英语六级必读美文009：语言

　　The boy and girl glance around the crowded room. Their eyes meet. Embarrassed, they look away. Nervously, they steal glances at each other, averting their eyes when they see the other one looking back. The boy acts cool, crossing his legs and affecting a casual air - even though his heart is beat wildly. The girl, obviously smitten herself, is afraid the boy will see her looking at him. A few seconds pass. He looks at her again. She starts to blush. He nervously looks at the ceiling and whistles softly to himself. They continue their cat-and-mouse game for a seemingly interminable period of time. Will they ever talk to each other?

　　那个男孩和女孩瞥视着那拥挤的屋子。他们的视线相遇.两个人都不好意思，于是又把视线挪开.惴惴不安地，他们互相偷看着，当发现对方也在回望自己时，他们又转移视线. 男孩表现得很酷，交叉着双腿，装着一副漫不经心的样子 虽然他的心正狂野地跳动着;女孩，很显然已坠人隋网，很怕男孩看到自己在看他。几秒钟过去了，他再一次看着她;她的脸红了起来。他紧张地看着天花板，自己轻吹着口哨。他们似乎没完没了地玩着这个猫捉老鼠的游戏。他们到底会不会交谈呢?

　　The fact is, they have already communicated a lot, without ever saying anything. Nonverbal elements form a major part of any communication change. Some people would say its the most

　　important part. According to one study, words convey only 7 percent of a persons message. intonation and voice quality communicate 38 percent, and nonverbal cues transmit a whopping 55 percent. That means people pick up more from nonverbal communication than from the words a person says, When studying about a foreign culture then, it just makes sense to pay attention to how people use nonverbal cues.

　　事实上，他们已经沟通过了，即便一句话也没说。非语言要素在任何形式的双向沟通中都占了很重要的一部分。有些人会认为那是最重要的一部分。一项研究表明，言语只传达了7%的讯息，语调及音色传达了38%，而非语言的暗示传递了极大的55%o这就表明人们从非语言沟通中领悟到的比从说出来的话语中的还多。所以，在研究外国文化时，注意人们如何使用非语言暗示是很有道理的。

　　Gestures prise a major form of nonverbal communication. In contast to sign language, used by deaf people to communicate elaborate messages, gestures function as visual icons which represent a single idea. But often these gestures are embarrassingly culture-bound. For example,when the Maoris of New Zealand stick out their tongue at someone ,it is a sign of respect. When American schoolchildren make the same gesture, it means just the opposite. Also, Americans often indicate OK with their thumb and forefinger touching to form a circle. The same gesture means money to the Japanese, zero to the French and a vulgarity to Brazilians. For that reason, people in a foreign culture must use gestures with caution.

　　体态是非语言沟通中很重要的一环。与聋人用来沟通复杂讯息所使用的手语不同的是，体态的功能就像是视觉上的图像，它代表的是单一的意念。但往往这些体态极受文化的限制，甚至会造成尴尬的误解。例如，纽西兰的毛利人对某人伸舌头是尊敬的表现;而当美国学童作同样的动作时，它表达的意思却正好相反。还有，美国人通常用大拇指及食指环绕起一个圆圈表示 没问题 。同样的手势对日本人是 钱 的意思，对法国人是 零 的意思，对巴西人是极低俗的手势。因此，处在外国文化中的人必须小心地使用体态。