【推荐1】Mary didn’t understand such sentences as “She is blue today.”, “You are yellow.”, “He has a green thumb.”, “He has told a white lie.” and so on. And she went to the teacher Mrs James for help.

Mary: Mrs James, there is a colour in each of the sentences. What do they mean?

Mrs James: In everyday English, Mary, blue sometimes means sadness, and yellow means fear. A person with a green thumb grows plants well and a white lie is not a bad one.

Mary: I’m afraid I don’t understand them all. Would you give me an example for “a white lie”?

Mrs James: Certainly. Now I just give you some bread. In fact you don’t like it, but you don’t want to let me know it. Instead you say, “No, thanks. I’m not hungry.” That’s a white lie.

Mary: It sounds very interesting. Thanks very much.

Mrs James: You are welcome. Colours are meaningful. I think you will meet more sentences like these in the future. Please come to me if you have any questions.

【推荐2】Living in a foreign culture can be exciting, but it can also be confusing(令人迷惑的). A group of Americans who taught English in other countries recently discussed their experiences. They decided that miscommunications were always possible, even over something as simple as “yes” and “no”.

On her first day in Micronesia, an island in the Pacific, Lisa thought people weren’t paying any attention to her. The day was hot. She went into a store and asked, “Do you have cold drinks?” The woman there didn’t say anything. Lisa repeated the question. Still the woman said nothing. She later learned that the woman had answered her: She had raised her eyebrows(眉毛), which in Micronesia means “yes”.

Jan remembered an experience she had in Bulgaria, a country in Europe. She went to a restaurant that was known for its cabbage. She asked the waiter, “Do you have cabbage today?” He nodded his head. Jan waited, but the cabbage never came. In that country, a nod means “no”.

Tom had a similar problem when he arrived in India. After explaining something in class, he asked his students if they understood. They answered with many different nods and shakes of the head. He thought some people had not understood, so he explained again. When he asked again, they did the same thing. He soon found out that his students did understand. In India, people nod and shake their heads in different ways depending on where they come from. You have to know where a person is from to understand whether they mean “yes” or “no”.

【推荐3】Have you heard about paper-cutting? Paper-cutting is an important art form in China. Paper-cuts were used for many purposes, and everything can become the theme(主题)of paper-cuts, from people to the things that can be found in everyday life such as birds, flowers and animals.

Each paper-cut brings out the personal ideas of the author(作者). People express traditional culture or their own feelings with different styles of paper-cuts, For example when someone marries, we put up some red paper-cuts on the wall, dressing table or other furniture to express our best wishes.

It is easy to learn paper-cutting but very difficult to make it perfect. We need a long-time practice to learn how to use the scissors and how to paint. More over, we need to learn some cutting skills.

At present, in many parts of China, paper-cutting skill has become a must for women and a symbol of a clever mind.