【導讀】同一句話，不同文化背景的人的反應有時是不同的，甚至會截然相反。究其原因，是說話雙方?jīng)]有真正掌握對方的文化。大學英語教學的目的，是使學。生在跨文化交流中可以正確、流利與恰當?shù)倪\用英語。而大學生在實際交流活動。中，往往不能達到這一目的，這是因為他們對中兩方文化差異不夠了解。完全有必要對中西文化差異進行詳細的研究。語言是跨文化交際中最主要的手。在運用語言進行跨文化交際時,由于民族文化差異,難免會遇到具有鮮明文化。習語是各國文化的精髓，反映各國的風俗習慣。差異，并采納大量生動有趣的例子作為論據(jù)進行適當?shù)姆治觥?

　　

【正文】 circumstances). China has a long history of cooking and the Chinese are known as the most critical and at the same time the most causal eaters, for they att ach greater importance to food than any other people, as is reflected in the sayings like:家常便飯 (daily food preparation)，粗茶淡飯 (coarse tea and brown rice)，大魚大肉 (abundant fish and meatrich food),添油加醋 (to exaggerate embellishment to),畫餅充饑 (to draw cakes to allay hunger)，雞毛蒜皮 (an inch breaks no square),生米煮成熟飯 (What39。s done cannot be undone). Such expressions are quite abundant in the Chinese language. In our daily life, the Chinese usually greet each other with Have you eaten your meal?, which has been a hot topic for cultural linguists. The idiom 吃人的嘴軟 (Once you have accepted somebody39。s invitation to a meal, you will find it difficult to say anything against him) reflects the philosophy of the Chinese. That is why most of the problems can be solved at the dinner table, which surprises the western businessmen. . Animals The English and Chinese people have their own individual state of mind, which add national coloring to the idioms, due to their different living conditions. The English and the Chinese people traditionally have different opinions of animals, such as “dog”, the English people have a high opinion of the dog and think a dog to be a faithful friend, thus there are many canine idioms in English, most of which have a mendatory sense such as clever dogclever boy or clever guy。 to help a lame dog over a stileto help a person in trouble。 Love me, love my dogaccept my friends as yours. However, In China, people often despise such an animal, therefore, a dog is usually associated with a derogatory sense:狗血噴頭 (a torrent of abuse),狗頭軍師 (wicked counselor),狗眼看人低 (be damned snobbish),狼心狗肺 (rapacious as a wolf and savage as a cur),狗急跳墻 (despair gives a courage to a coward),打落水狗 (kick the man when he is down),狗嘴里吐不 出象牙 (a filthy mouth can39。t utter decent language). When one notices the difference, it would be easy for him to understand why the Chinese would at first feel insulted for being called a lucky dog, while the English might be greatly puzzled by the utterance We can39。t go out for there is a dog outside, because here the “dog” is used metaphorically to refer to spies or servile followers.[14]P15 Another case in this point is dragon. Chinese people admire and worship this imagined animal. It is the symbol of the Chinese nation。 and it is the symbol of authority, strength and good fortune. In English, though dragon can bring the association of “strength” and “power”, it gives derogatory association. When seeing this word in English, people always think of cruelty, devilishness and viciousness. But Chinese idioms such as 望子成龍 , 龍飛鳳舞 , 龍子龍孫 , 龍鳳呈祥 express Chinese people?s appreciation and love to dragon. Similarly, owl implies wisdom and calmness in the West. The idiom “as wise as an owl” indicates that English speaking people associate wisdom with this bird. In children?s books and cartoons, the owl is usually solemn and wise. In disputes among birds and beasts, it is the owl that they go to for advice. Some times, the bird is considered as impractical and foolish. But in general, the owl stands for wisdom. However, there is a superstitious belief that this bird is a sign of bad luck and the symbol of sinister things among many Chinese. So es the mon Chinese saying 夜貓子進宅 ,無事不來 (an owl visiting a home portends misfortune in that household) . The mere sight of an owl or the sound of the creature’s hooting might cause people to draw back in fear. To the English and most of the Westerners, the king of the beasts is the lion. The lion enjoys high prestige, as can be seen from such expressions: regal as a lion, majestic as a lion. Richard I, king of England in the late 12th century, was known as lionhearted for his courage and chivalry. It’s no wonder, then, that English have chosen the lion as their symbol. In Chinese culture this beast has fewer associations with courage and bravery. He is regarded monly as being fierce and powerful but not necessarily majestic or regal. Another example is cold turkey. On Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day, turkey is always the main dish in every English family, which is different in Chinese family. But turkey is ugly and dull, so if English people call somebody a turkey, it means he or she is stupid and incapable. Cold turkey as an idiom means get rid of the addictive habit suddenly, like illegal drugtaking, heavysmoking or excessive drinking. Because Chinese people have different traditions and customs, we cannot find the same equivalent to such kind of idioms. It can be seen from above that English people have very different associations of animals from the Chinese. This is also a reflection of different culture. Conclusion Culture is a kind of social behavior. It needs time and people to form the culture. Idioms e up with the new things and new ideas. Old idioms fade with the old things and old ideas. It can be reflected not only in English idioms but also in Chinese idioms. So the general developing and changing tendency of idioms is that the new ones are more than the disappearing ones. So the amount of idioms increases continuously with colorful and vivid expressions. In the course of foreign language learning, we are supposed to master the language and the habitual pattern of thinking as we do in our native language. We are encouraged to go further: to understand the cultural phenomenon of the foreign language better and also understand our native language better through contrast. So as an English teacher or an English learner, it is useful and helpful to understand and learn about the cultural differences between English idioms and Chinese idioms. It can help us to get rid of the big barrier