On the basis of cultural relativism, the values of artistic works are simply reflections of local social and economic conditions. Such a view, however, fails to explain the ability of some works of art to excite the human mind across cultures and through centuries.

    History has seen the endless productions of Shakespearean plays in every major language of the world. It is never rare to find that Mozart packs Japanese concert halls, as Japanese painter Hiroshige does Paris galleries. Unique works of this kind are different from today's popular art, even if they began as works of popular art. They have set themselves apart in their timeless appeal and will probably be enjoyed for centuries into the future.

    In a 1757 essay, the philosopher David Hume argued that because “the general principles of taste are uniform(不变的) in human nature, “the value of some works of art might be essentially permanent. He observed that Homer was still admired after two thousand years. Works of this type, he believed, spoke to deep and unvarying features of human nature and could continue to exist over centuries.

    Now researchers are applying scientific methods to the study of the universality of art. For example, evolutionary psychology is being used by literary scholars to explain the long-lasting themes and plot devices in fiction. The structures of musical pieces are now open to experimental analysis as never before. Research findings seem to indicate that the creation by a great artist is as permanent an achievement as the discovery by a great scientist.

    The first day of the month of May is known as May Day. It is the time of year when warmer weather begins. People celebrate the coming of summer with customs that are expressions of joy and hope after a long winter. Today, May Day activities have been moved to the May Day holiday on the first Monday of the month. It is a public holiday when families take advantage of the time off to visit some of the UK's many attractions, including parks, zoos, historic buildings, ancient towns and villages and beautiful countryside.

    May Day celebrations have their origins in the Roman festival of Flora, the goddess of fruit and flowers, which marked the beginning of summer. People would decorate their houses and villages with leaves and flowers they picked at daybreak in the belief that the vegetation spirits would bring good luck. In the very early morning, young girls went into the fields and washed their faces with dew (露水). They believed this made them very beautiful for the following year.

    May Day was an important day in the Middle Ages and was a favorite holiday of many English villages. People of the time used to cut down young trees and stick them in the ground in the village to mark the arrival of summer. This is the origin of the maypole (五月柱). People danced around them in celebration of the end of winter. Maypoles were once common all over England and were kept from one year to the next. The tallest maypole is said to have been put up in London on the Strand in 1661. It stood more than 143 feet high and was cut down in 1717, when it was used by Newton to support a new reflecting telescope (反射式望远镜) invented by Dutch scientist Huygens.

    Shoppers in the UK are spending less money on toilet paper to save money, research has shown.

    Penny saving UK consumers choose cheaper products from discounters such as Aldi and Lidi rather than expensive alternatives.

    This has wiped 6% off the value of the soft tissue paper market in the UK. It has reduced from £1.19 billion in 2011 to £1.12 billion in 2015, according to a new report from market research company Mintel. Furthermore, the future of the market looks far from positive, with sales expected to fall further to £1.11 billion in 2016.

    In the last year alone, despite an increase in the UK population and a rise in the number of households, sales of toilet paper fell by 2%, with the average household reducing their toilet roll spending from £43 in 2014 to £41 in 2015.

Overall, almost three in five people say they try to limit their usage of paper – including facial tissue and kitchen roll    to save money. “Strength, softness and thickness remain the leading signs of toilet paper quality, with just a small part of consumers preferring more expensive alternatives, such as those with flower patterns or perfume,” said analyst Jack Duckett. “These extra features are considered unnecessary by the majority of shoppers, which probably reflects how these types of products are typically more expensive than regular toilet paper, even when on special offer.”

    While consumers are spending less on toilet paper, they remain particular about it when it comes to paper quality. One in 10 buyers rank toilet rolls made from recycled paper among their top considerations, clearly showing how overall the environment is much less of a consideration for shoppers than product quality. In a challenge for makers, 81% of paper product users said they would consider buying recycled toilet tissue if it were comparable in quality to standard paper.

