Americans and Arabs are different in their space habits. Arabs prefer close contact. Dr. H

all has explained that the Arabs belong to a touch culture and in conversation, they always envelop the other person. They hold his hand, look into his eyes, and bathe him in their breath.

Dr. Hall’s interest in man’s use of space developed in the early nineteen fifties when he was Director of the Point Four training program at the Foreign Service Institute. In talking with Americans who had lived overseas, he found that many of them had been highly uncomfortable because of culture differences. Such discomfort is usually referred to as culture shock.

The problem is that, relatively speaking, Americans live in a noncontact culture. Partly, this is a product of our puritan heritage (清教徒文化遗产). Dr. Hall points out that we spend years teaching our children not to crowd in and lean on us. And in situations where we ourselves are forced to stand close to another person on crowded subways, for example, we turn our eyes away, and if actual body contact is involved, tense the muscles on the contact side. Most of us feel very strongly that this is the only proper way to behave.

When the Arabs talk to you, they ______.

A．try to be as close to you as possible

B．keep a certain space from you

C．hold you tightly

D．do not allow you to feel their breath