHallwasinBeijingattendingatradefairandlookingforanopportunitytodobusinessinChina.HehadbeenverysuccessfulinhisbusinessdealingsintheUSandpridedhimselfonhisability“togetthingsmoving。”Hisfirstdaywasgoingwell。Helookedaroundatthedisplaysofsportingequipmenttogetsomeideaofwhomhemightapproach。Hewassurethathisproducts,tennisracketswithanunusualnewdesign，wouldarousesomeinterests。Ontheseconddayheapproachedthecompanywhichhefeltwouldbemostresponsivetohisproducts.Heintroducedhimselftothegeneral，aMr。Li。SincehehadreadthatChinesefindgettingdowntobusinessimmediatelytooabruptandrude,hebeganacasualconversation,eventuallyleadinguptothetopicofhisproductsandsuggestinghowMr。Li’scompanymightbenefitfromusingthem。GeorgethensuggestedthathecouldarrangetogettogetherwithMr。Liandprovidemorespecificsanddocumentationonhisproducts。Mr。LirespondedinfairlygoodEnglish，”Thatwouldbeinteresting.”KnowingthathehadonlyafewdaysleftinBeijing,Georgewantedtonaildownatime，"Whencanwemeet?”askedGeorge?！癆h.Thisweekisverybusy，”repliedMr。Li?！癐tsureis,”saidGeorge，”Howabout10o’clock?Meetyouhere.”“Tomorrowat10o'clock？”askedMr。Lithoughtfully?！癛ight,"saidGeorge,“I'llseeyouthen?”“Hmm,yes；whydon’tyoucomebytomorrow，”wasthereply.“OK,”respondedGeorge，”Itwasnicemeetingyou.”Thenextdayat10o’clockheapproachedMr。Li’scompany’sexhibitonlytofindthatMr.LihadsomeimportantbusinessandwasnotabletomeetwithGeorge.HecalledbacklaterinthedayandwastoldthatMr。Liwasnotavailable。Analysis：英美人士做事情講究守時。而中國人不太重視這方面。本案列中，李先生不僅沒有準時接見預約的客戶，甚至放了他“鴿子”。Case14ProfessorLianghaswrittenabookonChinesecultureinChinese。HisbookisputondisplayinBeijingInternationalBookFair'96。ProfessorLiangwouldliketohavehisbooktranslatedintoEnglishandsubmittedtoThompsonPublishers.ProfessorLianghasaskedLiYan,whomhemeetsregularlyintheEnglishCorner,tohelphimtotalktoPeterAllright，aThompsonrepresentative。Prof。Liang：奧萊特先生，這是鄙人的拙作.LiTan：Mr.Allright,thisaclumsybookwrittenbyyourhumbleservant。MrAllright:No,no,no，you'renotmyhumbleservant.WedonotpublishbooksinChinese.LiYan（toProfessorLiang）:不，不，不，你不是我的仆人，我們不出中文書。ProfessorLiang:我要請李艷翻譯成英文。LiYan(toMr。Allright）：ProfessorLiangwillaskmetotranslateitintoEnglish.Mr。Allright：Mmthat’sinteresting。Analysis:Chineseauthorsalmostalwaysbelittletheirworksbydescribingthemasclumsywritings，andtheyusethesamedescriptionwhentheypresentthemtoChinesepublishers.Butthiswillbecounter—productiveinEnglish。Instead，authorsshouldpointoutthemeritsoftheirworksratherthan“clumsiness”.Case15Jane,anAmericanteacherintheUS，hadjuststartedteachingEnglishtoagroupofJapanesestudents。Shewantedtogettoknowthestudentsmoreformally，sosheinvitedthemtoherhouseforparty.Thestudentsallarrivedtogetheratexactly8:00p。m。Theyseemedtoenjoytheparty:theydanced,sang，andatemostofthefood.Atabout10:00p.m，oneofthestudentssaidtotheteacher,“Ithinkit’stimeformetoleave.Thankyouverymuchfortheparty?！