You have to shake hands when you're coming or going in Germany, but in Britain you usually only shake hands when you meet someone for the first time.

    You have to give your present in public in the Middle East to show it's not a bribe(贿赂), but it's good manners to give your present in private in Asia.

    You mustn't give cutlery（刀具） in Latin America because it suggests that you want to cut off the relationship. You mustn't give a clock in China because the Chinese word for clock is similar to the word for funeral(葬礼).

    “Come any time” means “I want you to visit me” in India. If you don't suggest a time and arrange a visit immediately, an Indian will think you are refusing the invitation.

    Offices are usually closed on Friday in Moslem countries.

    It's bad manners to discuss business at social occasion in India.

    In an English pub, you have to take your turn to buy a “round” drink for everyone in your group.

    For those who are tired doing the laundry, Samsung has found an answer: a washing machine that can tell you when your laundry is done via a smartphone app(application).

    Strange though it may seem — “my wife already does that” was a common response among attendees viewing the device when it was introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week — Samsung is just one of many appliance makers racing to install (安装) a large number of internet-connected features in machines in an effort to make them “smart”.

    Last year, it was a refrigerator that tweeted. This year, it's Wi-Fi-enabled laundry machines and fridges that can tell you when your groceries are going bad.

    The washers and dryers, available starting in the spring, connect to any smartphone through a downloadable application. The phone can then be used as a remote control, so the machines can be turned on and off while their owners are at work or on the bus.

    Samsung says it's not just something new — the app connection actually has some practical uses.

     “If you started to dry clothes in the morning and forgot to take them out, you can go to your phone and restart your dryer for the time when come home, so your clothes are refreshed and ready to go,” said spokesperson Amy Schmidt.

    The company also says that with electricity rate(电价)varying depending on the time of day, more control over when the machines are used can help save money.

    Perhaps, but what they will probably really accomplish is what all good technologies do —enable laziness. Rather than getting up to check on whether the laundry is done, users will instead monitor it on their phones while watching TV.

    Parents and kids today dress alike, listen to the same music, and are friends. Is this a good thing? Sometimes, when Mr. Ballmer and his 16-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, listen to rock music together and talk about interests both enjoy, such as pop culture, he remembers his more distant relationship with his parents when he was a teenager.

    “I would never have said to my mom, 'Hey, the new Weezer album is really great. How do you like it?''' says Ballmer. “There was just a complete gap in taste.”

    Music was not the only gulf. From clothing and hairstyles to activities and expectations, earlier generations of parents and children often appeared to move in separate orbits.

    Today, the generation gap has not disappeared, but it is getting narrow in many families. Conversations on subjects such as sex and drugs would not have taken place a generation ago. Now they are comfortable and common. And parent-child activities, from shopping to sports, involve a feeling of trust and friendship that can continue into adulthood.

    No wonder greeting cards today carry the message, “To my mother, my best friend.”

    But family experts warn that the new equality can also result in less respect for parents. “There's still a lot of strictness and authority on the part of parents out there, but there is a change happening,” says Kerrie, a psychology professor at Lebanon Valley College. “In the middle of that change, there is a lot of confusion among parents.”

    Family researchers offer a variety of reasons for these evolving roles and attitudes. They see the 1960s as a turning point. Great cultural changes led to more open communication and a more democratic process that encourages everyone to have a say.

    “My parents were on the 'before' side of that change, but today's parents, the 40-year-olds, were on the 'after' side,” explains Mr. Ballmer, “It's not something easily accomplished by parents these days, because life is more difficult to understand or deal with, but sharing interests does make it more fun to be a parent now.”

    When slaves were first brought over from West Africa to the southern parts of America, they brought along with them aspects of their own culture—religion, dance,language, music, and cuisine.A mix of the two cultures eventually appeared.The religious dance of the ring shout turned into modern dances like the Charleston, and tribal chants slowly transformed into sorrowful hymns (圣歌) sung by slaves that described their hardships.

    These soulful accounts by slaves of the severe climate and conditions began to be called “the blues”,which continued in popularity among African Americans after the Civil War.This music increased in popularity into the early 1900s when many black musicians became an important part of the music industry.