    The National Postal Museum is divided into galleries that explore America's postal history. Visitors will have a full picture of the creation and fantastic varieties of postage stamps.

    World of Stamps

    Video images bring stamps to life and attract visitors who explore the surrounding displays. Visitors encounter the world's first postage stamp — the 1840 Penny Black and learn how it revolutionized communication. Stamp images, including Dr. Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech and the stamp that helped raise almost $72 million dollars for breast cancer research, explain how stamps have shaped history and honored people and places worldwide.

Gems of American Philately

    Visitors have the opportunity of examining 13 of the most rare and highly valued stamps in the world of the stamp collection, including the most famous American stamp of all, the 1918 Inverted Jenny. A video explains why the Inverted Jenny and other stamps displayed here are the most valuable. The treasures in this area are rarely available for public viewing. Each tells a story about an important event in US history.

    Mail Marks History

    The markings on mail provide valuable clues to the surprising ways mail has been transported over time, including challenges and even disasters encountered along the way. You will understand these markings by following the journeys of three historic letters.

    Connect with US Stamps

    Visitors explore their own connections with stamps. At three touch screen tables, they create their own stamp collection based on the topics that interest them most. They can also create their own stamp designs. Visitors have the chance to view videos in which stamp designers talk about their craft, stamp collectors explain what they collect and why, and footage(片段) shows the process of making stamps.

    The Eiffel Tower is very famous in France. It is visited by 7 million visitors a year. The Eiffel Tower was designed by Gustave Eiffel in the late 19th century. On Monday, March 31st, 2019, it turned 130.

    The look of the Eiffel Tower is greatly loved by people today, but things were different when the design was first shown to the public. Many French artists thought that the design was ugly. However, Eiffel did not change a thing. He believed that once it was completed, people in Paris and visitors around the world would love the tower. He was certainly right.

    The tower became popular with the public as soon as it opened on March 31st, 1889, two years after the construction began. Over 3,000 people came to look at this new tower and even made the effort to climb the 1,710 stairs to the top. The 984-foot-tall Chrysler Building in New York City beat it.

    Today, the tower houses a number of restaurants on its first and second levels. The third level has been turned into a vast platform (平台). From there visitors can see the entire city of Paris. While visitors are allowed to take the stairs to the first two levels, the platform can only be got to by taking the elevators.

    To ensure that the “Iron Lady” always looks good, the tower is cleaned and repainted every eight years. It's an effort that takes a team of 25 workers, an entire year. If you travel to Paris one day, don't miss it, the excellent achievement.

    After moving to the United States, immigrant groups trying to fit in tend to choose high calorie fatty foods in an attempt to appear more American, a new study finds. That's one reason why immigrants approach US levels of obesity within 15 years of moving to America.

The researchers also did an experiment that measured whether or not the threat of appearing un-American influenced respondents' food choices. After being questioned about their ability to speak English 75 percent of Asian-Americans identified a typical American food as their favorite. Only 25 percent of Asian-Americans who had not been asked if they spoke English did the same.

    When their American identity was called into question during a follow-up study, Asian-American participants also tended to choose typical American dishes, such as hamburgers and cheese sandwiches.  In that experiment, 55 Asian-Americans were asked to choose a meal from a local Asian or American restaurant. Some participants were told that only Americans could participate in the study. Those who chose the more typical American fare ended up consuming an extra 182 calories,  including 12 grams of fat and 7 grams of saturated fat (饱和脂肪).

    "People who feel like they need to prove they belong to a culture will change their habits in an attempt to fit in," said Sauna Cheryan, an author of the study and assistant professor of psychology at the University of Washington.

    "If immigrants and their children choose unhealthy American foods over healthier traditional foods across their lives, this process of fitting in could lead to poorer health." Cheryan added.

    Social pressures, the study concluded, are at the heart of the problem.  "In American society today, being American is associated with being white. Americans, who don't fit this image even if they were born here and speak English, feel that pressure to prove that they're American," said Cheryan.