2016年12月大學英語六級閱讀練習(15)
The degree to which a bowing or lowering of thebody is emphasized varies from one culture toanother . In many cultures today the full bow orother dramatic lowering of the body is generallyreserved for formal occasions such as greeting ahead of state or monarch. For example, Britishcommoners standing before the queen or beinghonored by royalty in a ceremony of knighthood would be expected to bow, curtsey, or kneel.As part of their religious practices some Christians kneel, Catholics genuflect, and Muslimskowtow3 , an extreme form of body lowering in which the forehead is brought to the ground.Although bowing, as a worldwide phenomenon, has been on the decrease in recent decades, ithas survived in German culture and exists to an even greater degree in modern Japan, wherebows are an integral part of everyday social interaction . In the United States, however,bowing or any type of submissive body posture is particularly irritating, for it tends toconnote undue formality, aristocracy, and a nonverbal denial of egalitarianism. Nowhere isbowing more important to the process of communication today than in Japanese society. Asan indication of how pervasive bowing is in present-day Japan, some experts point out that“some female department store employees have the sole function of bowing to customers atdepartment store escalators and that many Japanese bow repeatedly to invisible partners atthe other end of a telephone line”. Bowing initiates interaction between two Japanese , itenhances and embellishes many parts of the ensuing conversation, and it is used to signalthe end of a conversation. Although Westerners, in a very general
sense, understand the meaning attached to bowing, appropriate bowing in Japan is anintricate and complex process. Reciprocal bowing is determined largely by rank. In fact, it ispossible to tell the relative social status of the two communicators by the depth of their bows (the deeper the bow, the lower the status) . When bowing deeply, it is conventional to leanslightly to the right to avoid bumping heads. The person of lower status is expected toinitiate the bow, and the person of higher status determines when the bow is completed.People of equivalent status are expected to bow at the same depth while starting andfinishing at the same time.
閱讀自測
?、? Are these statements True or False a ccording to the article ?
1. Nowadays the full bow or other dramatic lowering of the body is still widely acceptedaroundthe world.
2. Bowing is prevalent in Japan while the situation is quite different in America.
3. It is customary to lean slightly to the left to avoid bumping heads when bowing deeply.
?、? Complete the sentence s with the proper forms of the words given in parentheses :
1. There is a __________( tend) that more and more people will move from cities to thecountryside.
2. He __________( repeat) fails to pass the exam.
3. A spirit of hopelessness__________ ( pervasive ) the country.
4. He is such a chauvinist that he expects his wife to be meek and __________( submit).
5. The government has__________ ( initial) a new house-building program.
參考答案
Ⅰ. 1. F 2. T 3 . F
?、? 1. tendency 2. repeatedly 3 . pervaded 4 .submissive 5. initiated
參考譯文
鞠躬的藝術(shù)
文化不同, 鞠躬或彎腰的角度也大不相同。在今天的許多文化里, 深深鞠一躬或大幅度彎腰通常只有在正式場合中才會出現(xiàn), 比如向國家元首或君主致意。舉例來說, 英國平民站在女王面前或被王室加封為爵士時應該鞠躬, 或行屈膝禮, 抑或屈膝下跪。在一些宗教儀式里, 基督教徒會下跪, 天主教徒會行屈膝禮, 而穆斯林則會跪拜叩頭, 即將身體彎曲到極限, 直到前額貼地為止。作為一種世界性的文化現(xiàn)象, 近幾十年使用鞠躬這種禮節(jié)的人卻越來越少, 但鞠躬卻在德國文化中保存下來, 在現(xiàn)代日本社會更是大為盛行, 在那里鞠躬已成為日常社會交往不可缺少的一部分。然而, 在美國, 鞠躬或任何一種謙恭的身體姿勢都讓美國人極其反感, 因為這些舉動往往意味著不必要的繁文縟節(jié)、貴族習氣, 以及對平等主義的一種非語言性否定。當今, 沒有哪一個社會像日本社會一樣, 鞠躬在人際交往過程中如此重要。為了顯示鞠躬在當今日本社會根深蒂固的程度, 一些專家指出,“ 在日本百貨商店里, 一些女雇員的工作就是在商店的自動扶梯邊向顧客鞠躬, 而且有許多日本人會向電話線另一端看不見的人 不停地鞠躬。”鞠躬是兩個日本人交往的開端, 在隨后的對話里鞠躬還起到推波助瀾和錦上添花的作用, 它還被用來暗示對話的結(jié)束。盡管西方人大致明白鞠躬所包含的意思, 但在日本, 恰到好處的鞠躬是非常復雜、很難把握的過程?；ハ嗑瞎饕怯缮鐣燃墰Q定的。事實上, 我們可以通過兩個人鞠躬的幅度來判斷他們相對的社會地位( 鞠躬幅度越大,社會地位就越低) 。當兩個人互相深鞠一躬的時候, 按照常規(guī)他們會把頭微微斜向右邊, 以避免碰到對方的腦袋。兩個人中社會地位低的那個人應該首先開始鞠躬, 而地位高的人決定鞠躬結(jié)束的時間。地位相同的人互相鞠躬的時候, 鞠躬的幅度相同, 并且同時開始, 同時結(jié)束。
