Family structure is the core of any culture. A major function of the family is to socialize new members of a culture. As children are raised in a family setting, they learn to become members of the family as well as members of the larger culture. The family provides the model for all other relationships in society. Through theobservations and modeling of the behavior of other family members, children learnabout the family and society including the values of the culture. Familystructure and their inherent relationships and obligations are a major sourceof cultural difference.

        The family is the center of most traditional Asians' lives. Many people worry about their families' welfare,reputation, and honor. Asian families are often extended, including severalgenerations related by blood or marriage living in the same home. An Asianperson's misdeeds are not blamed just on the individual but also on the family—includingthe dead ancestors.

        Traditional Chinese, among many otherAsians, respect their elders and feel a deep sense of duty toward them.Children repay their parents' sacrifices by being successful and supportingthem in old age. This is accepted as a natural part of life in China. Incontrast, taking care of aged parents is often viewed as tremendous burden inthe United States, where aging and family support are not honored highly.

        The Vietnamese family consists of peoplecurrently alive as well as the spirits of the dead and of the as-yet unborn.Any decisions or actions are done from family considerations, not individualdesires. People's behavior is judged on whether it brings shame or pride to thefamily. Vietnamese children are trained to rely on their families, to honorelderly people, and to fear foreigners. Many Vietnamese think that theiractions in this life will influence their status in the next life.

        Fathers in traditional Japanese familiesare typically strict and distant. Japanese college students in one study saidthey would tell their fathers just about as much as they would tell a totalstranger. The emotional and communication barrier between children and fathersin Japan appears very strong after children have reached a certain age.

        Although there has been much talk about"family values" in the United States, the family is not a usual frameof reference for decisions in U.S. mainstream culture. Family connections arenot so important to most people. Dropping the names of wealthy or famous peoplethe family knows is done in the United States, but it is not viewed positively.More important is a person's own individual "track record" ofpersonal achievement.

       Thus, many cultural differences exist infamily structures and values. In some cultures, the family is the center oflife and the main frame of reference for decisions. In other cultures, theindividuals, not the family, is primary. In some cultures, the family'sreputation and honor depend on each person's actions; in other cultures,individuals can act without permanently affecting the family life. Somecultures value old people, while other cultures look down on them.

(Adapted from R. L. Oxford & R. C.Scarcella, "A Few Family Structures and Values Around the Globe")

The Winner's Guide to Success

    Do you know what makes people successful? To find out the answers, an American scholar recently visited some of the most successful people in America. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

Be responsible for yourself.

    Sometimes you may want to blame others for your failure to get ahead. In fact, when you say someone or something outside of yourself is stopping you from making success, you are giving away your own power. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

Write a plan.

    It is very difficult trying to get what you want without a good plan. It is just like trying to drive through strange roads to a city far away. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Without this “map”, you may waste your time, money and also your energy; while with the “map” you'll enjoy the “trip” and get what you want in the shortest possible time.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Nothing great is easy to get. So you must be ready to work hard — even harder than you have ever done. If you are not willing to pay the price, you won't get anything valuable.

Never give up.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} When you are doing something, you must tell yourself again and again: Giving up is worse than failure because failure can be the mother of success, but giving up means the death of hope.

    ID systems are used as a means for people to prove their identity, as a means of access control, or for many other situations. ID cards also contain a lot more information than simply the name of the holder. All ID cards contain information that is relevant to the institution that released them, so there is no single model that applies to all ID cards.

    Different institutions have different rules when it comes to ID cards, and ID cards used by students, in universities, will not have the same security features as those used in the military, for example. The more important the institution is, the more important the security is, and the more security features will be used to prevent duplication(复制) of an ID card.

    Anyone with a printer that can print ID cards can duplicate in ID card, if it does not have any security measures. There have been lots of cases, especially in low security institutions, where ID cards have been duplicated and this was not noticed, since the person holding the card usually flashed it when it was requested, and that was not enough to notice that it is a fake.

    That may not be extremely important when it is simply a case of a student trying to enter the campus of another university, but it can be of vital importance if it happens in a military institution. Checks in military institutions are much stricter and the personnel checking the card are always trained to spot fakes in a short amount of time.

    Some may think that creating an ID card is extremely difficult, but it is not. All it takes is a special printer that can print ID cards, a model and a photo ID. The fact that such printers can be freely ordered online has raised security issues with lots of companies and institutions, and most have decided to either create their own ID cards, or simply use more advanced security features that regular home-users do not have access to. This includes magnetic stripes(磁条), chips, barcodes(条形码),and other methods. This does increase the cost of the card per person, so the total cost of the cards increases based on the number of employees the company has, but it also reduces security risks to a minimum.

