We use both words and body language to express our thoughts and o    1     in our interactions with other people. We can learn a lot about w    2     people are thinking by watching their body language. Words are i    3    , but the way people stand, hold their arms, and move their hands can also give us information about their f    4    .

Just like spoken language, body language v    5     from culture to culture. The crucial thing is using body language in a w    6     that is appropriate to the culture you are in. For example, making eye contact — looking into someone’s eyes — in some countries is a way to d    7     interest. In other countries, by contrast, eye contact is not always approved o    8    . For example, in many Middle Eastern countries, men and women are not s    9     permitted to make eye contact. In Japan, it may demonstrate respect to look down w    10     talking to an older person.

Festivals are celebrated all around the world. They have a wide     1     of origins, such as the seasons of the year, religions, famous     2    , and important events. Every festival has its different customs and     3     charms.

Trade and     1     have often formed the foundation of mankind’s greatest achievements. To complete the great map of the world was a strong p    2     for the people of early civilisations. Marco Polo’s tales     3     European explorers to search for sea routes from west to east. H    4    merchants and explorers from the East set sail from east to west many years before Columbus first did.

In a     5    times, silk from China found its way overland to India, the Middle East, and Rome, along what became known as the Silk Road. A trading route across the sea was also e    6    along the coasts of the Indian Ocean, centred around Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Here, merchants from China and many other places met to n    7    trade deals, which also led to more a    8     each other’s cultures. Over the centuries, f    9     trading, allowed more exploration of the regions to the west of China, as r    10     in Du Huan’s Record of My Travels in the eighth century.

Customs play a     1     role in festivals, but sometimes they can change over time. With the development of modern society and the spread of new ideas, some traditions may     2     away and others may be established. One example is the     3     Chinese Spring Festival custom of lighting firecrackers to drive away the evil spirits and celebrate the new year. Nowadays, many big cities have given up this custom in order to avoid air pollution. Another example is Halloween, which slowly became an exciting festival for children, in     4     of its religious origins.

【课本改编题】

In 2009, Whitacre received a video of a girl who was singing one of his works.     1    , he asked his fans to make videos, which he then joined together into one     2    . His first virtual choir, “Lux Aurumque”, had 185 singers from 12 different countries. It has received millions of views on the Internet. Since then, the virtual choir has become a worldwide     3    .

The virtual choir was the idea of     1     -winning composer and conductor Eric Whitacre.     2     in the USA on 2 January 1970, Whitacre began studying music at the University of Nevada in 1988. …Moved by this music, he said, “It was like seeing color for the first time.” He     3     from university in 1995, and then     4     a master’s degree. …. This     5     to the creation of the virtual choir.