Facial expressions carry meaning that is determined by situations and relationships. For example, in American culture (文化) the smile is in general an expression of pleasure. Yet it also has other uses. A woman’s smile at a police officer does not carry the same meaning as the smile she gives to a young child. A smile may show love or politeness. It can also hide true feelings. It often causes confusion (困惑) across cultures. For example, many people in Russia consider smiling at strangers in public to be unusual and even improper. Yet many Americans smile freely at strangers in public places (although this is less common in big cities).Some Russians believe that Americans smile in the wrong places; some Americans believe that Russians don’t smile enough. In Southeast Asian cultures, a smile is frequently used to cover painful feelings. Vietnamese people may tell a sad story but end the story with a smile.
Our faces show emotions (情感), but we should not attempt to "read" people from another culture as we would "read" someone from our own culture. The fact that members of one culture do not express their emotions as openly as do members of another does not mean that they do not experience emotions.
Rather, there are cultural differences in the amount of facial expressions permitted. For example, in public and in formal situations many Japanese do not show their emotions as freely as Americans do. When with friends, Japanese and Americans seem to show their emotions similarly.
It is difficult to generalize about Americans and facial expressiveness because of personal and cultural differences in the United States. People from certain cultural backgrounds in the United States seem to be more facially expressive than others. The key is to try not to judge people whose ways of showing emotion are different. If we judge according to our own cultural habits, we may make the mistake of "reading" the other person incorrectly.
1．What does the smile usually mean in America?| A．Love. | B．Politeness. |
| C．Joy. | D．Thankfulness. |
| A．show friendliness to strangers |
| B．be used to hide true feelings |
| C．be used in the wrong places |
| D．show personal habits |
| A．Learn about their relations with others. |
| B．Understand their cultural backgrounds. |
| C．Find out about their past experience. |
| D．Figure out what they will do next. |
| A．Cultural Differences |
| B．Smiles and Relationship |
| C．Facial Expressiveness |
| D．Habits and Emotions |
小组成员的观点 | 1. Follow traffic rules. 2. Don’t eat junk food. 3. Don’t swim in the rivers without an adult. 4. Don’t hang out alone at night. 5. e careful online. |
Nowadays, safety is very important for us. How can we keep safe? In the English class, we had a discussion in groups. Here is the result of my group. First,
Wholesale prices for gas and electricity are increasing suddenly across Europe,raising the possibility of increases in already-high utility (公共事业）bills and further pain for people who have taken a financial hit fromCOVID-19.
Governments are struggling to find ways to limit costs to consumers as scant natural gas reserves present yet another potential problem, exposing the continent to even more price increases and possible shortages if it’s a cold winter.
In the U.K., many people will see their gas and electricity bills rise next month after the nation’s energy regulator approved a 12% price increase for those without contracts that lock in rates. Officials in Italy have warned that prices will increase by 40% for the quarter that will be billed in October.
There are multiple causes for the price increases, energy analysts say, including tight supplies of natural gas used to generate electricity, higher costs for permits to release carbon dioxide as part of Europe’s fight against climate change, and less supply from wind in some cases.
Analysts at S&P Global Platts say electricity prices have risen due to strong demand from places like data centers and electric cars, but above all because of the rise in the price of natural gas used in generating plants. Utility companies’ exposure to natural gas prices has increased as high-emission coal plants have been retired, while utilities face higher costs for carbon allowances required by the European Union’s emissions trading system, which is aimed at reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.
The tight gas market could bite even more sharply if there’s an unusually cold winter. That’s because European distributors did not refill reserves reduced during last winter as they typically had done in summer months. In March 2008, when the freeze named “the beast from the east” hit Europe, industrial users in the U.K got a notice that there was a risk of interruption, although it didn’t come to that.
Could Europe run out of gas? “The short answer is Yes, this is a real risk,” said James Huckstepp, an analyst at S&P Global Platts. “Storage stocks are at record lows and there isn’t currently any spare supply capacity that is exportable anywhere in the world.The longer answer is that it’s hard to predict how it will play out given that Europe has never run out of gas in two decades under the current distribution system.”
1．What does the underlined word “scant” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Total. | B．Additional. | C．Limited. | D．Regular. |
| A．The closure of some coal plants. |
| B．The great demand for electric cars. |
| C．The competition between utility companies. |
| D．The change in the emissions trading system. |
| A．More natural gas will be needed for industrial use. |
| B．European distributors don’t make good preparations. |
| C．It is not easy to fill reserves during the cold weather. |
| D．Utility companies work can be easily interrupted. |
| A．Europe is expected to seek help from other countries. |
| B．It is hard to control the gas price in Europe at present. |
| C．Europe might face a serious shortage of gas in the future. |
| D．There’s something wrong with Europe’s distribution system. |
Best wishes!
Yours,
Li Hua
Lorena parted the curtain in her living room and looked out onto the wet street. She was relieved the sunlight appeared. If it didn't stop raining it would ruin her day. Her mother had promised to drive her to Fashion Fair if it were sunny. Lorena was eager to go there because she had to replace a Nike jacket.
Earlier that Wednesday afternoon, Eddie, the most popular seventh-grader, had given Lorena his jacket and asked her to keep an eye as he would play basketball in a hurry. Lorena was quite happy to be of help.
During her last class, the biology teacher made them cut apart dead frogs. For fear of getting blood on Eddie's jacket, Lorena folded it and placed it on a chair. Then she took the knife and cut the skin quickly. She felt sick opening the frog's belly.
