Culture Shock

Culture shock is precipitated 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 ways in which we orient 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 water. No matter how broad-minded or full of good will you may be, a series of props have been knocked from under you, followed by a feeling of frustration 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 about 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.

閱讀自測

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?

參考答案

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 .

參考譯文

文化沖擊

文化沖擊現(xiàn)象源自焦慮, 焦慮的原因是我們找不到熟悉的社會標志及特征。這些標志或暗示包含了許多引導我們適應(yīng)日常生活的方法: 什么時候握手, 與人見面時該說什么話, 什么時候及怎樣給小費, 如何購物, 什么時候接受邀請, 什么時候拒絕邀請, 什么話需要嚴肅對待, 什么話不需要。這些暗示可以是話語、手勢、面部表情、風俗或者行為準則, 它們都是我們在成長的過程中獲得的, 就像我們所說的語言或接受的信仰那樣, 成為我們的文化的組成部分。為了使心態(tài)平和, 工作高效, 我們大家都依賴于無數(shù)個這樣的暗示, 其中大多數(shù)的暗示都不是我們有意識地進行傳達的。

現(xiàn)在，當一個人進入了ta所不熟悉的文化環(huán)境中時，ta所熟悉的全部或大部分暗示都被移除了。ta就像一條離開了水的魚。無論你的思想有多開放或有多少善意，可以支撐你的樂觀精神的一系列東西都被踢走了，隨之而來的是沮喪和焦躁。人們應(yīng)對這種沮喪的方法大致相同。首先他們會拒絕這種給他們帶來不適的環(huán)境，“這個國家不好因為它讓我們感到不好”。當一群在陌生土地的外國人聚在一起抱怨這個國家和它的人民的時候，你可以確信他們正在受到文化沖擊的折磨。經(jīng)受文化沖擊的另一個階段是思鄉(xiāng)。故國環(huán)境突然都擁有了巨大的重要性，在一個外國人看來祖國的一切都不合理的美好，祖國的一切困難和問題都被他們遺忘了，只有好的東西留在了記憶里。這種情況通常要回一趟家才能把人拉回現(xiàn)實。

還有一些文化沖擊的癥狀，比如說過度洗手，過度關(guān)注飲用水、餐盤和床上用品;害怕同人肢體接觸和無意識地凝視;無助感和對同國籍的長期居住者的依賴渴望;對于小事的過度憤怒;對輕微疼痛和皮膚問題的過度擔憂;以及最后，不健康的想要回家的渴望。