王强口语 第二册 Read Text 020

　　口语部分
文化篇
Read the text carefully and be prepared to answer the question:
Directness
People from more discreet¹ cultures may be uneasy² with American directness. In the USA, your neighbor will tell you straight away if he thinks that your peach tree is growing into his garden.  He will not talk around the subject and hope that you understand.  A manager who thinks that you are doing something wrong will tell you about it.  If you declare that Los Angeles is the capital of the United States, someone will be quick to set you right: it's Washington D.C..
But this directness can be softened³ by language.  You can always say what you want politely, without overdoing⁴ it by repeatedly saying please and thank you.  For example, saying, "Would you mind lending me your pen?" instead of "I want to borrow your pen."  "Maybe you should give the others a chance," says a teacher to an outspoken⁵ student and "I think you should try that again," to someone who added four and three and got eight.  Choosing your words carefully shows consideration for the other person's feelings, but still gets your point across.  "I'm not so sure about that," is a lot easier to accept than "No, you're wrong."

1 discreet   

adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的

参考例句：

• He is very discreet in giving his opinions.发表意见他十分慎重。
• It wasn't discreet of you to ring me up at the office.你打电话到我办公室真是太鲁莽了。

2 uneasy   

adj.心神不安的，担心的，令人不安的

参考例句：

• He feels uneasy today.他今天心里感到不安。
• She had an uneasy feeling that they were still following her.她有一种他们仍在跟踪她的不安感觉。

3 softened   

（使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰

参考例句：

• His smile softened slightly. 他的微笑稍柔和了些。
• The ice cream softened and began to melt. 冰淇淋开始变软并开始融化。

4 overdoing   

v.做得过分( overdo的现在分词 )；太夸张；把…煮得太久；（工作等）过度

参考例句：

• He's been overdoing things recently. 近来他做事过分努力。 来自辞典例句
• You think I've been overdoing it with the work thing? 你认为我对工作的关注太过分了吗？ 来自电影对白

5 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。