英国和美国的文化差异英语作文(优秀19篇)

To Live in an American Family

提纲

1. 留美学生与当地家庭生活在一起既有优点也有不足。

2. 不足之处。

3. 与当地家庭生活在一起的`优点远超过其不足。

for the student who wants to improve his english quickly and learn about american customs firsthand, there is often an opportunity to live with an american family. there may be some disadvantages in this arrangement; however, i believe there are far more advantages.

first of all, the disadvantages may include lack of privacy and little opportunity to be independent. they will lose the chance of living on their own. another drawback to living in an american home involves the possibility that the family may treat the student like a child. for eample, the parents may want to decide who his friends should be and where he should go during his leisure time.

even though there may be some disadvantages in living with an american family, the advantage far overweighs them. by taking part in a home-stay program, the student has an ecellent opportunity to learn about american customs. also, he will learn about many other aspects about american way of life, such as the way schools are run in the u nited states. and the family will no doubt make cerlain that he becomes acquainted with this new way of life, and soon he will feel at home.

This Thursday is Thanksgiving Day. The writer O’Henry called it the one day that is purely American. Thanksgiving is not a religious holiday. But it has ritual meaning. Some Americans attend religious services on the day before Thanksgiving or on Thanksgiving morning. Others travel long distances to be with their families. They have a large dinner which is the main part of the celebration. For many Americans, Thanksgiving is the only time when all members of the family gather. The holiday is a time of family reunion. Thanksgiving week is generally one of the busiest travel times of the year. However, experts say this year probably will be different. On September 11th, thousands of people died when terrorists hijacked airplanes that struck buildings in Washington D.C. and New York City. Many people now say they are worried about flying on a plane. Travel experts say almost 6 percent fewer people will make long trips this Thanksgiving compared with last year. Many Americans who usually visit family and friends by plane are driving shorter distances instead this week. Some mental health experts say the attacks have frightened people. They say people feel safer and happier close to home. More than any other holiday, Thanksgiving is a celebration of family and home. Many people say that this year they are especially thankful for their families and friends and the good things in their lives. On Thanksgiving, people enjoy a long day of cooking, eating and talking. The traditional meal almost always includes the turkey with a bread mixture cooked inside. Other traditional Thanksgiving food served with turkey are sweet potatoes, cranberries and pumpkin pie. Stores are said to sell more food at Thanksgiving than at any other time of the year, and many people eat more food at Thanksgiving than at any other time of the year. Over the years, Americans have added new traditions to their Thanksgiving celebration. For example, a number off professional and university football games are played on Thanksgiving Day. Some of the games are broadcast on national television.

On the Losing of Traditional Culture

1. 现在许多传统文化正慢慢消失

2. 传统文化消失的原?因

3. 我的看法

On the Losing of Traditional Culture

It is widely noted that lots of traditional culture is disappearing along with the development of technology. Many ancient architectures and traditional ways of living have been deserted. It seems that the traditional culture and craftsmanship will be replaced in this modern era.

The following reasons can account for the above phenomenon. Firstly, traditional technologies are always considered ineffective while the new sciences are always highly efficient. Secondly, it is costly to protect the traditional culture. If the fund used to protect the ancient culture was instead delivered to the poor, it will be helpful to the improvement of their living standard. Thirdly, modern science and technology facilitate both our daily and academic life a lot. For instance, college students always collect their thesis materials by surfing the Internet instead of borrowing books from the library.

In my opinion, although traditional culture is an ancient heritage, it couldn’t keep pace with the development of society. It is the tide of history that the traditional culture and technology will no doubt be eliminated in the end.

To be an American is, as Henry James famously observed, a complex fate. But complexity was that rococo masters stock-in-trade, which may explain why he returned to his native country in 1904 after an absence of more than 20 years. To be sure, he was interested in a Jamesian walk down memory lane, with its full quota of meditative hairsplitting. Yet he also meant to take advantage of his hybrid status as a Europeanized American. I made no scruple, James explains in his introduction, of my conviction that I should understand and should care better and more than the most earnest of visitors, and yet that I should vibrate with more curiosity ... than the pilgrim with the longest list of questions. Vibrate he did, in the ornate and extraordinary periods of his late phase, and the result was a one-of-a-kind travel book, The American Scene.What appalls him the most, though, is the Almighty Dollar, which he perceives as the preliminary American postulate, the very bedrock of New World life: This basis is that of active pecuniary gain and of active pecuniary gain only--that of ones making the conditions so triumphantly pay that the prices, the manners, the other inconveniences, take their place as a friction it is comparatively easy to salve, wounds directly treatable with the wash of gold. Some will argue that the fussbudget author had spent too much time in England, where money remained a dirty word until after the Second World War. Others may find his diagnosis eerily prescient. In any case, The American Scene remains required reading for anybody interested in U.S. history, Henry James, or the incredible evolution of the compound sentence.

带翻译：

一个美国人，因为亨利·詹姆斯曾经有过一个著名的评论，一个复杂的命运。但复杂性是洛可可硕士惯用手段，这或许可以解释为什么他回到自己的祖国1904年的缺失超过20年。可以肯定的是，他是感兴趣Jamesian重温记忆，完整的冥想吹毛求疵的配额。但他也意味着利用混合地位使欧化的美国人。我没有顾虑，詹姆斯解释说在他的介绍，我确信我应该理解和关心更好、更不是最认真的游客，然而，我应该振动有好奇心……比最长的朝圣者的问题列表。振动，在华丽的和非同寻常的时期他的后期阶段，而结果是一个独一无二的旅行书，美国的场景。是什么国家里有着令他最是万能的美元，他认为美国初步假设，新世界的基础生活:此基础上是积极活跃的经济收益和经济条件获得的只有——成功地支付，价格时，礼仪，其他不便，取而代之摩擦是相对容易的药膏，伤口直接与黄金洗治疗。有些人会辩称，大惊小怪的人作者花了太多的时间在英国，那里的钱仍然是一个肮脏的词汇，直到第二次世界大战之后。其他人可能发现他的诊断出奇的有先见之明。在任何情况下，美国仍然需要阅读美国历史上对任何人感兴趣，亨利·詹姆斯，或者是令人难以置信的并列复合句的进化。

Every year, when the Spring Festival comes, which is the biggest festival in China, Chinese people from all over the world will come back to their hometown and spend the day together. For me, as I grow up, I am not that excited about spring festival as I was a kid did. But it is true that this day let people stay together no matter how busy and how far they are. I barely have chances to see my relatives, but in Spring Festival, we will have dinner and talk the whole night. It is such a great moment for us to cherish. The meaning of Spring Festival is important for everyone.

