Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.
In most discussions of cultural diversity, attention has focused on visible, explicit aspects of culture, such as language, dress, food, religion, music, and social rituals. Although they are important, these visible expressions of culture, which are taught deliberately and learned consciously, are only the tip of the iceberg of culture. Much of culture is taught and learned implicitly, or outside awareness. Thus, neither cultural insiders nor cultural outsiders are aware that certain “invisible” aspects of their culture exist.
Invisible elements of culture are important to us. For example, how long we can be late before being impolite, what topics we should avoid in a conversation, how we show interest or attention through listening behaviour, what we consider beautiful or ugly- these are all aspects of culture that we learn and use without being aware of it. When we meet other people whose invisible cultural assumptions differ from those we have learned implicitly, we usually do not recognize their behaviour as cultural in origin.
Differences in invisible culture can cause problems in cross-cultural relations. Conflicts may arise when we are unable to recognize others’ behavioural differences as cultural rather than personal. We tend to misinterpret other people’s behaviour, blame them, or judge their intentions or competence without realizing that we are experiencing cultural rather than individual differences.
Formal organizations and institutions, such as schools, hospitals, workplaces, governments, and the legal system are collection sites for invisible cultural differences. If the differences were more visible, we might have less misunderstanding. For example, if we met a man in a courthouse who was wearing exotic clothes, speaking a language other than ours, and carrying food that looked strange, we would not assume that we understood his thoughts and feelings or that he understood ours. Yet when such a man is dressed similarly to us, speaks our language, and does not differ from us in other obvious ways, we may fail to recognize the invisible cultural differences between us. As a result, mutual misunderstanding may arise.
Which of the following would most likely result in misunderstanding?
A. Strange behaviour from someone speaking a foreign language
B. Learning about our own culture in school
C. Strange behaviour from someone speaking our language
D. Unusual food being cooked by foreign visitors
Đáp án C
Điều nào sau đây dễ có khả năng gây hiểu nhầm nhất?
A. Hành vi kì lạ từ ai đó nói ngôn ngữ khác mình.
B. Học về văn hoá của mình tại trường học.
C. Hành vi kì lạ từ ai đó nói chung ngôn ngữ.
D. Thức ăn lạ miệng được nấu bởi du khách nước ngoài.
Đoạn cuối bài viết: “If the differences were more visible, we might have less misunderstanding. For example, if we met a man in a courthouse who was wearing exotic clothes, speaking a language other than ours, and carrying food that looked strange, we would not assume that we understood his thoughts and feelings or that he understood ours. Yet when such a man is dressed similarly to us, speaks our language, and does not differ from us in other obvious ways, we may fail to recognize the invisible cultural differences between us. As a result, mutual misunderstanding may arise.”
Ý chính: Khi sự khác biệt rõ ràng ngay từ đầu chúng ta ít hiểu nhầm hơn. Ví dụ một người có bề ngoài khác mình, nói ngôn ngữ khác mình thì ta sẽ không cho là mình hiểu được anh ta hay anh ta hiểu được mình. Nhưng nếu một người vẻ ngoài có vẻ không khác, lại nói chung ngôn ngữ thì ta sẽ cho rằng mình hiểu được anh ta. Tuy nhiên, quan niệm mới là cái quyết định hành vi, do đó dù cho vẻ ngoài giống nhưng quan niệm vô hình lại khác biệt thì mâu thuẫn từ đó sẽ dễ dàng xảy ra