A mother is a person who, seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.
—Tenneva Jordan
I knew I was not supposed to be quite so excited. I was too old for that. At age eleven, the oldest and my mom's "grown up" girl, I had to keep my cool. I was in middle school after all. But every chance I got, when I was alone, I checked each present under the tree. I read every tag and felt every package, guessing at the contents within. I had examined each gift so often that I could tell which present went to which person without even looking at the tags.
It had been a tough year for my family. Whenever my mom looked over at the tree and scattered（撒）presents, she would sigh and warn us, "There won't be as much for Christmas this year. Try not to be disappointed." Christmas had traditionally been a time for my parents to spoil us. In years past, the presents would pile up and spill out from under the tree, taking over the living room. I had heard the phrase "giving is better than receiving," but thought that whoever had said that must have been out of their mind. Getting presents was the whole point! It was the reason I couldn't get to sleep on Christmas Eve.
On Christmas morning, we eagerly waited in the hallway until Dad told us everything was ready. We rushed into the living room and let the wrapping paper fly. We made weak attempts to wait and watch while other family members opened their presents, but as the time passed we lost our self-control.
"Here's another one for you,” said Mom as she handed me a package. I looked at it, confused. Having spent so much time examining the presents before Christmas, I recognized this one. But it had not been mine. It was my mom's. A new label had been put on it, with my name written in my mother's handwriting.
"Mom, I can't...”
注意：1.所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2.续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
Paragraph 1:
I was stopped by my mother's eager, joyful look.
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Paragraph 2:
I have always remembered that Christmas fondly.
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Meeting people from another culture can be difficult. From the beginning, people may send the wrong signal. Or they may pay no attention to signals from another person who is trying to develop a relationship.
Different cultures emphasize (强调) the importance of relationship building to a greater or lesser degree. For example, business in some countries is not possible until there is a relationship of trust. Even with people at work, it is necessary to spend a lot of time in "small talk", usually over a glass of tea, before they do any job. In many European countries -like the UK or France -people find it easier to build up a lasting working relationship at restaurants or cafes rather than at the office.
Talk and silence may also be different in some cultures. I once made a speech in Thailand. I had expected my speech to be a success and start a lively discussion; instead there was an uncomfortable silence. The people present just stared at me and smiled. After getting to know their ways better, I realized that they thought I was talking too much. In my own culture, we express meaning mainly through words, but people there sometimes feel too many words are unnecessary.
Even within Northern Europe, cultural differences can cause serious problems. Certainly, English and German cultures share similar values; however, Germans prefer to get down to business more quickly. We think that they are rude. In fact, this is just because one culture starts discussions and makes decisions more quickly.
People from different parts of the world have different values, and sometimes these values are quite against each other. However, if we can understand them better, a multicultural environment (多元文化环境)will offer a wonderful chance for us to learn from each other.
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3 . China Daily∣Updated:2016-12-26 07:44
THE COMPOUND surrounding Dayun Temple in Shangluo, Northwest China’s Shaanxi province, has been encroached (侵犯) upon by the urban regeneration process. This has caused damage to several relics including an ancient mulberry tree and four houses built during the Ming Dynasty (1368 — 1644). Beijing News commented on Saturday.
The construction work endangering a cultural and historical site on the provincial cultural heritage protection list stopped when the Shangluo museum published an open letter calling for official involvement. However, damage had already been done to the temple, which has a history of more than 600 years. An old tree and a decorated archway were relocated and four houses torn down. There are also cracks in the walls and gates.
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 27(Xinhua) — Two key UN agencies and some countries on Sunday joined Interpol (国际刑警) to launch a major new program to strengthen the protection of cultural heritage targeted by terrorists and illegal sales against a background of a sharp rise of terrorist attacks and destruction of cultural heritage in armed conflict.
“Culture is on the frontline of conflict — we must place it at the heart of peace-building,” said UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova.
For his part, the executive director of UNODC, Yury Fedotov, said it was important to address sales and the destruction of cultural property as “crimes that strike at the key of our civilization and heritage.”
[写作内容]
1. 用约30个单词写出上文概要；
2. 用约120个单词发表你的观点，内容包括：
(1)保护文化遗产的重要性（至少两点原因）；
(2)如何有效保护文化遗产（至少两点措施）。
[写作要求]
1. 阐述观点或提供论据时，不能直接引用原文语句；
2. 作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称；
3. 不必写标题。
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Have you heard an old saying “The grass looks greener on the other side of the fence”? It means other places often look better, more interesting than the place where you live. “Let’s go to KFC for dinner and then watch some Japanese cartoons!” We all know it: more and more Chinese kids love American and Japanese food and movies. Some people worry that young Chinese are beginning to feel that way. They see young Chinese ignoring（忽视）Chinese culture and, instead, buying Japanese cartoon books, watching Korean soap operas and even celebrating western holidays.
Foreign books and soap operas are good, but Chinese writers and actors are just as good. As for holidays, Christmas is nice, but it can never have the meaning for Chinese that Spring Festival has, and the West has nothing to compare with the Mid-Autumn Festival. China has lots of cool things in its culture: calligraphy, Beijing Opera, quick meals on the streets, and even Jay Chou! And let’s not forget the part of Chinese culture I like best: its friendliness. Not all countries are as warm as China.
It’s good to enjoy other cultures and learn from them, but they can never replace your own culture. It’s good to look on the other side of the fence, but make sure you take a good long look. You will find that the grass isn’t always greener.
Although some people become worried about that, I don’t think they should. Will we get more powerful without learning from other countries? Will Chinese people live more happily without American fast food? Besides, it’s fun to learn about different cultures. Chinese kids can learn about other cultures and have fun, but they also need to learn more about their own culture. Be proud of Chinese culture and of being Chinese!
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