When the bell rang Lorena hurried out because the bus she caught for home left ten minutes after school. She raced to board the bus and found a seat. After a few minutes the driver started the engine and drove away when Lorena looked out of the window and saw Eddie. "The jacket!" she screamed. She shot from her seat and ran up to the driver. "You've got to stop! I forgot Eddie's jacket!" "Who's Eddie? " the driver said angrily. "Sit down."
All that evening she was upset and blamed her biology teacher for her problem. If he hadn't made them dissect(解剖) frogs, ,she wouldn't have been so absent-minded. The next day Lorena rushed from the bus to the biology room. The jacket was not there!
"How can I ever tell Eddie?" she closed her eyes. She spent most of her break and lunch period in the rest room, brushing her hair and worrying. On Friday she stayed home to avoid Eddie. She told her mother she wanted to go shopping to buy her a gift for her birthday, which was the next week. Actually, she wanted to buy a Nike jacket with her life savings at Fashion Fair.
Mom drove Lorena to Fashion Fair and left, asking her not to waste money.
Lorena was about to leave when she saw Eddie in his Nike jacket.
As Hurricane Lan bore down on Florida, many residents who stayed put found themselves unable to leave even if they tried. For hours they were forced to fight heavy winds and attempt to escape flooding inside long-loved homes that had become frightening, deadly traps. Within days, around 100 deaths in the state would be attributed to the hurricane, many of them were older residents who drowned.
When the water slipped in under the door of their home, it was just a glimmer on the floor, a sign that it was time to go. It was Wednesday, Sept.28, around noon, and Bishop woke up her two brothers, who had been resting after lunch. She pulled the wheelchair up to the oldest, Russell, 67. Her other brother, Todd, 63, could manage with a walker.
Both men had been born with cerebral palsy (脑瘫), and their mental development was like that of a young child. About 10 years ago, they started showing signs of Parkinson’s disease. But they found joy in their surroundings. Todd liked collecting cans at the beach. Russell loved riding the bus and going to parks. Bishop, 61, was their lifeline, their little sister who had long felt an obligation to keep them safe.
“We’ve got to get going!” she shouted to them. She went to open the front door. It would not move. The weight of the water on the other side had made it shut. She rushed to try the door to the garage. It, too, was stuck. That’s when the house began to flood. It went from ankle-deep to knee-deep in less than five minutes. Bishop knew that there was no way out.
Now Bishop and her brothers were trapped. At 12:34 p.m., she called 911 but couldn’t get through. There was no one she could get in touch with. To try her fortune, she texted a neighbor, Walters, who was always there when neighbors were in need, “Water’s coming in.” Around her, she could hear the dining room hutch (餐具柜) tipping and crashing, the china breaking, the refrigerator toppling over.
The only way to go was up, so Bishop guided her two bothers to the stairs.
Bishop sank into despair, but she noticed it seemed water stopped coming in.
Self-esteem is the ruling view you have of yourself. This includes your beliefs about your inner qualities and how you think others see you.
People with healthy self-esteem don't need to boast about themselves to others. People with low self-esteem may tell you how much everyone loves them, what a great job they do at work, and how amazing they are at pretty everything under the sun even though they really wonder if it's true. People may see them as obnoxious or “full of themselves”.
If you're starting to think you may have low self-esteem, you can work on the way you talk to yourself. When you turn off negative self-talk, you can open the floor to positive reinforcements and access the courage to show different sides of yourself. It isn't going to feel good at first, though. Keep going until it becomes less and less and maybe even a few awkward laughs in the mirror may help.
However, in serious cases of low or even non-existent self-esteem, you may want to call in a professional or a specialist. Good mental health is important, and professionals doing psychotherapy do not pass judgement or give corrections.
| A．Self-esteem is not always rooted in reality, though. |
| B．You have the power to shape a new self-perception. |
| C．This encourages you to speak openly without worry. |
| D．The real test of character is whether they can learn from their mistakes. |
| E．Self-esteem refers to a person's overall sense of his or her value or worth. |
| F．People with a healthy level of self-esteem present themselves with a casual confidence. |
| G．With some practice and persistence, you will win this internal struggle to see your self-worth. |
I am a photographer running a studio in the inner city. We are well known for our children's portraits (肖像)，and we range from high-end portraits for modelling jobs to fun sibling photos and birth announcements. We do a bit of everything； as such, we are extremely busy, and it states on our website that we do not accept walk-ins. We are usually booked up six months in advance. One day, ten minutes before closing, a mum walked in with a young girl around six or seven behind her. I internally sighed.
The mother said："Hello. I know you're closing soon, but I have a special favour to ask.”
At that point the little girl peeked around her mother's legs and I was lost for words. Under her thick winter coat and hat, she was skinny with huge dark circles under her eyes. From what I could tell, she had no hair, and a tube taped to her cheek that fed into her nose. It was immediately clear this kid was very, very sick.
The mother said again, nearly teary. " My daughter saw one of your photos taped to the wall at the hospital. She really loves unicorns (独角兽)and the photo had a girl photoshopped onto a horse. I know you're booked up, and it's months before the next appointment, but…”
At that point she actually started crying. I realised that our next available appointment was probably way too far away for this particular kid. The little girl squeezed her mother's hand. I am a very big guy with a beard, but I'm not ashamed to say I needed a minute before I spoke.
I smiled and said with the softest voice I had ever had ： ” Ahh, that's just for regular customers I I've been waiting all day to take a photo of someone as beautiful as you! What's your name, sweetheart?"
I locked the front door and invited them to the changing room,
The mother thanked me over and over and came up front, holding out her credit card. .
搜索
