Unit 9 Culture Shock

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Unit 9 Culture Shock

• I.Objectives
• 1.Skills
• 1)reading reading for gist, detail, and
  inference translation
• 2)writing paragraph writingthree paragraphs on
  the pros
• and cons of living in America
• 3)learning organizing vocabulary notebooks,
  using word
• families
• 4) Reading skill reading for full understanding
• 5) Grammar comparative degree
• II. Total class time 3 periods

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Warm-up Questions for Extract 1

• 1.What is culture?
• Culture, in anthropology, is the patterns of
  behavior and thinking that people living in
  social groups learn, create, and share. Culture
  distinguishes one human group from others. It
  also distinguishes humans from other animals. A
  peoples culture includes their beliefs, rules of
  behavior, language, rituals, art, technology,
  styles of dress, ways of producing and cooking
  food, religion, and political and economic
  systems.
• 2.Do you know what culture shock is?
• Culture shock is an anxiety or confusion
  caused by losing familiar things and starting to
  live in a new environment.
• 3. What are the causes and symptoms of culture
  shock?
• Group discussion (5 minutes)
• Cause Anxiety is caused when one has lost
  all familiar signs and symbols, and one is
  surprised to discover that some of his/her
  assumptions about human beings are wrong.

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• Symptoms
• a) One is annoyed that American friendliness
  seems unreal.
• b) One is annoyed that when he/she smokes, other
  people around always complain.
• c) One is annoyed that Americans always act as if
  they are in a hurry.
• d) One complains that American food is not
  prepared in the right way.
• e) One feels quite homesick.
• f) One has trouble sleeping.
• g) One sleeps too much.
• h) One begins to dislike the USA and its people.
• 4. How do you overcome culture shock?
• We become bicultural.
• 5. List the stages of culture shock.

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• first stage honeymoon
• second stage morning after
• third stage bicultural
• Language points for Extract 1
• 1. No one can tell you how to adjust to life
• adjust to to change slightly, esp in order to
  make suitable for
• a particular job or new
  conditions
• eg (1) He adjusted very quickly to the heat of
  the country
• (2) The eyes need several minutes to adjust
  to the dimness.
• (3) ???????????
• He soon adjusted to the new environment.
• 2. emotional distress
• distress n. (cause of ) great pain, sorrow,
  suffering, etc
• eg (1) Her death was a great distress to all
  the family.
• (2) The runner showed signs of distress.
• distress v. distressful adj. distressing
  adj.
• 3. certain customs... begin to irritate you
  certain customs... begin to make you feel annoyed
  

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• irritate to make (sb) angry, annoyed or
  impatient
• eg. (1) I was intensely irritated by the way he
  spoke to me.
• Other derivatives irritating (adj.) , irritated
  (adj.) , irritation ( n. ) irritable (adj. ),
  irritant (n. )
• Other verbs that cause similar feelings upset,
  annoy, anger, infuriate, enrage, embarrass, etc.
• 4. ... always act as though they are in a hurry
  ... always seem to feel hard pressed for time and
  have to get things done as quickly as possible
• as though as if with the appearance of
  apparently
• eg (1) He behaved as if/ as though nothing had
  happened.
• (2) He treats me as if/as though I were a
  stranger.
• 5. The reaction can set in within two weeks of
  your arrival
• About two weeks after you arrived, you might
  start feeling
• uncomfortable about the environment
• set in (of a disease, unfavorable weather, or
  other natural condition) to begin and (probably)
  continue

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• eg (1) Winter sets in early in the north.
• (2) Fortunately the wound was treated before
  infection set in.
• (3) ????,??????
• Rainy weather sets in soon after the cold
  spell.
• 7. You might have trouble sleeping You might
  find it difficult to sleep
• have trouble (in) doing sth have difficulty in
  doing sth
• eg (1) The old man had trouble getting the car
  started.
• (2) I have some trouble (in) reading his
  handwriting.
• 8. . . .find yourself angry..., or depressed, or
  suffering from a vague physical illness
• suffer from to experience sth unpleasant, such
  as an illness , esp over a period of time
• eg (1) She suffered a lot from headaches.
• (2) His health suffered from overwork.
• suffer v. to experience sth painful
• eg (1) As always in war the innocent suffered
  with the guilty.
• (2) You are simply suffering culture shock.

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• 8. This stage has been compared to a morning
  after
• Compare can be followed by to or with.
• compare ... to
• eg (1) Ancient Egyptians compared the rising of
  the sun to the beginning of life, and the setting
  of the sun to the ending of life.
• (2) Poets often compare sleep to death.
• compare. ..with
• eg My English can not compare with his.
• 9. . . . you wish you could make sense of the
  United States ... you wish you could understand
  many things in America that keep puzzling you.
• make sense of to understand
• eg (1) I can never make sense of a word he says.
• (2) Our experts could not make sense of the
  code.

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• 10. Or they do things in a leisurely way, whereas
  you organize the events of your day... Or they
  do things slowly, feeling no hurry, but you do
  things following a tight schedule...
• whereas but (to introduce an opposite or
  contrast)
• eg (1) They want a house, whereas we would rather
  live in as apartment.
• (2) Wise men love truth, whereas fools shun
  it.(??????,???????)
• 11. ... reverse culture shock
• reverse adj. contrary or opposite to what is
  expected
• eg (1) in the reverse direction reverse
  tendencies (?????) a reverse dictionary (????)
• (2) Statistics showed a reverse trend to that
  recorded in other countries.
• ??????????????????????

