Some years ago, I was hired by an American bank. I received a letter from the head of the Personnel Department that _______. "Dear John, I am quite pleased that you have decided to join us." That "quite" _______ me. I thought he was saying" We're _______ pleased you decided to join us although I _______ we had hired someone else. "Then I discovered that in American English "quite" sometimes means "very", _______ in British English it means "fairly".

So the _______ lesson about working in other countries is to _______ the language and by that I don't just _______ the words people speak. It contains _______ language, dress, manners, ideas and so on. The way people do things ________ many of the differences we see between cultures.

Some of these differences may be only on the surface-dress, food and hours of work-while ________ may be deeper and take longer to deal with. Mostly, it is just a question of getting used to the ________ and accepting them, like the climate, while we're getting on with business.

Some of the differences may be a（n）________. People are ________ polite; the service is better; you ask something to be done and it happens without having to ask again.________, other differences can be ________ punctuality（准时）.If you invite people to a party at 7 o'clock, your guests will consider it polite to ________ exactly on time in Germany, five minutes early in the American Midwest, an hour early in Japan, 15 minutes afterwards in the UK, up to an hour afterwards in Italy and some in the evening in Greece. I ________ not to use the word "late" because there is nothing wrong with the ________ people base their behavior on. It is simply ________ in their own country.

The summer solstice (夏至) has been widely recognized as a festival throughout the world.

The word solstice originates (起源) from the Latin sol and sistere, 【小题1】 (mean) “sun-standing”. 【小题2】 the days lengthen, the sun rises higher and higher until it seems to stand still in the sky. It is one of the great turning points of the year, when the sun is at its 【小题3】 (high) point in the sky during a year.

Today, the day is celebrated around the world. In England thousands gather to welcome the sunrise on the summer solstice. Throughout Europe groups light a fire and stay up all night to welcome the dawn. In Paris, the day 【小题4】 (mark) with free concerts during the every year’s Fête de la Musique. When it comes 【小题5】 the U. S., the city of Santa Barbara in California holds the county’s biggest 【小题6】 (celebrate) that lasts a full three-day time. On the East Coast, New York City 【小题7】 (tradition) welcomes the summer solstice with a music concert at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine.

In the southern part of China, eating lychees (荔枝) during the summer solstice 【小题8】 (be) a long tradition because eating lychees will cause less “heat” to the body. There is a saying in Shandong province 【小题9】 goes, “eating dumplings on the winter solstice day and eating 【小题10】 (noodle) on the summer solstice day.”

   Apart from decoration purposes, the paint symbols  were mainly used during wars to express secret messages to the other members of the tribe. Native Indians believed that the designs that they painted had certain magical power that would protect them. The symbols were a reflection of the happenings and events during a war.Given below are the different symbols with  their meanings.

Eye of a Medicine Man Symbol It was a very powerful symbol thatrepresented the medicine man or shaman.The outer（外部的）lines indicated the four directions. The inner lines showed the spirit world and the dot in the center meant the eye of the medicine man and his spiritual vision.

Lightning Symbol It was a common symbol that wasseen painted on the face or across the forehead of almost all the soldiers. It was believed that itbrought power and speed to the wearer. A lightning symbol also symbolized the thunderbird , which brought lightni ng.

Four Ages of Man Symbol It indicated four stages of a man's life. They were childhood, youth and adolescence , maturity  in middle age, and wisdom in old age.

Indian Camp Symbol It indicated an Indian village that consisted of tent-like houses made of wood and animal skins. It was easy to build and dismantle（拆卸）quickly.

Homecoming Symbol It indicated the return of soldiers and ceremonies were held to welcome the brave soldiers.

So, these were a few war paint symbols along with their meanings. These were some of the widespread symbols. Each and every tribe had different symbols and colors , which indicated different things. They were not only used during wars, but also for hunting and decorations.

   A good joke can be the hardest thing to understand when people are studying a foreign language. As a recent article in The Guardian noted，“There's more to understanding a joke in a foreign language than understanding vocabulary and grammar.”

Being able to understand local jokes is often seen as an unbelievable icebreaker for a language learner eager to form friendships with native speakers.“I always felt that humor was a ceiling that I could never break through，”Hannah Ashley，a public relations account manager in London，who once studied Spanish in Madrid，told The Guardian.“I could never speak to people on the same level as I would speak to a native English speaker. I almost came across as quite a boring person because all I could talk about was facts.”

In fact，most of the time，jokes are only funny for people who share a cultural background or understand humor in the same way. Chinese-American comedian Joe Wong found this out first-hand. He had achieved huge success in the US，but when he returned to China in 2008 for his first live show in Beijing，he discovered that people didn't think his Chinese jokes were as funny as his English ones.

In Australia，meanwhile many foreigners find understanding jokes about sports to be the biggest headache. “The hardest jokes are related to rugby because I know nothing about rugby，”said Melody Cao，who was once a student in Australia.“When I heard jokes I didn't get，I just laughed along.”

In the other two major English-speaking countries，the sense of humor is also different. British comedian Simon Pegg believes that while British people use irony（反话）一basically，saying something they don't mean to make a joke—every day，people in the US don't see the point of using it so often.“British jokes tend to be more subtle and dark，while American jokes are more obvious with their meanings，a bit like Americans themselves，”he wrote in The Guardian.

Chinese culture certainly has no shortage of【小题1】（symbol）of good fortune，many of them arising from wordplay or riddles. For example，fish in China are considered to be a symbol of luck in several ways. Since the Chinese pronunciation of fish is the same as【小题2】 of another word meaning surplus，fish are often used as【小题3】sign of wealth or abundance. During the Spring Festival，a fish【小题4】（prepare）to represent the desire to always have something 【小题5】（leave）over for the coming year. One can also often see carp（鲤鱼）in Asian artwork.

This fish is able to grow very old，therefore 【小题6】（serve）as a symbol of longevity. It also represents unity since they often swim together in pairs. This explains 【小题7】 fish decorations are often given 【小题8】 a wedding gift to represent a perfect union. 【小题9】（final），fish are also a symbol of fertility（生育能力）because of their 【小题10】（able）to reproduce rapidly and in large volumes.