21世纪大学英语读写教程(第二册)课文翻译及课后答案1-7单元

21 世纪大学英语读写教程(第二册)课文翻译及课后答案 第一单元 UNIT1 温斯顿?丘吉尔他的另一种生活 玛丽?索姆斯 我的父亲温斯顿?丘吉尔是在 40 几岁开始迷恋上绘画的，当时他正 身处逆境。1915 年，作为海军大臣，他深深地卷入了达达尼尔海峡的一 场战役。原本那次战役是能够缩短一场血腥的世界大战的，但它却失败 了，人员伤亡惨重，为此丘吉尔作为公务员和个人都付出了代价：他被 免去了海军部的职务，失去了显赫的政治地位。 “我本以为他会因忧伤而死的。 ”他的妻子克莱门泰因说。被这一不 幸压垮的他同家人一起退隐到萨里郡的一个乡间居处-耘锄农场。在那 儿，正如丘吉尔日后所回忆的， “绘画女神拯救了我!” 一天他正在花园里漫步，正巧碰上他的弟妹在用水彩画素描。他观 看了她几分钟，然后借过她的画笔，试了一下身手-于是缪斯女神施展 了她的魔法。自那天以后，温斯顿便爱上了绘画。 任何能让沉浸在忧思中的温斯顿分心的事情都让克莱门泰因高兴。 于是，她赶紧去买来她所能找到的各种颜料和画具。水彩颜料、油画颜 料、纸张、帆布画布-很快耘锄农场里便堆满了一个绘画者可能想要或 需要的各样东西。 画油画最终成了温斯顿的一大爱好-但是最初几步却出奇地艰难。 他凝视着他的第一块空白画布，异乎寻常地紧张。他日后回忆道：“我 迟疑不决地选了一管蓝色颜料，然后小心翼翼地在雪白的底子上的画上 蚕豆般大小的一笔。就在这时，我听到车道上传来一辆汽车的声音，于 是惊恐地丢下我的画笔。当我看清是谁从汽车里走出来时，更是惊慌失 措。来者正是住在附近的著名画家约翰?莱佛利爵士的妻子。 “在画画呢!她大声说道。 多么有趣。可你还在等什么呢? 把 画笔给我-大的那支。 她猛地用笔蘸起颜料，还没等我缓过神来，她已 经挥笔泼墨在惊恐不已的画布上画下了有力的几道蓝色。谁都看得出画 布无法回击。我不再迟疑。我抓起那支最大的画笔，迅猛异常地向我可 怜的牺牲品扑了过去。自那以后，我再也不曾害怕过画布。 ” 后来教丘吉尔画画的莱佛利曾经说起过他这位不同寻常的学生的艺 术才能：“如果他当初选择的是绘画而不是政治，他定会成为一位驾驭 画笔的大师。 ” 在绘画中，丘吉尔发现了一个将陪他走过大半人生的伴侣。1921 年， 他的母亲去世，两个月后，他又失去了他和克莱门泰因的 3 岁爱女玛丽 戈尔德。那时，绘画是他的慰藉。悲痛欲绝的温斯顿住到了苏格兰朋友 们的家中-并在他的绘画中寻得安慰。他写信给克莱门泰因：“我外出 画了一条在午后阳光下的美丽的河流，背景是红色和金黄色的山峦。爱 怜的思绪油然而生啊，我一直感受到失去玛丽戈尔德的痛楚。 ” 生命、爱和希望慢慢地复苏了。1922 年 9 月，克莱门泰因和温斯顿 的另一个孩子出生了：那就是我。同年，温斯顿买下了查特威尔，这是 他将在以后 40 年里画出其所有不同风貌的他所钟爱的家。 20 世纪 20 年代中期，我父亲在伦敦举行的一次享有盛名的业余画 展中赢得了一等奖，当时他一定颇为得意。参赛作品不署名，所以一些 评委坚持认为温斯顿的画-有关查特威尔的第一批画作中的一幅-是一 位专业画家而不是一位业余画家的作品，所以应该取消其参赛资格。但 最后，他们同意信赖那位艺术家的诚实，而在得知那幅画为丘吉尔所作 时他们都很高兴。 史学家们一直把 1929 年温斯顿再次被免职后的 10 年称为他无所作 为的十年。也许政治上那些年（他）的确毫无作为，因为他一个人大声 疾呼，想要唤醒英国人认识到来自希特勒的威胁，然而响应者寥寥无几。 但在艺术上，那些年却硕果累累：现存的 500 多幅丘吉尔的油画中，约 有一半作于 1930 年至 1939 年之间。 绘画始终是丘吉尔的一种乐趣，直到他生命的结束。 “画家是幸福的， ”他在他的作为一种消遣的绘画一书中写道， “因为他们不会孤独。 光线与色彩，宁静与希望，将终日伴随着他们。 ” 对我的父亲来说也是 这样。 Text Comprehension II 1. It was a military campaign in which many soldiers died. The effects on Churchill were () he lost his political position and he was overwhelmed with grief. 2. He felt so inspired to paint that he was distracted from his personal 外语下载中心 外语下载中心 problems. 3. His sister-in-laws painting inspired him to try his hand at it; his wife rushed out to buy all the materials he would need; and the wife of Sir John Lavery helped him overcome his fear of the blank canvas. 4. The blank whiteness of the canvas made him feel he didnt know where to begin. This nervousness was not typical of Churchill, who was known publicly as a brave and strong-willed person. 5. Churchill was comparing the canvas to an opponent in a fight, and he could now see that he need not fear his “adversary”. 6. He meant that Churchill would have been a great painter, just as he was a great politician. 7. It was his great comfort when the death of his mother was followed quickly by the death of his daughter. 8. Because the judges suspected that it was not painted by an amateur; they were later surprised and delighted because Churchill was not just a famous political figure but also a talented untrained artist. 