1. Is it still often the case that “everyone’s quick to blame the alien” in the contemporary world?This is still powerful in today‘s social and political rhetoric. For instance, it is not uncommon in today‘s society to hear people say that most, if not all, of the social and economic problems are caused by minorities and immigrants.2. What’s the difference between today’s intercultural contact and that of any time in the past?Today‘s intercultural encounters are far more numerous and of greater importance than in any time in history.3. What have made intercultural contact a very common phenomenon in our life today?New technology, in the form of transportation and communication systems, has accelerated intercultural contact; innovative communication systems have encouraged and facilitated cultural interaction; globalization of the economy has brought people together; changes in immigration patterns have also contributed to intercultural encounter.4. How do you understand the sentence “culture is everything and everywhere”?Culture supplies us with the answers to questions about what the world looks like and how we live and communicate within that world. Cultureteaches us how to behave in our life from the instant of birth. It is omnipresent.5. What are the major elements that directly influence our perception and communication?The three major socio-cultural elements that directly influence perception and communication are cultural values, worldview (religion), and social organizations (family and state).6. What does one’s family teach him or her while he or she grows up in it?The family teaches the child what the world looks like and his or her place in that world.7. Why is it impossible to separate our use of language from our culture?Because language is not only a form of preserving culture but also a means of sharing culture. Language is an organized, generally agreed-upon, learned symbol system that is used to represent the experiences within a cultural community.8. What are the nonverbal behaviors that people can attach meaning to?People can attach meaning to nonverbal behaviors such as gestures, postures, facial expressions, eye contact and gaze, touch, etc.9. How can a free, culturally diverse society exist?A free, culturally diverse society can exist only if diversity is permitted to flourish without prejudice and discrimination, both of which harm all members of the society.1. Which of the definitions given above do you prefer? Why?Some may prefer a short definition, such as the one given by E. Sapir or R. Benedict, for it is highly generalized and easy to remember. Some may prefer a longer one, such as Edward T. Hall‘s definition of culture, because it provides us with a more comprehensive understanding of culture and points out the all-pervasive impact of culture on human life in different dimensions.2.What have you learned from those definitions about culture?Many things can be learned from those definitions, for each definition, though not without its limitations, tells us something very important about culture or certain aspect(s) of culture.3. Do you agree that our lower needs always have to be satisfied before we can try to satisfy the higher needs?Even though this is generally the case, there will still be some exceptions. Sometimes people might prefer to satisfy higher needs, for instance, esteem needs, before their lower needs, such as certain physiological needs or safety needs, are satisfied.4. What examples can you give about how people of different cultures achieve the same ends by taking different roads?For example, everyone has to eat in order to live and this is universally true. However, to satisfy this basic need, people of various cultures may do it in very different ways: what to eat and how to eat it vary from culture to culture.5. What behaviors of ours are born with and what are learned in the cultural environment?Instinctive behaviors are behaviors that we are born with and ways of doing things in daily life, such as ways of eating, drinking, dressing, finding shelter, making friends, marrying, and dealing with death are learned in the cultural environment.6. What other cultural differences do you know in the way people do things in their everyday life?We can also find cultural differences in ways of bringing up children, treating the elderly, greeting each other, saving and spending money, and many other things people do in everyday life.7. In what ways are the Chinese eating habits different from those of the English-speaking countries?We Chinese may enjoy something that is not usually considered as edible by the English-speaking people. Generally we prefer to have things hot and lay much emphasis on tastes. We tend to share things with each other when we are eating with others.1. Why is it comparatively easy to make friends in the United States?Because few Americans stay put for a lifetime. With each move, forming new friendship becomes a necessity and part of their new life.2.Do people from different countries usually have different expectations about what constitutes friendship and how it comes into being?Yes. The difficulty when strangers from two countries meet is their different expectations about what constitutes friendship and how it comes into being.3. How is friendship in America different from friendship in West Europe?In West Europe, friendship is quite sharply distinguished from other, more casual relationships, is usually more particularized and carries a heavier burden of commitment, while in America the word ―friend can be applied to a wide range of relationship and a friendship may be superficial, casual, situational or deep and enduring.4. In what country does friendship have much to do with one’s family? And in what country does it not?In Germany, friendship has much to do with one‘s family as friends are usually brought into the family, while in France it doesn‘t as, for instance, two men may have been friends for a long time without knowing each other‘s personal life.5. What is friendship like when it is compartmentalized?For instance, a man may play chess with a friend for thirty years without knowing his political opinions, or he may talk politics with him for as long a time without knowing about his personal life. Different friends fill different niches in each person‘s life.6. What are friendships usually based on in England?English friendships are based on shared activity. Activities at different stages of life may be of very different kinds. In the midst of the activity, whatever it may be, people fall into steps and find that they participate in the activity with the same easy anticipation of what each will do day by day or in some critical situation.7. Do you think friendship shares some common elements in different cultures? If you do, what are they?Yes. There is the recognition that friendship, in contrast with kinship, invokes freedom of choice. A friend is someone who chooses and is chosen. Related to this is the sense each friend gives the other of being a special individual, on whatever grounds this recognition is based. And between friends there is inevitably a kind of equality of give-and-take. 8. What do you think is the typical Chinese concept of friendship? Is it similar to or different from any of the Western friendships?It seems that the typical Chinese concept of