每年，中国最大的节日春节到来的时候，来自世界各地的华人都会回到家乡，一起度过这一天。对我来说，长大之后我对春节就不像小时候那样兴奋了。但是春节确实会让大家都聚在一起，不管有多忙，多远。我很少有机会见得到我的亲戚，但我们会在春节一起吃晚饭，聊天聊上一整晚。这是一个值得我们珍惜的伟大时刻。春节的意义对每个人来说都是重要的。

Life has many, "the first" is always unforgettable. Today, Im excited to tell you about my first trip to britain.

Last summer, my father and mother decided to take me to England for a trip. On that day, we were on the plane in Hongkong, and my father told me we had to fly to Holland first and then transfer there. On the plane, stewardess stewardess is very polite. She will bring us food and drink for us. We passengers are like God and enjoy the thoughtful and meticulous service. On the plane, I was eating, drinking and sleeping. I was very excited in my brain. Im looking forward to my destination soon.

After more than ten hours of flight, the plane finally arrived at Holland Amsterdam international airport. After we got off the plane, we went to England by a lovely little plane. Dont look at the plane. Its very small and inside. I feel very luxurious and comfortable. During the flight, our plane was unsteady in the air because of the resistance of the airflow. But Im still happy. Because Ill soon see my fathers friend, uncle Mike and his family. After a period of flight, our small plane finally landed at Liverpool John Lennon Airport in england. My mom and dad couldnt speak English when I was out of customs, and I was the only one to act as their interpreter. Its very troublesome to go through customs. To verify our passports, we need to cover chapter after chapter, and also to pick up our luggage. After all the customs formalities, we were tired out.

We dragged the trunk out of the airport and dads friend, uncle Mike, had been waiting for us outside. Suddenly, dad asked Uncle Mike, "what time is it for you in England?""

Uncle Mike immediately said, "its seven in the morning."! You have worked hard all the way!"

After greeting each other for a while, a coach with 7 people could drive us straight to uncle Mike. Uncle Mikes wife is Grace, a native of Hongkong, very friendly and friendly to people. I hasten to call her aunt. At this point, a child ran down the stairs from the two floor. He turned out to be uncle Mikes son, Kevinmike. The little man looked as big as I was. After seeing us, he took me by the hand and, like a little guide, showed me around every room of his house. Finally, he led me to a room and said, "my friend, this is your room."! You live here!" The look of his face was like a little master. On the morning of the second day, after breakfast, my father drove Mike uncles car, took me and my mother in Liverpool City, took a big circle, and visited the whole city. Here is what is foreign, city streets are clean, tidy, little and dainty buildings are also very beautiful. The small yard of every family is full of bright flowers. The whole city is quiet, free of noise and fresh air. The British people are very polite to people, and everyone sees us with a smile and regards to us. It made us feel very happy. The third day, we drove to the suburbs. There we saw large fields and saw ranches. On the farm, there were green grass, strong cows, white sheep, and strong horses. We also saw flocks of chickens, ducks, geese and cute puppies. Our day is on a farm to eat lunch, we eat the delicious French fries and fish, there are many unnamed foreign food, really let my appetite!

On the fourth day, we went to a cathedral in the city for worship. Before I went, I asked my mother to buy me a New Jersey, so it made me more lively and energetic.

On the fifth day, our main task is to go shopping in the big shopping mall in the city. I bought two beautiful cups and decided to return to my cousin and cousin. My mother bought a new captain armband for me. On the sixth day, my family went to the zoo in the city and we spent a whole day in it. Here, I saw the giraffe for the first time, saw the big rhino, saw the elephant, saw the boa constrictor...... I think the zoo here is very different from the zoo in our country, mainly in the style of the building. Really let me eyes!

The seventh day, I did not go out, but stay at Uncle Mikes home, and his son playing trampoline and game consoles. All two of us are boys, and our personalities are similar. We have nothing to say, talk about each other, and enjoy ourselves! From time to time the room burst into our happy laughter.

On the eighth day, we finally finished our trip to England and left the beautiful England for Hongkong. The two of us are reluctant to part. Especially uncle Mike and my son Kevinmike left E - mail address, so that we can keep in touch after day. Mom and dad have also invited uncle Mikes family to come and visit us in Hongkong.

ghosts and goblins are more than halloween decorations or costumes for many americans who confessed they believe in the supernatural and returning from the grave。

thirty—seven percent of 2，100 adults questioned in a zogby interactive poll said they think ghosts are real， and 23 percent believe they have been visited by a deceased relative or friend。

even the 22 percent who said they have not had any ghostly experiences themselves know someone who has。

"more than a third of americans have this belief that ghosts do exist，" said a spokesman for zogby， adding that the findings were surprising。

nearly half of those questioned said if they could be a ghost， they would choose to come back as themselves。

but belief in the supernatural is not required to enjoy halloween。 eighty—seven percent of parents said their children would be dressing up for the holiday and 71 percent would be trick—or—treating。

but 41 percent of adults said they were not celebrating halloween， including 12 percent who cited religious reasons。

serial killers were deemed to be the scariest costumes， followed by the walking dead and zombies。

前几天，我们在课堂上学了《普罗米修斯的故事》和《燧氏钻木取火》，我对东西方文化也有了新的看法。

《普罗米修斯的故事》讲的是普罗米修斯同情人类，为人类盗取了天火，结果被宙斯惩罚。《燧氏钻木取火》讲的是一个叫燧氏的年轻人在天神伏羲的指引下找到了钻木取火的办法。

他们有着相同点和不同点，他们的相同点是：《普罗米修斯的故事》中普罗米修斯发现人们住在山洞里饥寒交迫；人们被野兽捕食，甚至彼此猎食——人们实在是一切生物中最可怜的了。而《燧氏钻木取火》中大神伏羲想让人知道火的用处。从这里可以看出火的起源都是人类不知道怎么用火、也不知道火是什么时候开始的。所以天神同情人类、可怜人类，想帮助人类。