9. No, she considers that decade an artistically fruitful one. 10. He meant that painting was like a friend who never betrayed or abandoned him. This seems to suggest that he often felt lonely, misunderstood and/or disappointed in his relationship with other people. Vocabulary III. 1.artistic 2.overcome 3.infinite 4.plunged 5.mission 6.camgpain 7.revived 8.distract 9.accustomed 10.retreat 11.precaution 12. disastrous IV. 1. delighted with 2. bore fruit 3. kept Clementine company 4. rely on 5. take refuge 6. awaken people to 7. pay the price 8. chanced upon; dated from 9. tried his hand at 10. fell upon; came to her rescue Word Building V. 1. broadens the mind 2. weakened 3. sweeten Diet Coke 4.hardens 5. strengthen 6. deepen your understanding of the course materiall 7. sharpen the kitchen knives 8. reddened 9. brighten; quickens 10. lightened VI. 1. lucky 2. wealthy 3. tasty 4. icy 5. wavy 6. smelly 7. sleepy 8. noisy (smelly is also plausible) 9. healthy 10. sunny Structure VII. 1. Amazed at the great changes that are taking place in shanghai, many foreign visitors leave China with a completely new view of our country. 2. Unpleasantly startled by the appearance of a mouse, we promptly decided to clean our apartment. 3. Tired of their own cooking, theyve decided to go to a restaurant for a change. 4. Frightened by the horror film, the little girl was alert to every sound in the house that night. 5. Deeply disappointed with the actresss performance, tom soon switched to another channel. 6. Embarrassed about still being in bed at 10 a.m., when my friends came I pretended to be sick with a terrible headache. VIII. 1. So I did 2. So did my brother 3. So she was 4. So they do; so do his classmates 5. So am I Cloze IX lonely; overcame; refuge; finally; however; where; delighted; contemplated; entry; campaign; distract; plunged into; Within a month; rescue; when; overwhelming Translation X. “在画画呢!她大声说道。 多么有趣。可你还在等什么呢? 把画笔 给我-大的那支。 她猛地用笔蘸起颜料，还没等我缓过神来，她已经挥 笔泼墨在惊恐不已的画布上画下了有力的几道蓝色。谁都看得出画布无 法回击。我不再迟疑。我抓起那支最大的画笔，迅猛异常地向我可怜的 外语下载中心 外语下载中心 牺牲品扑了过去。自那以后，我再也不曾害怕过画布。 ” XI 1. When his wife died of a stroke in her sixties, the 72-year-old retired professor was overwhelmed by grief. Life would be too difficult for him without anybody to rely on. 2. Last month two amateur painters held an exhibition of their pictures in London. Many people went to see it, including a few celebrated professors. 3. When seven astronauts died in the Challenger disaster in the mid-1980s, it plunged the whole world into shock and grief. 4. After completing her second prime ministry, she remained actively involved in political affairs. She came to the rescue several times when the government was in difficulty. 5. After his failure in the election campaign, Dr. Smith retired to a small village, where he tried his hand at farming. 6. As long as you keep working hard all your life, you will recall your past with a glow of satisfaction. 