3 . 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.

4 . 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.

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 . As students head to their Thanksgiving break, here comes a big homework assignment: StoryCorps wants tens of thousands of teenagers across America to interview their grandparents this Thanksgiving and upload their recordings to the Library of Congress.

The nonprofit oral history organization is asking high school history teachers to have their students record the interviews with StoryCorps free smartphone application. Recordings sent to the library will be shared with the public.

"The Great Thanksgiving Listen is an assignment that will last for generations," StoryCorps founder Dave Isay says. "When young people do these interviews and they hit 'send' at end of the interview to the library they know that their great-great-great-great-great-grand kids are going to listen to these conversations someday and get to understand where they come from and who their ancestors are."

He hopes it becomes an annual tradition that brings families closer together by using modern technology to preserve the wisdom of elders. The students could tap into memories of events dating back to the 1920s, but Isay says the stories are less important than the fact that two people are talking." The purpose of StoryCorps is to have the two people who have this conversation feel more connected with each other and give the person who is being interviewed the chance to be heard," he says.

Brandon Clarke, an administrator at the private Berkeley Carroll School, in Brooklyn, New York, is enthusiastic about tbc project. He says StoryCorps, which is headquartered near the school, has interviewed some of his teachers while developing an instructional guide for the Thanksgiving project. A couple weeks before the holiday, Berkeley Carroll students may get some classroom exercises aimed at sharpening their interview skills.

"How do you develop good questions? How do you go about conducting an interview? How do you build off of a really interesting response?"

But Isay says interviewing isn't hard. He says he has learned from listening to some of the 60,000 conversations StoryCorps has collected since 2003 that people are naturally good at it. "It's just a matter of concentrating, being present and making sure you're in a quiet place," he says. "I think people understand the importance of the moment and that they treat it very seriously."

About 13 million radio listeners hear edited versions of StoryCorps interviews every Friday on National Public Radio's "Morning Edition". StoryCorps also shares excerpts（节录）of recordings through animated videos, podcasts and its website.

Isay says the Thanksgiving project will help spread the idea that history comes from the bottom up. Clarice agrees. "This is a really great example of how oral history is really history, "he says. "For it to be legitimate（正统的）history, it doesn't have to appear in print in a carefully-edited book. Individual stories and individual perspectives are also part of history."

7 . 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.

9 . Today is Friday the 13th of the year. Even though the date is known throughout Western culture as one associated with negative things, it’s really just another Friday on the calendar. There is no scientific evidence to suggest this day has an increased chance of bad occurrences compared with other days. But that doesn’t mean scientists haven’t tried to find any.

In Thomas W. Lawsons 1907 novel, Friday, the thirteenth, a businessman takes advantage of the superstition (迷信) and creates a Wall Street panic on the day. The book was the likely inspiration for a number of scientific examinations of stock market returns on Fridays that fell on the 13th day of the month compared with all other Fridays. In 2001, Brian Lucey, a business professor at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland, published his analysis of a few of those studies and found several flaws. The studies had narrow assessments overall, focusing on just a few markets or a single stock exchange. But when he analyzed the data as a whole, Lucey found that internationally, with few exceptions, returns on Friday the 13th were typically just a little higher than returns on other Fridays.

The scientific evidence for cause and effect may not be there, but people may still alter their behavior on Friday the 13th in a way that causes certain things to happen. The way people drive might be different from their usual. But the few studies that have examined traffic accidents haven’t found statistically significant trends to suggest Friday the 13th is more dangerous than other Fridays on the road.

The science is clear: Friday the 13th is a normal day. Yet, people continue to think this is meant to be a bad day. “Psychologically, superstitions arise from the desire to influence external events, decrease anxiety and reduce uncertainty,” said Neil Dagnall, a psychologist at Manchester Metropolitan University. “Besides, I don’t think people know often why they do things.”

10 . "The firefighters of Paris told me they are very hopeful about saving the northern tower, " French Junior Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on Twitter late Monday, adding that the firefighting efforts would continue for hours.

The Notre Dame Cathedral(巴黎圣母院)， one of the most famous landmarks in the French capital， was engulfed in flames Monday evening as a catastrophic fire tore through the historic structure， collapsing its spire as fire officials raced to save the monument from total destruction.

Video and photos posted on social media showed flames engulfing the cathedral, thus both the ceiling and the 90-meter spire came crashing down. The fire spread to one of the cathedral's towers, but French officials said late Monday that firefighters were optimistic they could save both towers.

French President Emmanuel Macron said a national fundraising campaign would be launched on Tuesday and called on the world's "greatest talents" to assist in the effort. "We will rebuild, Macron told reporters. "We will rebuild Notre Dame because this is what the French expect, because this is what our history deserves.

Officials said there were no deaths in the fire. Jean-Claude Gallet, chief of the Parisian fire department, said one firefighter was injured while responding to the flame. Two-thirds of the cathedral's roof was destroyed,   Gal let   said. The fire broke out just before p. m. minutes after the cathedral, which has been partly rebuilt, closed to the public. Around 30 000 people visit the church daily.

Despite its long history and many treasures the Cathedral needed the help of a writer to become truly famous. Victor Hugo's 1831 novel, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, presented the building to a wide audience of readers. The book's ugly lead character, Quasimodo, serves as a symbol for Paris forgotten   Gothic architecture. Hugo wrote the book to remind people of it, with hope they would work to protect the beautiful old buildings of Paris. The loss of cultural relics will never come again if they are lost only once.   This is a painful loss of world civilization.