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5. Posture Talks
In the United States, where“casualness”is considered a great virtue, people often sit with feet on chairs or even desks. They sometimes sit with their backsides ( buttocks) on tables and desks as a way of expressing their individuality or career attitude. They feel comfortable crossing their legs and sitting with one ankle on the other knee . Poor posture — slumping oneself over while sitting in a chair and placing feet on whatever object is around — is a common U. S. behavior. It is designed to show that the person is casual, honest, sincere, and“ just one of the folks ”. In the United States, even millionaires, corporation presidents, government leaders, and movie stars try to pretend they are ordinary people by using“the U. S. slouch ”and“ the feet-on-the -furniture”maneuver.
Unfortunately, other countries interpret this behavior as being sloppy and as reflecting a general lack of alertness, interest, and respect. People from the United States do not usually realize that what they regard as casualness is viewed very differently and very negatively by many people around the world.
People in many cultures are expected to sit erect. Such cultures include many countriesin Latin America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. In the United States, slouching is acceptable and is a positive sign of being casual and friendly. In the United States, crossing legs is a sign of good etiquette . Many cultures say thatcrossing legs is okay, but placing the ankle on the knee while crossing one’s legs is totally unacceptable .
One reason for not putting the ankle on the knee is that when you do so, one foot or the sole of the shoe is usually pointing at someone . This is a very severe insult in many countries around the world, especially Muslim countries. Under few circumstances should you point your foot at anyone , because the foot is cons idered the least sacred part of the body in many societies. In some countries such as Nepal, pointing the foot at a cow is an outrage , because the cow is a sacred animal. In Buddhist countries, pointing the foot at statue of the Buddha is a severe offense. Moving objects with the feet is very rude in Thailand, Nepal, and Taiwan. In Bangladesh, you should not touch books with a foot or shoe; if you do, you must make an elaborate apology.
As you can tell, posture is a very strong messenger. It conveys much about a particu lar person. Posture ( in many cultures) says something about the person’s honesty, alertness, intelligence, religiousness, respect, and overall decency — or the opposite of all of these ! Posture tells people whether they want to get to know a stranger, and it also tells what to think about the people already known.
阅读自测
Translate the sentences into English with the words in parentheses :
1. 这座纪念碑是为内战中牺牲的烈士们而建立的。( erect)
2. 我希望他不会因为我拒绝他的邀请而觉得受到了侮辱。( insult)
3. 他把我的沉默看作是软弱的标志。( interpret)