7. We must awaken people to the importance of environmental protection now, or it will soon be too late. 8. That official was removed from office for being involved in a political scandal. Had he known this would happen, he might have acted differently. Reading Analysis XII. Major Event: Life and love and hope slowly revived. How did the change happen? (1)Churchill bought a new house. (2) Another child was born to Churchill. Structured Writing XIII. One example, for reference My sister Stephanie began her love affair with television in the second grade amid highly emotional circumstances. She had had a quarrel with her best friend, and found herself alone and lonely every day after school with nothing to do. Thats when the miracle of television came toText 第二单元 翻译 UNIT2 TEXT A 他们为何出类拔萃？ 富克斯?巴特菲尔德 当郑金枝的父亲用积蓄的钱为她买了一张票，让她乘上一条将带她 离开越南的渔船时，她才 9 岁。对这个家庭来说，将金枝送上小船，置 身于陌生人中间，是一种令人心碎、代价昂贵的牺牲。他们只愿她最终 能到达美国，在那儿受到良好的教育，享受更美好的生活。 对小女孩来说，这是一次充满危险的艰苦旅程。 在小船到达安全之 地以前很久，食物和水的贮备已经用完。当金枝最终到达美国后，她又 不得不同一连 3 个收养家庭相处。但是当她 1998 年从圣地亚哥的帕特里 克?亨利中学毕业时，她取得了全优的成绩以及这个国家最享盛名的几所 大学提供的奖学金。 “我必须取得好成绩， ”这个现为康奈尔大学二年级学生的 19 岁姑 娘说， “这样我才对得起在越南的父母。 ” 金枝是一群聪明伶俐、积极进取的美籍亚裔中的一员，他们正突然 潮水般地涌入我们最好的大学。虽然美籍亚裔只占全国人口的 2.4%，但 他们在哈佛的本科生中却占了 17.1%， 在麻省理工学院占了 18%，在 加州大学伯克利分校占了 27.3%。 为什么美籍亚裔的成绩这样优秀呢? 他们是否像一些陈旧的看法所 暗示的那样是些埋头用功的学生? 他们是否有更高的智商? 或者在我们 一向珍视，但也许已经丢失的价值观-如敬业、家庭和教育等方面，我 们是否可以向他们学到一些有用的东西呢? 并非所有的亚裔人都学得一样好；比如，没受过什么教育的柬埔寨 外语下载中心 外语下载中心 难民的孩子就常常需要特殊的帮助。许多美籍亚裔人不喜欢被称为“模 范的少数民族” ，他们感到这是美国白人的逆向歧视-虽与 1965 年以前 排斥大多数亚洲移民进入美国的法律截然不同，但仍是一种偏见。 亚裔年轻人的成绩已经引发了一系列引人注目的研究。也许最令人 不安的结果来自于密歇根大学心理学家哈罗德?W?斯蒂文森进行的研究。 他将芝加哥和明尼阿波利斯 7000 多名幼儿园、一年级、三年级和五年级 的学生同他们在北京、台北和仙台的同级伙伴作了比较。在一组数学测 试中，美国学生在所有的年级层次上都考得最差。 斯蒂文森没有发现智商上的差别。 但是如果成绩上的差异在幼儿园 就开始显现，那就表明事情出在家庭中，甚至是在孩子们上学之前。 正是在这一点上，各研究者的不同研究趋于了一致：亚洲的父母在 激发孩子的学习动力方面做得更好。 “决定的因素是亚洲孩子学习努力。 ”斯蒂文森说。 接下来，真正要弄清的问题是，亚洲父母是如何将这种学习动力灌 输给他们的后代的。 斯蒂文森的研究提出了一个重要的答案。当被问及 他们认为他们的孩子为什么学得好时，大多数亚洲父母说是“用功” 。而 美国父母则说是“天赋” 。 “依我看， ”斯蒂文森说， “对于我们都能通过艰苦努力在生活中取 得成功的观念我们已经不再相信。相反，美国人现在认为有的孩子具备 成功所必需的素质，而有的孩子则不具备。于是我们开始把班级分为 快班和慢班 ，而中国人和日本人则认为所有的孩子都能在同一课 程中成功。 ” 这种对于勤奋的信念是促成亚洲学生成绩突出的三大要素中的第一 个。它来源于亚洲人共同的儒教传统，即公元前 5 世纪那位中国圣人的 哲学思想，他的教义对中国社会产生了深远的影响。孔夫子的主要教义 之一是，人们通过努力能够完善自我。 儒教也为亚洲人的成功提供了另一个要素。在孔夫子的哲学中，家 庭起着最重要的作用-这种定向引导人们为家庭的荣誉而学习工作，而 不仅仅是为了他们自己。一个人永远无法报答他的父母，而且在亚洲人 中间还有一种责任感、乃至负罪感，这是一种如同新教哲学在西方一样 的强大力量。 还有另外一个重要因素存在于亚洲父母及其子女的这种关系中。 在 我住在中国、日本和越南的 15 年间，我注意到同大多数美国父母相比， 亚洲父母同他们的婴儿建立了一种更为亲密的身体联系。比如，当我让 幼小的女儿在地板上爬时，我的中国朋友们会大惊失色，冲过去把她抱 起来。我们认为这种无时不在的关心已经过时、甚至是不健康的，但是 对于亚洲人来说，它却十分有效。 我们能从亚洲人那儿学到点什么吗？“我还没有天真到认为亚洲的 每样东西都能被移植过来。 ”斯蒂文森说。但是，他却提出了 3 条建议。 “首先， ”他说， “我们需要为我们的孩子们确立更高的目标。我们 不会指望他们不经过刻苦训练就能成为职业运动员。 ” 第二，他宣称，美国父母需要更加关心子女的教育。 “在孩子表现不 好时表示理解是不够的。 ” 斯蒂文森发现，亚洲父母比美国父母花费更 多的时间帮助孩子做作业或者写信给孩子的老师。 第三，我们的学校可以用简单而有效的方式加以重组，斯蒂文森说。 近 90%的中国年轻人说他们确实喜欢学校， 60%的年轻人迫不及待地 盼着学校假期结束。同美国年轻人所表示的态度相比，这种态度要积极 得多。原因之一也许是中国和日本的学生一般在每节课后都有一段休息 时间， 这有助于他们放松并增加注意力集中的持续时间。 “我并不认为亚洲人更聪明。 ”伯克利的一位美籍亚裔学生李?唐说， “在我的化学班里，有一些很聪明的美国人。但是亚洲学生更刻苦。我 在美国人身上看到很多被浪费的潜能。 ” Comprehension 外语下载中心 外语下载中心 II a 1F 2T 3F 4F 5T 6 F 7T b. 1I 2I 3 I 4N 5I 6N 7I 8N Vocabulary III. 1.label 2.converged 3.sacrifices 4.motivate 5.transplanted 6.horrified 7.bond 8.constitute 9.surged 10.prejudice 11.resents 12. recommendations IV. NB. these are not the only possible synoms/definitions/translations. 1. carried out; conducted, performed 2. led to; resulted in, caused 3. springs from; arises from, comes from 4. get ahead; make progress in life, achieve more, etc. 5. showed up; appeared, arrived 6. make up; constitute, comprise 7. owes it to; 归功于 8. cope with; find a way of dealing with, manage 9. divided the cake into; 把蛋糕分成 10. excluded from; 被剥夺了 11. committed to; devoted to, dedicated to 12. make it to; arrive at or on after much effort V. 1. sense of guilt 2. finally 3. imbued her with 4.offspring 5. horrified, motivated me 6. recommendations, To start with 7. naive 8. by contrast Word Building VI. 1. misplaced 2. mismatched 3. misusing 4. mislead 5. misprinted 6. misinformed 7. misspelled 8. misunderstood Structure VII. 1. After the earthquake the government spent millions of dollars to help the victims rebuild their houses. 2. ill you reconsider your decision? No one wants you to leave. 3. Some of Lu Xuns writings were lost for decades, but they were rediscovered in the mid-80s. 4. I see no need to restate the policy on late homework. 5. The librarys been rearranged, and I cant find any of the books I need. 6. I hope this dictionary will be reprinted soonId like to buy one. 7. Stevie Wonders earliest albums have been unavailable for several years, but theyre being re-released next month. 8. I didnt care much for the book the first time, but I enjoyed it when I reread it. 9. John Harding is best known for reinterpreting Shakespeares plays. 10. Youve misunderstood melet me rephrase what I said. VIII. A. gardener calculator receiver container commander remainder hike inspector steamer processor supervise builder contributor consumer paint teenager B. 1.superviser 2. inspector 3. remainder 4. processor 5. gardener 6. calculator 7. commander 8. container 9. hiking 10. teenagers Structure IX 1. It was for the benefit of the old people in the neighborhood that we organized this volunteer group. 2. It is only when we look back that we realize how far we have come. 3. It is his secretary who does all the work. 4. It is through the act of giving that we experience our fullest strength and power. 5. It was gold that led them to undertake the long and risky journey to California. 6. As I recall, it was you who suggested this idea in the first place. 7. It wasnt until last week that they finished their report on the project. 8. Its her beautiful eyes that I cant forget. X. 外语下载中心 外语下载中心 1. The elephant weighs about 3,600 kg, whereas the blue whale weighs up to 130, 000 kg. 2.The word youngster has a cheerful connotation, whereas offspring sounds rather clinical. 