他们的不同点一：《普罗米修斯的故事》中普罗米修斯他把几个冷得发抖的人从山洞中叫出来，为他们生了火，叫他们用火取暖的方法。从这里可以看出普罗米修斯是直接把火种给了人类。而《燧氏钻木取火》中伏羲大展神通，在山林中降下了一场雷雨，雷电劈在树木上，树木燃烧起来，很快就变成了熊熊大火。从这里看出伏羲是想让人类自己去发现这种叫火的东西。

第二个不同点：西方神话中的西方天神有的是自私、有的是博爱的。宙斯就是自私自利的，而普罗米修斯就是博爱的。在普罗米修斯向宙斯索要火种时，宙斯冷酷无情地说不给，所以在宙斯不同意后，普罗米修斯为了让人类生活条件变好，只好去盗取火种。但东方文化中，东方天神是智慧的，伏羲大神而是教会人们如何得到火种。《燧氏钻木取火》中的燧氏学会了取火的方法，他找来各种树枝，耐心地用不同的树枝进行摩擦。终于树枝上冒烟了，然后钻出火了。这样人类就找到了取火的方法——钻木取火。

从这里可以看出东方是智慧的，什么事都是要自己来想办法的。而西方是自私的、博爱的，什么事都是神来为你受罚。所以东方更相信人的力量，而西方是更崇尚神的力量。

My English friend name is jim.

He is ten, his family in london,he and his family member comes our china to play.he has a cosin,he name is qianyu hi is oniy four years old,but he has a lot of questions.look he is pointing at the chopsticks to ask that my this is anything.

I and jim has become the good friend .several days later jim said that he wanted, he said that i love china .i will forget that you zhou lei, will have free time london to look at me .ok see you jim.see you.

[我的英国朋友的英语作文

传统文化剪纸消失英语作文应该怎么写？我们要保护传统文化，一起看看下面的作文吧！

传统文化剪纸消失英语作文（一）

Since the big country has been found at October 1st of 1949, the People’s Republic of China has gone through a history of 62 years. Looking back at the 62 years, especially in recent 30 years, we have made many great achievements in different fields. And China has been the second largest economy in the world in 2010. And as a Chinese, I am so proud of our mother country.

However, on the other hand, we also have been losing many other good things such as beautiful environment and traditional culture when the GDP has increased quickly. And we also know that the traditional culture is the soul of an ancient nation. It is the most important thing. But we Chinese seem to ignore this. And that many things happened in this year like to remind us to be awake of this phenomenon. The accident of our high speed trains had taken many people’s lives away in July. And that the 2-years-old girl had been hurt to die while 18 passers should to save her.

And in my opinion, the culture and civilization are so important that we can’t lose them. However the economy and technology have been developed, we will have nothing when we lost the important things. As a student, I have no idea that what should I do. And I just want to say, we must develop our traditional culture but not to abandon them.

传统文化剪纸消失英语作文（二）

Hello, everyone, my topic today is “we are losing our traditional culture”.

After seeing the movie Kung Fu Panda, I was impressed deeply by its advanced cartoon technology and its abundant characters, but what impressed me most was the series of Chinese elements in the film, such as buildings of Chinese style, calligraphy, Tang suits and so on. I had to admit that the film makers, those Americans, seemed to know our Chinese traditional culture even more than most of us Chinese, which should made us ashamed. To be honest, the movie Kung Fu Panda made many contributions to spreading our traditional culture, but we should not be pleased at all, we Chinese should play the most important role in spreading our own traditional culture. Kung Fu is ours, panda is ours, but Kung Fu Panda is not ours, how terrible it is!

That all, thank you for your listening and it’s time for your questions now.

传统文化剪纸消失英语作文（三）

On the Losing of Tyaditional Culture

It is widely noted that lots of traditional culture is dis^ppeBriitg alotig with the development of technology* Many aucient architectures and traditional ways of living have been deserted. It seems that the traditional culture and craftmanship will be replaced in this modem era.

The following reasons can account for the above phenomenon. Firstly, traditional technologies are always considered ineffective while the new sciences are always highly efficient. Secondly, it is costly to protect the traditional culture.

the fund used to protect the ancient culture was instead delivered to the poor, it will be helpful to the improvement of their living standard. Thirdly，modeni science and technology facilitate both our daiJy and academic life a tot. For instance, college students always collect their thesis materials by surfing the Internet instead of borrowing books from the library.

In my opinion, although traditional culture is an ancient heritage, it couldnt keep pace with the development of society. It is the tide of history that the traditional culture and technology will no doubt be eliminated in the end.

[传统文化剪纸消失英语作文

The Culture of China is home to one of the worlds oldest and most complex

civilizations. China boasts a history rich in over 5,000 years of artistic,

philosophical, political, and scientific advancement. Though regional

differences provide a sense of diversity, commonalities in language and religion

connect a culture distinguished by such significant contributions such as

Confucianism and Taoism. Confucianism was the official philosophy throughout

most of Imperial Chinas history and strongly influenced other countries in East

Asia. Mastery of Confucian texts provided the primary criterion for entry into

the imperial bureaucracy.

With the rise of Western economic and military power beginning in the

mid-19th century, Western systems of social and political organization gained

adherents in China. Some of these would-be reformers rejected Chinas cultural

legacy, while others sought to combine the strengths of Chinese and Western

cultures.

China is a unified nation consisting of many different ethnic groups.

Fifty-six different ethnic groups make up the great Chinese national family.

Because the Han people accounts for more than ninety percent of Chinas

population, the remaining fifty-five groups are generally referred to as "ethnic

minorities." Next to the majority Han, the Mongolian, Hui, Tibetan, and Uygur

peoples comprise the largest ethnic groups. Although Chinas ethnic minorities

do not account for a large portion of the population, they are distributed over

a vast area, residing in every corner of China.

