英语论文--ComparisonofCultureBetweenChinaandWesternCountries西方文化.doc

Comparison of Culture Between China and Western Countries Lecture 1—Lecture 4: Civilization and Culture Lecture 1: Survey Ⅰ Why? GLOBALIZATION We are now in a quite different world from before, which is sometimes referred to as a “global village”. This globalization is mainly due to the amazingly rapid development of science and technology in the area of transportation and communication systems. Trips once taking years, months, weeks, and then days are now measured in a matter of hours. People in all corners of the world share information and ideas at the same time through sophisticated technology behind such communication means as television, telephone, fax, and the internet. In a global village: nations are like family; continents are like neighborhoods. But there are some worries about globalization. The global economy will force everyone to become like the families of the world that have the most economic and political power. They do not want to be second class citizens in the village, and they do not want to give up their own treasured ways of life. Conflict will increase as time and space shrink. People in a family see troubles in other family and wonder why they don’t solve their problems. Every family wants to protect itself. No one wants the problems of another family to spread to their family. Whatever anxiety people have about the global village, they can see that contact among the people of the world is increasing. As its residents we want it to be a good place to live. Everyone wants to benefit from global trade and advanced technology. They want to live among people who respect and appreciate one another. They want to protect themselves from danger and live at peace with their neighbors. But most people do not want peace imposed on them by the power of another family. They want to live in their own way. These are some of the challenges of living in a global village. To meet those challenges，people everywhere need to learn about other cultures.