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.

　　六級(jí)閱讀精選訓(xùn)練題目：

　　Translate the sentences into English with the words in parentheses :

　　1. 這座紀(jì)念碑是為內(nèi)戰(zhàn)中犧牲的烈士們而建立的。( erect)

　　2. 我希望他不會(huì)因?yàn)槲揖芙^他的邀請(qǐng)而覺(jué)得受到了侮辱。( insult)

　　3. 他把我的沉默看作是軟弱的標(biāo)志。( interpret)

　　六級(jí)閱讀精選訓(xùn)練答案：

　　1. This monument was erected in honour of the martyrs during the civil war.

　　2. I hope he won’t feel insulted if I turn down his invitation.

　　3. He interpreted my silence as a sign of weakness.

　　六級(jí)閱讀精選訓(xùn)練翻譯：

　　在美國(guó), 人們坐著的時(shí)候常常把雙腳放在椅子甚至桌子上, 在那里“ 不拘小節(jié)”被認(rèn)為是一種優(yōu)良品德。有時(shí), 他們坐在工作臺(tái)或辦公桌上, 以此來(lái)表達(dá)自己的個(gè)性或職業(yè)態(tài)度。美國(guó)人坐著的時(shí)候常會(huì)兩腿交叉, 他們覺(jué)得將一只腳踝放到另一條腿的膝蓋上很舒服。懶散地坐在椅子上, 并將雙腳隨便擱在近旁的一個(gè)東西上——— 這種姿勢(shì)很不雅觀, 但在美國(guó)相當(dāng)普遍。人們擺出這種姿勢(shì)旨在表明自己的隨意、誠(chéng)實(shí)和真誠(chéng), 告訴別人自己是“ 一個(gè)實(shí)在人”。在美國(guó), 即使是百萬(wàn)富翁、公司總裁、政府領(lǐng)導(dǎo)以及電影明星都會(huì)做出“ 美國(guó)式的懶散樣子”和“ 腳放在家具上”的姿勢(shì), 借這種方式來(lái)表現(xiàn)自己也是一個(gè)普通人。不幸的是, 在其他國(guó)家里, 這種行為方式被視為邋遢隨便, 反映了擺出這種姿勢(shì)的人缺乏活力、興趣以及對(duì)他人的尊敬。美國(guó)人往往意識(shí)不到, 他們視為不拘小節(jié)的姿勢(shì)在世界上許多人的眼里卻具有截然不同的、甚至十分消極的意義。許多文化認(rèn)為人坐著的時(shí)候要腰板挺直。持有這種觀點(diǎn)的國(guó)家包括拉丁美洲、亞洲、歐洲和中東的許多國(guó)家; 而在美國(guó), 懶散的姿勢(shì)是可以接受的, 是隨意和友好的明確標(biāo)志。在美國(guó), 交叉雙腿是有禮貌的標(biāo)志, 而許多文化認(rèn)為, 交叉雙腿是可以的, 但在交叉雙腿的時(shí)候?qū)⒛_踝放到膝蓋上是令人無(wú)法接受的。不能將腳踝放到膝蓋上的一個(gè)原因是, 當(dāng)你這樣做的時(shí)候, 你的腳或鞋底通常是指向別人的。在許多國(guó)家里, 這種行為被視為是對(duì)別人的一種極大的侮辱, 特別在穆斯林國(guó)家里更是如此。你不應(yīng)將腳指向任何人, 因?yàn)樵谠S多社會(huì)里, 腳被視為身體中最不神圣的一個(gè) 部位。在尼泊爾這樣的國(guó)家里, 將腳指向一頭牛是一種暴行, 因?yàn)榕Ｔ谀抢锉灰暈槭ノ铩?/p>

　　在佛教國(guó)家里, 將腳指向佛祖的塑像是對(duì)佛教的極大冒犯。在泰國(guó)、尼泊爾和臺(tái)灣, 用腳移動(dòng)物體是粗魯?shù)男袨?。在孟加拉?guó), 你不能用腳或鞋接觸書(shū)籍。如果這樣做了, 你必須要認(rèn)真道歉。

　　如你所知, 身體姿勢(shì)能傳播很多信息。在許多文化里, 姿勢(shì)可以告訴人們一個(gè)人具有以下品質(zhì)——— 誠(chéng)實(shí)、機(jī)敏、聰明、信奉宗教、彬彬有禮、大方得體; 姿勢(shì)也可能讓人們知道這個(gè)人根本不具備這些美德! 身體姿勢(shì)告訴人們一個(gè)人是否想跟陌生人交往, 同樣也讓人們了解了一個(gè)已經(jīng)認(rèn)識(shí)的人。