As the global pandemic speeds up, many are wondering about the effectiveness of masks and when it’s appropriate to wear them. Most people from the East believe that wearing a mask is essential to control the spread of the novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP). But people in the West generally would argue that, unless one is already ill, wearing a mask is simply unnecessary.
隨著全球大流行加速蔓延，許多人都想要了解口罩的有效性，以及何時應(yīng)該戴口罩。大多數(shù)東方人都認為戴口罩對于新冠肺炎疫情的防控至關(guān)重要。但西方人則普遍表示，除非生病了，否則戴口罩是沒有必要的。

In Eastern countries like China, mask-wearing is engrained in their cultures. In fact, people in the East wear masks not just to protect themselves from illness but also for a variety of other reasons.
戴口罩在中國等東方國家的文化中根深蒂固。事實上，東方人戴口罩不僅僅是預(yù)防生病，還有種種其他原因。

In many Asian countries, masks are worn in many scenarios in daily life, such as doing housework or visiting patients in the hospital. They can give people the comfort of being protected.
在許多亞洲國家，人們在日常生活中有不少場景會戴口罩，如做家務(wù)、去醫(yī)院探病等等。戴口罩讓人們有種受保護的安全感。

In recent years, they are worn simply for cosmetic reasons. Young people in Japan, for example, wear masks as a fashion statement, expressing their personal style through unique designs and patterns.
近年來，很多人戴口罩僅僅是為了美觀。比如，日本年輕人將戴口罩視為一種時尚，通過口罩上獨一無二的設(shè)計與樣式來展現(xiàn)自己的個人風(fēng)格。

In Asia, wearing a face mask is also an outward expression of group-oriented values.
在亞洲，戴口罩也是集體主義價值觀的外在表現(xiàn)。

With one’s face partially covered, one becomes part of a giant collectivist whole. “People communicated their responsibilities to the social group of which they were members,” wrote Peter Baehr, a research professor in social theory at Lingnan University, Hong Kong. “By disguising an individual’s face, it gave greater salience to collective identity.”
一個人遮住了部分面龐后，便成為了一個大集體的一份子?！叭藗兣c所屬的社會群體共擔(dān)責(zé)任，”香港嶺南大學(xué)社會學(xué)研究教授彼得·貝爾如此寫道?！罢诿娓癸@了人們的集體身份?！?/span>

In Western countries, however, individual values are the most important.
但在西方國家，個人價值是最重要的。

As a citizen, it is one’s duty to prevent the spread of illness by following proper hygienic procedures, such as washing one’s hands and limiting one’s contact with others. A face mask is reserved only for those showing symptoms of illness.
（在他們看來）作為公民，人人都有責(zé)任做好適當(dāng)?shù)男l(wèi)生措施，如洗手，減少社交等，從而遏制疾病的傳播。而口罩是只留給那些出現(xiàn)疾病癥狀的人戴的。

Whether from the East or the West, social culture and peer pressure have played an important role in one’s decision about whether or not to wear a mask. That’s because human beings are social creatures who take into consideration what other members of society think of us. The most important thing is to respect others’ opinions, no matter how different they are.
不論來自東方還是西方，社會文化與同輩壓力都大大影響了個人是否戴口罩的決定。因為人類是社會生物，會考慮其他社會成員對于自己的看法。而最重要的是要尊重他人的選擇，不論大家有多么不同。

以上文章內(nèi)容選自《21世紀(jì)學(xué)生英文報高中版》，詳情請見《21世紀(jì)學(xué)生英文報高中版》高一785期