Food is one of the necessities in our daily life. It serves as a form of communication in two fundamental ways. Sharing bread or other foods is a common human tradition that can promote unity and trust. Food can also have a specific meaning, and play a significant role in a family or culture's celebrations or traditions. The foods we eat—and when and how we eat them—are often unique to a particular culture or may even differ between countrysides and cities within one country.

    Sharing bread, whether during a special occasion or at the family dinner table, is a common symbol of togetherness. Many cultures also celebrate birthdays and marriages with cakes that are cut and shared among the guests. Early forms of cake were simply a kind of bread, so this tradition hits its roots in the custom of sharing bread.

    Food also plays an important role in many New Year celebrations. In the southern United States, pieces of corn bread represent blocks of gold for prosperity (兴旺) in the New Year. In Greece, people share a special cake called vasilopita. A coin is put into the cake, which signifies (预示) success in the New Year for the person who receives it.

    Many cultures have ceremonies to celebrate the birth of a child, and food can play a significant role. In China, when a baby is one month old, families name and welcome their child in a celebration that includes giving red-colored eggs to guests. In many cultures, round foods such as grapes, bread, and moon cakes are eaten at welcome celebrations to represent family unity.

    Nutrition is necessary for life, so it is not surprising that food is such an important part of different cultures around the world.

    When I was a child, my grandmother Adele took me to museums, restaurants, dances. She showered me gifts from her travels around the world. But I can only remember a book she gave me—one book that, to this day, I have not read. She presented me with her own favorite childhood book: Hans Brinker. My grandmother was happy to share this book with me. She even decorated the title page with her proud writing.

    I tried to read it. I adored reading, and would dive into a new pile of books from the library all at once. But something about Hans Brinker just wouldn't let me in. The story was set in Holland, a long time ago. It felt dull and unfamiliar, even though I was a fan of classics of other times and places. I simply read the first pages over and over. I could not progress.

    Standing on a bookshelf in our living room, the book was like something I avoided. It scolded me for not being interested, for not trying hard enough, for disappointing my grandmother. The book started to fit in, almost forgotten, until Adele asked. Had I read it? Did I like it? Always determined, she wanted to know the answer. I would make some kind of excuse, but feel bad, and open it again, hoping for a new reaction. The book weighed on me.

    Years passed and finally Adele and I both accepted that I would never read Hans Brinker. Eventually I cleared the book from the shelf. The Hans Brinker experience led me to set a rule that I've lived by ever since: Do not ask about a book given as a gift and don't let anything become your barrier. What Adele originally wanted to do is to give book-giving special meaning, but she increased the possibility of the owner to be a disappointment.

    A little boy discovered what looked like a map to an unknown place. He soon realized it was the beginning of an exciting treasure hunt.

    He found two pieces of paper along with the mysterious map. One was written with the instructions, “FIND THE WORDS.” The other piece of paper had several strange symbols scattered all over it.

    Dad, fortunately, was there to help his son figure out the mystery. He folded up the paper with the symbols on it, and together they formed a message, which had another set of instructions, “UNDER STEPS.” The smart little boy knew exactly what to do so he went to look under the steps of his house. Without too much effort, he found a box below the staircase.

    It didn't take him long to figure out what to do next: open it up! Inside the box were some very interesting objects, including another piece of a treasure map and two broken pieces of paper. These were the most interesting finds because they contained what appeared to be a collection of letters on them. Finally, they knew where the treasure was from the letters: IN THE BUSH UNDER YOUR YARD.

    After searching all over the yard, following several clues and wondering where everything would lead, the pair finally found what they had been looking for. And it was exactly what you would want after such an adventure: a treasure box!

    The pair pulled it out of the ground and cleaned away all the dirt. The dad put the box in front of his son, and the little boy couldn't contain his excitement. So he opened it up and finally found out what was inside.

    Inside was more treasure than any little boy could ever want. There were hundreds of coins and all sorts of pirate treasure, including what looks like a pearl necklace and some silver dishes.

    The TED speaker series features “ideas worth spreading”. With over 1,400 to choose from, we've selected a few that are perfect for students.

    ⒈Larry Smith: Why you will fail to have a great career

    We humans may have an unfavorable habit of making excuses for ourselves or being too confident about ourselves. Accordingly, Larry Smith, a professor of economics at the University of Waterloo in Canada, tells us why most of us will fail to have a great career. Luckily, as he puts it, there is a way out—follow your heart, as long as it is good for your career.

    ⒉Andy Puddicombe: All it takes is 10 mindful minutes

    Between dance team, volunteering and –oh, right—lectures, your life's crazy factor（因素）is about to go way up. In this entertaining and informative talk, Mindfulness, expert Andy Puddicombe teaches us how to be “more healthy, more mindful and less distracted” by taking just 10 minutes out of the day to be “more present”.

    ⒊Shane Koyczan: To this day…for the bullied（欺凌）and beautiful

    This talk is sure to stay with you. Shane Koyczan's “To This Day” is an affecting spoken-word poem about bullying and being different that gained over 10 million views on YouTube. In this talk, Koyczan gives a live reading of the poem, along with some stories about his background.

    ⒋Susan Cain: The power of introverts（性格内向者）

    Does a cup of tea and a good book sound like a perfect Friday night? In this personal talk, Susan Cain argues that introverts have talents and abilities. Our culture may value being outgoing, but the world needs all kinds.

A mix of anxiety rising in my chest and a voice at the back of my mind shouting ‘what's wrong with me?'-it's how I've felt about rejection my whole life.

 The earliest rejection I can remember was on my first day of school. I started the term late due to illness and the teacher asked the class who would play with me at break. The silence was deafening. Now, a bit of online dating sees us rejected by half the town before we've even started our day. There's not a break at work. Is there a worse feeling than hitting the final slide on your presentation, boldly asking 'any questions?' and looking around the room to see everyone on their phones?

We need to build resilience. For me, this has come in two stages. First, I spent time listening to the voice of fear that saw each rejection as proof that there was something wrong with me. When I analysed it, I could see it was rarely about me. Perhaps the guy I was talking to was too busy to reply. It was likely that the magazine I'd sent a passage to already had an article on that topic. Now, I assume it's about me 20 per cent of the time-and I can live with that.

 The other thing I do is practice rejecting. Because I hate rejection, I shy away from being the rejector, which means I either please people or avoid tricky situations. Instead, I've come up with a few lines for when I want to say no: 'That sounds great but it's not for me; thank you for asking but I decline; it was lovely but I think we should leave it there.' It's never pleasant to reject a person but there is a kind way to do it. With resilience and clarity, we can see the plus sides of rejection: it frees us up to do something else, be with someone else and be happier. We can't complain about that.