Black Friday is the Friday following Thanksgiving Day in the United States. It has been regarded as the beginning of the holiday shopping season. Although it’s not an official holiday, millions of employers give their employees the day off, and many people use that day to get a jump-start on their holiday shopping. A similar day in Canada and Great Britain is called “Boxing Day”.

Black Friday has become somewhat of a marketing sensation in recent years. Since 2005, it has been the busiest shopping day of the year. To lure shoppers, retailers (零售商) routinely open their doors as early as 4 a.m. and offer special sales and promotions to the shoppers that arrive early. Some of the special deals offered by stores a re only available in limited quantities. That is why some shoppers intent on getting the best deals often camp out in front of stores overnight so that they’ll be the first in line when the doors open.

But why Black Friday? Historians believe the name started in Philadelphia in the mid-1960s. Bus drivers and police used “Black Friday” to describe the heavy traffic that would block city streets the day after Thanksgiving as shoppers headed to the stores.

Businesses, however, didn’t like the negative tone associated wi th the “Black Friday” name. In the early 1980s, a more positive explanation of the name began to circulate. According to this alternative explanation, Black Friday is the day when retailers finally begin to turn a profit for the year. In accounting terms (会计行业), operating at a loss is called being “in the red” because accountants traditionally used red ink to show negative amounts. Positive amounts were usually shown in black ink. Thus, being “in the black” is a good thing because it means stores are operating at a profit.

Recently, for those who are too busy to shop on Black Friday or who just don’t want to fight the crowds, the Monday following Black Friday has become known as Cyber Monday (网络星期一) for the many online deals.

The meaning of silence varies among cultural groups. Silences may be thoughtful, or they may be empty when a person has nothing to say. A silence in a conversation may also show stubbornness, or worry. Silence may be viewed by some cultural groups as extremely uncomfortable; therefore attempts may be made to fill every gap with conversation. Persons in other cultural groups value silence and view it as necessary for understanding a person’s needs.

Many Native Americans value silence and feel it is a basic part of communicating among people, just as some traditional Chinese and Thai persons do. Therefore, when a person from one of these cultures is speaking and suddenly stops, what may be implied is that the person wants the listener to consider what has been said before continuing. In these cultures, silence is a call for reflection.

Other cultures may use silence in other ways, particularly when dealing with conflicts among people or in relationships of people with different amounts of power. For example, Russian, French and Spanish people may use silence to show agreement between parties about the topic under discussion. However, Mexicans may use silence when instructions are given by a person in authority rather than be rude to that person by arguing with him or her. In still another use, people in Asian cultures may view silence as a sign of respect, particularly to an elder or a person in authority.

Nurses and other care-givers need to be aware of the possible meanings of silence when they come across the personal anxiety their patients may be experiencing. Nurses should recognize their own personal and cultural construction of silence so that a patient’s silence is not interrupted too early or allowed to go on unnecessarily. A nurse who understands the healing value of silence can use this understanding to assist in the care of patients from their own and from other cultures.

Paper is one of the most important inventions of all time. The word “paper” comes from the word “papyrus” —a thin paper-like material made from the papyrus plant. It is believed that ancient Egyptians first used papyrus. In AD105, a Chinese man named Cai Lun created paper by using pieces of old cloth, etc. For centuries, people all over the world used this Chinese way to make paper. In the early 19th century, Charles Fenerty, a Canadian man, invented a new way of papermaking using wood. Today, most of the paper we use is made from wood.

Paper money was invented in the 11th century in China. The government began using paper money because there wasn’t enough copper(铜) to make coins.

Today, it’s hard to imagine life without paper. We use paper to communicate in many different ways. We also use many important products which are made of paper. Take toilet paper for example. Many people believe that an American named Joseph Gayetty invented it in 1857. Walter Alcock, a British businessman, later had the idea of putting toilet paper on rolls. In 1942, toilet paper became softer and St. Andrew’s Paper Mill in England began selling the first two-ply(两层的) toilet paper. Today two-ply toilet paper is the standard in many countries.

So can you imagine what life today would be like without this important invention?  

