[1~2] Read the following and answer the questions.

Lesson 03

Read

고등학교      반      번 이름

In 1993, I had my first opportunity to visit Russia. “Russians are a very polite people,” I had been tutored before my arrival. One of my interpreters, once I was there, explained that a gentleman should pour drinks for the ladies and show other courtesies. Toward the end of my three-week trip, I was invited by my young Russian host Nicolai and his lovely wife Yulya out to dinner. At the end of a wonderful meal, Yulya asked if I would like a banana. I politely declined. But my mind was busy with these questions: ‘What do I do? Do I offer her a banana even though the bananas are as close to her as they are to me? What is the polite thing to do?’ “Would you like a banana?” I asked Yulya. “Yes,” she smiled, but made no attempt to take any of the three bananas in the fruit basket. ‘What now?’ I thought. “Which one would you like?” I reached for the bananas. “That one,” she pointed at one of them. Thinking about Russian politeness, I picked the banana Yulya had pointed at and peeled it half way and handed it to her. Smiles in Yulya and Nicolai’s faces told me I had done the right thing. After this experience, I spent much time letting the world know that in Russia, the polite thing is to peel the bananas for the ladies. Sometime during my third trip, a Russian graciously told me, “In Russia, when a man peels a banana for a lady it means he has a romantic interest in her.”

Certain lessons have to be learned the hard way. Some well-meaning explanations of cultural differences have a potential to do more harm than good. They present, like my bananas, too many generalizations or quite a distorted view. Differences between people within any given nation or culture can be much greater than differences between different nations or cultures. Education, social status, religion, personality, belief, past experience, affection shown in the home, and a lot of other factors will affect human behavior and culture. Therefore, generalizations of cultural differences can be dangerous especially when they are based on faulty observations.

(출처: http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/ucce50/ag-labor/7article/article01.htm by Gregorio Billikopf)

1      Which one best fits in the blank?

① How embarrassed I felt!

② I got angry with the Russian.

③ I was glad that I did the right thing!

④ I thanked the interpreter that taught me the Russian politeness.

2      What is the main idea of the passage?

① Cultural differences are only apparent.

② Direct experience is the best way to learn other cultures.

③ We tend to overlook similarities and notice just the differences between cultures.

④ Hasty generalizations about cultural differences can cause misunderstandings in communication.