【素材】Module 1 文本 与美国人聊天的五大禁忌（外研）.doc

与美国人聊天五大禁忌话题，你中枪了吗？ 导学：众所周知，美国人向来以健谈行走于江湖。他们总有说不完的话，他们很享受谈话的感觉。然而，即便健谈，也有些话题需要回避。因此，与他们聊天时，要谨忌以下话题。 1. Money 金钱 Money makes the world go round, and Americans are, at times, all about the Benjamins (Benjamin Franklin appears on our $100 bill). However, just because moneys on your mind doesnt mean it should be a key part of your conversational repertoire. Its considered impolite to ask about someones salary, or to discuss other matters of personal finance. 有钱能使鬼推磨，老美有时也“本杰明至上”（注：即“金钱至上”，100美元上有本杰明·富兰克林的头像）。不过，心里惦记钱跟讨论话题集中在钱上又是两码事。如果你谈论别人的薪资或个人财产，大家会觉得你没礼貌。 2. Weight 体重 Americans have famously enormous appetites – I once went to a French ice cream shop where the sizes were small, medium, large, and American. But discussing someone elses weight is considered extremely rude in the United States. A persons weight is private, and making comments about is definitely considered disrespectful. “老美素以‘大胃王’著称——我去过一家法国冰淇淋店，里面冰淇淋的尺寸分为小、中、大以及老美特供尺寸。”但是，在美帝，讨论别人的体重是极其无礼的行为。个人体重属于隐私，对此发表意见就是不尊重他人。 3. Politics 政治 We have all kinds of political opinions in the United States, and the range of popular beliefs runs across a much wider spectrum than in some other nations. Just follow an American presidential election and youll see that our political system is hardly even civilized. Its not that talking politics is an unforgivable taboo in the United States, just that its probably not such a good idea to bring it up unless youre prepared for a potential argument. 美帝充斥着各种政治观点，主流观点的范围也远比其他一些国家宽松得多。参见任意一场美国总统大选，你都会觉得他们的政治体系远非想象中那么文明。我并不是说在美帝谈论政治是无法原谅的禁忌，而是奉劝大家，如果你没有准备好进行一场强有力的辩论，那么最好就别开始这个话题。 4. Religion 宗教 Similarly, though the United States is a relatively religious country, personal beliefs are rarely brought up in casual conversation. Its a good idea to get to know someone a little bit before discussing his or her religious backgrounds or practices. Faith is usually considered a private matter (though it certainly plays a sizable role in the American public sphere as well, particularly amo