Particularly since the implementation of Chinas opening and reform policy,

the central government has increased investment in minority areas and

accelerated their opening to the outside world. This has resulted in an upsurge

of economic development in these areas. Each of Chinas ethnic minority groups

possesses a distinctive culture. The Chinese government respects minority

customs, and works to preserve, study, and collate the cultural artifacts of

Chinas ethnic minority groups. The government vigorously supports the

development of minority culture and the training of minority cultural workers,

and fosters the development of traditional minority medicine.

The relation among Chinas ethnic groups can be described as "overall

integration, local concentration, mutual interaction." Concentrations of ethnic

minorities reside within predominantly Han areas, and the Han people also reside

in minority areas, indicating that there has been extensive exchanges among

Chinas ethnic groups since ancient times. With the development of the market

economy, interaction among ethnic groups has become even more active in the

areas of government, economics, culture, daily life, and marriage. Linked by

interdependence, mutual assistance, and joint development, their common goals

and interests creating a deep sense of solidarity, Chinas ethnic groups

resemble a great national family, together building Chinese civilization.

"America， to endure， must change…… Change to preserve Americas ideals—— life， liberty， the pursu

"america， to endure， must change……

change to preserve americas ideals—— life， liberty， the pursuit of happiness. though we march to the music of our time，our mission is timeless."

—— president bill clinton， 1993

a society in transition

shifts in the structure of american society， begun years or even decades earlier， had become apparent by the time the 1980s arrived. the composition of the population and the most important jobs and skills in american society had undergone major changes.

the dominance of service jobs in the economy became undeniable. by the mid-1980s， capping a trend under way for more than half a century， three-fourths of all employees worked in the service sector —— for instance， as retail clerks， office workers， teachers， physicians and other health care professionals， government employees， lawyers， and legal and financial specialists.

service-sector activity benefited from the availability and increased use of the computer. this was the information age， with hardware and software that could aggregate previously unimagined amounts of data about economic and social trends. the federal government had made significant investments in computer technology in the 1950s and 1960s as part of its military and space programs. in the late 1970s， two young california entrepreneurs， working out of a garage， assembled the first widely marketed computer for home use， named it the apple —— and ignited a

revolution. by the early 1980s， millions of microcomputers had found their way into u.s. businesses and homes， and in 1982， time magazine dubbed the computer its "machine of the year."

meanwhile， americas "smokestack industries，" such as steel and textiles， were in decline. the u.s. automobile industry reeled under competition from such highly efficient japanese car makers as toyota， honda and nissan —— many of which opened their own factories in the united states. by 1980 japanese automobile manufacturers controlled a quarter of the american market. only by the late 1980s and early 1990s did u.s. manufacturers begin to match the

cost efficiencies and engineering standards of their japanese rivals， and start winning back the share of the domestic car market they had ceded to imports over the previous two decades. although consumers were the beneficiaries of this ferocious competition —— and in other highly competitive industries， as well， such as computers —— the painful struggle to cut costs meant the permanent loss of thousands of jobs in the u.s. auto industry.

population patterns shifted as well. after the end of the postwar "baby boom，" which lasted from approximately 1946 to 1964， the overall rate of population growth declined and the population grew older. household composition also changed. in 1980 the percentage of family households dropped; a quarter of all groups were now classified as "nonfamily households，" in which two or more uelated persons lived together.

new immigrants changed the character of american society in other ways. the 1965 reform in immigration policy shifted the focus away from western europe， and the number of new arrivals from asia and latin america increased

dramatically. vietnamese refugees， for example， poured into the united states in the aftermath of the war. in 1980， 808，000 immigrants arrived， the highest number in 60 years， as the country once more became a haven for people from around the world......

USA field place North America central section , east face Atlantic Ocean , the north being near to Canada , meet Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico in the south. Subordinate Alaska is located in the North America northwest part , Hawaii is located in middle Pacific Ocean north part. Always cover an area of 9372614 square Qianmi. The coastline is long 22680 kilometers. The plain is that Indian lives in a compact community field. 15 ends of the century Spain , Holland , France , United Kingdom etc. migrate consecutively having come this far. In the 18 centuries fronts,United Kingdom has built 13 colonies along the bank in North America Atlantic Ocean.

1775 has been annual , has broken out to oppose United Kingdom colonizing comrades Revolutionary War. 1776 annual 7 month 4 days colonial people announce "Declaration of Independence" , announce setting up USA. 1783 annual Revolutionary War are over , United Kingdom admits that 13 colonies are independent. 1787 years pass USA constitution , set up the federation republic. 1803 years purchase Louis anna from France (be located in extensive USA central section area). 1819 years purchase Fla. from Spain.

1845 years invade and occupy Mex Texas. Fields such as that , California 1848 years are ended to Mexican War have got New Mexcico , Yalisang the day afer tomorrow. 1853 years have striven for a piece of land land of Arizona now the southern part and New Mexico southwest part from Mexico. Alaska and Aleutian Islands 1867 years have been bought to tsarist Russia. 1898 years have annexed Hawaii. These places successively add afterwards if federation , USA who forms nows, 1971 annual 1 month 1 day surname our country establishes diplomatic relations.

American eating is funny. They eat almost everything with a fork, and it appears that holding a knife in ones right hand longer than a few seconds is considered to be against good table manners.

The system is that if it is absolutely necessary to use a knife, people take the fork in their left hand, and cut off a piece of meat or whatever it is in the normal manner. Then they put the knife down, transfer the fork to their right hand, and only then do they transport the food to their mouth. This is clearly ludicrous(滑稽可笑), but it is considered good manners.

There are several results of this system. First, if it is not absolutely necessary to use a knife, Americans dont use one, because obviously this greatly complicates(使复杂化) things, and you will therefore see them trying to cut things like potatoes, fish and even bacon(熏猪肉) with a fork. Second, towards the end of a course, since only one implement(器具) is being used, food has to bo chased around the plate with the fork - and for the last mouthful the thumb has to be used to keep the food in place, although one is not supposed to do this.

Third, tables are generally laid with one knife and two forks, the outside fork being for the salad. There is no need for foreign visitors to follow the American system and try to eat the salad with only a fork, but if you do use your knife, remerber to save it for the meat course. Even desserts(甜食) (except ice cream) are eaten with a fork if at all possible, and the spoon you see by your dessert is meant to be for coffee (but if you use it for your dessert no one will say anything).

