英语国家文化题型整理

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1、第一单元文化1.Communication breakdown sometimes takes place not only because of language, but more frequently because of cultural differences. A、what is culture?1) Culture is a very extensive concept, it is very difficult to define it strictly and accurately, because culture involves too much. what we see

2、 in usual just like we see the edge of an iceberg, though it has been rather big, there still far more that we can not see.2) Culture is a learned pattern of behavior, and is a way in which a person lives his life. It is an integral part of every society, and creates a feeling of belonging and toget

3、herness among the people of that society. Every society has a different culture, which gives it an identity and uniqueness.3) Culture is the way of life of a group of people developed over time and passed down from generation to generation We have to remember that, most of the time, the different wa

4、ys that are the customs of different cultures are neither right nor wrong. It is simply that different people do the same things in different manners.B、Could you please give an example and make a brief analysis?Example:For example, if you cooked a meal, and you asked a Dutch person, how was it? He s

5、aid: “yes, I like it.” That means he really liked it. But once you had this answer from a person from high-context culture, such as China, you have to think: “Does he really like my meal? Or just dont want me to lose face.” Example : Steve and Yaser first met in their chemistry class at an American

6、university. Yaser was an international student from Jordan. He was excited to get to know an American. He wanted to learn more about American culture. Yaser hoped that he and Steve would become good friends.At first, Steve seemed very friendly. He always greeted Yaser warmly before class. Sometimes

7、he offered to study with Yaser. He even invited Yaser to eat lunch with him. But after the semester was over, Steve seemed more distant. The two former classmates didnt see each other very much at school. One day Yaser decided to call Steve. Steve didnt seem very interested in talking to him. Yaser

8、was hurt by Steves change of attitude. “Steve said we were friends,”Yaser complained. “and I said friends were friends forever.”Analyze: Americans use the word “friend” in a very general way. They may call both casual acquaintances and close companions “friends”American friendships develops quickly,

9、 and they may change just as quickly.2. In the text “Communication Breakdown”, we get to know that language is probably not always the most important reason for cross-cultural communication breakdown. What could be other reasons for such breakdown? Please analyze the issue with real life examples.1)

10、Example：AisanEnglishlearner;BisanativeEnglishspeaker. AonedayjumpedintoBsarmsandfeltsorry,“Imsorry.” B:“Imsorry,too.” A:“Imsorrythree.” B:“Whatareyousorryfor?” A:Imsorryfive.2）Explanation:AWesternersoftenthinkthebestwaytocommunicateisforeveryonetospeakdirectly.Oncealltheinformationhasbeenshared,adec

11、isioncanbemade.Theypayattentiontowords,ratherthancontext.BButpeoplefromahighcontextcultureoftencommunicateindirectly. Cultureisaveryextensiveconcept,itisverydifficulttodefineitstrictlyandaccurately.Cultureisthewayoflifeofagroupofpeopledevelopedovertimeandpasseddownfromgenerationtogeneration.Culturei

12、sthatcomplexwholewhichincludesknowledge,belief,art,morals,law,customs,andothercapabilitiesandhabitsacquiredbymanasamemberofsociety.Cultureincludestheorganizationofproduction,thestructureofthefamily,thestructureofinstitutionwhichexpressorgovernsocialrelationships,thecharacteristicformsthroughwhichmem

13、bersofthesocietycommunicate.Cultureseemstobe(almost)everythingandculturalstudiesthestudyof(almost)everything.Cultureisalsosomethingthatmanlearnsfromhisfamilyandsurroundings,leadinghimtoliveamorecomfortableandbetterlife.3.What is your understanding of “culture”? Compare culture to another concrete th

14、ing (as we have culture is an iceberg in textbook) and explain your reasons with examples.Culture is just like an iceberg. What Datong accepted were aspects of American culture that were easily observed and often referred to as objective culture. But most of his culture which was below the surface o

15、f his awareness, not easily observed referred to as subjective culture is that of traditional Chinese culture.第二单元希腊神话1.The appearance of characters from Greek mythology in everyday speech is undoubtedly a modest evidence of the active role played by Greek myths. For instance, a huge or heroic task

16、is said to be Herculean, which is in tribute to the Greek mythological hero Hercules and his Labors. Can you think of 2 more phrases which come from Greek myths and are still widely used by people nowadays?1) An Achilles heel is a deadly weakness in spite of overall strength, which can actually or p

