英语六级阅读理解精炼

10. Culture Shock
Culture shock is precipitated1 by the anxiety that results from losing all our familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse. Those signs or cues include the thousand and one 2 ways in which we orient3 ourselves to the situation of daily life ; when to shake hands and what to say when we meet people , when and how to give tips, how to make purchases, when to accept and when to refuse invitations, when to take statements seriously and when not. These cues, which may be words, gestures, facial expressions, customs, or norms, are acquired by all of us in the course of growing up and are as much a part of our culture as the language we speak or the beliefs we accept. All of us depend for our peace of mind and our efficiency on hundreds of these cues, most of which we do not carry on the level of conscious awareness.
Now when an individual enters a strange culture, all or most of these familiar cues are removed. He or she is like a fish out of water4 . No matter how broad-minded5 or full of good will you may be , a series of props6 have been knocked from under you, followed by a feeling of frustration7 and anxiety. People react to the frustration in much the same way. First they reject the environment which causes the discomfort.“The ways of the host country are bad because they make us feel bad. ”When foreigners in a strange land get together to grouse about8 the host country and its people , you can be sure they are suffering from culture shock. Another phase of culture shock is regression. The home environment suddenly assumes a tremendous importance. To the foreigner everything becomes irrationally glorified. All the difficulties and problems are forgotten and only the good things back home are remembered. It usually takes a trip home to bring one back to reality.
Some of the symptoms of culture shock are excessive washing of the hands, excessive concern over drinking water, food dishes, and bedding; fear of physical contact with attendants, the absent-minded stare; a feeling of helplessness and a desire for dependence on long-term residents of one’s own nationality; fits of anger over minor frustrations; great concern over minor pains and eruptions of the skin; and finally, that terrible longing to be back home. 9

阅读自测
Ⅰ. Replace the underlined words with the phrases in the passage with the same meaning:
1 . Culture shock is caused by the anxiety that results from losing all our familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse .
2 . Those signs and cues include a lot of ways in which we act.
3 . Entering a new company with no friends help him, he feels uncomfortable.
4 . Although living abroad for 5 years, she still feels homesick now and then.
Ⅱ. Question :
What are the symptoms of culture shock?

参考答案及讲解

参考答案
Ⅰ. 1. precipitated 2. the thousand and one 3. like a fish out of water 4 . longing to be back home
Ⅱ. Some of the symptoms of culture shock are excessive washing of the hands, excessive 033 concern over drinking water, food dishes, and bedding; fear of physical contact with attendants, the absent-minded stare; a feeling of helplessness and a desire for dependence on long-term residents of one’s own nationality; fits of anger over minor frustrations; great concern over minor pains and eruptions of the skin; and finally, that terrible longing to be back home .

参考译文
出门一日难
文化休克现象源自焦虑, 焦虑的原因是我们找不到熟悉的社会标志及特征。这些标志 或暗示包含了许多引导我们适应日常生活的方法: 什么时候握手, 与人见面时该说什么话, 什么时候及怎样给小费, 如何购物, 什么时候接受邀请, 什么时候拒绝邀请, 什么话需要严 肃对待, 什么话不需要。这些暗示可以是话语、手势、面部表情、风俗或者行为准则, 它们都 是我们在成长的过程中获得的, 就像我们所说的语言或接受的信仰那样, 成为我们的文化 的组成部分。为了使心态平和, 工作高效, 我们大家都依赖于无数个这样的暗示, 其中大多 数的暗示都不是我们有意识地进行传达的。
这时候, 一个人进入一种陌生的文化领域时, 他先前所熟悉的全部或者说大部分的暗 示都消失了, 他就会感到无所适从。不管你是如何的心胸开阔抑或热情高涨, 在失去了一 个个依托之后, 你总会有一种挫败感和焦虑感。面对挫折, 人们的反应几乎都是一样的。 首先, 人们会排斥给他们带来困苦的那种环境。“ 东道国的生活方式不好是因为它们让我 们觉得不舒服。”当一群客居他国的同乡聚在一起抱怨东道国和东道国的人民时, 你就可以 确定他们正饱受文化休克之苦。文化休克的另一个阶段是回归。家乡陡然变得异常重要。 对身居他乡的人而言, 家乡的一切都不合情理地变得荣光异彩。他们将所有的麻烦与困惑 都抛之脑后, 记住的都是家乡的美好事物。通常, 只有回家一趟后才能让他重返现实。
文化休克引起的一些症状是: 频繁地洗手, 过度关心饮用水、食物及寝具问题, 害怕与 服务生的身体接触, 看东西时心不在焉, 感到无助和希望从来自家乡的长期居住于此的人 那里得到依靠感, 动辄大发脾气, 对小病痛和皮疹过度担忧等等, 最后, 就是急切地渴望回 归故里。

阅读导评
“中国人到了国外想喝口热水都难! ”还记得电影《不见不散》中这句台词吗? 这就是 一个典型的文化休克现象。东西方文化差异很大, 不同的文化背景造就了不同的生活习性 和思维方式, 文化休克现象也在所难免。然而, 文化本身所具有的包容性和全球化进程中 各种文化之间的磨合碰撞都会使这种震撼愈变愈小, 直到有一天, 一个真正意义上的地球 村就此诞生。
阅读导释
1. 这个词是“ ( 突如其来地) 使发生, 促成, 促使……加快”的意思。
2. 注意了, 这里的the / a thousand and one 并不是真正意义上的一千零一, 而是一种概数的 表达法, 泛指“很多, 非常多”。这和我们汉语中的数字“三”的用法很相似, 如“ 三思而后 行”中的“三”就表示“很多”的意思。
3. 这里作“ 使适应, 使熟悉情况/环境等”解, 如: The freshman took a while to orient himself. ( 那大学新生花了一些时间熟悉环境。) 若首字母大写: the Orient, 则特指“ 东方, 亚洲”, 尤其指远东地区, 是东方国家的总称。
4. 这是一条习语, 意思是“如鱼离水, 感到生疏或不适应”。英国不列颠岛上稠密的河流和 环岛漫长的海岸线蕴藏着极其丰富的渔业资源, 捕鱼业在英国很发达。历史上, 英国人 因此留下很多与鱼有关的习语, 如: big fish ( 大亨) ; old fish ( 怪人) ; drink like a fish ( 大 喝, 牛饮, 比喻很能喝酒) ; a big fish in a little pond ( 小池塘里的大鱼, 比喻小范围内出名 的人) ; There is as good fish in the sea as ever came out of it. ( 海里的鱼和冒出来的鱼一样 多。比喻“纵然失去一个机会, 也不愁没有其他好机会。”该谚语常用来劝慰那些失恋的 少男少女
5 - 7. 这句话中生词偏多, broad-minded 是个合成词, 其构词法是形容词加连词符, 再加名 词加ed。这个词的意思是“ 心胸开阔的, 宽宏大量的”, 其反义词是narrow-minded。下文 出现的absent-minded 属于同样的构词方式。prop 指“ 支柱, 靠山”。frustration 是“ 挫败 感”的意思。
8. grouse 原指“ 松鸡”, 这里用作动词, 与about 连用, 意思是“抱怨, 发牢骚”, 口语中常用这 个词组, 与complain 意思相近, 只不过complain是书面语。
9. 这个段落就只有一句话, 这是一个简单句包含了很多并列的表语成分。句中symptom 是“ 征兆, 症状”的意思; resident 是“ 居民”的意思; eruption 在这里是医学术语“ 皮疹”的 意思。为了避免与前面的desire 重复, 后面采用了longing 这个词, 意思是“ ( 对得不到的 东西的) 渴望, 切望”。