The difference between chinese and western culture

With the rapidly challging word, people throughout the world have found it increasingly necessary to minimize the rate of misunderstanding due to miscommunication in their contacts with another. In the oast most human beings were born, lived, and died within a limited geoographical area, never encountering people of other cultural backgrounds. It might be said that technological advances have been most effective in creating the borderless word, the global community. As our world shrinks and its inhabitants become interdependent, people from remot cultures increasingly come into contact on a daily basis. It is no longer hard to find situations in which membes of ince isolared groups of people. Now these people may live thousands of miles away or right next door to each other. So all the people are faced with the challenge of understand this world. So when the east meet west, there are many problems. Some problems are listed as follows.

First of all, the way of eating. All huaman beings have certain basic needs. Our fundamental needs for things that keep us alive. This is the physioligical need. All individuals must eat in order to survive. But what people eat, when they eat, and the manners in which they eat are all patterned by culture. No society views everything in its environment that is edible and might provide nurishment as food. Americans eat oysters but not snail. The French eat snails but not locusts. The Jews eat fish but not pork. The Hindus eat pork but not beef. The Russiand eat beef but not snake. We all have ideas about what kinds of food are good to eat. We also have ideas about what kinds of food are bad to eat. As a result, people from one culture often think the food that people from another culture eat are disgusting or nauseating. Dislike is not the only reason why some culture will not eat a certain food. In some clture, certain foods are taboo. Sometimes the food taboos may be so strong thrat just the thought of eating forbidden foods can cause an indivdual to feel ill. We can also find culture difference in way of bring up children treating the early, greeting each other, saying and spending money before other people do in everyday, but in some English-speaking countries, people do not agree with us. We chinese may enjoy something that is not usually consider as edible by the English-speaking people. Generally we perfer to have thing hot and much emphasis on the taste. We eat from one plate when we are eating with others, and we like to seat one by one, and in the shape of a round. On the opposite, some English-speaking contries, most of the people like to seat in two rows, two people face to face. They have their own plate. On the aspect of table manners, there are many differences between chinese and English-speaking people. For example, in some Englishi-speaking countries, Bread plates are to the left of the main plate, beverage glasses are to the right. Salad fork, knife and soup spoon are further from the

main plate than the main course knife, fork and spoon. When eating bread rolls, break off a piece before buttering. Use the knife only to butter the bread, not to cut it. They should not start eating before your host does or instructs to do so. At larger meals, it is considered okay to start eating once others have been served. When finished, place the knife and fork together at five o’clock with the fork on the left. It is considered rude to answer the telephone at the table. If need to take an urgent call, excuse self and go outside. Try to eat all the food you are served. But in China, the table manners are different. Chinese traditionally eat rice from a small bowl held in the left hand. The rice bowl is raised to the mouth and the rice pushed into the mouth using the chopsticks. Some Chinese find it offensive to scoop rice from the bowl using a spoon. If rice is served on a plate, as is more common in the West, it is acceptable and more practical to eat it with a fork or spoon. The thumb must always be above the edge of the bowl. The host should always make sure the guests drinks are sufficiently full. One should not pour for ones self, but should offer to pour for a neighbor. When your drink is being poured, you should say "thank you" and tap fingers on the table to show appreciation. When people wish to clink drinks together in the form of a cheer, it is important to observe that younger members should clink the edge of their drink below the edge of an elder to show respect.

Secondly, the way of communication. Form birth to death, communication plays an integral part in our life. There are some language problems, including the different styles of using language such as direct, indirect; expansive, succinct; argumentative, conciliatory; instrumental, harmonnizing; and so on. These different styles can lead to wrong interpretations of intent and evaluation of insincerity, aggreeiveness, deviousness, or arrogance, among other. The misinterpretation nonverbal signs and symbols such as gestures, postures, and other body movements. It is a definite communication barrier. But it is possible to learn the meanings of these observable message,usually in informal rather ways. It is more difficult to understand the less obvious unspoken codes of the other cultures. Language, as the carrier of culture, is created during the process of human beings’ productive labor and serves as the tool of communication to convey the message between people. However, it has been endowed with magic and power in particular language acts. As the old saying goes, troubles come out of the tongue. Superstitious people think that the language itself can bring about fortune or misfortune so that taboos to restrict the use of language are created. Anyone who violates them will get punishment, whereas those who faithfully obey the restrictions of language taboo will get protection. Furthermore, linguistic taboos change with the development of society .The paper firstly analyzes the evolution of linguistic taboo. It is indicated in the paper that linguistic taboo exists in almost every aspect of people’s life and is a universal social phenomenon in China and Britain. Both Chinese and

English cultures are in agreement about linguistic taboos such as pronunciation taboo, and vocabulary taboo. However, influenced by different cultural backgrounds, ideologies and the concepts of value, Chinese and English linguistic taboos also have differences, as is discussed in the paper from the aspects of taboo subjects, taboo numbers and names. At last, this paper puts forward two effective ways of avoiding taboo, that is, using euphemism and having a good knowledge of the taboo culture. And this discussion would help English learners improve their ability of cross-cultural communication and achieve better communicational effects. For example, During the feudal times, people were not equal to the rulers and were suppressed by their superiors. The distinction between the upper and the lower classes was also reflected in the evaluation of the language used by them respectively. The words of upper class used were considered good and elegant while those used by the lower class were regarded as vulgar and indecent and should be avoided in the speech of ladies and gentlemen. In modern society, as a result of the development of science and technology, many natural phenomena are no longer mysterious. Human beings not only constantly improve their abilities to exploit the world where they are living through their great wisdom and knowledge, but also make efforts to explore the extraterrestrial world. Science has much more say in today’s society. Thereby, the superstitious elements in linguistic taboos decrease while those reflecting spiritual civilization increase.

In short, by comparison, we can find that both Chinese and English communication reflect people’s psychology for good will, for safety and fortune and pleasantness. The Chinese and English people restrict their words and deeds through taboos, trying to keep a harmonious relationship between human and nature, or between people and society. They are a reflection of people’s pursuit of freedom and equality.

