People often use gestures to express our feelings, but the problem is that the gestures can be understood in different ways.
It is true that a smile means the same thing in any language. So does laughter or crying. Fear is another emotion(情感) that is shown in much the same way all over the world. In Chinese and in English literature, a phrase like “he went pale and began to tremble” suggests that the man is either very afraid or he has just got a very big shock.
However, “he opened his eyes wide” is used to suggest anger in Chinese whereas in English it means surprise. In Chinese, surprise can be described in a phrase like “they stretched out their tongues!” “Stretching out your tongue” in English is an insulting(侮辱的, 无礼的)gesture or expresses strong dislike.
Even in the same culture, people differ in their ability to understand and express feelings. Experiments in America have shown that women are usually better than men at recognizing fear, anger, love and happiness on people’s faces. Other studies show that older people usually find it easier to understand body language than younger people do.
【小题1】Which of the following is TRUE according to the text? A．We can easily understand what people’s gestures mean. B．It is difficult to tell what people’s gestures really mean sometimes.C．Gestures can be understood by most people but words are not. D．Words can be better understood by older people.【小题2】People’s facial expressions may be misunderstood in different cultures because . A．people from different cultures have different meanings about some facial expressionsB．people speaking different languages have different facial expressionsC．people of different ages may have different interpretations (解释)D．people of different sexes may understand a gesture differently【小题3】From the passage, we can conclude(得出结论) that . A．words are often more difficult to understand than gesturesB．gestures can be more effectively used than words to express feelingsC．gestures can be used to express feelingsD．gestures are used as frequently as words to express feelings【小题4】The best title for this passage can be . A．GesturesB．FeelingsC．Culture and Understanding D．Gestures and FeelingsB
网友回答
(答案→)B
解析：文章讨论的是在不同的文化中相同的姿势与所表达的情感可能会有不同，在3,4两段与具体的例子来说明。
【小题1】B 推理题。根据文章第3,4段说明同一的姿势也许在不同的地方会有不同的意思，有时候我们会很难理解其真正的含义，故B正确。
【小题2】A 推理题。根据文章第三段给出的几个例子可知在不同的文化中对于同样的表情会有不同的理解，故A正确。
【小题3】C 归纳总结题。根据文章三四段给出的例子可知我们的姿势经常被用来表达我们的情感，故C正确。
【小题4】D 主旨大意题。文章讨论的是在不同的文化中相同的姿势与所表达的情感可能会有不同，在3,4两段与具体的例子来说明。故D正确。