Ireland has had a very difficult history. The problems started in the 16th century when English rulers tried to conquer Ireland. For hundreds of years, the Irish people fought against the English. Finally, in 1921, the British government was forced to give independence to the south of Ireland. The result is that today there are two “Irelands”. Northern Ireland, in the north, is part of the United Kingdom. The Republic of Ireland, in the south, is an independent country.

In the 1840s the main crop, potatoes, was affected by disease and about 750,000 people died of hunger. This, and a shortage of work, forced many people to leave Ireland and live in the USA, the UK, Australia and Canada. As a result of these problems, the population fell from 8.2 million in 1841 to 6.6 million in 1851.

For many years, the majority of Irish people earned their living as farmers. Today, many people still work on the land but more and more people are moving to the cities to work in factories and offices. Life in the cities is very different from life in the countryside, where things move at a quieter and slower pace.

The Irish are famous for being warm-hearted and friendly, Oscar Wilde, a famous Irish writer, once said that the Irish were “the greatest talkers since the Greeks”, Since independence, Ireland has revived (复兴) its own culture of music, language, literature and singing. Different areas have different styles of old Irish songs which are sung without instruments. Other kinds of Irish music use many different instruments such as the violin, whistles, etc.

February has long been a month of romance. With the sweet smell of roses in the air, romantic films hit cinemas and love stories fill newspapers and magazines.

    On the 14th day, it is a custom for a boy to take his girlfriend out to dinner, buy her flowers and chocolates, write poems, sing to her or even spell out her name with rose petals! This is what you see on Valentine’s Day, a day named after Valentine who was a priest in the third century Rome. When the emperor decided that single men could become better soldiers than those with wives, he didn’t allow marriage.

    But Valentine continued to perform marriage ceremonies for young lovers in secret. When his actions were discovered, the emperor sentenced him to death. While in prison, it is said that Valentine fell in love with the daughter of his prison guard. Before his death, he wrote her a letter, which he signed “From your Valentine”, an expression that is still in use today. Valentine died for what he believed in and so he was made a Saint, as well as becoming one of history’s most romantic characters.

    Nowadays, Valentine’s Day is also popular among Chinese young people. Some students are planning to make Valentine’s cards for parents, teachers and friends. Others want to hold parties at which they will exchange small gifts and eat heart-shaped cakes. The idea is to have fun and encourage people to share in the spirit of St. Valentine.

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     Many people believe that paper started with the ancient Egyptians. However, this is not exactly true. Instead, 5,000 years ago, Egyptians used a material called papyrus, which was made from the stems (茎) of river plants. They put these flat pieces together to create a larger flat sheet (薄片), on which Ancient Egyptians wrote like paper.

     But the paper we know today did not exist until 3,000 years later. It was created in China. No one knows who first invented paper. But history does tell us about one man who improved the process. It was in the year 105. A man named Cai Lun began to use many materials to make paper. He took the outer covering of a tree, pieces of net and cloth, broke these materials down into very small pieces and mixed them with water. Then he pressed out the water, and all that was left was a thin sheet of paper.

     Paper quickly spread to other areas of the world. In the Middle East, people made paper thicker and also made it easier to produce quickly. From the Middle East, paper travelled to Europe and then the Americas. For many years paper cost a lot of money and time to create. But in the 19th century, people began to create paper from wood.

     Paper changed the way people lived. Long ago, when paper was difficult to make, people only used paper for special purposes. Government officials would write important laws on it. Explorers drew maps of the world on it. But common people did not use it. As paper became easier to make, it was used for more things. People wrapped (包裹) it around gifts. Paper was also used as money. Today people use paper for even more things.

Who built St Basil’s Cathedral? When did Big Ben start ticking? And what was Stonehenge used for? Here are some interesting facts about famous landmarks.

R The Golden Gate Bridge

During the 50th anniversary celebrations for the Golden Gate Bridge, so many people walked across it that the middle of the bridge sank over two metres. The bridge designed by Irving Morrow, which was opened in 1937, is actually red, but is called “golden” because gold was discovered in California.

R La Sagrada Familia

La Sagrada Familia is a church in Barcelona which was designed by artist Antoní Gaudí. Construction began in 1882, but over 100 years later, it still isn’t finished. The building is being financed by donations.