3. Confucianism emphasizes family ties, whereas Protestantism teaches individual responsibility. 4.The earliest mammals appeared on the earth hundred millions years ago, whereas the first evidence of humans dates from only about one million year ago. 5. The aim of the natural science is to predict and control natural process, whereas the aim of the social science is to understand human behavior. 6. He must be about sixty, whereas his wife looks about thirty. Translation XI. 儒教也为亚洲人的成功提供了另一个要素。在孔夫子的哲学中，家庭起 着最重要的作用-这种定向引导人们为家庭的荣誉而学习工作，而不仅 仅是为了他们自己。一个人永远无法报答他的父母，而且在亚洲人中间 还有一种责任感、乃至负罪感，这是一种如同新教哲学在西方一样的强 大力量。 XII. 9. Female students constitute the majority of our class. By contrast, their class is made up of males only. 10. American children can usually watch TV three hours a day, whereas their Chinese counterparts have to work on their homework during most their after- school time. 11. His development of a series of new research methods led to his huge success. He said he owed all this to his parents encouragement. 12. He resented being excluded from discussions that directly concerned his future. 13. The fact that these problems are continually showing up suggests that this new device has to be readjusted. 14. As one of the many Asian students who have surged into the best American universities in recent years, Zhang Hua says that many of his ideas are based on traditional Chinese philosophy. 15. To start with, it is not merely money that makes Mr. Young work so hard. He is committed to educating the young and tires to motivate them to get ahead in life. 16. As time was running out, we drove even faster in the hope that we could make it to the airport in time. Cloze XIII 1. immigrant 2. than 3. obligation 4. motivated 5. widespread 6. however 7. although 8. discrimination 9. but/although 10. One day 11. guilty 12. horrified 13. repay 14. owe Reading Analysis XII. Stevenson offered three recommendations: To start with, we need higher standards for our kids second, American parents need to become more committed to their childrens education. And third, our school could be reorganized in simple but effective ways. Structured Writing XIII. One example, for reference Students at our university admire their English teachers for three main reasons. To start with, the teachers hard work and dedication are highly inspiring to us. Second, the wonderfully creative lessons they prepare strongly motivate us to study as hard as we should. And third, our teachers warmly human characters create bonds of friendship that will last forever. 第三单元 翻译 UNIT3 TEXT A 一个文化翻译的故事 西方和日本公司的合资企业经常会发生冲突-许多无关紧要的琐事 会扩大为情绪激动的交战， 各方不停地叫嚷：“他们是怎么了!?他们能 不能理解?!” 但是因为冲突主要是由文化差异引起的，所以没有一 外语下载中心 外语下载中心 方能够理解-除非他们有一名 “文化翻译” 。 我遇到的第一位文化翻译是一位设备安装工程师，名叫乔治，他在 一家我担任国际业务部主任的美国公司里工作。 这家公司刚同一家日本 商社开办了一家合资企业，美方管理部门需要有人在它的独特技术方面 培训日本雇员。乔治对设备及其安装和使用的透彻了解使他成为最能胜 任这项工作的雇员， 所以当乔治接受了暂时调往日本的一份两年期合同 时，大家都很高兴。 从一开始，乔治就被所有的日本雇员欣然接受。