习俗可以影响但不能改变.docVIP

习俗可以影响但不能改变“People who live in a foreign country are more likely to acquire the bad habits of the natives than the good ones.” This is a statement I overheard in a public place two weeks ago. I wouldn’t agree with it. I think living in a foreign country can change a person. It can even change a person profoundly. Surely bad habits are something that one picks up from a young age? “在异国居住之人可能更多地会养成当地人的不良习惯而非好的习惯。”这是我两个礼拜前在一个公共场合里无意中听到的一番评述。对此我并不赞同。我认为，在异国居住可以改变一个人。那甚至可以在很大程度上改变一个人。而不良习惯呢，想必是人们在幼年时期养成的东西吧？ I have a Chinese friend who lived in Ireland for four years. He spent those four years working and socializing with locals. If this statement were true it would mean that he would have picked up the worst behaviour of the worst kind of people in Ireland. In other words, he would spend his weekdays quietly working away and on Friday night he would squeeze into a bar, drink 12 pints of beer and knock back six shots and go home. Except on the way home he would throw a brick through a shop window, dance on the roof of a taxi and break his ankle in a brief but furious fight with a public phone box. After wasting valuable police time, not to mention no small amount of public healthcare funds, he would top off the night by calling everyone he knows to tell them all how much he loved them. My friend has, fortunately for him, not acquired this type of behaviour. 我有一个中国朋友，在爱尔兰居住了四年。他这四年都是在工作和与本地人交往中度过的。如果这一评述没错的话，那么他一定学会了爱尔兰最糟糕之人的陋习之最。换句话说，他会在工作日期间乖乖地工作，而到了礼拜五晚上，他会挤进一间酒吧，喝上12品脱的啤酒、猛灌六杯烈酒，然后回家。不过在回家的路上他会扔砖头将橱窗击碎、在出租车的车顶上跳舞，并在与公用电话亭进行的短暂而激烈的战斗中弄断自己的脚踝。在浪费了警察宝贵的时间之后，更不用说数目不小的公共医疗基金了，他会在当晚收场时给他认识的所有人都打去电话，逐个告诉他们他有多爱他们。我的这个朋友，他是幸运的，没有养成这类习气。 Judging by the accent, the person who made this statement was a North American and I overheard his sweeping generalizations in a hotel lobby in China. This is interesting because it reminded me of one type of behavioural change I have experienced from living in China. No, not eavesdropping on the conversations of strangers. I have a