Peter is the general manager of an American company in China. Recently, Jun Chen, one of the Chinese managers made a mistake at work that caused some difficulties that required a lot of effort2 to fix. Jun Chen was very upset about what had happened, and came to Peter's office to make a formal apology.
Jun Chen went into Peter's office after being told to, smiling before he spoke. “Peter, I've been feeling very upset about the trouble I've caused for the company. I'm here to apologize for my mistake. I'm terribly sorry about it and I want you to know that it will never happen again,” Jun Chen said, looking at Peter with the smile he had been wearing since he walked into the office.
Peter found it hard to accept the apology. He looked at Jun Chen, and asked, “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I'm very sorry and I promise this won't happen again,” Jun Chen said, with a smile even broader than before.
“I'm sorry I just can't take your apology. You don't look sorry at all!” Peter said angrily.
Jun Chen's face turned very red. He did not in the least expect Peter to take it negatively3. He was desperate to make himself understood. “Peter,” he managed to smile again, “trust me, no one can feel any more sorry than I do about it.”
Peter was almost furious4 by now, “If you're that sorry, how can you still smile?”
Chinese perspective5
It may be difficult for Westerners to believe that smiling for the Chinese not only means that someone is happy, but also that he or she is sorry. It is desirable6 for a Chinese to apologize with a smile, which indicates humbleness7 and embarrassment. Jun Chen probably was not even aware8 that he was smiling when he first went into the office to apologize, yet he did make an effort to smile when he saw Peter getting angry. For Jun Chen, the smile was an important part of the apology. As a result, he could not understand why Peter got angry when he gave a sincere9 apology.
North American perspective
Beyond thinking that Jun Chen was not really sorry for the mistake, Peter might actually take the smile as smirking10, a sign of disrespect. A Westerner in Jun Chen's situation would probably keep his eyes lowered，especially during the time he was apologizing. When promising to correct the situation and to avoid making the same mistake, a Westerner would expect the employee to look him in the eye and definitely11 not to smile. Depending on the nature of the mistake, Peter might eventually12 attempt to reassure13 Jun Chen that “no real harm was done” or that “It's okay, we've been able to correct the problem” and then compliment Jun Chen on his maturely14 accepting responsibility. They might part by shaking hands. This would be done by Peter to show that he accepted Jun Chen's apology and to attempt to rebuild a good working relationship between the two, or at least ease the tension that Jun Chen was feeling. However, in this case, the mistaken perception of a smile made an awkward15 situation worse.
彼得是美国驻中国一家公司的总经理，中国雇员陈俊是他的一个部门经理。前不久陈俊在工作中出了差错，费了一番功夫才弥补过来，为此他感到很不安，特地找彼得道歉。
在得到允许后陈俊推门进彼得的办公室，还没开口就陪上了笑脸。“彼得，我一直为自己给公司带来的损失感到不安。我感到非常抱歉，我保证类似失误决不再发生，”陈俊说，进门时的微笑一直挂在脸上。
彼得望着陈俊的笑脸，很难相信他的歉意，“真的吗?”
“绝对，我保证不会再犯这种错误，”陈俊说，脸上的笑容更加明朗。
“对不起，我无法接受你的道歉，我看不出你有什么不安!”彼得生气地说。
陈俊的脸变得通红，他没想到彼得的态度竟会这么消极，他急切地要让彼得明白自己的意思，强装笑脸说，“彼得，相信我，对这事没人比我更难过了。”
彼得更火了，“如果你真那么难过，你又怎么可以笑得出来呢?”
中国人的解释
西方人可能无法理解，笑在中国除了意味着高兴外，还可以是表示歉意和尴尬的方式。一般来说，中国人道歉时习惯陪笑脸，这种笑表示谦卑和尴尬。陈俊走进办公室道歉时，甚至可能没意识到自己在笑，但在彼得生气时他的笑则是刻意的，因为对他来说这是道歉的一个重要部分。所以，他无法理解为什么如此真诚的道歉会令彼得大动肝火。
北美人的解释
彼得非但不会想到陈俊的笑代表了歉意，反而会认为那是傻笑，是对自己的不尊重。处在陈俊位置上的西方人，道歉时往往眼睛下垂，而雇员在保证以后不再重犯错误时，彼得希望对方看着自己的眼睛说话——当然，对方的脸上是绝不应有笑容的。之后，彼得会根据失误的大小对陈俊说，“现在已经无大碍了”，或是“没事了，我们已经纠正了错误”，并对陈俊承担责任的态度表示欣赏。分手时，彼得会主动与陈俊握手，以示接受陈俊的道歉并重建两人间友好的工作关系，或至少缓解陈俊的紧张情绪。可惜彼得对陈俊的误解使事情变得更糟。
1. interpret v． 解释，说明
2． effort n． 努力
3． negatively adv． 消极地
4． furious adj． 狂怒的
5． perspective n． 看法，观点
6． desirable adj． 合意的，值得的
7． humbleness n． 谦逊
8． aware adj． 意识到的
9． sincere adj． 真诚的
10． smirk v． 傻笑
11． definitely adv． 明确地
12． eventually adv． 最后
13． reassure v． 使安心
14． maturely adv． 成熟地
15． awkward adj． 棘手的，尴尬的