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.

Here is a recipe (菜谱):

Getting Your Sleep Cycle (周期) Right

Warning: this article may make you want to yawn (打哈欠). Why? It's because we're looking into the world of sleep cycles.

Our bodies sleep in 90-minute cycles, experiencing five to six each 1 . At first, you enter a light stage (阶段) of sleep when your muscles (肌肉) 2 . Then, the body temperature drops, and the heart beat slows.

Next comes 3 sleep. It's difficult to wake up this stage. This is when your body repairs 4 and builds up energy (能量) for the day ahead. 5 , you get into the rapid eye-movement (REM，快速眼动) sleep stage. It is when most dreaming happens. 6 REM sleep, the cycle repeats.

Waking up in the morning in the "wrong" stage can make you feel especially 7 . An app called Sleep Calculator can help you avoid this. It's a tool made to work out the 8 bedtime for you based on your wake-up time.

Developed by the UK company Hillarys, this smart calculator considers the 9 cycles our bodies go through each night. Whether you're an early bird or a night owl (猫头鹰), simply input your wake-up time , 10 the calculator will work its magic, suggesting the perfect bedtime to make sure that you 11 and shine with a spring in your step.

It's also worth noting that you shouldn't just 12 your sleep cycle whenever you want. Many young people go to bed 13 and get up late, such as sleeping from 2 a.m. to 10 a.m. They 14 as long as they have 8 hours of sleep, everything will be fine.

But in fact, our bodies can tell the 15 , especially by using light and temperature. If we wake up too late, we may feel a bit like a zombie (僵尸). That's why sometimes we feel even more tired after oversleeping.

Nowadays, computers and the Internet are playing an important part in our life. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} When you use the computers, you usually need to set passwords(密码). But not all the passwords are safe. How can you make your passwords safe? {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

First, use capital(大写) letters in your password. It will be difficult for others to get into your account(账户). It only takes a hacker(黑客) 13 minutes to work out a six- letter password made of small letters. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

Second, use numbers and symbols in your password. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Sometimes such passwords are not easy to remember, but they are really safe.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#} If you do so, hackers will guess your passwords easily. You should change your passwords about every 90 days. In that way, hackers won't guess your passwords.
 

 How do you feel when you have to make a speech in front of class? What about when you go to a birthday party? Do you get really shy?

 Shyness means feeling worried or afraid when you' re around other people. Experts(专家) have found that more than 80 percent of middle school students feel afraid to be the center of attention(注意). Some kids are born shy. Some become shy later because of their life experiences(经历).

It's OK if it takes you a minute to feel yourself again when you go to a new place or meet new people. In fact, everybody gets a little shy sometimes. It's just a problem of how much.

 Most people have red faces and talk in broken language when they get shy. But some become so shy that they won't go to a restaurant because they are too nervous to order and pay for their food. Some are afraid of meeting new people, so they hardly go outside. This kind of shyness can be bad for a person.

 If shyness doesn't stop you from doing something you want to do, being shy isn't a very big problem. Some experts say shy people are cleverer because they think more and talk less. Shy people are also good at working with others because they think more for other people. Some great people in history were shy, too.

 You see, being shy isn't all bad. But remember not to let good chances pass by just because of it! If you have to sing a song at a birthday party or practice your spoken English in front of others, just do it! There's nothing to be afraid of.

Do you know that the colour words have other meanings？Now let me tell you. 
First，some colour words can be people's last names，such as Brown，Black，Green，White and Red. 
Second，some colour words have interesting meanings. For example，blue means unhappy. Green hand means you are new to something. If someone meets a "black cat"，something unlucky might happen to him. Black sheep means bad people in a group. Black coffee means coffee without（没有） milk. White coffee is coffee with milk. If someone tells you to put something "black and white"，they want you to write it down. In China，red is known to be a lucky colour. But you may be surprised to know that British culture（文化） is also full of the colour red. If someone "sees red"，they are angry. A company "in the red" is losing money.