Impolite Questions for foreigners
老外的 “ 禁區(qū) ”
You ：中國(guó)人之間可以打聽別人的年齡和收入，但我們和外國(guó)人交談的時(shí)候，就要盡量不問這些問題。
David ： Why? 為什么？
You ：小時(shí)候就有人告訴我向西方人打聽他們的年齡和工資是不禮貌的。因此當(dāng)我和外國(guó)人初次見面的時(shí)候，我都會(huì)牢記這個(gè)原則。
David ： It's true. Don't talk about age or salary. But in Chinese culture, it's OK to ask. It wouldn't be impolite to ask. People might just think this kind of question is a sign of one's interest in someone else. 對(duì)，我們不談年齡和收入。但在中國(guó)文化中，是可以問這些問題的。如果你向別人打聽這些，不算不禮貌。人們會(huì)認(rèn)為你對(duì)別人的事比較感興趣。
You ：正是這樣。連女孩子的年齡也能問。在西方，打聽有關(guān)別人的婚姻狀況也是非常不禮貌的。是嗎？
David ： You're right. In addition, questions about religious beliefs are also considered taboo for westerners. The taboo is related to our need for privacy, something that westerners take very seriously. 確實(shí)是這樣的。也有些西方人很忌諱別人打聽他們的宗教信仰，這些忌諱都與西方的隱私問題有關(guān)，所以他們非常重視。
You ：這可能是東西方文化差異之一吧。
分析
中國(guó)人之間可以打聽別人的年齡和收入，但我們和外國(guó)人交談的時(shí)候，就要盡量不問這些問題。
常見錯(cuò)誤及點(diǎn)評(píng)
常見錯(cuò)誤 ：In China, we like to ask people how old are you, what's the salary, so when we meet with foreigners, we try our best to remember don't ask people these questions.
how old are you, what's the salary：這里不需要把問句說出來，而可以用兩個(gè)詞來代替，即age和salary。例如：It is common to ask people for their age and salary.
try our best：“try our best”是中式英語，“do our best”在英語里常用，但它一般用“做很正式或嚴(yán)肅的事”。例如： The detective told the press reporter that the police is doing their best to capture the criminal. 本句不屬于這種情況，因此不需要用“do our best”。
參考答案：In China, it's common to ask people their age and salary but when we talk to foreigners, we try not to ask those questions.
小時(shí)候就有人告訴我向西方人打聽他們的年齡和工資是不禮貌的。因此當(dāng)我和外國(guó)人初次見面的時(shí)候，我都會(huì)牢記這個(gè)原則。
常見錯(cuò)誤及點(diǎn)評(píng)
常見錯(cuò)誤：Because when I was very young, people told me that when you meet western people, don't ask his or her age and salary. It's not very polite. So when I first meet foreigners, I always remember.
very：這里不需要用very，根據(jù)上下文，“When I was very young”表示的可能是“當(dāng)我還是個(gè)baby的時(shí)候”。
not very polite：not very polite這種說法不對(duì)，polite的反義詞是impolite，意思相近但程度更深的詞是rude。在這種情況下，使用rude更為準(zhǔn)確。
參考答案：When I was young I was told it was impolite to ask westerners about their age and salary. So now I keep that in mind when I first meet foreigners.
正是這樣。連女孩子的年齡也能問。在西方，打聽有關(guān)別人的婚姻狀況也是非常不禮貌的。是嗎？
常見錯(cuò)誤及點(diǎn)評(píng)
常見錯(cuò)誤：In China, even for girl, you can ask her age. I heard that in western countries, to ask for other people's marriage conditions is quite impolite, right?
for girl：表示這一類人或事時(shí)可以用“a”加名詞的單數(shù)形式，或者該名詞的復(fù)數(shù)形式（可數(shù)名詞），因此這里應(yīng)改為“for a girl”或“for girls”。
參考答案：You can even ask girls in China about their age. Besides I also heard that in western countries it is impolite to ask someone about his or her marital status. Am I right?
