Decoding Respirator Cultures 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. 隨著全球流行病的加速蔓延，許多人都想要了解口罩的有效性，以及何時(shí)應(yīng)該戴口罩。大多數(shù)東方人都認(rèn)為戴口罩對(duì)于防控新冠肺炎疫情至關(guān)重要。但西方人則普遍表示，除非已經(jīng)生病，否則戴口罩是沒(méi)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. 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. 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. 戴口罩在中國(guó)等東方國(guó)家的文化中根深蒂固。事實(shí)上，東方人戴口罩不僅僅是預(yù)防生病，還有種種其他原因。在許多亞洲國(guó)家，人們?cè)谌粘Ｉ钪性诤芏嗲闆r下會(huì)戴口罩，如做家務(wù)或去醫(yī)院探病等等。戴口罩讓人們有種受保護(hù)的安全感。近年來(lái)，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(shí)尚，通過(guò)口罩上獨(dú)一無(wú)二的設(shè)計(jì)與樣式來(lái)展現(xiàn)自己的個(gè)人風(fēng)格。 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. 不論來(lái)自東方還是西方，社會(huì)文化與同輩壓力都大大影響了個(gè)人是否戴口罩的決定。因?yàn)槿祟愂巧鐣?huì)生物，會(huì)考慮其他社會(huì)成員對(duì)于自己的看法。