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 feelings. It often causes confusion (困惑) across cultures. For example, many people in Russia 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 mon 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 culture, a smile is frequently used to cover painful 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 do members of another does not mean that they do not experience emotions. Rather, there are cultural differences in the amount of facial expressions permitted. For example, in public and in formal situations many Japanese do not show their emotions as freely 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 emotion are different. If we judge according to our own cultural habits, we may make the mistake of “reading” the other person incorrectly.
【小题1】What does the smile usually mean in the U.S.?A．Love.B．Politeness.C．Joy.D．Thankfulness.【小题2】The author mentions the smile of the Vietnamese to prove that smile can .A．show friendliness to strangersB．be used to hide true feelingsC．be used in the wrong placesD．show personal habits【小题3】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.【小题4】What would be the best title for the test?A．Cultural DifferencesB．Smiles and RelationshipC．Facial ExpressivenessD．Habits and EmotionsC
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(答案→)C
解析：【文章大意】
本文是一篇议论文。文章阐述了面部表情取决于情景和人们之间的关系。文章通篇阐述了面部表情的种种表现形式，以及文化之间的差异导致的面部表情的含义不同。
【小题1】根据文章第一段中的“in American culture (文化) the smile is in general an expression of pleasure”可知，在美国文化中，一般地说，微笑是快乐的表情。此处joy是pleasure的同义词。故选C。
【考点定位】考查细节理解。
【小题2】根据文章第一段中的“It can also hide true feelings. It often causes confusion (困惑) across cultures.”可知这是一个中心句，其后用例证法阐述：微笑能隐藏真正的感情。它常常导致跨文化间的困惑。其中越南人讲故事的例子就是为了说明这一观点。故选B。
【考点定位】考查作者的写作意图。
【小题3】根据文章最后一段中的“The key is to try not to judge people whose ways of showing emotion are different. If we judge according to our own cultural habits, we may make the mistake of “reading” the other person incorrectly.”可知，我们在“读”人们的表情的时候，要先理解他们的文化背景，否则，就会出错。
【考点定位】考查判断推理。
【小题4】文章通篇阐述了面部表情的种种表现形式，以及文化之间的差异导致的面部表情的含义不同。所以C正确。
【考点定位】考查文章的标题。