In be United States the most popular form of folk dancing has been square-dancing since the earlier days. In those days, men and women worked in groups to build a house or harvest crops. When the work was done, they usually danced merrily and happily in a store or in a farm kitchen.

Nowadays square-dancing is still performed. A square, which has four sides, is formed by four couples. Each couple stands on one side of the square, the man on the left and the woman on the right. That is to say, one square has eight people and they stand facing the center of the square.

Large or small numbers of people can dance together. Sometimes as many as 800 or 1,000 people may be dancing all at the same time.

Costumes are worn by those who do the square-dancing. This makes the dancing more colorful to watch. Men may have colored shirts and western trousers they wear only on special days. Women often wear full skirts of different colors with a pretty blouse. In some country areas, everyone wears their best clothes.

Today in all parts of the US you will find some schools, clubs, or other groups that are square-dancing for fun. They enjoy it very much.

3 . On November 18, 1995, Itzhak Perlman, the world famous violinist, came on stage to give a concert at Lincoln Centre in New York City. If you have ever been to a Perlman concert you know that getting on stage is not easy for him. He got polio (小儿麻痹症) as a child, and has to walk with the aid of two crutches (拐杖) now.

That night Perlman walked slowly to his chair. Then he sat down and began to play. But, suddenly, one of the strings on his violin broke. You could hear it break — it broke with a loud noise.

People thought to themselves, “He would have to get up to either find another violin or find another string for this one.”

But he didn’t. Instead, he waited a moment closed his eyes and then signaled the conductor to begin again. The orchestra (管弦乐队) began, and he played from where he had stopped. He played with such passion and such power.

Of course, everyone knows that it is impossible to play a symphonic work with just three strings. But that night Itzhak Perlm refused to know that. You could see him changing and recomposing (重新作曲) the piece in his head.

When he finished, there was a silence in the room. Then people rose and cheered. We were all on our feet, doing everything we could to show how much we appreciated what he had done.

He smiled and then he said in a quiet tone, “You know, sometimes it is the artist’s task to find out how much music you can make with what you have left.”

His words have stayed in my mind ever since I heard them. That is also the way of life. Perhaps our task in this quickly changing world in which we live is to make music, at first with all that we have, and then, when that is no longer possible, to make music with what we have left.