盩henalltheotherstudentsgotuptogo，andallleftatthesametime.Janedecidedshewouldneverinvitethemagain!Analysis：在日本以及其他很多的亞洲國家里，年輕人通常成群結隊的一起去參加一些社交聚會,然后一道離去。在他們看來這是很正常不過的事.然后Jane認為這是一種侮辱,因為他們在同一時間里一下子全部離開了。在美國以及其他一些英語國家，晚上10點離開一個聚會相對來說是比較早的。Case16FourSecretariesandTheirJobsFourclassmatesfromatopChineseuniversityalltookjobsassecretariesaftergraduation.Fiveyearslaterthefourformerclassmateshadareunionanddiscussedtheirjobs.ChenQiandDaiYunbothworkasbilingualsecretariesforaFinnishcompanyinBeijing.ChenQiissecretarytotheFinngeneralmanger，andDaiYunissecretarytotheChineselocalmanger,apositiononlyslightlylowerthanthatoftheFinnmanger.ZhangYingisfromapoliticallyprominentfamilyandwashiredasthesecretarytotheleaderofasmallgovernmentbureauinthecapitalcityofherhomeprovince。LuYanworksforastaterunenterpriseinthesamecitywhereshewashiredasthesecretarytothenewmanagerforinternationalmarketing。ThecompanyhasnevermarketeditsproductsabroadbeforesothisofficeandLuYan'spositionarenewtothecompany。FiveyearslaterChenQiissatisfiedwithherjobwiththeFinnishcompanybutDaiYunisnot。TheFinnmanagerreceivesordersfromthecompany'shomeofficeinFinland，andhegivesorderstothosebelowhiminChina，includinghissecretaryChenQi.Hetellsherhowhewantshistimescheduledandshethenmakesappointmentsforhimaccordingtohisinstructions。ShetranslatesmemosandotherdocumentsandinterpretsfromChinesetoEnglishtoChinese.IfthemanagerdoesnotthinkChenQihasdoneherworkwell，hetellsherrightaway。Heisverydemanding，butChenQifeelsthatsheknowswhatherdutiesareandknowswhathermanagerexpects。Sheisconfidentthatsheisdoingagoodjob.DaiYunoftendoesnothaveasmuchworktodoasChenQidoes,becauseherbossscheduleshisownappointmentsanddoesalotoftheofficepaperworkhimself。Whenheisoutoftownshehastimetostudyforthegraduateentranceexam.However，sheisnotsurewhetherornotsheisdoingagoodjob.Hermanagertellsherwhatsheisexpectedtodo，buthedoesthisdaybyday。Whenpeoplecallorcometotheofficetoseeherboss，shegreetstheminEnglishorChineseasnecessary。Shereceivestheirmemosandothermessagesaswellastheirquestionsandrequestsandpassesthemontohermanager.DaiYunthinksofherjobasdoingwhathermanagerwantshertodo。Shepayscloseattentiontohismoodsandbehavior，andsometimessheisabletoanticipatewhathewouldlikewithouthimtellingher。Analysis：許多中國人在外企工作，不同國家的外企領導有不同的工作作風和標準。本案列中，戴云給不同的外國上司做秘書，在工作中出現(xiàn)由于不同的文化沖突而引起的各種工作以及溝通中的問題就很常見了.Case17OnecoldwinterdayinaChinesecity,WangLinonhiswaytothelibrarymetanAmericanprofessorwhoknewverylittleaboutChina。Aftergreetinghim,Wangsaid:“It'srathercold。You’dbetterputonmoreclothes?！盉uttheprofessordidn'tappearhappyonhearingthis。Analysis：美國人以及大部分西方國家的人們不喜歡被告知要怎么做怎么做,他們比較喜歡獨立，然而中國人則習慣關心別人，這個案例中王林的建議表達的就是一種對他人的關心，可是美國教授卻不習慣這樣的表達.Case18Inagoodrestaurant，fourteenpeoplearegatheredtosaygoodbyetotheirprofessor,whoismovingtoanotheruniversity.Steven:MayIhaveyourattentionplease？I’dliketocalluponBentosayafewwords。Ben:Thankyou，Steven。ProfessorTonightisoneofthoseparadoxes—-—it’sasadtimeandyetit’sahappytime。