Question

We talked with June Galloway about her book Get off on the Right Foot: Don’t Let the Wrong Gesture Ruin (毀壞) Your Day.

English is the world’s international language. But in your book, non-verbal (不用語(yǔ)言的) communication is paid more attention to. ▲

June: Well, gestures (手勢(shì)) and other body language can have different meanings in different places. Something that you think is friendly or polite could be considered to be very impolite in another culture. I’ve described many of these customs and cultural differences, so my readers won’t have a bad start when they meet people from places where the culture is different from their own.

Can greeting someone the wrong way really lead to misunderstanding (誤解)?

June: In some places, yes. The heavy handshake that a North American expects may seem quite impolite in other places. And a light handshake―which is usual in some countries—may seem unfriendly to a North American.

What other gestures can cause misunderstanding?

June: Take the gesture for “come here” for example. In North America, people gesture with the palm (掌心) up. Well, in southern Europe, that gesture means “goodbye”. And in many Asian countries, the palm-up gesture is thought rude. Instead, people there gesture with the palm down.

Surely, there must be some gestures used everywhere, right? What about the thumb-up (翹拇指) gesture for “great”?

June: Sorry. That’s very rude in Australia and the Middle East. That is why it important to know about body language and cultural differences.

1.Which gesture should you use if you want to say “goodbye”.in southern Europe?

A. B.

C. D.

2.According to the passage, ________ is/are NOT mentioned in June’s book.

A.the importance of body language. B.some common gestures

C.the development of body language D.different meanings of a gesture

3.Which of the following can be put in the ▲ ?

A.How is that possible? B.Could it make readers interested?

C.Can you give us some examples? D.why is that so important?

4.What can we infer (推斷) from the passage?

A.June paid more attention to the language of English in her book.

B.A girl from Australia may be angry with you if you praise her by using the thumb-up gesture.

C.Body language is the world’s international language.

D.In many Asian countries, the palm-up gesture is thought rude.

Answer 1