Question

  Facial expressions carry meaning that is determined by situations and relationships. For example,in American culture (文化) the 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 the smile she gives to a young child. A smile may show love or politeness. It can also hide true feel?ings. It often causes confusion (困惑) across cultures. For example,many people in Russia consider smiling at strangers in public to be unusual and even improper. Yet many Americans smile freely at strangers in public places (although this is less common in big cities) .  Some Russians believe that Americans smile in the wrong places; some Americans believe that Russians don't smile enough. In Southeast Asian cultures,a smile is frequently used to cover pain?ful feelings. Vietnamese people may tell a sad story but end the story with a smile.

  Our faces show emotions (情感) ，but we should not attempt to "read" people from another culture as we would "read" someone from our own culture. The fact that members of one culture do not express their emotions as openly as members of an?other do does not mean that they do not experience emotions. Rather,there are cultural differences in the amount of facial expressiveness permitted. For example? in public and in formal situations many Japanese do not show their emotions as free?ly as Americans do. When with friends,Japanese and Americans seem to show their emotions similarly.

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

5. What does the smile usually mean in the US?

   A. Love. B. Politeness.

   C. Joy. D. Thankfulness.

6. The author mentions the smile of the Vietnamese to prove that a smile can       .

   A. show friendliness to strangers

   B. be used to hide true feelings

   C. be used in the wrong places

   D. show personal habits

7. What should we do before attempting to "read" people?

   A. Learn about their relations with others.

   B. Understand their cultural backgrounds. 

   C. Find out about their past experience.

   D. Figure out what they will do next.

8. What would be the best title for the text?

   A. Cultural differences

   B. Smiles and relationships

   C. Facial expressiveness

   D. Habits and emotions

Answer 1

[文章大意]本文主要介绍了在不同的文化背景下，不同国家的人们在运用面部表情的时候会有很大的差异，因此，我们在判断他人面部表情的含义的时候，不要以自己的文化背景为根据，否则这样可能会做出错误的判断。

5. C细节理解题。根据第一段第二句话"For example,in A-merican culture (文化) the smile is in general an expression of pleasure."可知，在美国微笑一般表示的是"高兴"，故选 C.

6. B推理判断题。根据第一段的最后一句话"Vietnamese people may tell a sad .story but end the story with a smile."可知，越南人以微笑来结束一个悲伤的故事是在掩饰他们真实的感情，故选 B.

7. B细节理解题。根据文章最后一句"If we judge according to our own cultural habits,we may make the mistake of 'reading' the other person incorrectly."可知，在理解他人的面部表情的时候，首先要了解他们的文化背景，不i通过自己的文化背景来理解他人的面部表情。

8. C主旨大意题„本文主要介绍了在不同的文化背景下，人们面部表情传达的意思也不尽相同。所以文章是围绕面部表情的不同表现方式而展开讨论的。因此选 C.