2014年在职联考英语写作范文英汉对照(9)

　　9.Culture Shock

　　No one can tell you how to adjust to life in the United States. You must make the adjustment through experience, and sometimes, emotional distress. This is the way it usually happens.

　　First, of course, you experience a period of excitement. You have a sense of freedom--you feel liberated from the rules and customs of your own culture, and immensely interested in those of American culture. This period is sometimes called the “honeymoon” stage.

　　Then certain customs in the United States begin to irritate you. As an example, we shall consider punctuality--the need to be “on time”. Americans look at their watches frequently; they try to be on time for work, for class, for meetings, for games, for religious services, and even for certain events. If you arrange to meet Americans for lunch at 12 but to meet at 12:30, you will probably find that they have either left or eaten without you, or become very annoyed even if they are not hungry.

　　Perhaps you are annoyed that American friendliness seems superficial; or that you unable to smoke without other people complaining; or that Americans always act as though they are in a hurry; or that the food never seems to be prepared in the right way. Perhaps you do not even feel annoyed, just homesick. The reaction can set in within two weeks of your arrival, or six months later, and its symptoms vary greatly.

　　You might find yourself angry at the time, or depressed, or suffering from a vague physical illness. You may begin to dislike the United States and its people.

　　Nothing is really wrong with you; you are simply suffering culture shock. You have a lot of familiar signs and signals, you have discovered that some of your assumptions about human beings are incorrect, and you wish you could make sense of the United States. Then another change comes over you: sooner or later you begin to laugh at yourself or at the strange things you see in American life, an d at that point you begin to recover. Soon, you find yourself living, peacefully, with the same American customs that used to upset you. You have become bicultural.

　　文化冲击

　　没人告诉初到美国的你如何适应那里的生活，只有亲自体验一番，有时甚至要经历情感挫折，才能入乡随俗。水土不服的情况时有发生。

　　你首先经历的当然是初到美国的那股兴奋劲儿。摆脱了本族文化陈规习俗的束缚，自由感油然而生;接着显露出对美国文化的强烈好奇心。这段时期通常称之为“蜜月”阶段。

　　“蜜月期”过后，美国的某些风俗习惯开始令你不适。例如，你得懂得守时，更确切地说是准时。美国人经常看表。无论是工作、上课、开会、参加比赛或宗教仪式、尤其在特定场合，他们总是力求准时到场。如果你约了美国人在中午12点钟吃饭，却迟到了半个小时，结果可能是他们或已离席而去，或已自己享用完午餐，或表现出极大不满，无论当时饿与不饿。

　　令你无所适从的情形还包括：美国人表达善意时显得言不由衷;吸烟招致他人投诉;美国人做事总是匆匆忙忙的以及美国式烹饪。也许你对这些并不反感，仅仅是眷恋故乡而已。

　　这时，你可能感到狂躁不安。些许的身体不适，令你情绪低落。你开始厌恶呆在美国，不愿接触旁人。

　　有这样的感受再正常不过，这是文化冲击的结果。许多似曾相识的场景历历在目，你会发觉某些关于人际交往的基本礼节在这里荡然无存。你希望了解一个真实的美国。接着是新一轮思想蜕变：终有一日你开始自我嘲解，学会从容面对美国生活的奇闻轶事，并逐渐恢复自信。曾经令你不知所措的美国风俗如今却能坦然面对。你已经完全融入了另一种社会文化。