Unit 21课堂随时讲义.doc

Unit 21 Body Language Speaking Work with your partner and act out the situations. Use the phrases in the box. PAUL:Excuse me,sir. That suitcase looks very heavy. Would you like me to help you with it? OLD MAN:Yes,please. Its very heavy. Thank you.Thats very kind of you. PAUL:Not at all.Is there anything else I can do for you? OLD MAN:No,thank you Thanks for all your help. Reading Body Talk We use both words and body language to express our thoughts and opinions and to communicate with other people. We can learn a lot about what a person is thinking by watching his or her body language. Words are important,but the way a person stands,folds his or her arms, or moves his or her hands can also give us information about his or her feelings. Just like spoken language,body language varies from culture to culture. Making eye contact--looking directly into someones eyes is in some countries a way to show interest. In other countries,however,eye contact is rude or disrespectful. The gesture for OK,making a circle with ones thumb and index finger, has different meanings in different cultures. In Japan,someone who sees another person making the gesture will think it means money. In France,a person seeing the same gesture will think it means zero. In Brazil and Germany,however,the gesture is rude. The thumbs-up gesture, meaning great orgood job in the US,is rude in Nigeria, but in Germany and Japan it means the number one. The crazygesture,moving the index finger in circle in front of the ear , means you have a phone call in Brazil. Even the gesture we use for yes and no are different around the world. In many countries,shaking ones head means no,and nodding means yes. In Bulgaria,parts of Greece,and Iran,however, the gestures have the opposite meaning. There are also differences as to how often we touch each other, how close we stand to someone we are talking to, and how we act when we meet or part. In some countries,for example France and Russia, a visiting friend is greeted w