1 Our heritage and our culture have caused most Americans to assume not only that our language is universal but that the gestures we use are understood by everyone. We do not realize that waving goodbye is the way to summon a Filipino to one's side, or that in Italy curling the finger in a beckoning motion is a gesture of farewell. 2 Those private citizens who sent packages to our troops occupying Germany after W. W. II and marked them GIFT to escape duty payments did not bother to find out that GIFT means poison in German. Moreover, we like to think ourselves as friendly, yet we prefer to be at least 3 feet or an arm's length away from others. Latins and Middle Easterners like to come closer and touch, which makes Americans uncomfortable. 3 Our linguistic and cultural nearsightedness and the casualness with which we take notice—when we do—of the developed tastes, mannerisms, customs and languages of other countries, are losing us friends, business and respect in the world. 4 Even here in the U. S. , we make few concessions to the needs of foreign visitors. There are no information signs in four languages on our public buildings or monuments we do not have multilingual guide tours. Very few restaurant menus have translations, and multilingual bank clerks and policemen are rare. 5 When we go abroad, we tend to cluster in hotels where English is spoken. The attitudes and information we pick up are conditioned by those natives—usually the more affluent—who speak English. Our business, as well as the nation's diplomacy, dealings are conducted through interpreters. 6 For many years, America and Americans could get by with cultural blindness and linguistic ignorance. After all, America was the most powerful country of the world, the dispenser of the needed funds and commodities, the peacemaker, the 'top banana' in the global cast. But all that is past. We are slowly beginning to realize that our proper role in the world is changing. The passage informs us that ______.