    So ID systems, as basic as they seem, are an excellent security measure for any institution. To ensure that the IDs look good and function properly, the company that handles the card printing services should be top-class. Trying to save some money by choosing a cheaper provider is not really wise. While some companies offer bonuses for large orders, if the quality provided is not of the highest standard, it is not worth it.

    Moving to a foreign country is an amazing, life-changing experience. There are some practical decisions that need to be made.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}For me, choosing to live with a French with a French family was the best choice I made, and here is why.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} When you're in a new environment with people you don't know who are speaking a language you're still not fluent in, you might feel lost, tired and homesick—I know I did.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}They showed me which buses to take to get to work, cooked dinner for me so we could eat together, and took me with them on trips to the beach, the theatre and even a bullfight. These were great opportunities to experience French culture and build relationships. They helped me feel more comfortable and welcome.

    Living with French people has improved my language skills. Being constantly exposed to real French conversation has allowed me to learn new phrases, widen my vocabulary and even improve my accent. My host family are happy to answer my questions and correct me when I say things wrong.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    The experience of living abroad is one that you will remember forever. Perhaps the friendships, like the memories, will also last.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}You might return for their birthdays, weddings, holidays, and much more. I hope to remain in contact with my host family long after I leave France because when I was away from my friends and loves ones, they welcomed me and made me part of their family.

A. One such decision is choosing where to live.

B. You can stay in your own space and privacy.

C. Your host family might become your life-long friends.

D. It makes me a better and more confident French speaker.

E. However, my host family was wonderful and welcoming.

F. A family can help you settle in, stopping you from feeling lonely.

G. It's an opportunity to meet new people, a different culture and another language.

    The Panda Ant is a most unusual species with a lovely appearance. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} They look like ants but actually they belong to the wasp（黄蜂）family. The differences between the two sexes of the species are also very pronounced in both appearance and behavior. When fully grown, the male, possibly attaining a length of approximately 0. 8 centimeters, is several times larger than the female. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Cute as panda ants may look, they are dangerous and capable of knocking out an animal much larger than they are with a few stings（刺）.

    Panda ants primarily depend on flowers sweet liquid as their food. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} The female panda ant often lays its eggs in a bee or wasp nest. When the young ones. hatch, they will eat their pupa（蛹）hosts.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} So although a female panda ant lays approximately 2, 000 eggs a year, a considerable amount of eggs to support their survival, this species is still on the edge of dying out.

    This species was first discovered in the coastal region of Central Chile in 1938. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Today, they are likely to be found in dry desert and sandy areas such as Southwestern United States and parts of Mexico.

A. It's a new fashion to raise panda ants as pets.

B. The name comes from their colors as pandas.

C. Yet young panda ants are meat-eaters.

D. No one believes the panda ant is the relative of bees.

E. Besides, the males are active at night while the females opposite.

F. Unfortunately, many panda ants are eaten for their bright colors.

G. Then little attention was given to it until recently.

    Shanghai Hengyuanxiang Drama Development Company and Netherlander Worldwide Entertainment signed a deal last November that would see Shimmer (《犹太人在上海》) become the first Chinese musical to have an open-ended run on Broadway in 2019. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Directed by Xu Jun, Shimmer is a musical in both English and Chinese. Shimmer, which tells a story about Jews who fled to Shanghai to escape Nazi persecution (迫害) during World War II, was first shown at the Shanghai Culture Square in 2015. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} The musical's scheduled open-ended run in 2019 will be one of the events to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States. With this play being shown on Broadway, the ties between Chinese people and Americans will be firmly strengthened. And through this drama, the audience can feel the charm of Chinese culture.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} To deal with the problem, many production companies in Shanghai have pointed out that they should keep striving for improvement by creating more Chinese musicals and by creating more audiences. Currently, those who watch Western musicals in China are limited to a small group — people who have received a university education or have had overseas working experiences, white-collar and even gold-collar workers. There are only a handful of people who understand foreign languages and you have to find a way to motivate the public and get them into the theater.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} There has been a handful of successful musical stories in Shanghai. The Chinese editions of Broadway musicals Cats and Mamma Mia, both of which had hundreds of shows across China, are among the top box office hits.

A. What do you think we can do to prevent Chinese musicals from declining in popularity?

B. At that time, the musical was chosen as the opening show for the 17th China Shanghai International Arts Festival.

C. The box office is expected to be twice higher than that of last year, reaching $1 million in total.

D. The small audience size hasn't discouraged local artists from producing outstanding works.

E. The deal is a milestone for Shimmer in its goal to further spread its influence to the world.

F. Despite the huge success of Shimmer, the team is facing a limited market.