17、otentially lead to downfall. While the mythological origin refers to a physical vulnerability, idiomatic references to other attributes or qualities that can lead to downfall are common. In Greek mythology, when Achilles was a baby, it was foretold that he would die young. To prevent his death, his

18、mother Thetis took Achilles to the River Styx, which was supposed to offer powers of invulnerability, and dipped his body into the water. But as Thetis held Achilles by the heel, his heel was not washed over by the water of the magical river. Achilles grew up to be a man of war who survived many gre

19、at battles. But one day, a poisonous arrow shot at him was lodged in his heel, killing him shortly after.2) An Apple of Discord直译为纠纷的苹果，出自荷马史诗Iliad中的希腊神话故事 。传说在希腊阿耳戈英雄(Argonaut)珀琉斯(Peleus)和爱琴海海神涅柔斯的女儿西蒂斯(Thetis)在珀利翁山举行婚礼，邀请了众神，惟独没有邀请掌管争执的女神厄里斯(Eris)。这位女神恼羞成怒，决定在这次喜筵上制造不和。于是，她不请自来，并悄悄在筵席上放了一个金苹果，上面镌刻

20、着属于最美者几个字。天后赫拉(Hera)，智慧女神雅典娜(Athena)、爱与美之神阿芙罗狄蒂(Aphrodite)，都自以为最美，应得金苹果，获得最美者称号。她们争执不下，闹到众神之父宙斯(Zeus)那里，但宙斯碍于难言之隐，不愿偏袒任何一方，就要她们去找特洛伊的王子帕里斯(Paris)评判。三位女神为了获得金苹果，都各自私许帕里斯以某种好处：赫拉许给他以广袤国土和掌握富饶财宝的权利，雅典娜许以文武全才和胜利的荣誉，阿芙罗狄蒂则许他成为世界上最美艳女子的丈夫。年青的帕里斯在富贵、荣誉和美女之间选择了后者，便把金苹果判给爱与美之神。为此，赫拉和雅典娜怀恨帕里斯，连带也憎恨整个特洛伊人。后来阿芙

21、罗狄蒂为了履行诺言，帮助帕里斯拐走了斯巴达国王墨涅俄斯的王后绝世美女海伦(Helen)，从而引起了历时10年的特洛伊战争。不和女神厄里斯丢下的那个苹果，不仅成了天上3位女神之间不和的根源，而且也成为了人间2个民族之间战争的起因。 3) The Trojan Horse has come to mean any trick or stratagem that causes a target to allow a foe into a securely protected bastion or space. A malicious computer program which tricks use

22、rs into willingly running it is called a Trojan horse. It is a tale from the Trojan War about the subterfuge that the Greeks used to enter the city of Troy and win the war. In the canonical version, after a fruitless 10-year siege, the Greeks constructed a huge wooden horse, and hid a select force o

23、f men inside. The Greeks pretended to sail away, and the Trojans pulled the horse into their city as a victory trophy. That night the Greek force crept out of the horse and opened the gates for the rest of the Greek army, which had sailed back under cover of night. The Greeks entered and destroyed t

24、he city of Troy, decisively ending the war.4) Pandoras box is an artifact in Greek mythology, taken from the myth of Pandoras creation in Hesiods Works and Days. Today the phrase to open Pandoras box means to perform an action that may seem small or innocent, but that turns out to have severely detr

25、imental and far-reaching consequences. In classical Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman on Earth. Zeus ordered Hephaestus to create her. So he did, using water and earth. The gods endowed her with many gifts: Athena clothed her, Aphrodite gave her beauty, Apollo gave her musical ability, an

26、d Hermes gave her speech.When Prometheus stole fire from heaven, Zeus took vengeance by presenting Pandora to Prometheus brother Epimetheus. Pandora was given a wedding gift of a beautiful jar, with instructions to not open it under any circumstance. Impelled by her curiosity (given to her by the go

27、ds), Pandora opened it and all evil contained therein escaped and spread over the earth. She hastened to close the container, but the whole contents had escaped; Apate and all the others, except for one thing that lay at the bottom the Spirit of Hope, named Elpis.6 Pandora, deeply saddened by what s

28、he had done, feared she would have to face Zeus wrath, since she had failed her duty. However, Zeus did not punish Pandora because he knew this would happen.2difference between Chinese myths and Greek myths 1）The Origin Chinese myth was the product of ancient sages imaginations, which can conquer na

29、ture, dominate nature and make the power of nature have its own image. Chinese myth mainly talked about the origin of human being, everything in nature, and tribal fights, etc. It reflected the ancient living surroundings, conditions and cultural development. Chinese cultural derived from The Yellow

