Let's read the conversations and guess the meaning of the following expressions.

    The Aborigines (澳洲土著) have lived in Australia for about 60,000 years. They painted pictures inside caves, and these are the rock paintings that have given us so much information about Aboriginal life. For example, some of the paintings that are about 10,000 years old show men with boomerangs. From this we know that the Aborigines started using boomerangs for hunting at that time. Other pictures show kangaroos, so we know that there were kangaroos at that time.

    The Aborigines believed that spirits made people, animals and plants, and that these spirits still live in the earth. For Aborigines, no one can own the earth—the earth belongs to the spirits.
    In 1700, there were many Aboriginal groups with a population of 750,000 all over Australia, and there were probably more than 240 different Aboriginal languages. The groups did not have a leader. Instead, things were decided by the older men in a group. People from different groups often travelled hundreds of miles to meet each other.
    Aboriginal life changed when an English boat arrived in Australia in 1770. Many Aborigines were killed in the wars that they had with the English. More Europeans came, and they started taking land from the Aborigines. The Europeans also brought new illnesses that killed the Aborigines. The result is that today there are only about 300,000 Aborigines in Australia.

    Job interviews can be very different from country. An interviewer's “body language” and questions, and the form of an interview are not the same around the world.

    If you're at a job interview in Japan, don't look directly into the eyes of the interviewer. It is considered impolite. But if you're at an interview in the US, you should make eye contact(交流) with the interviewer. If you don't, the interviewer may think you are not sure about your ability.

    In the US and some other countries, interviewers aren't supposed to ask questions about family and personal information. In most countries, however, personal questions are very common during job interviews.

    In Germany, your interview might begin with a very short conversation followed by a formal(正式的) interview. In Mexico and many other countries, the whole interview might not be formal.

    Many Chinese people will wonder what presents to get for their moms on Mother's Day, but not many know Mother's Day is actually a festival from overseas.

    Mother's Day originated(起源) in America during the early 20th century. The festival spread to China as early as the 1980s and was widely accepted.

    Why did a foreign festival become popular in China? In fact, Chinese traditional culture has always encouraged filial(孝顺的) devotion to parents. There are many stories which show filial respect in ancient China. For example, the story of "Taste Liquid(液体的) Medicine for Mother" tells us the filial virtue(美德) of Emperor Wen of the Western Han dynasty. His mother had been sick for three years. He often stayed up by her bedside and cared for her day and night. He tasted the liquid medicine first before she drank it. Also, mother love is a repeated subject in Chinese ancient poems, like "Song of the Parting Son" by Meng Jiao, a poet of the Tang dynasty. Now this poem is still a must in the school textbooks. Children in China are brought up with the education of filial devotion.

On special days, people often use roses or forget-me-nots to express love. Carnations are considered as the perfect flowers for mothers around the world, but few know that China has its own for mothers—the tiger lily.

    Love for mothers can have different ways of expression. What matters most is love, not the festival itself. What mothers truly want is perhaps just a simple expression of love from their children.

    The great fire of London started in the very early hours of September 2, 1666. In four days, it burnt most of the old city. Many houses were wooden and close together, so they were burnt down. One hundred thousand people lost their homes.

    The fire started on Sunday morning in the house of the King's baker. But the baker, with his wife and family, got out through a window. A strong wind blew the fire from the baker's house into a small hotel next door. Then it was on fire everywhere. But that was only the beginning.

    By eight o'clock three hundred houses were on fire. On Monday nearly a kilometre of the city was burning along the River Thames. Tuesday was the worst day. The fire burnt many well-known buildings. Old St. Paul's and the (Guildhall were among them.

    Samuel Pepys, a famous writer, wrote about the fire: People threw their things into the river. Many poor people stayed in their houses until they died. Birds died because of the hot air.

    The fire didn't stop until the King asked people to push down hundreds of building in the way of the fire. With nothing left to burn, the fire became small and died out at last.

    Many lives and things were lost after the fire, but London became a better place many years later.

    Mothers Day is a celebration in memory of mothers. It celebrates the importance of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, mostly in March, April or May. Let's see how different people celebrate their Mother's Day.

    Mexico(May 10)

    Children make gifts and give them to their mums on Mother's Eve (May 9).On the morning of May 10,families make a special trip to church and cat tamales(玉米饼),sometimes filled with meat, cheese or vegetables.

South Africa(Second Sunday of May)

    Besides giving mums Mother's Day cards, people show their thanks for their mothers by wearing red and pink flowers called carnations. If their mothers have passed away, they wear white carnations.

    United Kingdom(Fourth Sunday of Lent(大斋期))

    Mother's Day is a traditional day for people to visit their hometown and attend their home churches. People also bake(烘焙)special fruitcakes to give to their mums.

    Indonesia(December22)

    People throw big parties for their mums, filled with fun activities-such as cooking competitions and kebaya-wearing competitions!(A kebaya is a traditional blouse and skirt.)