【正文】 American opposite thinking leads to the seeking of difference. Chinese people put great emphasis on harmony so they seek the identity and the agreement of human with nature, of human with society, of individual with group and of individual with others. When one conflicts with the authority or the group, he will obey the authority and conform to the group to attain agreement. Therefore, Chinese people cautiously express personal opinions and modify their opinions to be consistent with those of others around them. In Chinese language, there is an idiom (seeking monality mon ground while reserving the differences) which has been a diplomatic strategy when handling affairs with foreign countries. This clearly indicates the tendency of seeking monality. In contrast to Chinese people, the Americans, unrestricted by habitual patterns, dare to deny the established conclusions or regulations. They pursue differences 一differences in speech, behavior and thought from the others, challenge tradition and convention and they freely express their own opinions. They believe that “the 湖南涉外經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)院本科生畢業(yè)論文（設(shè)計(jì)） 10 squealing wheel gets oil.” Imaginative and Abstractive Chinese people are used to thinking in images. While the American people pay more attention to the use of the abstract thinking ability. Imaginative Thinking Imaginative thinking also called associative thinking. It is a holistic process that looks for relationships even though no causal link is apparent. Based on the direct experiences with the outside world, imaginative thinking gets the understanding of the world through observation, summarization, analogy and imitation. Abstractive thinking, regulated by logics, can reason and make judgments following concrete concepts. Glenn (1981:65) notes in his article: Associative reasoning is marked by “arbitrary ties between informational units. Abstractive reasoning is marked by (1) the definition of information that is relevant to a given situation, and (2) the definition of the relationship between informational units. (p57) Obviously, imaginative thinking emphasizes direct experience while abstractive thinking stresses concepts. These two kinds of thinking are prevalent in all cultures, but the Chinese culture focuses on imaginative thinking and the American culture on abstractive thinking. Rather than looking for ways of reducing facts or premises into categories, eliminating what does not logically fit, imaginative thinking looks for ways of associating them into meaningful patterns. It also makes connections rather than choices and has a greater tolerance of ambiguity and contradiction than Westerners are used to. Chinese imaginative thinking tends to use metaphor, analogy and symbolism, but American abstractive thinking is characterized by logical thinking. The Differences are shown in the mon use of expressions between Americans and Chinese. As we all know, metaphor, analogy and symbolism belong to figures of speech in literary circle. However, the thesis applies them in a sense of thinking widely used by Chinese people. Concepts, feelings and ideas are expressed perfectly with the help of concrete images. Abstractive Thinking As Fung (1948:6) notes in the history of China, especially in the early stages of our civilization, analogy offered a familiar, quick and easy way to prehend the 湖南涉外經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)院本科生畢業(yè)論文（設(shè)計(jì)） 11 world. However, in modern time, now that abstract science has achieved such advances, mere reliance on analogy without formal logic makes any reasoning process unreliable. It can result in farfetched outes since it overlooks or blurs differences in the particulars and specifics. Americans do use metaphor, symbolism and analogy in their words and expressions. However, they are not as widely and frequently used as they are with Chinese. “Americans? thinking ways are characterized with the logic, philosopher Aristotle, who started three basic laws of formal logic, proved the three elements (conception, judgments, and reasoning), and put forward two ways of thinking(induction and deduction).His formal logic system has a big influence on the whole western world, which Americans can hardly ignore. They advance from idea to idea, from conclusion to conclusion, inducing differentiating, integrating” (Gulick, 1988:12). Americans on one side take good advantage of the objective reality. On the other hand, they are building an abstractive and applicable reality. They rely more on numbers and written documents. The American39。 American thinking is predominantly analytic which lays emphasis on reductionism and logic. Analytical Thinking In the western world, Plato is the first man to advocate SubjectObject Dichotomy. Analytical thinking patterns perceives the world by distinguishing subject and object, moral and material, thinking and being, soul and body, meanwhile。 Stefani respectively. Daniel Batesamp。 23 湖南涉外經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)院本科生畢業(yè)論文（設(shè)計(jì)） Introduction The 21st century has already involved us in its development. Marshall McLuhan39。 18 Conclusion 10 Abstractive Thinking 7 Synthetic Thinking 3 The Definition of Culture 1 Chapter 1 Literature Review 本 論文就是嘗試去解析英漢思維模式的差異，及它對(duì)跨文化交際的影響。 I 湖 南 涉 外 經(jīng) 濟(jì) 學(xué) 院 本科畢業(yè)論文（設(shè)計(jì)） 題 目 Impacts On Intercultural Communication of Differences between English and Chinese Thinking Modes 英漢思維模式的差異對(duì)跨文化交際的影響 作 者 學(xué) 院 外國語學(xué)院 專 業(yè) 英 語 學(xué) 號(hào) 指導(dǎo)教師 二〇 一三 年 四 月 十五 I ABSTRACT