30、 River basin（黄河流域）, so it could be said that Chinese myth was based on the closed inland cultural（内陆文化）. Greek myth derived from Cretes Minoans Civilization（克里特岛的“米诺斯文明”）. it was an open culture which absorbed other excellent cultures to develop itself. Greek geographical location was very superior,

31、 and the navigation cause and overseas trade developed rapidly, so Greek myth was mainly concerned about Greek persons value orientation（希腊人的价值取向），which was more important than moral. The Greek myth praised and admires the individualism（个人主义）, which was the most basic and biggest difference between

32、Chinese and Greek myths. 2）Their Beliefs Greeks were “a tough, restless, ambitious, hard-living, imaginative race.”The Greeks loved life. They believed in living life to the fullest, because death was going to happen whether you wanted it to or not.The only response to death was to make a mark on th

33、e world. Be a legendbe grandiose.In Greek myth, the gods all possessed the capabilities of superman, and had fairly low moral standards. The gods were all extremely selfish ,but wouldnt be to blame. Greece people didnt create the gods as perfect as Chinese gods. In some way, Greek gods were just the

34、 mortals, with the same feelings and behaviors as the mortals . The Greek gods had different pursuit of beauty from Chinese gods ,many of them were elegant, graceful, and beautiful, such as Zeus, Hera, Athena, or Apollo. So we can draw a conclusion that Greek gods pursued physical beauty and the bea

35、uty of facial appearance. In the Chinese myth, Both good and evil comes from the gods.Heroes and monsters came from the gods.This idea has influenced all religions that came after. Many of the conflicts that are portrayed in the myths are between family members.Though their appearances were not beau

36、tiful, they were great gods. They all had high moral standards and had responsibility for everything they did. For example, Fuxi made a great deal of inventions. He taught men how to use fire, to cook and to fish and helped Yu try to tame the flood. And they didnt have human beings emotion or other

37、human features, they were holy and perfect and ideal. So we can see that Chinese myth pursues mental beauty. 3. Which is your favorite story in Greek mythology? Talk about that in your own words and make a critical comment about the gods or the heroes.In Greek mythology,Prometheus create the human.H

38、e also served as a human teacher, and make human satisfaction and happiness. Similarly,people alsothank himwith their love andloyalty,which he rewarded.But the highestgod-Zeusask the human to worshiphim,and let the human come up with the best thingsto him. PrometheusviolatedZeus.As for punishment,Ze

39、us refused to givethe fire to human which is usedto complete their civilizationsfinal goods.But Prometheushas thought of a way. He used a long fennel branches,passing theflamingsuncar,stealing fire and bringing tothe human.So,Zeuswas furious,hesent Prometheus tothe Caucasus mountains and claim that

40、he will never go to sleep.He endured hunger,the wind and the sun.In addition, Zeus alsosent aneagle to peckPlo Michel Js liver every day,but the being eaten the liver then come backnext day.In this way,day after day,year after year, Untila man namedHerculesherorescued himso far,he stop enduring this

41、 indescribable pain and suffering.Zeus (Jupiter):the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus, and god of the sky and thunder .He is represented as the god of justice and mercy, the protector of the weak, and the punisher of the wicked. ymbols: the thunderbolt, eagle, bull and the oak ZeusAs a g

42、od1. the supreme god of the heavens and the earth, preserver of order and justice2. patron of hospitality and the keeper of oaths3.weather god: thunder and lightning, rainZeus (Jupiter)As a man a conqueror of women, mortal as well as immortal: a conqueror of new land; expansion of territory; increas

43、e and spread of people; close relation to life in the region (bull, swan, bird, snake, sunshine)a conqueror of the old matriarchal system; the harassing, vexing(令人苦恼的) and philandering(花心的) husbanda contradictory image of the God of highest law and justice 4希腊神话对西方文学和社会的影响1）Many western literature a

44、re influenced by Greek mythology. Romantic poetry and giving new life to the old myth. Shelley, Byron, Lang Feiluo and other poets, had a poem eulogizing stealing fire Plo Michel J for human. Under Byrons pen, Plo Michel J indeed cool angry, become the embodiment of resistance to oppression firm and

45、 indomitable will and strength. The poet is often cited mythological allusions to King Lyric, worried and indignant expression, as. Greek mythology described the ancients dont yield to the fate of the tenacious will, and gods and heroes with superhuman strength and the nature of the refuse to be cow