    The slaves that had been brought over were from all different regions of West Africa, but they worked together until they gradually formed a common culture.This strengthened the identity of their music that, in the 1950s, eventually led to the beginning of rock and roll.The Beatles, the most influential band of the 1960s, are often determined as the accelerator that resulted in the ideology (意识形态) surrounding music that is still around today.The freedom and individuality associated with that time period brought forth a whole culture surrounding music.It was not just music any more, but a lifestyle.

    Over the decades, music has developed into such a vital part of society and pop culture.Musicians are glorified, with tons of adoring and screaming fans.The modern technology of present day has allowed for a greater gap between the creator of the music and the fans, as well as a widespread commercialization of music.However, criticisms of modern pop music often arise due to its mass production, and now there is a lack of the same soul and quality of naturalness and simplicity in music that was rising in the early 20th century.

    Andy rode slowly on his way to school, day-dreaming about the fishing trip that his father had promised him. He was so busy dreaming about all the fish he would catch that he was unaware of everything else around him.

    He rode along until a strange sound drew him to the present. He came to a stop and looked up to the sky. What he saw frightened him. A huge group of bees filled the sky like dark cloud and seemed to be heading angrily towards him.

    With no time to waste Andy sped off in the opposite direction, riding quickly without knowing how to escape the group. With a rapidly beating heart and his legs pumping quickly, he sped down the rough road. As the bees came closer, his fear increased. Andy knew that he was sensitive(敏感的) to bee stings (蜇). Last time a sting had put him in hospital—and that was only one bee sting! He had been forced to stay in bed for two whole days. Suddenly, his father's words came to him. "When you are in a dangerous situation, don't panic. Stay calm, use your brain and think your ways out of it."

    On a nearby hill, he could see smoke waving slowly from the chimney(烟囱) of the Nelson family home. "Bees don't like smoke," he thought. "They couldn't get into the house." Andy raced towards the Nelson house, but the bees were gaining around. Andy knew he could not reach the house in time. He guessed that the bees would catch up with him soon.

    Suddenly, out of the corner of his eyes, he saw a small pond used by Mr. Nelson to water his vegetable garden. Off his bike and into the cool water he jumped, disappearing below the surface and away from the bees. After holding his breath for as long as he could, Andy came up for air and noticed the bees have gone. Pulling himself out of the water, he walked up the hill and rang the doorbell. Mr. Nelson took him inside and rang his mother.

    "You'll really need that fishing break to help you recover(恢复)," laughed his mother. "Thank goodness you didn't panic!" But Andy did not hear her. He was dreaming once again of the fish he would catch tomorrow.

    It was a normal school day for senior Solymar Solis until an unexpected visitor arrived. Her dad, Sgt. Carlos Solis Melendez, surprised her by coming home early from Kuwait and visiting her unannounced at Spring Valley High School in South Carolina.

    After serving in Kuwait for nine months, Melendez returned home a week earlier than his daughter expected. He held balloons and flowers in a classroom as he sat at a student's desk to blend in with the crowd. "It came across my mind like, ‘How is she going to react?" he recalled the heartwarming moment. "Is she going to be happy and run to me and hug me, or cry? That was all going on through my mind."

    As unsuspecting Solymar entered the classroom, she was soon overcome with emotion, immediately bursting into tears and covering her mouth. She didn't talk. She was just crying. She was overwhelmed with everything. She thought it was a dream.

    Melendez was a single parent so while he was deployed (调动), he got his sister to live with his daughter. When he was coming back and talking to his sister, both of them came to the conclusion that they should do something special for his daughter. Melendez and his sister got in touch with the school, and they planned this whole being-in-the-classroom thing, and it turned out perfect.

    The two are very much looking forward to some good daddy-daughter time now that he's home. "It means everything," Melendez said of being able to surprise his daughter this way. "After all the sacrifices she's made, she deserves all the special arrangements and special occasions and celebrations. I'll do anything for my daughter. I believe I'm doing good parenting."