R Stonehenge

Experts are fairly certain that Stonehenge was built around 4,000 years ago. However, nobody knows what it was used for. Some believe it was a burial ground. Others think it was built to study astronomy, and some are under the impression that it was used as a place to cure sick people.

R Big Ben

Big Ben, which is officially known as  Elizabeth Tower, is the nickname for the Great Bell in the famous clock. The Great Bell, which began functioning in 1859, rings every hour. There are people whose job it is to place coins on the pendulum to correct the weight and keep the clock on time.

R St Basil’s Cathedral

Construction of St Basil’s cathedral, a Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow, was completed in 1561 by the first Czar of Russia—Ivan the Terrible. The building, which was designed by Barma and Postnik Yakovlev, is now a museum.

Halloween(万圣节)is a traditional celebration held on October 31^st. It began as an ancient Celtic festival in Great Britain, Scotland and Ireland. Then, people from these countries carried the tradition to North America. Halloween has spread to most places of the English-speaking Western World, and increasingly into Western Europe in recent times.

   In the past, children who dressed up as animals would go from door to door to collect fruit, nuts and so on, which were used for playing traditional games.

   Halloween is usually celebrated by both adults and kids. Some families celebrate by playing special games or telling ghost stories. Sometimes children go trick or treating—knocking on doors of their trusted neighborhoods to collect candy.

   In earlier years, Halloween was a time for playing harmless tricks. However, in more recent times, Halloween tricks have sometimes gotten out of hand—causing damage and injury to others. Schools usually prefer to celebrate Halloween by having children dress as storybook characters. In this way, children are still allowed to "dress up", and the holiday becomes both fun and educational.

I travel a lot, and I find out different “styles”（风格）of directions every time I ask “How can I get to the post office?”

Foreign tourists are often confused（困惑）in Japan because most streets there don’t have names; in Japan, people use landmarks（地标）in their directions instead of street names. For example, the Japanese will say to travelers, “Go straight down to the corner. Turn left at the big hotel and go past a fruit market. The post office is across from the bus stop.”

In the countryside of the American Midwest, there are not usually many landmarks. There are no mountains, so the land is very flat；in many places there are no towns or buildings within miles. Instead of landmarks, people will tell you directions and distances. In Kansas or Iowa, for example , people will say, “Go north two miles. Turn east, and then go another mile.”

People in Los Angeles , California, have no idea of distance on the map; they measure distance in time, not miles. “How far away is the post office?” you ask. “Oh,” they answer, “it’ is about five minutes from here.” You say , “Yes , but how many miles away is it ?”They don’t know .

It’s true that a person doesn’t know the answer to your question sometimes. What happens in such a situation? A New Yorker might say, “Sorry, I have no idea .” But in Yucatan, Mexico, no one answers “I don’t know.” People in Yucatan believe that “I don’t know” is impolite. They usually give an answer, often a wrong one. A tourist can get very, very lost in Yucatan !

The National Gallery

Description:

The National Gallery is the British national art museum built on the north side of Trafalgar Square in London. It houses a diverse collection of more than 2,300 examples of European art ranging from 13th­century religious paintings to more modern ones by Renoir and Van Gogh. The older collections of the gallery are reached through the main entrance while the more modern works in the East Wing are most easily reached from Trafalgar Square by a ground floor entrance.

Layout：

The modern Sainsbury Wing on the western side of the building houses 13th­to 15th­century paintings, and artists include Duccio, Uccello, Van Eyck, Lippi, Mantegna，Botticelli and Memling.

The main West Wing houses 16th­century paintings，and artists include Leonardo da Vinci, Cranach，Michelangelo, Raphael, Bruegel,, Bronzino, Titian and Veronese.

The North Wing houses 17th­century paintings, and artists include Caravaggio, Rubens, Poussin, Van Dyck, Velazquez, Claude and Vermeer.

The East Wing houses 18th­to early 20th­century paintings, and artists include Canaletto, Goya, Turner, Constable，Renoir and Van Gogh.

Opening Hours：

The Gallery is open every day from 10am to 6pm (Fridays 10am to 9pm) and is free，but charges apply to some special exhibitions.

Getting There：

Nearest underground stations：Charing Cross (2­minute walk), Leicester Square (3­minute walk), Embankment (7­minute walk), and Piccadilly Circus (8­minute walk).