Sad,because.Wearelosingoneofourbestprofessors；happybecausewearepleasedtoseeProfessorgaintherecognitionthatherichlydeserves。I’mnotsurewhowillbeabletocontrolusandkeepusinline.Ithinkthenewprofessorwillhaveadifficulttime.Andsurelynoonewillbeabletotelljokesinthesamewayasyou，Professor。Seriously，weallknowthatyouwillbedifficulttoreplace。Yourscholarlyapproachandyourdedicationwillalwaysberemembered.Iwouldthereforeliketoproposeatoast。Colleagues,pelasechargeyourglasses。Professoryourfuturebefilledwillgreatsuccess,andmayyoualwaysrememberus.Weknowwewillneverforgetyou.ToProfessorAll：（Standingup)ToProfessorShore！（Everyonedrinks.Professorsmilesatthemall。）Analysis：就餐時總是要在各種緣由下向人敬酒：可以是非正式的，向朋友或同事敬酒；也可以是正式的,向全體聚會的人敬酒。與中國式的敬酒大不相同的是，在西方正式的敬酒時,受敬的人是不能喝酒的，而是正襟危坐，兩眼睜睜看別人喝酒。另一個不同是：無論正式還是非正式，敬酒的人不必走過去敬酒，而是在自己的座位處站起來敬酒。敬酒時開始的語言永遠是：“向…”，而其他隨敬酒的人重復敬酒人的第一句話(即“向…”），然后喝一口酒.敬酒時如果舉了杯，說了敬詞，而實際上沒有喝酒，就會被看做十分不恭的行為,在很久以前甚至于被認為是一種侮辱，是不想加入敬酒的儀式。Case19AnAmericanwenttoChinesehome.Hewasofferedsometea。Justwhenthefirstcupwasabouttofinish,moreteawasadded。Thevisitordrankthesecondcup.Thenthecupwasfilledthethirdtime.Thenhedrankit,then…untilthevisitorwasquitefull。Why？Analysis:在中國的傳統(tǒng)文化習俗里，主任通常會不斷給客人倒水倒茶，或者不斷地給客人的盤子里加食物以表示他的熱情好客.面對的這樣的情況，中國客人知道如何處理，在他們覺得吃飽喝足之后,就會隨它放在桌上。而美國客人就不懂了，在美國,在自己的盤子里剩下食物是不禮貌的,于是他出于遵循美國文化理念可能會在這樣的招待中吃的過多。Case20DinnerwithFriendJaniceisayoungAmericanengineerworkingforamanufacturingjointventurenearNanjing.SheandherhusbandGeorge，whoisteachingEnglishatauniversity，arelearningChineseandenjoyingtheirnewlife。TheyhavebeeneagertogettoknowChinesepeoplebettersotheywerepleasedwhenLiuLingling，Janice’syoungco—workerinvitedthemtoherhomefordinner.WhenJaniceandGeorgearrived,LinglingintroducedthemtoherhusbandYangFeng,askedthemtositdownatatablecontaining8platesofvariouscolddishes，servedthemteaandthendisappearedwithherhusbandintothekitchen。AfterafewminutesLinglingcamebackandaddedwatertotheirtea。JaniceofferedtohelpinthekitchenbutLinglingsaidshedidn’tneedhelp.SheinvitedthecoupletolookattheirnewCDplayerandtheircolorfulTVandthendisappearedagain。Ahalf—hourlatershecamebackandsatdownandthethreebegantoeat.YangFengcameinfromtimetotimetoputdishafterhotdishonthetable。MostofthefoodwaswonderfulbutneitherGeorgenorJanicecouldeatthefattyporkinpeppersauceortheeacucumbers,andtherewasmuchmorethantheycouldeat.TheykeptwishingYangFengwouldsitdownsotheycouldtalktohim。Finallyhedidsitdowntoeatabit,butquicklyturnedontheTVtoshowthemallitshightechingfeatures。Soonitwastimetogohome.GeorgeandJanicefeltslightlydepressedbythisexperience,butreturnedtheinvitationtwoweekslater.TheydecidedtomakeaniceAmericanmealandfeltluckytofindolives，tomatojuice，crackersandasappetizers.Forthemaincoursetheypreparedspaghettiandasaladwithdressingmadefromoil,vinegar,andsomespicestheyfoundinthemarket.WhenLiuLinglingandYangFengarrivedtheywereimpressedbytheapartmentandaskedthepriceoftheTV,videoplayer，vacuumcleanerandotherthings.Janicepolitelyrefusedtoanswertheirquestions.TheytooksmalltastesoftheappetizersandseemedsurprisedwhenbothGeorgeandJanicesatdownwiththem.Theyateonlyalittlespaghettianddidnotfinishthesaladontheirplates。