Have you ever wondered how acceptable it is to hug or touch someone? While it may sound safe to avoid all physical contact so as not to offend any one, the lack of touching might imply cold attitudes or indifference in interpersonal relationships.

        So, what should we do? The simple answer is to thoroughly learn unique cultural norms for physical contact. In nonverbal communication terminology (术语), physical contact and the study of touching are generally referred to as haptics.

        Haptics in communication often suggest the level of intimacy. They are usually classified into two groups: high-contact and low-contact.

        Asia and quite surprisingly the United States, Canada and Britain belong to low-contact cultures. People from the rest of the world, such as Latin America, are considered to be in high-contact cultures, where they tend to expect touching in social interactions and feel more comfortable with physical closeness. Despite the classification, there are more complex factors such as relational closeness, gender, age, and context that can affect how someone views physical contact.

       One common French custom of greetings is cheek-kissing, but it is mostly restricted to friends, close acquaintances and family members. While cheek-kissing for Latin Americans is also a universal greeting form, it does not require such a high degree of relational closeness. However, gender matters more for them because cheek-kissing often only happens between women or a man and a woman but not two men.

        In contrast, in certain Arabian, African, and Asian countries, men can publicly hold hands or show physical affection as signs of brotherhood or friendship while these behaviors may suggest a romantic relationship in other parts of the world. Although men’s touching is more normal in these cultures, physical contact between persons of opposite sexes who are not family members is negatively perceived in Arabic countries.

        These factors could definitely affect the degree to which someone is comfortable with tactile (触觉的) communication and physical intimacy. Therefore, if you are someone who loves to show physical affection, you should not be afraid to show it or drastically change your behaviors—just ask for consent beforehand!

解析：C。根据题干中的the first paragraph可定位至文章第一段。第一段第二句中提到，避免所有身体接触可以免于冒犯任何人，这虽然听起来是安全的，但缺乏接触可能意味着人际关系中的态度冷漠或不近人情（cold attitudes or indifference）。C项符合题意，其中Its absence对应第二句中的the lack of touching，a lack of warmth是对第二句中cold attitudes or indifference的近义替换，interpersonal relationships原词复现，故C项为正确答案。

错项排除：A项利用第一段第二句中的interpersonal relationships进行干扰，但increasingly important在文章中无依据，故排除A项。B项利用第一段中的acceptable和offend进行干扰，但原文中是问拥抱或触摸一个人在多大程度上是人们可以接受的（acceptable），避免所有身体接触可以免于冒犯（offend）任何人，并不是说那些认为身体接触有冒犯性的人现在可以接受了，故B项错误。D项中的people of different social backgrounds在文章中无依据，故排除。