Facial expressions carry meaning that is determined by situations and relationsh

Facial expressions carry meaning that isdetermined by situations and relationships. For example, in American culturethe smile is in general an expression of pleasure. Yet it also has other uses.A woman’s smile at a police officer does not carry the same meaning as thesmile she gives to a young child. A smile may show love or politeness. It canalso hide true feelings. It often causes confusion (困惑) across cultures. Forexample, many people in Russia consider smiling at strangers in public to beunusual and even improper. Yet many Americans smile freely at strangers inpublic places (although this is less common in big cities). Some Russiansbelieve that Americans smile in the wrong places; some Americans believe thatRussians don’t smile enough. In Southeast Asian cultures, a smile is frequentlyused to cover painful feelings. Vietnamese people may tell a sad story but endthe story with a smile.

Our faces show emotions (情感), but we should not attemptto “read” people from another culture as we would “read” someone from our ownculture. The fact that members of one culture do not express their emotions asopenly as do members of another does not mean that they do not experienceemotions. Rather, there are cultural differences in the amount of facialexpressiveness permitted. For example, in public and in formal situations manyJapanese do not show their emotions as freely as Americans do. When with friends,Japanese and Americans seem to show their emotions similarly.

It is difficult to generalize aboutAmericans and facial expressiveness because of personal and culturalbackgrounds in the United States. People from certain cultural backgrounds inthe United States seem to be more facially expressive than others. The key isto try not to judge people whose ways of showing emotion are different. If wejudge according to our own cultural habits, we may make the mistake of“reading” the other person incorrectly.

1.What does the smile usually mean in theU.S.?

2.The author mentions the smile of theVietnamese to prove that a smile can ________.

3.What should we do before attempting to“read” people?

4.What would be the best title for thetest?

试题答案

【答案】

1.C

2.B

3.B

4.C

【解析】

试题