【正文】 unication systems have encouraged and facilitated cultural interaction。 changes in immigration patterns have also contributed to intercultural encounter.How do you understand the sentence “culture is everything and ^^verywhere ”?Culture supplies us with the answers to questions about what the world looks like and how we live and municate within that world. Culture teaches us how to behave in our life from the instant of birth. It is omnipresent.What are the major elements that directly influence our perception and munication?The three major sociocultural elements that directly influence perception and munication are cultural values, worldview (religion), and social organizations (family and state).What does one s family teach him or her while he or she grows up in it?The family teaches the child what the world looks like and his or her place in that world.Why is it impossible to separate our use of language from our culture?Because language is not only a form of preserving culture but also a means of sharing culture. Language is an organized, generally agreedupon, learned symbol system that is used to represent the experiences within a cultural munity.What are the nonverbal behaviors that people can attach meaning to?People can attach meaning to nonverbal behaviors such as gestures, postures, facial expressions, eye contact and gaze, touch, etc.How can a free, culturally diverse society exist?A free, culturally diverse society can exist only if diversity is permitted to flourish without prejudice and discrimination, both of which harm all members of the society.Discovering Problems: Slim Is Beautiful?Questions for discussionWhich do you think is the mark of beauty, thin or fat? Why is it often said that beauty is in the e^ye of beholder?One sociologist once said that with the greater influence of American culture across the world, the standard of a beauty is being more and more Hollywoodlike, characterized by a chiseled chin and a tall, slim figure. One can see such beautiful images in almost any American movie. We Chinese also share the notion that the standard idea of beauty includes being tall, thin, and light skinned. It seems that with the process of globalization, eastern and western beauties look more and more alike.But we have to remember that the definition of beauty differs from culture to culture. For example, Hispanic standards of female beauty are to have big hips, a moderate tan, and a short height. As is described in the article, in southeastern Nigeria, CocaColabottle voluptuousness is celebrated and ample backsides and bosoms are considered ideals of female beauty.What’s more, the ideal standard of beauty varies from time to time. For instance, during times of famine, the ideal standard of beauty for women is a much larger body size. Larger size and more body fat may reflect one’s status。 women during those times actually used a lot of white powdered cosmetics to exaggerate the paleness of their skin. Now, however, tan is a reflection of having more leisure time spent on seashores instead of working in an office all the time, and therefore it may suggest higher status, so women strive for darker skin tones.It is true that beauty is in the eye of the beholder because people of different cultures and in different situations may have different ideas about what is beautiful and what is not.Group WorkFirst share with your group member whatever experiences you have had in munication events that can be considered as intercultural. Then work together to decide whether each of the following cases of munication is possibly intercultural or not and, if it is, to what extent it is intercultural. Try to place all the cases along a continuum of interculturalness, from the most intercultural to the least intercultural.All the cases may seem to be intercultural but they differ in the extent to which they are intercultural. However it may be very difficult for us to place all these cases along a continuum of interculturalness from the most intercultural to the least intercultural, for many other factors have to be taken into consideration if we have to decide which is more intercultural than another. For instance, whether munication between a male manager and a female secretary is intercultural or not and, if it is, how intercultural it may be, may depend on the cultural and social backgrounds of the two persons. If they are from drastically different cultures, munication between them is surely intercultural and may be very intercultural. If they are from the same culture, munication between them may be little intercultural.The following is tentatively suggested for measuring the interculturalness of the cases of munication, and the cases are presented from the most intercultural to the least intercultural:Communication between a Chinese university student and an American professor。Communication between a firstgeneration Chinese American and third generation one。Communication between a teenager from Beijing and a teenager from Tibet。Communication between a software technician and a fisherman。 more interactions would lead to greater understanding of each other.(Commonality precedes)Con: People are shaped by different environments they find themselves in, therefore, the differenceoverrides. (Differences precedes)Possible Arguments for Pro:Human beings tend to draw close to one another by their mon nature. We all share the mon basic needs.Rapid expansion of worldwide transportation and munication networks have made it far easier than ever before for people throughout the world to contact with one another.The process of globalization may reduce the regional differences between people all over the world. We are all members of the “global village”.Economic interdependence in today’s world requires people of different countries to interact on an unprecedented scale, and more interaction will result in more similarity a