日方经理通常不信 任任何被派去代表美方业主的人，但乔治生性随和，没有人把他看作是 对自己职业的一种威胁。所以他们喜欢就广泛的各类问题征求他的意见， 包括大洋彼岸他们的合作伙伴的古怪行为。公司上下的工程师们都珍视 乔治的专业知识和他友好而技能熟练的帮助，他们已养成了一有问题- 任何问题，就找他帮忙的习惯。办公室里的秘书们都热衷于帮助这个讨 人喜欢的单身汉学习日语。 谁也没有料到那么快公司就成了一家赢利、兴旺、日益壮大的企业。 乔治的第一份两年期合同到期了。这时，他已经能讲很好的日语，并养 成了一些日本人的习惯。他整天喝绿茶，顿顿吃米饭，甚至学会了正确 地坐榻榻米。所以，当公司向乔治提出在日本的第二份两年期合同的建 议时，他立即就接受了。之后又有第三份合同，乔治与日本文化的情缘 在继续着。 但是当乔治在这个国家的第 6 个年头即将结束时，一个未曾料到的 困难变得显而易见了：日本工程师对迅速更新的技术的了解已经超过了 乔治。他没有什么剩下的东西可以教他们了。 难道这就是可怜的乔治的结局吗? 他对于这家他曾经如此忠诚地服 务过的、现已成熟的合资企业，就再也没有什么可以贡献的了吗? 他只 得离开他已开始爱上的这个国家吗? 不! 面对着要离开日本的威胁，乔 治心有不甘，于是将自己重新塑造成了一名“文化翻译” 。 一天，这家合资企业的日方总裁-又一次- 被来自美方管理层的 一份电文激怒了，乔治就是在那一天产生了做一名“文化翻译”这一想 法的。像通常碰到类似的情况时一样，日方总裁冲进乔治的办公室，怒 气冲冲地将那份电文扔到了他面前。乔治也同往常一样，读了电文，然 后心平气和地解释了美国人这样说的真正意思，而不是在日本文化背景 下听上去的那种意思。 对大家来说都很幸运的是，合资企业的日方和美方都已经听说过足 够多的有关文化冲突的骇人故事，他们能够认识到乔治的技能的价值， 所以当他为自己提出这个新的职位时，这个想法很快便被采纳了。在这 几年中，这一决定的英明一次又一次地得到了证明。 有时我们需要比熟练的英语远为重要的东西。当日方会计师不得不 解释花在 874 份十二月假日礼物上的 46,534 美元时，就是这么一种情况。 或者当日方人事经理不得不说明即使公司不再需要一个化学师的专业知 识仍要继续聘用他的理由时也是如此。在诸如此类的情况下，人人都求 助于乔治。 他用各种办法让他们的电文使美国人听上去至少有一部分道理。当 有些事连乔治也无法“译”成美国式的含义时，他会写道：“这听上去 很荒唐，但你们无论如何也应该同意。 ” 反之亦然。当美方经理们访问日本时，乔治便处处陪着我们，以确 保我们不会做出或说出任何在日本人看来十分愚蠢的事或话来。 一旦我 们做了蠢事， 说了蠢话，他马上就来解救：“他们真正的意思是” 多亏乔治有办法在小冲突激化、情绪化、造成巨大损失之前就将其化解， 公司从未出现过成堆的麻烦。 自把那家公司交到能干的乔治手中以来， 我已经在国际业务方面为 许多公司出谋划策。我的第一条建议总是相同的：不要担心语言问题- -你首先需要的是一名文化翻译。方面为许多公司出谋划策。我的第一 条建议总是相同的：不要担心语言问题-你首先需要的是一名文化翻 译。 外语下载中心 外语下载中心 Text comprehension II. 1. The author is talking about cultural differences: different ways of doing things in different cultures; different attitudes, traditions, beliefs, etc. she or he says neither side can understand because people are not usually conscious of their deepest cultural attitudes. 2. The American company George worked for started a joint venture with a Japanese firm, and they needed someone to train the Japanese engineers. George was the most highly qualified employee for the position, and he accepted a two-year contract for temporary transfer to Japan. 3. The Japanese liked Georges nonassertive nature, his expertise and his willingness to help; its also implied that they liked his efforts to learn Japanese, and that the secretaries liked the fact that he was single. These qualities contributed to his becoming a cultural translator by making the Japanese trust him, feel comfortable with him, and grow accustomed to asking him for all kinds of advice. 4. He had to reinvent himself because his expertise as an engineer was no longer needed, but he didnt want to leave Japan. The company accepted his reinvention because they had heard lots of horror stories about cultural conflicts and recognized the value of having someone like George around. 5. The author means that the misunderstandings were not always merely linguistic. 6. The examples imply that there is a strong group orientation in Japanese business, that sentiment can be as important as profit and efficiency, and that employees may be valued for something other than their mate