People smile at times. However, the meaning of a smile in different cultures may be different. Depending on different cultures, smiling can express joy and amusement, but it can also show embarrassment.
People in the United States smile a lot. Every one smiles at each other in order to show they are open and friendly. However，in China, smiling is not only an expression of happiness, but also a way to avoid being embarrassed. Chinese people like smiling when they are embarrassed in order to avoid embarrassment. Smiling is a kind of good will but not sneer（嘲笑）. For example: When a child falls off from a bike, the adults in China may smile, which is a kind of gentle encouragement and not a kind of impolite laugh.
When a person from the United States might blush（脸红）with embarrassment or become offensive(冒犯的), a Chinese might blush with smile. To avoid serious misunderstanding, people who engage in intercultural communication should be able to understand the meaning of smiling properly.
小题1: We can use smile to express all of the following feelings except _________,
A．joy and happiness
B．amusement
C．embarrassment
D．fear小题2: People often smile at each other in the United States because _________.
A．they are very happy
B．they want to show they are friendly
C．they want to hide their true feelings
D．they want to avoid embarrassment小题3: In China, seeing a child falls off a bike, an adult will smile in order to _______.
A．laugh at him
B．avoid his own embarrassment
C．avoid embarrassment and encourage the boy
D．show his politeness小题4: What is mainly talked about in the passage?
A．People smile at times.
B．Smiling can express different feelings depending on different cultures.
C．Americans are more open and friendly than Chinese people.
D．The Chinese people often hide their true feelings.