46、ed or submit struggle, inspire romantic poet, inspired their reverie;. Greek mythology is the western literature good story.第三单元宗教文化1. How do you think about the following roles who appeared in the bible stories?Choose one to talk about and connect him/her to the person in the real society.- GodAdam

47、EveSatan (the serpent)NoahAbrahamMosesJesusAccording to the creation myth of Abrahamic religions, she is the first woman created by God (Yahweh, the god of Israel). Her husband was Adam, from whose rib God created her to be his companion. She succumbs to the serpents temptation via the suggestion th

48、at to eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil would improve on the way God had made her, and that she would not die, and she, believing the lie of the serpent rather than the earlier instruction from God, shares the fruit with Adam. As a result, the first humans are e

49、xpelled from the Garden of Eden and are cursed. Though Eve is not a saints name, the traditional name day of Adam and Eve has been celebrated on December 24 since the Middle Ages in many European countries such as Germany, Hungary, Scandinavia, Estonia, and Lithuania.2. How do you think aboutthe Ten

50、 Commandments?Can you point out the relationship betweenthe Ten Commandmentsand the western society today?The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue, are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and Christianity. They include instru

51、ctions to worship only God and to keep the sabbath; as well as prohibitions against idolatry, blasphemy, murder, theft, dishonesty, and adultery. Different groups follow slightly different traditions for interpreting and numbering them. Because religion influence a societys law, we can still see sev

52、eral of the Ten Commandment rules in western countries laws. The influence has decreased over the year, with many countries in the West becoming more liberal. Nevertheless, almost every adult in the West know most - if not all - of the Ten rules even if they are not Christians. The rules have contin

53、ued to set the behaviour norms in western societies. The Ten Commandments say people should have no other God, so people in western society believe in one god who created the universe and all that in it. Its very different from many people in china who believe in Buddhism, they could believe in many

54、 idols. And the Ten Commandments are actually Gods covenant. God is the law, so western society is a society ruled by God and no one can abuse freedom. Everyone is equal and everyone should obey the rules. Everyone has the equal rights, so, the western society is a democratic society which pays much

55、 attention to human rights.3.The word “Christmas” comes from the old English term Cristes maesse, meaning “Christs mass”. This was the name for the festival service of worship held on December 25 to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. Who is Jesus Christ? What does he preach? In what way has he i

56、nfluenced the western world?Jesus is the central figure of Christianity, whom the teachings of most Christian denominations hold to be the Son of God. Christianity regards Jesus as the awaited Messiah (or Christ) of the Old Testament and refers to him as Jesus Christ,a name that is also used in non-

57、Christian contexts.其他单元1.“We realize that womens problems are linked to many broader questions of social justice.” What movement is this statement associated with? Please comment this movement according to your own understanding.The foundation of National Organization for Women (NOW) Women joined to

58、gether to request equal pay and protection against employment discrimination by persuading the government.enforcement of laws banning employment discriminationabortion rightschild-care centre that could enable mothers to worktax deductions for child-care expensesequal and unsegregated(非种族隔离的) educat

59、ionequal job-training opportunities for poor women.Process of womens rights：(1) The foundation of National Organization for Women (NOW) Women joined together to request equal pay and protection against employment discrimination by persuading the government. enforcement of laws banning employment dis

60、crimination abortion rights child-care centre that could enable mothers to work tax deductions for child-care expenses equal and unsegregated(非种族隔离的) education equal job-training opportunities for poor women.(2) More radical groups NOW: womens rights Radical groups: broader themes of womens liberati

61、on(3) The climax of the movement In September 1968 activists gathered to protest the image of womanhood conveyed by the Miss American Pageant(美国小姐） The “consciousness-raising” groups(意识提高小组） The personal problems could be solved only by changing the society. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (

62、1965) Divorce laws Womens studies programs Political offices表现：What made miniskirt so popularThe miniskirt can express the shifting image of womenThe miniskirt was a symbol of resistance.It was more than a piece of clothing2.SimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenBritisheducationandAmericaneducationThetwo

63、countrieshavecommonhistoricalbackgroundofeducation,educationintheUnitedStatesinheritedtheancienttraditionofeducationinEurope,butdevelopedtohaveitsowncharacteristics.Sogreatimportancetoeducation,committedtothedevelopmentofindividualstudentsisthecommonfeatureof both; ComparisonoftheUKseducationstandard,theUS educationmoreopen,payattentiontopragmatism; Teachingquality. In the British universities is the best in the world, however, American universities have advantages in research and American educational system more relaxed, unlike UK, the curriculum and