The most important, the different way of family structure, family values and family education. Family structure is the big difference between east and west, traditional chinese, amony many other Asians, repect their elders and feel a deep sense of duty toward them. Children repay their parents` sacrifices by being successful and supporting them in old age. This is accepted as a natural part of life in China. In contrast, taking care of aged parents is often viewed as a tremendous burden in the English-speaking countries, where aging and family support are not honored highly. In some English-speaking countries are still extrmely family-oriented. They are dedicated to helping their children and will sacrifice greatly for their children to get an edcuation. In turn, the children are devoted to their parents, who often live nearby. Grown children who go away and leave the country for the economic reasons typically send large parts of their salary home to their parents and the rest of the family. Or in some Asia, any decisions or actions are done from family consideration, not individual desires. Peope`s behavior is judged on whether it

brings shame or pride to the family. The children are trained to rely on their families, to honor elderly people, and to fear foreigners. And many of them think that their actions in this life will influence their status in the next life.

The way of family edcation is also the different. We all know the family education is the elementary education for children. Many serious problems have appeared in our education system in recent years. Almost everyone has realized the importance of solving these problems and many people have presented a lot of valuable suggestions. There are many types of family education in the world and each of them shows distinctive features and is closely responsive to its culture. And American family education is the most famous one among them. There are great differences in the concepts of education, methods of education and results of education between East family education and West family education. In some English-speaking countries, parents’ aims are to train their children to have the ability of adapting to environmental variety and the ability of living independently. Based on this concept, most American parents emphasize more to train their children’s ability of independence once they are born. They generally believe that children’s growth must rely on their own experiences, because they think that children should form a self-supporting will and the capacity to live independently since their childhood. And the capacity comes from the training in the early age. The so-called training contains many aspects, such as work, temper will, patience, the spirit of hard work, etc. However, the most fundamental training is the ability of adapting to hard conditions. Through the process of work, children will form the labor sense, learn some work skills and form a habit of labor. Besides, children can learn how to overcome difficulties, temper their willpower, develop their talents and skills, rich their knowledge, and form a habit of hard work and thrifty by working in hard conditions. It is just in the unconsciously process that children will obtain the independent survivability and take the responsibilities for the society. Compared with some English-speaking countries, Chinese parents have a very different concept of children’s education. Some parents in China only care about whether the children have a promising future, a good job, a good life or not. Based on these expectations, the majority of parents feel that their responsibility for their children is to create as good conditions as possible they can so that the children will not worry about anything in the future. Chinese parents would like to provide everything what they can for their children in the process of children’s growth. In short, they would like to sacrifice anything if their children can live better with their help. Therefore, in the process of children’s growth, the most important thing the parents concerning is to developing their children’s intellect, except for caring children’s daily life. In order to make their children have a good performance in study, become outstanding, or even become a famous person in the future, they would not let children do anything except studying. As for the children’s independence, civic awareness and their ability adapting to the

society in the future, they consider little or not at all. From these aspects we can find the obvious differences of family education between America and China.

When we faced with those difference between West and East, we should give some advice to solve these problems. According to the three big difference that pointed, we should find some way to deal with these problems.

We can study other languages and learn to expect in nonvwebal forms and other cultural aspects. We can train ourselves to meet intercultural encounters with more attention to situation details. We can use an investigative approach rather than stereotypes and preconceptions. We can gradually expose ourselves to differences so that they become less threatening. We can even learn to lower our tension level when needed to advoid triggering defensive reactions. The overall goal should be to achieve intercultural communication competence.

So the ideal solution to reduce the problems are to share knowledge with others in communication. This is why it is easiest to communicate with other members of the same group. This is why people so often gather together socially with others who are very much like them. Since intercultural communication is communication with members of different cultual groups, and therefore, because we do not share knowledge, assumptions, values, and forms of discourse with them, we must expect there to be problems of interpretation. We must look for these problems, anticipate where they will arise out of our differences, and then plan our aommunications to be as effective as possible.

However, we have to remember that, most of the time, the different ways that are the customs of dfferent cultures are neither right nor wrong. It is simply that different people do the same tings in different manners, even though we can not understand ,we should show the respect. I believe this is the best way to make our life become more comfortable and make the world more harmonious.

(American Students in Countryside )

eleven students from world college, west of the united states, kissed their newly-made chinese fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters “zaijian”(goodbye), tears in eyes, when leaving jiangwan township, in shanghai suburbs. these students, who are studying on a program of international relations, are believed to be the first hatch① of foreign students to live with chinese village families.

the students stayed in the village for two months. at daytime, they were given chinese language and history courses in the village classroom and took part in agricultural practice in the fields. they spent the rest of their time with the peasants, carrying water from wells, making a fire for cooking, even feeding babies.mr. carlos liked to take little children for a ride in bicycle whereas mr. david often played cards with his young chinese friends. miss tracy, a pretty l9-year-old girl, concentrated her enthusiasm on giving english lessons to pupils at jiangwan primary school. mr. richard with his video camera② finished a tv documentary③ about chinese village life.“we like the life here. its so quiet, so plain, yet so interesting,”said miss sandra, one of the students.

lunch time was the most enjoyable for both guest and host. they talked about everything that interested them. the villagers regarded these students as their own sons, daughters, brothers, or sisters.“this new form is also beneficial④ to ourselves,”said u hongming, deputy director ⑤ of jiangwan township. “we are looking forward to welcoming more foreign students to come here.”

indeed, the students not only learned chinese, but also knew more deeply about china within the two months. “weve learned a lot which we couldnt just at chinese colleges,” said miss nona from canada. when asked about the purpose of going to china and staying with chinese villagers, tracy showed her several articles published in an american newspaper:“living, studying and learning to accept and work within another entirely different culture is an important aspect⑥ of every society. communication, understanding, and above all, love are imperative⑦ for world peace.”

【词语解释】

①hatch [h$tm] n. (小鸡等)一窝;(喻)一群，一组(年轻人)

②video camera [vidi u k$m r ] n. 电视摄像机

③documentary[?d&kjument ri] n. 纪录影片

④beneficial [benifim l] a. 有利的;有益的

⑤deputy director[depjuti direkt ] 副乡(镇)长

⑥aspect[$spekt] n. (问题、事物的)方面

⑦ imperative [imper tiv] a. 绝对必要的

文化差异何其大 美国为何难以理解中国

Do the events that led to the outbreak of the first world war carry lessons for the Sino-American relationship? A century ago it was the ascent of Germany under Kaiser Wilhelm I thatunsettled the world; today a rising China is roiling east Asia. Then, as now, domestic politicson both sides played a role; one that is too easily neglected.

