When early colonial settlers went to America, they took many forms of dance to their new home. Square dancing, one of the oldest forms of American folk dancing, developed from several different Old World group dances, mainly English country dances, and the French quadrille(四对方舞).

   In the American version of square dancing, four couples form a square and dance to music. An American addition to square dancing is the caller. What do you think a caller does?

The callers---someone who calls out the dance steps in time to the music--- was a completely American invention. At first dancers memorized all the steps for a particular dance, but eventually the dances became so complicated that it was necessary to have someone call out cues (提示) so that dancers didn’t have to remember so many steps. The caller didn’t just call out “do-se-do your partner”; a good caller also came up with colorful sayings or witty lines that he said in between the cues such as “Don’t be shy and don’t be afraid. Swing on the corner in a waltz promenade (步伐).” A caller might also come up with new dance steps and routines.

   Although popular for years, square dancing seemed to be going out of style and fading away until the early 1930s, when Henry Ford helped revive（复苏）interest in it. Ford, the automobile manufacturer, used to vacation at the Wayside Inn in Massachusetts, where he enjoyed the dance programme run by a man named Benjamin Lovett. Ford asked Lovett to come to Detroit and teach dances, but Lovett said he couldn’t because he had a contract with the inn. Ford solved that problem by buying the inn and Lovett’s contract. He took Lovett back to Detroit, where together they established a programme for teaching squares and rounds. Square dancing was updated and groups began forming all over the country.

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Barbecuing has been an art form ever since hunting and fire were mastered．
Many countries claim it as their own．
In France，the phrase "barbe a  queueˈ，一meaning "from head to tailˈ，一has
been used to describe a method of cooking a pig whole．In the US，BBQ，which is
considered to be short for "barbecueˈ，，was once used on old roadhouse signs that
advertised "bar, beer and cues（球杆）．”
But in Australia, "where gas barbecues can be found in just about every backyard
and balcony in the country, barbecuing is considered a basic rightˈ，noted CNN.
On November 15，Australia，s Prime Minister Tony Abbott hosted a traditional
Aussie barbecue lunch to treat、the world，s most powerful leaders who had arrived in
Brisbane，Queensland for the G20 Leaders Summit. The lunch not only featured the
traditional burnt but tasty steak and sausages，but also other special Australian foods．
So how did the barbecue become such an important part of the country，s culture
In Australia, firing up the barbie（烧烤架）and laid-back outdoor eating are almost a
way of life，said Cue.
Barbecuing came to be thought of as an important part of the Aussie lifestyle in
the 1960s, when the "chop（排骨）picnic" became part of the Aussie language. "We
love the great outdoors so much that something like that great Australian tradition, the
‘barbie’，was certain to happen,，，Australian author Mark Thomson wrote in his book
the Legendary Australian Barbecue．

Except for the Indians, the earliest backpackers in America were frontiersmen（边民）, who traveled the wilderness looking either for necessities such as food and water or for sources of wealth such as fur and gold. For them backpacking was a way of survival or a means of achieving what one day would be called the “American Dream”.

Today, however, many people enjoy backpacking as an entertaining activity. Shouldering a pack and leaving behind the world of telephone, television and traffic promise an exciting experience. Testing one’s stamina（耐力）and skills is challenging, and regaining a sense of one’s place in the natural world can be rewarding. Moreover, backpacking is an activity that can last any length of time and can be enjoyed alone or with friends. Then too, a backpacking trip may be organized within a day or two.

The backpacker and his friends have only to decide on their destination and then organize the all-important equipment, whose contents they must depend on the trip. A map, a compass, a flashlight, along with food, and extra clothing can be found without much difficulty. Once the backpackers have left word about where they go in a note on the refrigerator door or in a message on an answering machine, they can look forward to an adventure that will lift the spirit and promote the soul. Their outing will enable them to return in a short time to the age of technology with the courage and independence of Natty Bumppo, who did indeed belong to the age of the frontier.

Father’s Day is a fairly new celebration in Britain compared with Mother’s Day, which has been a very popular and well celebrated festival in the UK for a very long time.

Father’s Day was first celebrated in America, and it came from the actions of a man named William Smart. He used to be in the army during the US Civil War and his wife died when giving birth to their sixth child. He raised six children alone without marrying again, which was unusual back in those days.

His daughter, Sonora Dodd, realized when she was an adult what her father had done for his children. It was in the early 1900s and she was actually at church one day, listening to a talk on Mother’s Day. She thought there should be a Father’s Day celebration. And so the tradition was born, on the third Sunday every June, close to the anniversary(纪念日) of Sonora’s father’s death.

Britain took the idea of Father’s Day from the American celebration and it has been celebrated officially since the 1970s. Father’s Day is never quite such a big event in business as Mother’s Day, probably because it hasn’t existed for so long.

   Meeting people from another culture can be difficult. From the beginning, people may send the wrong signal. Or they may pay no attention to signals from another person who is trying to develop a relationship.

    Different cultures emphasize the importance of relationship building to a greater or lesser degree. For example, business in some countries is not possible until there is a relationship of trust. Even with people at work, it is necessary to spend a lot of time in "small talk", usually over a glass of tea, before they do any job. In many European countries - like the UK or France - people find it easier to build up a lasting working relationship at restaurants or cafe's rather than at the office.

    Talk and silence may also be different in some cultures. I once made a speech in Thailand. I had expected my speech to be a success and start a lively discussion; instead there was an uncomfortable silence. The people present just stared at me and smiled. After getting to know their ways better, I realized that they thought I was talking too much. In my own culture, we express meaning mainly through words, but people there sometimes feel too many words are unnecessary.

    Even within Northern Europe, cultural differences can cause serious problems. Certainly, English and German cultures share similar values; however, Germans prefer to get down to business more quickly. We think that they are rude. In fact, this is just because one culture starts discussions and makes decisions more quickly.

    People from different parts of the world have different values, and sometimes these values are quite against each other. However, if we can understand them better, a multicultural environment will offer a wonderful chance for us to learn from each other.