Question

Wang Fei，a Chinese student，and Mary，an American student studying Chinese in China，were in a supermarket．They saw a young man walking down the stairs．In his hurry，he missed the last two steps and fell onto the ground．He tried to stand up while people around him laughed．Luckily，he seemed to be OK．

Mary found Wang Fei smiling a little and was not happy about it．“Tell me，Fei，how could people laugh when someone fell like that? Why didn’t they go up and ask him if he was hurt?’’

Wang Fei said，“Because they knew he wasn’t hurt too much．”

“But I still don’t understand．A fall is a fall．In my culture．people would never laugh!”

This is an example．The Chinese and the westerner will think and act differently when seeing such a thing．Chinese people are used to laughing or smiling．Very often the person who is in embarrassing（困窘的）situation would also laugh or smile to get out of it．However，if someone gets hurt seriously，it will not be a laughing matter any more．People will help him or her instead．

But，in that case，a westerner will rush over and help the person get up．If a westerner falls，he or she，like a Chinese person，may try to make a joke if he or she is not hurt．If two close friends are walking together，and one falls but clearly isn't hurt，a common joke is to say “Have a nice trip”．

So different people have different habits and different countries have different cultures．

1．Will Wang Fei and Mary think and act in the same way if they see a young man falling down?

2．Why didn't people go up and ask the young man if he was hurt?

3．What do Chinese people often do when they find themselves in embarrassing situation?

4．What is a westerner likely to do when he or she sees someone fall down?

5．What might Mary say to Wang Fei if he fell but clearly was not hurt?

Answer 1

1．No（，they won't）．

2．Because they knew he wasn't hurt too much．

3．（They often）laugh or smile．

4．（He or she may／will／is likely to）rush over and help the person get up．

5．（She might say）“Have a nice trip．”