英语短文精读【98】那里才是礼仪之邦？ Please, Excuse me, Thank you

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【开篇小问】

下面哪句话不是美国人常说的礼貌用语？
a. Excuse me!
b. How about your wife?
c. Please pass me the salt.
d. Thank you.

答案：b.

哪里才是礼仪之邦？

美国人对礼貌的概念与中国有所不同。今天，我们就来看看美国人是怎么使用礼貌用语“请（please）”、“对不起（excuse me）”和“谢谢（thank you）”的。

We say “please pass me the salt” instead of stretching out（延长） our arms to reach for it. So don't forget to say “please” whenever the situation requires（需要） it if you are in the United States. Chinese teachers rarely（很少） say “please sit down” when their students have answered their questions and the traffic police here are also not accustomed to（有……的习惯） using “please” when they are on duty.

在餐桌上，我们说“请把盐递给我”，而不是自己伸手去拿。假如你们去美国，那么，当情况需要时可别忘了说“请”。中国教师在他们的学生回答问题后很少说“请坐”，中国的交通警在他们值勤时也不太习惯用“请”这个词。

Americans say “Excuse me” more often and on more occasions than the Chinese people. We say “Excuse me” when we need to pass in front of someone, to leave a party or the dinner table or when we want to excuse ourselves from company（同伴） or find ourselves late for an appointment（约会） and so on.

美国人说“对不起”的时候要比中国人多得多或更为普遍。当我们要经过某人的面前、要离开宴会或餐桌，或者是当我们要离开同伴或约会迟到等等，我们都要说声“对不起”。

“Thank you” means that you appreciate what someone has done for you, very often very small and most ordinary（平常的） things. So we in the West thank people all day long.

“谢谢你”意味着你在某人为你做了什么事后表示谢意，那通常是一件无足轻重和极其普通的事情。所以，我们西方人真是从早到晚谢不离口。

【世博读书笔记】

1．reach有 “伸手”的含义，因此许多带有reach的词组都和伸手的动作有关。

（1）reach for伸手去拿，如：
He reached for the matches.
他伸手去拿火柴。

（2）reach out伸出，如：
The monkey reached out a hand through the bars and took the banana.
猴子从栏杆里伸出手拿走了香蕉。

（3）out of reach够不着，如：
Keep all medicines out of reach of children.
把所有的药放在孩子们拿不到的地方。

2．occasion有“时刻、场合”的意思，人生中最重要的三个场合可能就莫过于此了吧：
Birth, marriage and death are the three important occasions in a person's life.
出世、结婚和死亡是人生中三大重要时刻。

我们常说的事情发生在某些场合，英文用on occasion来表达，如：
I think it would be better if I went alone on this occasion.
我觉得这次我自己走比较好。
I met him only on one occasions.
我只见过他一次。

【世博句型留言板】

on the occasion of
正值……之际（通常指重大时刻或事件）

This was given us as a present on the occasion of our silver wedding.
这是我们银婚纪念时，收到的礼物。

On the occasion of my fortieth birthday, my husband surprised me with two tickets for a five day Caribbean cruise.
在我四十岁生日那天，我丈夫给了我一个惊喜——两张加勒比五日游的票。

练习：
1．在她50大寿哪天，她女儿结婚了。
2．哥哥婚礼那天，我激动极了。

练习答案：
1．On the occasion of her 50th birthday, her daughter gets married.
2．I felt so excited on the occasion of my brother’s wedding.