Georgeurgedthemtoeatmorebuttheyrefusedandlookedaroundexpectantly.JuniceandGeorgetalkedabouttheirfamiliesandjobsandaskedthetableandservedcoffeeandpastries.YangFengandLinglingeachputfourspoonsofsugarsintotheircoffeebutdidnotdrinkmuchofitandateonlyabiteortwoofpastry.Aftertheyleft,Georgesaidthatatleasttheyhadachancetotalk,butJanicewasupset.“Welefttheirplacesofullthatwecouldn’twalkandthey’regoingtohavetoeatagainwhentheygethome.Whatwentwrong？Analysis：中西方飲食習慣大大的不同。中國人邀請客人會準備一大桌子的菜，并在就餐過程中使勁勸說客人多吃點,吃完之后，還有剩菜，就表明主人的盛情款待。而西方人一不勸吃，二就餐完畢后，盤子最好是空的。本案列中的兩對中外夫婦不明這個文化差異，發(fā)生誤解就是自然而然的事了。Case21Afterthemealandafterthetablehasbeencleared。Liuisnotsurewhattodo，butwantstohelpinsomeway.Atleasthewantstooffer。Helen:Thanksforyourhelp，Huang。Liu:Pleasure.WhatcanIdonow？Helen:Nothing.It’sfine。I’llrinsethesedishesthenstackthem。It’llonlytakeaminute。Liu：Doesthefamilyusuallyhelp？Helen：Well,atspecialtimes.Jacksometimesrinsesthedishesbutyoucanseehe’sreallytiredtonight.Liu:Letmedoitforyou.Helen：Notruly,it’sokay。Liu:MaybeIcanwipethetablethen。Helen：Thatwouldbehelpful.Thanks。You’rereallykind,Huang。Analysis：在西方人家中的就餐的時間里,大家都設法插手幫一下忙，即便是男士也不例外，不要一點不動著開飯。所有家住者要能幫者擺擺餐具，或餐后收拾洗碗，把餐具放進洗碗機，倒垃圾，站在一邊幫著擦干洗好的餐具。雖然都是小忙,卻表明你對別人的操勞非常在意，是個用心的人。Case22Twostrangershavebeenchatting。A：Soyou’rebeenhereforayear？B:Yes.Onemoreyeartogo，thenI'llgobacktochina。A：Whatwillyoudobackhome?B：It’shardtoknow.There’salotchangeatthemoment.A:Yeah.Everythingischanging，everywhere。Sometimesit’sdifficulttokeepup.B:That’strue。MaybeI’ll…（A’smobilephonerings.)A:Excuseme，I’dbetteranswerthis.It’sprobablywork.B:Sure.Takeyourtime.Analysis：有時在與人交談中，難免要有什么原因要離開一會兒，或是去接一個電話，或要去洗手間。禮貌再此被提出來。出于禮貌起見,要記住做一些恰當解釋再離開。不管理由是什么，即便是要接一個手機電話，在打開電話回話前，向對方說聲對不起。如果只離開幾分鐘，沒有必要找一個理由。你說了對不起，就表明你確實是有事要離開一會兒.Case23LiuHuangiscallinghisfriendStevenathishome。Person:Hello.Johnisspeaking.Liu:Hello？I'mlookingforSteven.Person:Sorry，there’snooneherecalledSteven。Liu:Isthat65778868？Person:No.Ithinkyou’vegotthewrongnumber。Thisis65788868.Liu:Oh，I'msorry.Person:Noproblem.Goodluck。Liu:Thanks.Analysis：失手撥錯號碼是常有的事.如果在國外，即便有語言障礙，害怕說英語，也還是要先與對方核對是不是撥錯了，然后再道歉。如果發(fā)現(xiàn)撥錯了號碼就馬上掛電話，是不禮貌的行為。Case24Lin：Thankyousomuchforawonderfulnight。I’vehadagreattime。Erica：It'sbeenapleasurehavingyou.Wehopeyoucancomeagain,soon.Lin:I'dlikethat.Youbothknowhowtomakemefeelathome。Thanksforeverything。Analysis：在動身離去的時候，找到主人，當面說一聲謝謝，是有禮貌的行為。Case25OfftoaBadStartDavidHuhadjuststartedworkingfortheforeignownedcompany。Hewassittingathisworkstationbuthadnotbeengivenanyassignmentthatheshouldbedoingatthismoment.Hewasrelaxingandwaitingandthenthoughthewouldtaketheopportunitytohavealookaround.Hepokedhisheadintoseveralofficesjusttoseewhattherewastobeseen.SuddenlyMr.Parkerc