导致一战爆发的事件对中美关系有什么启发意义吗?一个世纪以前，德国在威廉一世(Kaiser Wilhelm I)领导下的崛起让世界感到不安;如今，中国的崛起让东亚感到不安。当时和现在一样，对立双方的国内政治都发挥了作用——这是一个太容易被人们忽视的因素。

Why did Britain and Germany – linked by trade, dynastic ties, culture and religion – findthemselves at war in August 1914? In part, as historian Paul Kennedy has argued, it wasbecause London’s liberal ideology contributed to its perception of a growing German threat.

1914年8月，存在贸易、王朝纽带、文化和宗教联系的英国和德国为何开战?从某种程度上来说，正如历史学家保罗肯尼迪(Paul Kennedy)所指出的，那是因为伦敦的自由主义意识形态强化了其关于德国威胁日益加剧的认识。

Filtered through liberalism’s lens, Germany looked militarist, autocratic, mercantilist and statist– and contempt for the country’s political culture added to London’s disquiet. When the warbegan, it quickly came to be seen as a liberal crusade against “Prussianism”.

透过自由主义“棱镜”，德国给人看到的是军国主义、独裁、重商主义和计划经济——而对该国政治文化的鄙视也增加了伦敦的不安。当战争爆发时，人们立刻将之视为一场讨伐“普鲁士主义”的自由主义战争。

In this respect, today’s Sino-American rivalry resembles the pre-1914 Anglo-Germanantagonism. The speed of China’s growth worries US policy makers, as do the geopoliticalimplications of its economic transformation.

从这个方面来说，当今的中美对抗类似于1914年以前的英德对抗。中国的发展速度让美国政策制定者感到担忧，其经济改革对地缘政治的影响同样让美国不安。

Across the American political spectrum, China’s success is attributed to its failure to play bythe rules of free trade – for instance, its habit of manipulating the value of its currency andengaging in industrial espionage. Market-oriented liberalism is the dominant ideology in theUS and, as in pre-1914 Britain, it shapes policy makers’ image of their supposed adversary.

在美国政界上下看来，中国的成功得益于其没有遵守自由贸易规则，例如惯于操纵汇率，以及从事工业间谍活动。以市场为导向的自由主义是美国的主要意识形态，而正如1914年前的英国一样，它决定了政策制定者对他们所以为的对手的印象。

American leaders view China as a nation whose undemocratic political system raises doubtsabout both the scope of its foreign policy ambitions and its trustworthiness as a diplomaticpartner. Moreover, China’s combination of political authoritarianism and state-directedcapitalism causes unease because it challenges the supposed universality of the Americanmodel of liberal democracy and free-market capitalism.

在美国领导人的眼里，中国不民主的政治体制令人怀疑其外交政策雄心的范围，以及其作为外交合作伙伴的可信赖性。此外，中国政治威权主义与国家资本主义的结合令人不安，原因是它挑战了美国模式的自由主义民主和自由市场资本主义的所谓普适性。

Aaron Friedberg, a Princeton University professor, says that for Americans, “the success of amainland [Chinese] regime that blends authoritarian rule with market-driven economics is anaffront.” For members of the US foreign-policy elite, the Chinese threat is not so muchgeopolitical as ideological.

普林斯顿大学(Princeton University)的阿龙弗里德伯格(Aaron Friedberg)教授表示，在美国人看来，“中国大陆政权将威权统治和市场导向的经济学结合在一起所取得的成功是一种侮辱”。对美国上层外交政策制定者来说，中国威胁更多是意识形态层面的，而不是地缘政治上的。

Powerful external and domestic forces are putting the US and China on the road toconfrontation. China aspires to be the regional hegemon in east (and southeast) Asia. The US– the incumbent hegemon, having dominated the region since 1945 – is blocking its path.

各种强有力的内外因素正把美中推上对抗之路。中国渴望成为东亚(以及东南亚)地区的霸主，而自1945年以来主导该地区的现任霸主美国则拦在路上。

Yet America’s predominance in east Asia contributes little to the security of a nation whosegeography and unsurpassed military capabilities would anyway make it close to invulnerable.The US is the most secure great power in history – even more so if you factor in thedeterrent effect of nuclear weapons. The true cause of American insecurity is not animminent encroachment on its territory but the risk that US alliances – especially with Japan –will draw it into a regional conflict.

然而，在东亚地区的主导地位并不会让美国更安全——不管怎样，美国所处的地理位置和拥有的无可匹敌的军事能力让其处于一种近乎无懈可击的状态。美国是历史上最安全的大国——如果你考虑到核武器的威慑作用，就会更肯定这一点。美国真正的不安全因素不是其疆域会遭到入侵，而是同盟关系——尤其是美日同盟——将其拖入地区冲突的风险。

The US wants to maintain its east Asian dominance to keep the region’s markets open toAmerican goods and its people open to liberal ideas. China threatens this openness, on whichAmerica’s security is wrongly believed to depend.

美国希望保持在东亚地区的主导地位，以让该地区的市场继续向美国商品开放，其民众继续接受自由主义思想的熏陶。中国威胁到了这种开放，而美国的安全被错误地以为依赖于这种开放。

The liberal assumptions embedded in American foreign policy put the US at odds with China,and also heighten Beijing’s mistrust of Washington’s intentions and ambitions. The spiral ofanimosity that threatens to culminate in a confrontation between the two countries is inlarge part a creation of American policy.

美国外交政策中蕴含的自由主义思想导致美国与中国立场不一致，也加深了北京方面对华盛顿意图和抱负的不信任感。这种不断增长的、有可能在两国对抗中达到顶峰的敌意，在很大程度上是美国政策导致的。

As China’s rises, Washington has a last clear chance to avoid the looming Sino-Americanconflict.

在中国的崛起过程中，美国有最后的避让机会，可以避免不断迫近眼前的中美冲突真正爆发。

This would entail making real concessions on Taiwan and on China’s territorial claims in the Eastand South China Seas. It would also involve a commitment that Washington would notinterfere in China’s internal affairs.

