In our country we think being modest(谦虚的) is a virtue(美德) and being proud is a bad thing. One day, I heard an American boy say to a Chinese student, “you speak very good English.” But the girl answered, “No, no. My English is very poor.” The foreigner was quite 1at the answer. Thinking he had not made himself understood or the girl had not heard him 2 He said, “Yes, indeed, you speak very well.”3 the girl still kept saying. “No.” In the end the American boy could not understand and didn't know 4 to say.
What's wrong with the girl's answer? She didn't 5a compliment(恭维) in the same way as the American people do. She should answer “Thank you” instead of “No.” She 6 understood what the American boy had said, but she thought she should be modest. In the 7 people will feel 8 and confident when they are praised. So if someone says the 9 you have cooked are very delicious, you should say, “Thank you”.
If you are modest and say. “No, I'm 10 I can't do it well”, while working in a western country, people may think that you really can not do it. If you often say, “No”, you'll certainly be looked down upon by 11 When asking 12 a job, if one says something like, “Yes, I can certainly do it” instead of “ Let me have a try”, he or she will13 get it. So in the west, you should be brave to show your self-confidence. In my opinion, being confident doesn't 14 being proud, so sometimes you should be confident15 being modest.
