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.

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.”

The Forbidden City in Beijing, home to the Palace Museum, houses more than 1.8 million cultural relics and is one of the world’s most visited tourist 【小题1】attract).

【小题2】(mark) the 600th anniversary of the Forbidden City, the Palace Museum will hold a series of events throughout 2020. Over 20 exhibitions will be held,【小题3】(cover) different areas such as history, art, festivals, and so on. For the special occasion, Along the Bian River during the Qingming Festival, one of China’s most 【小题4】(wide) known masterpieces, will go 【小题5】display in September 2020. For【小题6】(it) best preservation, this treasured artwork is seldom fully exhibited. The painting 【小题7】(display) for the first time back in 2005 to celebrate the museum’s 80th anniversary. Such 【小题8】 rare sight is expected to draw huge crowds.  In addition, the museum will also display exhibits from other【小题9】(country).

During the past few years, the Palace Museum has been working hard to get the public familiar with the history and culture of the Forbidden City. And it seems that these efforts have been paying off, with its popularity reaching a new height. Over 17 million people visited the museum in 2018, of【小题10】 40 percent were under 30 years old.

This report is about how to be polite. It tells about how we can make 【小题1】（we）language more polite and how we can make sure we do not upset someone from another culture.

It has been found that words such as "would" and "could" can be used 【小题2】（help）us to be polite. For example，it is much 【小题3】（good）to say "Would you do this？" rather than "Do this！" It is also suggested 【小题4】 it should be useful to say "Please" and "Thank you". People from the West like to use these words in 【小题5】（situation）where some people in Asia may not think it necessary. 【小题6】（say）"Sorry" if we interrupt or disagree 【小题7】 someone also helps us to be polite. For example，when we disagree，we should say "I'm sorry，but I think you are mistaken（弄错的）." rather than "You're wrong！"

In 【小题8】（conclude）, we need to know 【小题9】 custom of a country so that we do not make others embarrassed（尴尬的）. It seems that if people learn something about other 【小题10】（culture）backgrounds before they visit new countries，they will be less likely to upset others.

   Facial expressions carry meaning that is determined by situations and relationships. For example, in American culture (文化) the smile is in general an expression of pleasure. Yet it also has other uses. A woman’s smile at a police officer does not carry the same meaning as the smile she gives to a young child. A smile may show love or politeness. It can also hide true feelings. It often causes confusion (困惑) across cultures. For example, many people in Russia consider smiling at strangers in public to be unusual and even improper. Yet many Americans smile freely at strangers in public places (although this is less common in big cities).Some Russians believe that Americans smile in the wrong places; some Americans believe that Russians don’t smile enough. In Southeast Asian cultures, a smile is frequently used to cover painful feelings. Vietnamese people may tell a sad story but end the story with a smile.

Our faces show emotions (情感), but we should not attempt to "read" people from another culture as we would "read" someone from our own culture. The fact that members of one culture do not express their emotions as openly as do members of another does not mean that they do not experience emotions.

Rather, there are cultural differences in the amount of facial expressions permitted. For example, in public and in formal situations many Japanese do not show their emotions as freely as Americans do. When with friends, Japanese and Americans seem to show their emotions similarly.

It is difficult to generalize about Americans and facial expressiveness because of personal and cultural differences in the United States. People from certain cultural backgrounds in the United States seem to be more facially expressive than others. The key is to try not to judge people whose ways of showing emotion are different. If we judge according to our own cultural habits, we may make the mistake of "reading" the other person incorrectly.