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• Extract 2 American food
• Language points
• 1. ... apart from these there is no other
  variety ... these are the only ways of cooking.
• apart from aside from, except for, not
  including
• eg (1) He lives entirely alone, apart from the
  rats, bats, and moths.
• (2) We had a good time, apart from the
  weather.
• variety a wide range of different things
• eg Those are the holiday brochures that give you
  the most variety.
• ????????????????????

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• 2. Being invited to dinner is a big treat for
  Americans Americans feel very pleased and even
  excited to be invited to dinner
• a big treat a thing that gives joy, pleasure,
  or delight, esp when unexpected
• eg (1) Its a great treat for her to go to
  London.
• (2) It is always such a real treat when you
  stop by.
• 3. I cannot get used to eating sweet and salty
  things together
• get (be) used to (sth, doing sth) to get
  accustomed to
• eg (1) He did not get used to English food.
• (2) Im not used to drinking.
• 4. ... must be praised to the skies ... must be
  highly praised.
• To praise someone to the skies means to
  express the strongest praise for someone
• eg All the girls praised the new dancer to the
  skies.
• 5. The meal turned out to be canned chicken
• turn out to be sb/sth turn out that... to
  prove to be come to be known that

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• eg (1) She turned out to be a friend of my
  sister. / It turned out that she was a friend of
  my sister.

(2) The job turned out to be harder than we
thought.
6. Eating it made me feel like vomiting I felt
sick when I was eating the food
feel like to want to be in the state for seem
like when touched have the feeling of being
eg (1) I dont feel like (drinking) beer tonight.
(2) I dont feel like taking a tour.
7. ... which is murder to eat, for it is
tasteless ... which is difficult for one to eat
because it has no flavor.
The word murder is an uncountable noun
indicating informally very difficult or tiring
experience.
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• eg (1) Its murder to travel on overcrowded
  trains.

(2) Its murder to find a parking place
for the car.
Key to the exercises
Things a foreign visitor might find strange when
arriving in China so many people everywhere
crowded buses so many walls genuine Chinese food,
delicious but strange ( They eat anything with
four legs except a table! ) lovely children
calling foreigners auntie , grandma, beautifu
l culture (the Great Wall, the Forbidden City)
air pollution, irritating to the throat dirty,
dusty
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• people spitting even in buildings peddlers,
  irritating
• beggars that go after foreigners modern
  facilities in big cities
• construction going on everywhere amazing speed of
  development
• too many people smoking
• so much liquor drinking
• so many feasts
• drawing so much attention, especially in smaller
  cities/communities

Extract 1 1. Reading for gist C.
2. Plain sense questions
1) You feel excited, free and very interested in
the new culture.
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• 2) A. Americans look at their watches frequently
  to try to be on time.
• B. American friendliness seems superficial.
• C. You are unable to smoke without other people
  complaining.
• D. Americans always act as though they are in a
  hurry.
• E. Food never seems to be prepared in the right
  way.

3) A. You might have trouble sleeping. B. You
might sleep too much. C. You might find yourself
angry at the time. D. You might find yourself
depressed. E. You might find yourself suffering
from a vague physical illness. F. You may begin
to dislike the United States and its people.
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• 4) When one finds oneself living peacefully with
  the same American customs that used to upset
  him/her, he/she has become bicultural.

5) By reverse cultural shock, the writer means
that when one returns to his/her homeland, he/she
becomes annoyed with the things he/she was once
used to.
3. Reading and thinking
1) Things that would definitely irritate me
a) Students holding noisy parties until one or
two oclock in the morning b) My American
roommate playing his music too loud c) People
drinking and leaving a mess for me to clean
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• d) A roommate who never gets up early
• e) A roommate who sometimes brings a friend who
  stays very late, so that you cant sleep
• f) People who look down at my people and my
  country.

2) Things that might irritate me
a) Students always asking questions and
interrupting the professors b) Professors
speaking too fast c) My fellow students talking
with each other and ignoring me d) When they go
out, I cant go as I dont have a car e) I have
to work and study at the same time, so I am
dog-tired f) Even though they are friendly, they
still think they are superior to me.
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• 3) Things I would probably enjoy

a) Friendly people giving you a ride from time to
time b) People inviting you to their homes as
guests c) People helping you with your
English d) People lending you their books and
letting you use their computers e) People
telling you that they are interested in China f)
People liking the food I cook.
Extract 2
1. Reading for gist
Main idea Eating is the most troubling aspect of
living for Chinese in America.
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• 3. Note-making

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Translation
1) ????,????????
2)??,?????????
3)?????????????,?????????
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• B
• 1) Nothing is really wrong with you you are
  simply suffering culture-shock.

2) Sandwiches sound good, but are in fact
tasteless.
3) He soon adjusted to the new environment.
4) Rainy weather set in soon after the cold spell.
5) Old people like to live in the country,
whereas young people prefer living in cities.
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Reading Skills