1 . Acupuncture (针灸) is a traditional Chinese medical practice of treating various physical and mental conditions. It won respect and interest in the United States after New York Times reporter James Reston visited China with President Nixon and needed an operation.

Chinese doctors used acupuncture on James after surgery (外科手术) to reduce his pain, and his recovery was quick. Curious about this, James was allowed to watch surgery on patients who received acupuncture for anesthesia (麻醉). Patients talked with their doctors during the operation and then walked back to their rooms on their own.

Acupuncture left James such a deep impression that he wrote a front-page article in New York Times about his operation upon returning to the United States. “A leading medical expert sent by Premier Zhou Enlai removed my appendix (阑尾). I was awake in the whole process.”

The National Institutes of Health began to organize some of their top doctors to visit China to investigate acupuncture and its possible functions in western medicine. With years going by, acupuncture has become popular across the world with magical effect.

3 . Many English learners have difficulty deciding what kind of English accent they want to have. A US accent, perhaps imitates (模仿) a Hollywood star speaker? Or maybe you want to imitate the British accent of a BBC news reader?

Young British people find the US accent attractive while young US people like a British accent. Especially when the person speaking is of the opposite sex (异性)! Let’s listen to what they have to say.

Stephen Yang, 17, from London, UK

A US accent is cute, especially when a girl speaks it. Whether it’s Jessia Alba speaking or the girl-next-door, the way US girls speak has a sweet tingle (感觉) that is really fashionable. A girl from Texas recently moved into our neighborhood. Her Texan twang (鼻音) had all the boys here on their knees within seconds of meeting her.

To me, accents reflect the attitudes, characteristics (特征) and lifestyles of the people.

Jennifer Sun, 16, from New Jersey, US

From watching English actors like Daniel Radcliffe, my friends and I have developed a soft spot (好感) for British men. Some are attracted to the qualities of English males, while others admire their sense of style.

Everyone, however, agrees that the most appealing aspect of an English man is his accent. For example, many American girls watch Harry Potter movies over and over again just to listen to the actors speak.

The English accent seems almost like art.