2 . Some years ago, I was hired by an American bank. I received a letter from the head of the Personnel Department that started, “Dear John, I am quite pleased that you have decided to join us.” That “quite” saddened me. I thought he was saying “we’re kind of pleased you decided to join us although I wish we had hired someone else.” Then I discovered that in American English “quite” sometimes means “very”, while in British English it means “fairly”.

So the first lesson about working in other countries is to learn the language and by that I don’t just mean the words people speak. It is body language, dress, manners, ideas and so on. The way people do things highlights many of the differences we see between cultures.

Some of the differences may be only on the surface——dress, food and hours of work——while others may be deeper and take longer to deal with. Mostly, it is just a question of getting used to the differences and accepting them, like the climate, while getting on with business.

Some of the differences may be an improvement. People are more polite; the service is better; you ask for something to be done and it happens without having to ask again. However, other differences can be troubling, like punctuality. If you invite people to a party at 7 o'clock your quests will consider it polite to turn up exactly on time in Germany, five minutes early in the American Midwest, an hour early in Japan, 15 minutes afterwards in the UK, up to an hour afterwards in Italy and some time in the evening in Greece. I prefer not to use the word “late” because there is nothing wrong with the times people arrive. It is simply the accepted thing to do in their own country.

I am Li Hua, a senior student from Hongxing High School.

Yours,

Li Hua

I’m truly delighted to learn that you have won the first prize in your school’s Chinese traditional culture quiz last week! I’m writing to congratulate you for your success from the bottoms of my heart.

I know that you have always been interesting in Chinese traditional culture since you came to China. Learning Chinese is not easy for you, and you keep on studying hardly. In fact that impresses me most is your attitude to learning. It is your hard work has helped you to become such successful. I’m sure you’ll have even great achievements in your future studies.

As it is known to all, China is the home of tea. It has been spread from China to world. With a historic of four or five thousand years, tea culture has been an important part in Chinese culture. Wherever guests visit, it is a custom to serve tea with them. Drinking tea had a lot of advantages, one of which is to help you refresh yourself and improves thinking ability. Beside, drinking tea every day is said to be able to help you keep health and live longer. What's most, some kinds of tea can even help people lose weight and become beautiful, which may appeal to a lot of lady.

In western countries, after a long day with the sun     1     (burn) your back, a bottle of cold water sounds like the perfect solution. However, consuming cold drinks may not be     2     same choice internationally. In the US, people often receive a glass cold water alongside their meals,     3     in China, people usually get a cup of hot tea instead. In fact, even when the weather is     4     (extreme) hot, many Chinese people prefer to have hot water. According to ancient Chinese medicine, drinking a glass of warm water     5     (be) beneficial to health.

Restaurants in the US are places where people     6     (serve) with cold water, which doesn’t hurt anyone if it is spilled accidentally. In China, you pour tea into cups yourself; if you spill the water, you are responsible     7     it.

In spite of the benefits of hot water and the     8     (harm) effects of drinking cold water, modern medicine tells us that they are both fine       9     (consume). Actually, the debate between cold water and hot water is all a matter of     10     (prefer) and body type. So, what would you like to drink?

The Great Wall was listed as a World Heritage by UNESCO in 1987. Just like a dragon, it winds up and down across deserts, grasslands and mountains,    1    ( run) approximately 21,196 kilometers from east to west.

The    2    ( construct) of the Great Wall was not that easy,    3    drew heavily on the local resources for building materials. The walls were    4    ( origin) built in the Spring & Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Emperor Qin Shi Huang succeeded in his effort to have them joined together. Since then, the Great Wall    5    ( serve) as a monument of the Chinese nation throughout history.

With    6    history of about 2,700 years, some parts of the Great Wall are now       7    ruins or have disappeared. However, the Great Wall of China is still one of the most appealing    8    (attraction) all around the world owing to its historical significance. The best-known part of the Great Wall of China, Badaling ,    9    (locate) 43 miles northwest of Beijing, attracts thousands of national and foreign tourists every day.

Today, the Great Wall    10    (recognize) as one of the most important impressive architectural achievements in history.

World Read Aloud Day is celebrated each year on the first Wednesday of March. It     1     (start) by the LitWorld.org website in 2010 and has now reached 65 countries. The aim is to encourage people worldwide who cannot read to enjoy the benefits of a book. The website asks everyone     2     (celebrate) the day by taking a book, finding an audience, and reading out aloud. It is about taking action to show the world that the right to read and write     3     (belong) to all people.

The website asks     4    （visit） to join in the movement to reduce     5       number of illiterate（不识字的）people in the world. It is     6     (absolute) necessary to help those who cannot read. The website says, “It’s time to start by reading aloud to     7     might like it. Share a book with a child who might need it, share a story with someone who would treasure it, listen patiently     8     someone else’s story as they share with you.” The United Nations says, “Literacy involves a variety of learning in enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge,     9     to participate fully in society.” In that way, World Read Aloud Day does help make a     10    (different).