这需要美国在台湾xx以及中国涉及东中国海和南中国海的领土主张上做出真正的妥协。此外美国也需承诺不干预中国内部事务。

America’s political culture – based on exceptionalism, liberal ideology, and openness – is a bigobstacle to coming to terms with a resurgent China. So is the fact that the foreign-policy eliteremains wedded to American primacy, and refuses to accept that this will inevitably slip awaybecause of the relative decline of US power.

美国建立在例外主义、自由主义思想和开放观念等基础之上的政治文化，是影响美国接受复兴的中国的一大障碍。另一个障碍是，美国外交政策圈子中的精英们依然痴迷于“美国主导地位”，并拒绝接受这种地位随着美国实力相对衰落必将丧失的观点。

History is also a problem.

历史也是一个问题

US policy makers are quick to invoke what they take to be the lessons of the 1930s whileoverlooking the causes of the first world war. David Calleo, a professor at Johns Hopkins, hasobserved that what we should learn from the earlier conflict “is not so much the need forvigilance against aggressors, but the ruinous consequences of refusing reasonableaccommodation to upstarts”.

美国政策制定者迅速摆出他们从上世纪30年代事件中归纳的教训，却无视一战的起因。约翰斯-霍普金斯大学(Johns Hopkins University)的戴维卡莱奥(David Calleo)教授指出，我们应该从更早那场冲突中学到的主要教训，“不是必须警惕侵略者，而是拒绝合理包容新崛起者将带来破坏性后果”。

If the US wants to avoid a future conflict with China, it cannot allow liberal ideology toobstruct a reconciliation with an ever more powerful China. That is the real lesson of 1914.

如果美国想要避免未来与中国发生冲突，就不能让自由主义意识形态妨碍它与越来越强大的中国修好。这是1914年带给我们的真正教训。

美国有源源不断的新事物出现，是基于美国人具有的创新能力。培养创新能力则是从儿童开始。要做到这一点，不需要高深的技巧，只需把握一条：尊重儿童。比尔·盖茨和他的同学们中学时玩的“吃纸”的电脑，是由社区家长捐赠的。比尔·盖茨的第一个公司也只是由两个毛头小伙建立的公司。别人愿意和他打交道，固然有自己商业的需要，但更在于他们尊重有创造能力的人，而不会太注意对方的年龄大小。

美国文化的一个重要特点就是对个性的尊重。他们尊重儿童的权利，平等地对待儿童，其中就包含对儿童兴趣的尊重。了解了美国的文化，就不会对乔布斯在车库创业而又获得风险资金的支持感到惊讶，也不会对家长们“放任”“盖茨们”玩自编的电脑游戏感到不解了。

Food between China and Western countries are totally different styles. China has 5000 years history. We probably spend half of time on food. Chinese people choice food very carefully. They only use fresh material to make food. For example they only eat fresh fish.

Chinese have a lot of ideas and techniques for cooking. We can cook a chicken in over ten ways. That’s why Chinese food is so popular in the world. Western country like English or American, they don’t have fresh food because they buy their food from supermarket which only sells stored materials. Western people would also prefer fast food like burgers and chips.

They are unhealthy to human body. Western people do not have many skills for cooking, mostly they only boil, steam and bake the food. By the way, western people are very good at making desert and chocolate. They can make very good cake and chocolate. They are very sweet but it’s sort of food which make you become fat quickly.

当传统国学文化与西方文化相遇，当圣诞节与春节“撞车”，随着时代的发展进步，人们越来越趋向于欣赏西方文化。如今，“崇洋媚外”已成为一种风尚；“抨击传统文化，赞赏西方文化“似乎是文学家教育家津津乐道的话题；越来越多的家长希望自己的孩子出国接受国外的教育……我不得不思索，难道中华五千年源远流长的传统文化真的比不上西方文化吗？

其实不然。中西方文化的起源不同，二者追求的信仰也不一样。我们的东方文化受到佛教、以孔子为首的儒家思想和老子的道教思想影响深远，主要追求精神的超脱，追求礼孝忠义，注重个人修养和人与自然的和谐相处。而西方文化起源于古希腊罗马文化，他们拥有平等、自由和开放的观念，追求个人权利以及对自然的探索和求证。因此，中西方文化存在明显的差异，

在文化教育方面，中西方各领风骚。传统国学文化深受儒家影响，中国的教育也注重于培养学生的个人素质，注重基础教育和因材施教。虽说应试教育不利于学生的全面发展，但是我们不能全盘否定我国的教育方式。考试是对学生在某个阶段学习效果的检验。应试教育有助于培养学生的自我思考和独立自主能力。而在西方，无论是在学校还是在家庭都很注重培养一个人的动手和实践能力。曾经有一个二年级的中国孩子，随父母去美国读小学，它的教师告诉他父母说：“我可以告诉你，六年级以前，他们的数学不用学了！”

中西方文化教育的不同直接导致了人们性格修养不同。中国人热情好客，关心和询问别人的身体健康状况是一种有礼貌，有修养的表现。人们一般见面都喜欢相互寒暄：“你吃饭了吗？”“最近过得怎么样？”而西方人喜欢尊重他人隐私，所以才以谈论天气，生活来避免尴尬。中国人提倡默默无闻和无私奉献精神，以集体利益为重，个人利益为轻，崇尚助人为乐和不求回报。但是西方人的自我中心意识很强，他们个人荣誉感极强，把个人利益放在第一位，并且推崇个人奋斗，强调多劳多得。

传统国学文化历史悠久，源远流长。漫步在历史的长廊中，我们可以细细品味抒写美的爱情，反映现实生活的《诗经》。穿越过春秋战国时期的百家争鸣的文化盛宴，我们有唐诗宋词元曲明清小说……伟大的祖先留给我们的文化瑰宝如同满天繁星般璀璨，是每个民族都可望不可及的。传统国学文化是华夏子女的历史财富，是我国全人类的文化遗产，我们应当学会珍惜。

面对着中西方文化的差异，当外来文化“入侵”时，我们应当取之精华，采取谦虚，不卑不亢的态度。对于我们的传统文化，我们则需要总结提炼其精华，推崇提倡中华民族文化之瑰宝，才能培养更高素质的人才。