Besides：besides是比較容易誤用的詞。該詞通常表示in addition（此外），或是furthermore（另外）。Besides（包括……在內(nèi)）通常后面都要接賓語。因此，這句話可以這樣講：“Besides questions about age and marital status, questions about religious beliefs …”。另外，如果besides不作介詞，沒有questions about age and marital status做賓語，而單獨(dú)用besides（副詞）可以表示另外一層意思，表示遞進(jìn)關(guān)系，相當(dāng)于furthermore。例如： The soccer game was canceled because of the rain, but I really didn't want to go see it anyway. Besides, I wanted stay home and study for my exam tomorrow. 因?yàn)橄掠?，足球賽取消了。我還真的不想去看，而且明天又要考試，我想呆在家復(fù)習(xí)。
老外的 “ 禁區(qū) ”
You ：中國(guó)人之間可以打聽別人的年齡和收入，但我們和外國(guó)人交談的時(shí)候，就要盡量不問這些問題。
David ： Why? 為什么？
You ：小時(shí)候就有人告訴我向西方人打聽他們的年齡和工資是不禮貌的。因此當(dāng)我和外國(guó)人初次見面的時(shí)候，我都會(huì)牢記這個(gè)原則。
David ： It's true. Don't talk about age or salary. But in Chinese culture, it's OK to ask. It wouldn't be impolite to ask. People might just think this kind of question is a sign of one's interest in someone else. 對(duì)，我們不談年齡和收入。但在中國(guó)文化中，是可以問這些問題的。如果你向別人打聽這些，不算不禮貌。人們會(huì)認(rèn)為你對(duì)別人的事比較感興趣。
You ：正是這樣。連女孩子的年齡也能問。在西方，打聽有關(guān)別人的婚姻狀況也是非常不禮貌的。是嗎？
David ： You're right. In addition, questions about religious beliefs are also considered taboo for westerners. The taboo is related to our need for privacy, something that westerners take very seriously. 確實(shí)是這樣的。也有些西方人很忌諱別人打聽他們的宗教信仰，這些忌諱都與西方的隱私問題有關(guān)，所以他們非常重視。
You ：這可能是東西方文化差異之一吧。
分析
中國(guó)人之間可以打聽別人的年齡和收入，但我們和外國(guó)人交談的時(shí)候，就要盡量不問這些問題。
常見錯(cuò)誤及點(diǎn)評(píng)
常見錯(cuò)誤 ：In China, we like to ask people how old are you, what's the salary, so when we meet with foreigners, we try our best to remember don't ask people these questions.
how old are you, what's the salary：這里不需要把問句說出來，而可以用兩個(gè)詞來代替，即age和salary。例如：It is common to ask people for their age and salary.
try our best：“try our best”是中式英語，“do our best”在英語里常用，但它一般用“做很正式或嚴(yán)肅的事”。例如： The detective told the press reporter that the police is doing their best to capture the criminal. 本句不屬于這種情況，因此不需要用“do our best”。
參考答案：In China, it's common to ask people their age and salary but when we talk to foreigners, we try not to ask those questions.
小時(shí)候就有人告訴我向西方人打聽他們的年齡和工資是不禮貌的。因此當(dāng)我和外國(guó)人初次見面的時(shí)候，我都會(huì)牢記這個(gè)原則。
常見錯(cuò)誤及點(diǎn)評(píng)
常見錯(cuò)誤：Because when I was very young, people told me that when you meet western people, don't ask his or her age and salary. It's not very polite. So when I first meet foreigners, I always remember.
very：這里不需要用very，根據(jù)上下文，“When I was very young”表示的可能是“當(dāng)我還是個(gè)baby的時(shí)候”。
not very polite：not very polite這種說法不對(duì)，polite的反義詞是impolite，意思相近但程度更深的詞是rude。在這種情況下，使用rude更為準(zhǔn)確。
參考答案：When I was young I was told it was impolite to ask westerners about their age and salary. So now I keep that in mind when I first meet foreigners.
正是這樣。連女孩子的年齡也能問。在西方，打聽有關(guān)別人的婚姻狀況也是非常不禮貌的。是嗎？
常見錯(cuò)誤及點(diǎn)評(píng)
常見錯(cuò)誤：In China, even for girl, you can ask her age. I heard that in western countries, to ask for other people's marriage conditions is quite impolite, right?
for girl：表示這一類人或事時(shí)可以用“a”加名詞的單數(shù)形式，或者該名詞的復(fù)數(shù)形式（可數(shù)名詞），因此這里應(yīng)改為“for a girl”或“for girls”。
參考答案：You can even ask girls in China about their age. Besides I also heard that in western countries it is impolite to ask someone about his or her marital status. Am I right?
Besides：besides是比較容易誤用的詞。該詞通常表示in addition（此外），或是furthermore（另外）。Besides（包括……在內(nèi)）通常后面都要接賓語。因此，這句話可以這樣講：“Besides questions about age and marital status, questions about religious beliefs …”。另外，如果besides不作介詞，沒有questions about age and marital status做賓語，而單獨(dú)用besides（副詞）可以表示另外一層意思，表示遞進(jìn)關(guān)系，相當(dāng)于furthermore。例如： The soccer game was canceled because of the rain, but I really didn't want to go see it anyway. Besides, I wanted stay home and study for my exam tomorrow. 因?yàn)橄掠?，足球賽取消了。我還真的不想去看，而且明天又要考試，我想呆在家復(fù)習(xí)。