3 . The meaning of silence varies among cultural groups. Silences may be thoughtful, or they may be empty when a person has nothing to say. A silence in conversation may also show stubbornness, uneasiness, or worry. Silence may be viewed by some cultural groups as extremely uncomfortable; therefore attempts may be made to fill every gap（间隙）with conversation. Persons in other cultural groups value silence and view it as necessary for understanding a person's needs.

Many Native Americans value silence and feel it is a basic part of communicating among people, just as some traditional Chinese and Thai persons do. Therefore, when a person one of these cultures is speaking and suddenly stops, what may be implied（暗示）is that the person wants the listener to consider what has been said before continuing. In these cultures, silence is a call for reflection.

Other cultures may use silence in other ways, particularly when dealing with different conflicts among people or in relationships of people with different amounts of power. For example, Russian, French, and Spanish persons may use silence to show agreement between parties about the topic under discussion. However, Mexicans may use silence when instructions are given by a person in authority rather than be rude to that person by arguing with him or her. In still another use, persons in Asian cultures may view silence as a sign of respect, particularly to an elder or a person in authority.

Nurses and other care-givers need to be aware of the possible meanings of silence when they come across the personal anxiety their patients may be experiencing. Nurses should recognize their own personal and cultural construction of silence so that a patient's silence is not interrupted too early or allowed to go on unnecessarily. A nurse who understands the healing（治愈）value of silence can use this understanding to assist in the care of patients from their own and from other cultures.

4 . China is one of the first countries to breed a medical culture. In comparison with Western methods, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) adopts a vastly different approach. For thousands of years, Chinese people have accumulated rich experience in fighting all sorts of diseases, therefore forming a unique medical theory under the guidance of ancient Chinese philosophies (哲学).

The core behind TCM is that the human body's life is the consequence (结果) of the balance between Yin and Yang. Yang functions to safeguard us against outer harm, and Yin is the inner base to store and provide energy. When the balance between the two aspects is disturbed, people fall ill.

One of the traditional techniques of TCM, acupuncture (针刺疗法) means insertion of needles into superficial (表面的) structures of the body—usually at acupoints (穴位)—to restore the Yin Yang balance. It is often accompanied by moxibustion (艾灸疗法), which involves burning mugwort on or near the skin at an acupoint.

The first known text that clearly talks about something like acupuncture and moxibustion as it is practiced today is The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon. It is the earliest and most important written work of TCM and is considered the fundamental and most representative medical text in China.

Acupuncture and moxibustion have aroused the interest of international medical science circles. And TCM is gradually gaining worldwide recognition. The WHO issued a document in 2002 that appealed to more than 180 countries to adopt TCM as an alternative in their medical policies. In 2010, acupuncture and moxibustion of traditional Chinese medicine were added to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the UNESCO. Presently, TCM has been back in the news for its effectiveness in improving the cure rate of the COVID-19 since its outbreak in January 2020.

5 . Culture can affect not just language and customs, but also how people experience the world on surprisingly basic levels.

Researchers, with the help of brain scans, have uncovered shocking differences in perception(感知) between Westerners and Asians, what they see when they look at a city street, for example, or even how they perceive a simple line in a square, according to findings published in a leading science journal

In western countries, culture makes people think of themselves as highly independent entities(实体) .When looking at scenes, Westerners tend to focus more on central objects than on their surroundings. East Asian cultures, however emphasize inter-dependence. When Easterners look at a scene, they tend to focus on surroundings as well as the object.

Using an experiment involving two tasks, Dr Hedden asked subjects to look at a line simply to estimate its length, a task that is played to American strengths. In another, they estimated the line's length relative to the size of a square, an easier task for the Asians.

The level of brain activity, by tracking blood flow, was then measured by Brain Scanners. The experiment found that although there was no difference in performance, and the tasks were very easy, the levels of activity in the subjects’ brains were different. For the Americans, areas linked to attention lit up more, when they worked on the task they tended to find more difficult--estimating the line's size relative to the square. For the Asians, the attention areas lit up more during the harder task also--estimating the line's length without comparing it to the square. The findings are a reflection of more than ten years of previous experimental research into east-west differences

In one study, for instance, researchers offered people a choice among five pens, four red and one green. Easterners were more likely to choose a red pen while Westerners were more likely to choose the green one.

Culture is not affecting how you see the world, but how you choose to understand and internalize(使内化) it. But such habits can be changed. Some psychological studies suggest that when an Easterner goes to the West or vice versa, habits of thought and perception also begin to change. Such research gives us clues on how our brain works and is hopeful for us to develop programs to improve our memory, memory techniques and enhance and accelerate our learning skills.

6 . What is classed as normal behaviour in one culture can sometimes be unsuitable, unacceptable, or even offensive in another. We ’re all different and we all have different beliefs and ways of doing things. Understanding this is what cultural awareness(意识) is all about.

    1     we need to take a long, hard look at ourselves. What makes us the way we are? Well, there’s history, tradition, education, and our parents. These are all good things. But do any of them make us better than others? No.     2    

It’s easy to understand why we start off believing that our culture is better than any other. In fact, some argue that it’s necessary in order to survive. As children, we typically build our view of the world from our family and the place we grow up.     3    

In the past, many people never left the comfort of their own town or district. They could all spend their days happily believing that the life they knew was the best, that their way of doing things was the right way, and not imagining or caring what others might think.     4     We do business with people from different cultures, selling each other products and ideas. We learn each other’s languages.     5     We even live next door to each other. So we all need to learn to appreciate each other’s cultures and ways of living.

