英语四级听力美文第24篇:Difference Between Cultures

I have always found the Chinese to be a very gracious people. In particular, Chinese frequentlycompliment foreign friends on their language skills,knowledge of Chinese culture, professional accomplishments, and personal health.Curiously, however, Chinese are as loathto accept a complimentas they are eager to give one.

As many of my Chinese friends have explained,this is a manifestation of the Chinese virtue ofmodesty. I have noticed a difference, though, in the degree to which modesty is emphasizedin the United States and China. In the US, we tend to place more emphasis on “seeking thetruth from fact;” thus, Americans tend to accept a compliment with gratitude. Chinese, onthe other hand, tend to reject the compliment, even when they know they deserve thecredit or recognition which has been awarded them. I can imagine a Chinese basketball fanmeeting Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls. He might say, “Mr. Jordan, I am so happy to meetyou. I just want to tell you, you are the best basketball player in the world; you’re thegreatest!” to which Jordan would probably respond, “Thank you very much. I really appreciateit! I just do try to do my best every time I step on the court.” If an American met Deng Yaping, China’s premier pingpong player, he might say much the same thing: “Ms. Deng, you’re thebest!” but as a Chinese, Deng would probably say, “No, I really don’t play all that well. You’retoo much kind.” Plainly, Americans and Chinese have different ways of responding to praise. Ironically, many Americans might consider Ms. Deng’s hypothetical response the lessmodest, because it is less truthful — and therefore less sincere. Americans generally placesincerity above etiquette; genuine gratitude for the praise serves as a substitute forprotestations of modesty. After all, in the words of one of my closest Chinese friends, modestytaken to the extreme is arrogance.