A few years ago, a British minister gave a pocket watch to the mayor of Taipei asa gift during her visit to Taiwan. The shape of the pocket watch looked like a clock. Itwas almost a wrong thing to give because “giving a clock” in Chinese sounds like“saying goodbye to the dead at a funeral.” That is a big taboo.                      When it is time to give someone a gift, you should find out more about theircultural norms. If you don’t have time to do that, then books are good gifts because theyare safe and won’t hurt anyone’s feelings. Even so, people in the UK seldom give knivesbecause they could cut through a friendship. The Japanese don’t do that, either, becauseit tells the person to kill themselves. Flowers can say a lot, but they have differentmeanings in different countries. Chrysanthemums for the Spanish are bad because theymean death, just like white lilies for the British. Red roses are a common gift, but theyare not right for a business meeting. Also, yellow roses mean cheating in France anddeath in Mexico. What’s more, always give an odd number of flowers, but not 13because some people see it as unlucky. 

British minister 英國部長 mayor 市長 shape 形狀 funeral 喪禮 

taboo 禁忌 cultural norm 文化規範 friendship 友情

 the Spanish 西班牙人 odd number 奇數
【題組】42. “Chrysanthemums”are _______.
(A) people
(B) languages
(C) flowers
(D) places