英语口语高级训练(lesson12)a
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Lesson 12 Is It Necessary to Develop Toarism？ Text A Little Good Will Can Help People Understand Each Other Today we had an American family, the Robinsons, for Sunday dinner. The man is in China on a joint project with the department where Mum works. They work in the same office and as Mum knows a little English she often interpretes for him too, so they got to know each other very well. He had often expressed his wish of meeting her family, but Mum hardly dared to invite him to our old slum of a place. Now that.we've moved to our new apartment we have a more or less presentable place to entertain him and his family. Granny was the only one who had any misgivings about having “highnosed foreigners” in our house. They came about twelve - Mr. & Mrs. Robinson and their two young daughters about Xiao Hong's age. Mrs. Robinson gave Mum a bunch of fresh flowers, bringing colour, freshness and their good will. Mum did the introduction and it was left to ourselves to get to know each other. As was natural Xiao Hong soon got on very well with the two girls Judy and Annie. They all had a common love for Xiao Hong's little kitten and they had endless fun with it. Mrs. Robinson was much younger than her husband, but she was friendly and kindly and knows a little Chinese. There was a moment of embarrassment when Granny asked her age. Mum was about to apologize when Mrs. Robinson laughed and said it was quite all right, that she had been here long enough to know it was the Chinese custom. She quite blandly told us that she was thirty-two, almost twenty years her husband's junior. When they learned that Mum was almost ten years her senior, they were genuinely surprised, for Mum does look quite young. “No wonder you are so good and experienced at your work. I had thought you were fresh from . college！ ” Mr. Robinson said, perhaps a little flatteringly. And of course they thoroughly enjoyed the dinner. Iike a perfect Chinese hostess Mum and especially Granny kept stuffing them with food and urging them to eat and to drink, apologizing all the time that “it's-all very meager and coarse fare. ” The Robinsons, on the other hand, were loud in their praises and protestations. “We used to hear about Chinese hospitality and now we know what it's really like. How can you describe such a lavish meal as meager and coarse？ Any hostess in the West would be proud of such a feast instead of apologizing for it,” Mrs. Robinson said to Mum. “And another thing we don't do in the West is to urge the guests to eat and drink,” Mr. Robinson added. “With so much good things before me I certainly don't need any urging. The problem is rather how to prevent myself from over-eating！ But back at home I often had to ask for a second helping and my hostess would feel flattered that I should want more of her stuff. Here you don't even give me a chance to ask for,more！” We all burst out laughing at that. When they rose to leave they thanked us profusely not only for'the excellent dinner, but for giving them such a nice time. “Living in Friendship.Hotel isn't really living in China. Today we feel we are really in China. We' ve learnt much more about the Chinese people and Chinese way of life today than half a year in the Friendship Hotel. You must all come to visit us one day. Or better still, come and see us in the States on day. ” Judy and Annie were reluctant to go. They made Xiao Hong promise to visit them at Friendship Hotel, telling her not to forget bringing the kitten with her！ They insisted on giving everyone of us a hug and a kiss, which quite embarrassed me. I think Granny was really touched when they kissed her. All her misgivings had been dispelled. It' s surprising how a little good will on both sides can break language and cultural barriers. II. Read Read the following passages. Underline the important viewpoints while reading. l. The Tourist Trade Contributes Absolutely Nothing to Increasing Understanding between Nations The tourist trade is booming. With all this ceming and going, you'd expect greater understanding to develop between the nations of the world. Not a bit of it！ Superb systems of communication by air, sea and land make it possible for us to visit each other's countries at a moderate cost. What was once the “grand tour”, reserved for only the very rich, is now within everybody's grasp. The package tour and chartered flights are not to be sneered at. Modern travellers enjoy a level of comfort which the lords and ladies on grand tours in the old days couldn't have dreamed of. But what's the sense of this mass exchange of populations if the nations of the world remain basically ignorant of each other？ Many tourist organizations are directly responsible for this state of affairs. They deliberately set out to protect their clients from too much contact with the local population. The modern tourist leads a cosseted, sheltered life. He lives at international hotels, where he eats his international food and.sips his international drink while he gazes at the natives from a distance. Conducted tours to places of interest are carefully censored. The tourist is allowed to see orily what the organizers want him to see and no more. A strict schedule makes it impossible for the tourist to wander off on his own ~ and anyway, language is always a barrier, so he is only too happy to be protected in this way. At its very worst, this leads to a new and hideous kind of colonisation. The summer quarters of the inhabitants of the cite universitair are temporarily re-established on the island of Corfu. Blackpool is recreated at Torremolinos where the traveller goes not to eat'paella, but fish and chips. The sad thing about this situation is that it leads to the persistence of national stereotypes. We don't see the people of other nations as they really are, but as we have been brought up to believe they are. You can test this for yourself. Take five nationalities, say, French, German, English, American and Italian. Now in your mind, match them with these five adjectives： musical, amorous, cold, pedantic, naive. Far from providing us with any insight into the national characteristics of the people just mentioned, these adjectives actually act as barriers. So when you set out on your, travels, the only characteristics you notice are those which confirm your preconceptions. You come away with the highly unoriginal and inaccurate impression that, say, “Anglo-Saxons are hypocriies” or that “Latin peoples shout a lot”, You only have to make a few foreign friends to understand how absurd and harmful national stereotypes are. But how can you make foreign friends when the tourist trade does its best to prevent you？ Carried to an extreme, stereotypes can be positively dangerous. Wild generalisations stir up racial hatred and blind us to the basic facthow. trite it soundsl -that all people are human. We are all similar to each other and at the same time all unique. 2. Leaving with a Love of China Very soon I will be leaving China. I am well aware that three and a half years is not enough time to “understand” China. But I want to express my appreciation for what has been a marvellous experience, made even richer because I worked for the Coal Industry Ministry at Shandong Mining College, first at Jinan, and for the past 2 1/2 years at Tai'an. Living on campus in the small city of Tai'an,at the foot of Taishan, was a privilege. It gave me a view of China which can never be afforded to those who live in Beijing or Shanghai or any large city. After all, Beijing is not China, any more than New York City is the United States. Of course there have been hardships, frustrations and difficulties. But that,s life, anywhere. The courtesy, consideration and friendliness which have been extended to me, daily, are precious and lasting. I have traveled over much of China. Most of all, more than all the antiquities, battlefields, scenery, coal mines, factories, temples, operas, and the rest, it is the Chinese people who captured my heart - sincere, warm, incredibly industrious, unsophisticated, and capable of deeper, truer friendship than most Westerners can even imagine. I have been welcomed into the homes of many Chinese. I have friends from 3 to 83, peasants, workers, professors, doctors, cooks, drivers. I have known people as they suffer and struggle and laugh and weep and argue and have fun - like all human beings. I have always tried not to “look through American eyes”, but to see Chinese as people. I suggest to those shallow elitists who.can't live without their golf “exercise”, that they come to Tai'an and carry 100 pounds of cement on a shoulder pole up the 7, 000 steps of Taishan. Wonderful exercise, and you can earn 2 yuan a day. Those who complain about Yransportation difficulties of any kind can watch the lao taitai-the old ladies with bound feet - who walk from their villages and make the arduous ascent of Taishan, cheerful and spry. Or ride a bus in any Chinese city at the rush hour, as the Chinese must do every day. （Or any American city； or deal with a Manhattan cabbie. ） And those who complain of the bureaucracy should try going to the Social Security Administration in the US when you are one of the poor and powerless. I hope to come back to China some day. But. no matter what, I will never lose what I,ve been given here. My thanks to all Chinese for showing me a new, higher standard of strength of character and kindness. And my thanks particularly to the people of Shandong Mining College for their unlimited, unstinted loving care. |
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