1 . The Chinese art of paper cutting has a long history. The earliest paper cutting was found in China in the Northern Dynasties. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO ) has recognized the art, called Jianzhi, on its Intangible (非物质的) Cultural Heritage (遗产) list. Voyo Woo, who is a Chinese student studying in the US, hopes to introduce the traditional Chinese art to Americans in her spare time.

Ms. Woo loves paper cutting. And she works hard to celebrate the ancient art form. On a recent Saturday, Ms. Woo held a paper cutting show at a shopping center near Washington. She demonstrated the art to the crowds for hours at the shopping center.

Ms. Woo began to study the art of Jianzhi as a 14-year-old girl in her hometown in southeastern China. She said all the students at school had to learn the art. However, she developed a special love for it, so her teacher gave her extra training after class. Later, she won second prize in a national painting and calligraphy competition.

After Ms. Woo came to the US, she became involved in an event to support and expand the understanding of Chinese paper cutting. She has been invited to demonstrate the art at a wide collection of events. She has also shown her skill at famous museums in Washington. Ms. Woo says paper cutting represents Chinese cultural values, history and stories of people’s lives. She uses the art as a tool to present Chinese culture to people who know little about it.

Ms. Woo placed examples of her art around her as she demonstrated paper cutting at the shopping center. Some shoppers, like Ann Russ, took part in a workshop. Ms. Russ was struck (打动) by the finely detailed nature of the work. “ I like to know about the Chinese art, specifically because it is very delicate (精致的). And I like the focus that it requires because it takes me out of everything. And we have to concentrate on something very closely. It is almost relaxing to put that much effort into it. ” Ms. Russ says.

Qiang embroidery (羌绣) has a long and rich history. It dates back to the Han Dynasty,     1     it was adopted for use on clothing. Usually practiced by women, it    2    (feature) a bold use of brilliant colors and makes use of many kinds of stitches (针法). The Qiang people adore nature, so flowers, grasses, fruits, vegetables, and animals are used as inspiration for the embroidery’s most common patterns.

As the local tourism industry began to develop, Chen Yunzhen,    3     master of Qiang embroidery from Beichuan, Sichuan Province, decided to promote the embroidery as a brand to attract more tourists. Many local women,     4    (great) encouraged by Chen, began to earn their living through Qiang embroidery. In an effort    5    (stop) the endangered technique from disappearing, she established a workshop in 2014 that    6    (provide) free training to over 20,000 people ever since.

To breathe new life    7    Qiang embroidery, Chen has continued to keep an open mind, introducing new products like personal accessories (配饰), notebooks and bags, and    8     (combine) metalwork and Qiang embroidery to create earrings, rings and necklaces that enjoy increasing    9    (popular) among young consumers. For Chen, Qiang embroidery is much more than a piece of art to appreciate. The Qiang people do not have a    10    (write) language, so Qiang embroidery must be well preserved and developed as part of efforts to sustain its culture.

8 . “You’re going to the United States to live? How wonderful! You’re really lucky!”

Does this sound familiar? Perhaps your family and friends said similar things to you when you left home. But does it seem true all the time? Is your life in this new country always wonderful and exciting? A great many facts show that it’s not easy for newcomers to get used to life in a new culture. They have to experience culture shock.

What causes culture shock? Maybe the weather is unpleasant. Perhaps the customs are different. Perhaps the public service systems such as the telephone, post office, or transportation are difficult to figure out and you make mistakes. The simplest things seem difficult. The language may be difficult. The food may seem strange to you. If you don’t look similar to the natives, you may feel strange. You may feel as if everyone is watching you. In fact, you are always watching yourself.

Everyone experiences culture shock in some form or another. But culture shock comes as a surprise to most people. A lot of the time, the people with the worst culture shock are the people who never had any difficulties in their own countries. They were active and successful in their community (社区). They had hobbies which they enjoyed. When they come to a new country, they do not have the same positions or hobbies as they already had in their countries. They find themselves without a role, almost without an identity. They have to build a new self-image.

Culture shock produces a feeling of disorientation (晕头转向), which may be homesickness, imagined illness, or even paranoia (偏执症). When people feel the disorientation of culture shock, they sometimes feel like staying inside all the time. They want to protect themselves from the unfamiliar environment. They want to create an escape within their room to give themselves a sense of security. This escape does solve the problem of culture shock for the short term, but it does nothing to familiarize the person more with the culture. Familiarity and experience are the long-term ways to settle the problem of culture shock.

9 . In today’s world, cultural heritage — a term Yale University President Peter Salovey referred to as “the record of humanity” — is increasingly under attack by threats ranging from climate change, theft, mass tourism, and war. Historic buildings, works of art, traditions, and even local languages are disappearing at an increasingly rapid rate.

Yale is leading a new organization, the Global Consortium for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage (GCPCH), to work on the preservation of cultural heritage. The first official meeting of the organization took place in Milan, Italy, which gathered 36 international university officials and experts from around the world to determine next steps for advancing GCPCH’s mission(使命).

During the meeting, experts and officials determined that the mission of GCPCH is to share knowledge and to promote relationships between the parties that seek to protect various forms of cultural heritage worldwide. More specifically, GCPCH will create a map of education programs and field experiences, research projects, and funding sources.

The two-day meeting of GCPCH was hosted by Bocconi University. It kicked off with an address by UNESCO Director — General Irina Bokova. “Knowledge-sharing gets all stakeholders(有利益关系者) involved at a global level,” said Bokova in her inspiring speech. “Together we need to strengthen the networks and build more bridges between all actors.”

Stefano Baia Curioni, vice-president of ASK Research Center of Bocconi University. commented on what an honor it was for Bocconi to host the meeting. “It is with great pleasure that we gather such a set of leaders who bring so many valuable points of view on challenges related to the preservation of cultural heritage,” Baia Curioni said. “We know how important the work of this body is to advancing our collective work, and are honored to support such efforts.”