friendship lays great emphasis on personal loyalty and also has much to do with family. It may be similar to Germany friendship to some extent and quite different fromother Western friendships.9. What is your family like? In what aspects is it the same as or different from the traditional? What problems may arise when people from different family backgrounds communicate with one another?As we all know, many cultural differences exist in family structures and values. In some cultures, the family is the center of life and the main frame of reference for decisions; while in others, the individual, not the family, is primary. Many Chinese families are still quite traditional. They are often extended families, with three or even four generations living under the same roof. In such families, people may care a lot about families’ welfare, reputation and honor. No matter what they do, they tend to put the interest of the whole family as the top priority. For them, the family as a whole always comes first, and its individual members are second. However, there are also many Chinese families now in which individual needs are given more stress than ever before and the relationship between parents and children are more egalitarian than hierarchical. Therefore, communication between people from different family backgrounds may be intercultural to some extent. What one considers as appropriate may be regarded as improper by the other, and sometimes it would be very difficult for them to understand each other in the way each of them prefers to be understood.1. What can we do to avoid attributing a very different meaning to thephrase or interpret it much more literally?We have to be aware of the cultural implications of the phrase.2.What are the other functions of using question forms apart from asking for information?It serves as a lubricant to move the conversation forward. A question that has this function can be called a ―social question.3. Why are those Germans getting stiffer and more reserved all the time when visiting Ingrid Zerbe?They are confused about how to address her, for she introduces herself by first and last name rather than by last name and professional title.4. How does the environment influence the use of language? Language reflects the environment in which we live. We use language to label the things that are around us.5. Does the author think there are exact equivalents in dictionaries that have the same meanings in different cultures?No. According to the author, there are no such equivalents between languages; therefore, to communicate concepts effectively, cultural knowledge is as important as linguistic knowledge.6. How does the language change over time?Words and phrases that are used commonly at one time may be discontinued or their meaning may change over time.7. Does the author think it is possible for countries such as France andIceland to keep their language pure by implementing language policy to ensure the use of standardized language?The author does not think so, because, for instance, the Academie Francaise may insist on certain rules, but other French-speaking groups may make their own rules and consider their French just as correct.8. What are the possible language barriers in classroom teaching?In some cases the professors actually may have a poor command of the language; however, in most cases the problem is not the language but different intonation patterns and different cultural signals.9. What are the major differences between Chinese and English in categorizing kinfolk? What other examples of connotative differences can you give between the two languages?In categorizing kinfolk, what the Chinese language finds significant are the person‘s sex, age, and whether he or she is closely related to one‘s father or mother. All these things, however, are not significant in the English language.1. What made the author feel learning to converse in Mexico City was easier for him/her in one way, more difficult in another?It's easier because Mexicans service the relationship and they care about everyone in the conversation. But their conversation doesn‘t move in a straight line, drifting around both in the topic and in the way they use words.2. Why did the Mexican customer slide into the topic of the full eclipse of the sun?For the Mexican, the conversation starts with one topic, but if another interesting topic seeps in he or she will ride it around for a while. Sticking to the first topic is less important than having an interesting conversation.3. What did the American businessman feel about the Mexican‟s way of conversation?For the American, a conversation should have a topic, and he wants to take a straight line through it from beginning to end. So he felt very impatient about the Mexican‘s way of conversation.4. What “conversational ideal” was represented by the example of a championship skier who was interviewed on TV?The Swedish conversational ideal is to response in a concise manner without elaborating specific details, especially those for self-promotion. .5. What problems are likely to occur if an American talks with a Swede? The American may feel totally lost in the conversation since he or she would not get as much information from the Swede as he or she has expected.6. What are the differences between Anglos and Athabaskans in conversation?There are a lot differences between them. For instance, at the beginningof a conversation, Anglos almost always speak first. Athabaskans think it is important to know what the social relationship is before they talk with someone. There is another difference in how long one should talk. Athabaskans tend to have longer turns when they talk with each other, but Anglos expect shorter turns.7. Is it enough just to learn to speak in grammatically correct manners when one learns a foreign language? What else does he or she also need to know?It is far from enough just to learn to speak in grammatically correct manners when one learns a foreign language. One also has to know about the culture of using the language in social life, things like who talks first, who talks next, who opens and closes conversations and how they do it, in order to be able to use the language in culturally appropriate manners.8. In what ways are Chinese similar to or different from the Americans, Mexicans and Swedes ?It seems that we Chinese are somewhat similar to Mexicans in the way we are having a conversation. Unlike Americans, we do not usually move in a straight line in a conversation and may also care much about the other‘s feeling.9. Do you think there has been some change in the way we Chinese respond to compliments in the last decade or two? What basicdifferences can we still find between the English-speaking people and the Chinese people in the use of compliment and response?There seems to have been some change in the way we Chinese respond to compliments in the last decade or two. For example, like the English-speaking people, more and more Chinese, particularly young people, nowadays tend to use 谢谢(Thank you) to respond to a compliment. However, we Chinese are still different from the English-speaking people in the use of compliment and response to it. For instance, implicit compliments（隐性恭维语）are more likely to be found in the Chinese society.●纵观历史，我们可以清楚地看到，人们由于彼此所处地域、意识形态、容貌服饰和行为举止上存在的差异，而长久无法互相理解、无法和睦相处。