Food as Communication

We usually understand when someone speaks or writes to us, and many gestures (手势) and facial expressions have meaning, too. But have you ever considered what and how we eat as a form of communication? In many cultures, people sit together and share food at mealtimes, which is a common tradition that can promote unity and trust. Food can also play an important role in a family or culture’s celebrations. The foods we eat—and when and how we eat them—are often unique to a particular culture or may even differ between areas within one country.

In most cultures, bread represents delicious food. It is also one of the most commonly shared foods in the world. Sharing bread is a common symbol of companionship and togetherness. In fact, the word companion comes from the Latin roots com- (together) and panis (bread). Many cultures also celebrate birthdays and marriages with decorated cakes that are cut and shared among the guests. Early forms of cake were simply a kind of bread, so this tradition has its roots in the custom of sharing bread.

There are foods like bread in other cultures. In Greece, people share a special cake called vasilopita. A coin is baked into the cake, which stands for success in the New Year for the person who receives it. Most of the foods eaten during the Chinese New Year have significance. Sometimes this is based on their shape; for example, long noodles symbolize long life. The symbolism can also be based on the sound of the word in Chinese; for example, people give out oranges because the word for “orange” sounds like the word for “wealth”. In many cultures, round foods such as grapes, bread, and moon cakes are eaten at welcome celebrations to symbolize family unity.

Food is essential for life, so it is not surprising that it is such an important part of different cultures around the world. The food people eat during celebrations may have a long history and can symbolize many things, but sharing food is one custom that almost all humans have in common.

8 . Have you ever wondered that the food you eat everyday can tell you about where you come from? Have you ever wondered why people from different parts of the world eat different types of food?     1     There is more of a connection between food and culture than you may think.

    2     It becomes a part of who we are. Many associate foods from our childhood with warm feelings and good memories and it ties us to our families, holding a special and personal value for us. Food from our family often becomes the comfort we seek as adults in times of frustration and stress.

On a large scale, traditional food is an important part of culture.     3    . Immigrants bring it wherever they go, and it is a symbol of pride for their culture and means of coping with homesickness.

Many immigrants open their own restaurants and serve traditional dishes. However, the food does not remain exactly the same. Some materials needed to make traditional dishes may not be readily available, so the taste and flavor can be different from what they would prepare in their home countries. Additionally, immigrants do not only sell dishes to people from the same countries as them, but to people from different countries.     4     Those changes can create new flavors that still keep the cultural significance of the dishes.

We should embrace our heritage(传统)through our culture's food but also become more informed about other cultures by trying their food. It is important to remember that each dish has a special place in the culture to which it belongs, and is special to those who prepare it.     5    

9 . Artists always treat businessmen as money-obsessed ( 迷 恋 金 钱 的 ) bores. Or worse, many businessmen, for their part, assume that artists usually consider themselves to be more intelligent than others. Bosses may stick   a few modern paintings on their office walls. But they seldom take the arts seriously as a source of inspiration.

The prejudice starts at business school, where “hard” things such as numbers rule. It is reinforced by everyday experience. Bosses constantly remind their employees that if you can't count it, it doesn't count. Few read deeply about the arts. Sun Tzu's The Art of War does not count while some tasteless business books are pleasing to them: consider Wess Roberts' Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun.

But lately there are welcome signs of a thaw (缓和) on the business side of the great cultural divide. Business presses are publishing a series of books such as The Fine Art of Success by Jamie Anderson. Business schools such as the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto are trying to learn from the arts.

Mr. Anderson points out that many artists have also been superb enterprisers. Damien Hirst has been one of the most enterprising. He upturned the art world by selling his work directly through Sotheby's, an auction ( 拍 卖 ) house. Whatever they think of his work, businessmen cannot help admiring a man who parted art lovers from £ 75.5 million on the day that Lehman Brothers collapsed.

Studying the arts can help businessmen communicate more effectively. Most bosses spend a huge amount of time “messaging” and “reaching out”, yet few are good at it. Half an hour with George Orwell's Why I Write would work wonders.

Studying the arts can also help companies learn how to manage bright people. Rob Goffee of the London Business School points out that today's most productive companies are dominated by what they call “clevers”, who are very hard to manage. They hate being told what to do by managers, whom they regard as being stupid. They refuse to submit to performance reviews.

In short, they are prima donnas. The art world has centuries of experience in managing such difficult people.

10 . When people from different cultures get to know each other well, the differences between them become less important because they recognize more and more things they have in common. People begin to see each other as an individual, rather than just as a representative of a particular culture. This can happen quickly when people are working or studying together.

However, problems can appear in situations where people from different cultures are put together but remain strangers. This often occurs in everyday life, for example, on public transport. Here, people may have different expectations of how to behave and often criticize the actions of people from other cultures that they do not understand very well.

Monica Sung, a sociologist, has been researching public attitudes to the televisions which are now put on many buses in Hong Kong, showing programmes and advertising for passengers to watch. Monica’s research shows that some people find this a “disturbance” because their expectations of bus travel are different, while other passengers like to have something to enjoy during their journey. “A Westerner wrote a letter to the newspaper, complaining about the noise of the televisions and saying that buses in his home country were more pleasant because they did not have televisions,” said Monica. “A Chinese person wrote a reply, telling the foreigner he should go back home if he preferred the buses there.”

Monica points out that both types of reaction are stupid. “Not all foreign people want quiet buses, and not all Chinese people want to watch television on buses!” she said. “People often take it for granted that every member of a particular cultural group shares the same values and opinions.”