Traveling to every part of the world gets easier, but how well do we know and understand each other. Here's a simple test. Imagine you are planning to hold a meeting at four o'clock. What time should you expect your foreign business friends to arrive? If they are Germans, they'll arrive on time. If they are Americans, they'll probably be 15 minutes early. If they are Englishmen, they'll be 15 minutes late, and you should allow up to an hour for the Italians.

    The British seemed to think since the English language was widely used in the world, people would always understand what they do. However, they found they were completely wrong. For example, the British are happy to have a business lunch and discuss business matters and have a drink during the meal. The Japanese prefer not to work while eating. Lunch is a time for them to relax and get to know each other and they don't drink at lunchtime. The Germans like to talk business before dinner. The French like to eat first and talk afterwards. They have to be well fed and watered before they discuss anything.

    One day an American called Simon went to London to visit his friend, Rick. Rick told him that his flat was on the first floor. When he arrived, Simon went straight to the first floor of the building. But he was told that there was no Rick on that floor. Do you know why?

    In fact, the British call the first floor of a building the ground floor. The floor above the ground floor is the first floor, while Americans would call it the second floor.

    The story shows that there are a few culture differences between Britain and America, though the British and Americans both speak English.

    The British usually hide their feelings. They seldom start a conversation with strangers. For example, on the train the British often spend their time reading newspapers or books. But Americans are quite different. They're more active and easier to talk with.

    The British and Americans may use different terms for many things. The British usually use “football”, “eraser” and “mail” while Americans prefer to use “soccer”, “rubber” and “post”.

    The World Memory Championships is an organized competition of memory sports in which competitors memorize as much information as possible within a given period of time. Tony Buzan, the founder of the competition, believes that everyone can improve their memories. The first World Memory Championship was held in London in 1991 and London kept holding the following ten competitions. It takes place every year, with the exception of 1992. The winner of the first competition was Dominic O'Brien, so was the second competition.

    The 19th and 20th World Memory Championships were held in Guangzhou, China. 130 competitors from all over the world gathered there in the 20th World Memory Championships. Over the following three days, the competitors had mental boundaries (限度) tested by memorizing numbers, images, dates, names and faces, as well as packs of cards, all against the clock. The prize was to become the next Grand Memory Master. More than a quarter of the competitors were female and the oldest was 74 years old. Many of the competitors believed the memorizing techniques they practiced could help them achieve other goals in life. But for that moment, their focus was all in their heads.

    Wang Feng, the winner of the 20th World Memory Championships, made the record by memorizing 2660 numbers within an hour. He said, "I won the Championship last year. To keep the achievement, I had to practice 5 to 6 hours every day over the last three months."