【推荐1】No matter where you live, giving gifts is a common way for us to express thanks, concern or love. Although the reasons for giving gifts are about the same around the world, the traditions of giving gifts can be quite different from one another.

In Europe, don’t accidentally cut yourself out of someone’s life.

In the US, a set of kitchen knives seems like the perfect gift idea for a wedding or holiday. However, in certain European countries like Germany, superstition (迷信) defines that a knife presented as a gift will end your friendship. There is a way to beat this superstition: tie a penny to the knife or gift box. The receiver then returns the penny to you as a “payment” to drive away the bad luck.

In Native America, your host gives gifts rather than receives them.

The Native American gift giving custom is exactly the opposite to that of any other culture. Traditionally, during weddings and some big celebrations (birthdays aren’t included), guests are the receivers of gifts rather than the host.

In Japan, presentation is paramount.

The Japanese place great emphasis on the act of gift giving, and presentation plays a big role in determining how your gift is received. For example, it’s considered unpleasant to receive uncovered cash. So whether you’re sending money as a gift or just leaving a tip, place your money in an envelope to ensure it’s received in a respectful manner.

In China, red envelopes and even denominations (面额) bring good luck.

Chinese New Year has a rich set of traditions. One of the most popular customs of this holiday is giving out money in red envelopes. Known as yasuiqian, these gifts are meant to bring good luck. In addition to how you give money, there’s also superstition relating to the amount you give. Giving an odd numbered amount of money is considered bad luck. It’s important to make sure that even the first digit is even as numbers like 30 and 50 are considered odd.

【推荐2】Hanukkah(光明节) is a Jewish festival. It is celebrated on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev(犹太教历), which is usually sometime in December. It is often called the festival of lights. The festival celebrates the time, over 2,000 years ago, when the Jewish people fought against an emperor who would not let them follow their own traditions and religion. When the Jewish people won back their temple in Jerusalem, they found there was only enough holy(神圣的) oil to keep the holy light burning for one day. However, to their surprise, this small amount of oil kept the light burning for eight days and nights, until the people had time to make more oil.

At the center of the Hanukkah celebrations is a candlestick (called a Menorah) that holds nine candles. On the first night of Hanukkah the first candle is lit, and each day this candle is used to light another candle, until on the eighth day, the last day, all the candles are lit. During Hanukkah, people go to the synagogue(犹太教堂) to pray and to remember the miracle(奇迹) of the holy oil. Hanukkah is a time for family and friends to come together. People exchange gifts and greeting cards, and children go to parties. Parents often give their children money at Hanukkah. Potato cakes, called latkes, are a traditional Hanukkah food.

【推荐3】Sambodromo Samba Parade tickets for Rio carnival

Order on this page your Rio Carnival tickets for the Samba Parade in Rio’s Sambodromo.

Benefit from our unique advantages. Read the Sambodromo ticket and order description first.

The boxes in Sector 7 have been covered to offer an enjoyable Parade experience even in the rain. These boxes are more comfortable than the other boxes since the 12 seats are cushioned（带坐垫的）and they also have a coffee table.

Price for per seat is $ 70.

The goal of Lounge Carioca in Sector 5 is to reach those who look for a new product to attract, conquer and make new business. It has privileged location -the center of the Avenue! In our cabin we will have ample and comfortable space for our guests to watch the parades in a unique structure.

Price for per seat is $ 90.

This leisure area between Open Front Boxes of Sector 6 and 8 is for 1,000 rather-party-minded people and contains a beauty salon, a dance floor with DJs and has some space also to relax and watch the Parade on a giant screen.

Price for per seat is $ 100.

These covered boxes in Sector 9 are the best places. They are at the right height to offer the perfect view of the Parade, being above the front boxes. You can buy individual seats in the desired suite or rent a whole suite for a particular night.

Price for per seat is $ 120 and $ 260 for a whole suite.

【推荐2】A Professor in music and music education at the University of NSW. Robert Walker, argues that all students should study the works of Western classical composers such as Haydn and Tchaikovsky.

Professor Walker says students are missing out on an important part of the culture heritage because they fail to study classical music, as the little music that children learn at school is mainly pop. The lack of music teaching is serious, especially in government schools where there are not enough specialist(专业的)music teachers.

A national review in 2005 made 15 suggestions, but Professor Walker said it still failed to deal with the lack of classical music taught in schools." I'm not against pop music, but it's very simple, and not difficult either to play or to sing,” Professor Walker says. "But classical music is challenging and although it is part of Australia's culture heritage, most children learn it only through Hollywood films."

"At least children ought to know what's happening in Western culture. It’s part of culture heritage," he says. "Asian students know more about Western classical music than most children in the west."

Professor Walker has taught music and music teachers in Britain, Canada and Australia and is a former chief (首席的) examiner for the International Baccalaureate and a former chairman of the research committee of the International Society for Music Education. Professor Walker says noschool curriculum(课程) in Australia lists a piece of music that children should study, such as the Mendelssohn's.

"This lack of standard texts means that some children can be brought up totally on Western classical music, others on Elvis Presley, or on any music the teacher wants to teach. The situation should be changed as soon as possible," he says.

【推荐3】More and more people enjoy listening to music while they work, believing that music helps boost creativity. But an international study conducted by English and Swedish researchers is challenging that viewpoint.     1    

To come to their conclusions, researchers had participants complete verbal problems designed to inspire creativity while sitting in a quiet room.     2     They found that background music significantly weakened the participants’ ability to complete tasks associated with verbal creativity. The research team also tested background noises such as those commonly heard in a library, but found that such noises had no impact on subjects’ creativity.

The tasks were simple word games.     3     Then, they were asked to find a single word that could be combined with the three to form a common phrase or word. The single word, in this case, would be “sun” (sunshine, sunflower, etc). Participants completed the tasks either in a quiet room or while listening to different types of music.

“We found strong evidence of damaged performance when playing background music in comparison to quiet background conditions.” says Dr. McLatchie. Dr. McLatchie with his colleagues concludes that music disturbs the verbal working memory of the brain.     4     Also, as far as the library background noises have seemingly no effect, the researchers believe that was the case because library noises create a “steady state” environment that doesn’t affect concentration.

“    5     Instead, they demonstrate music, regardless of its types, consistently interrupts creative performance in problem solving,” the study reads.

【推荐2】MOVIE GUIDE FRIDAY