Living in the foreign culture can be exciting, but it can also be confusing. A group of Americans who taught English in other countries recently discussed their experiences. They discussed that miscommunications were always possible, even over something as simple as “yes”and“no”.
     On her first day in Micronesia, an island in the Pacific, Lisa thought the waitress wasn't paying any attention to her. The day was hot she went into a store and asked, "Do you have any cold drinks?" The woman there didn't say anything. Lisa repeated the question again. Still the woman said nothing. She later learned that the woman had answered her: She has raised her eyebrows, which in Micronesia, it means, "yes".
     Jan remembered an experience she had in Bulgaria, a country in Europe. She went to a restaurant that was known for its cabbage. She asked the writer,“Do you have cabbage today?”He nodded his head. Jan waited, but the cabbage never came. In that country, a nod means "no".
     Tom had a similar problem when he arrived in India. After explaining something in class, he asked his students if they understood. They answered with different nods and shakes of heads. He thought some people hadn't understood, so he explained again. When he asked again, they did the same thing. He soon found out that his students did understand. In India, people nod and shake heads in different ways. It depends on where they come from.

    Tom is a junior high student. He is good at some subjects but his favourite subject is chemistry. Yesterday he met some trouble when he had his chemistry class.

    At that moment, Tom was doing an experiment in class. He tried twenty times, but he couldn't succeed. So he decided to stop doing the experiment. He felt really unhappy.

    His teacher came up to him and asked why he was unhappy. Tom said, "All my work is in vain (白费力气). I fail twenty times and I get nothing."

    Tom's teacher touched Tom's head with a smile. He said to Tom, "Oh, you do a lot and you can get a lot from the mistakes. At least, you know that there are twenty ways you can't use to do this experiment."

    After hearing the teacher's words, Tom became excited. He kept doing the experiment, improved his methods, and he succeeded at last.

    Sam woke up suddenly .Someone was moving around in the next room .“Maybe it's his grandmother ,getting a glass of water ,”he told himself .But the next room was the living room .  It wasn't near the kitchen .  Sam's parents were away ,and there was only his grandmother in the house with him .He looked at his watch .It was three thirty !Too early for his grandmother to get up!

    He got out of bed and opened the door very quietly .The window was open .  A man was standing near it and looking in the dark drawers .His grandmother kept her money there! He thought quickly .Yes ,the radio !He turned it on and a man's voice filled the room .The thief felt scared and jumped onto the window .Then he jumped down two floors to the ground.He gave a shout .

    His grandmother was awake and she called the police right away .The thief couldn't get up ,because his leg was badly hurt .When the policemen came ,they were very happy“Great ,Sam ,”said a policeman .“This man is a famous thief .”

B

    Chris and Jessica live in Miami，Florida.They are packing(收拾行李)now.They're going away for a three-­week vacation tomorrow.They're going to rent(租)a house near a small lake about 100 miles north of the city.

    Chris is a carpenter(木匠)and he works hard.He often works ten hours a day，and he makes good money.He helps to build and repair houses.He likes his job and Miami.

    Jessica spends a lot of time working in her office and taking people to see houses.Her job and her family keep her busy.She gets little time to read and relax during the year.

    Chris and Jessica enjoy the quiet of the country.Chris loves fishing.He is going to rent a boat and he will go fishing on the lake for four or five hours every day during the vacation.

    Jessica doesn't like fishing，but she's an excellent swimmer.She is going swimming every afternoon during the vacation.After that，she will sit in the yard and read for a few hours.She especially likes to read novels.

Both Chris and Jessica believe that they will have a great time there!

    Mr Black was a businessman （商人） and he was very rich （有钱的）.One day he went on a trip to the countryside with his 5-year-old son Henry. He wanted to show his son how poor people lived, so they spent a day and a night on the farm of a very poor family.

    When they got back from their trip, Mr Black asked Henry, “My dear son, how was your trip?”“Very good, dad!”“Did you see how poor people lived?”the father asked. “Yes!” “And what did you learn?”Henry answered, “We have a dog at home, and they have four. We have a pool that is in the middle of the garden and they have a river that has no end. We have expensive lamps (灯) in the garden and they have stars.”

    When little Henry finished, Mr Black was speechless(无话可说的).

    Mr. and Mrs. Green come from Australia. They are in Beijing now. Mr. Green is a teacher in a high school.

    He teaches English. He likes reading and running. He isn't good at cooking. His son. Jim, is a student. He is in the school football team. He likes playing football very much. He is the best football player in his class. He likes school too. He does his homework every day. Mrs. Green is a teacher, too. She can speak a little Chinese. She likes Chinese food. She doesn't like doing housework at all. But she likes cooking. They all like China very much.