Cats are the most popular pets among Americans. So it is not surprising that there are many expressions about cats. Some cats like to catch small birds, like canaries (金丝雀). If someone looks very proud or satisfied with himself, we say he looks like the cat that eats the canary.

       Sometimes, a cat likes to play with a small animal it catches. So if you play cat and mouse with someone, you change between different kinds of behavior when dealing with another person. For example, a child might offer something sweet to his little brother and then take it away when he reaches for it.

       You may have known that cats spend most of their time sleeping. Sometimes people sleep for a short time during the day. This is called a cat nap.

       If you tell about something that was supposed to be a secret, we say you let the cat out of the bag. If you are not able to speak or answer a question, someone might ask if the cat has got your tongue.

       Have you ever watched children in classroom when their teacher leaves for a few minutes? “When the cat’s away, the mice will play” will best describe that situation.

       You may have heard this expression: curiosity killed the cat. This means being too concerned about things that are not your business might cause problems.

If your home is very small, you might say there is not enough room to swing a cat. But you probably should not try this at home!

Greeting cards first appeared as simple pieces of paper by both the Egyptians and Chinese to show their messages of goodwill. As time went by, Europeans began to send them to one another for holidays such as Valentine’s Day --- and that happened as early as in the 1400s. Of course, these cards were handmade and they were big ticket items, so not everyone could afford to send them with their best wishes in holidays.

Greeting cards became really popular in the 1850s when printing as well as the invention of stamps made people all over the world send greeting cards to their loved ones. Now, the greeting card is a billion-dollar business, with people buying and sending cards for holidays, religious celebrations or birthdays, and even just as a simple thank-you. The two largest greeting card companies--- Hallmark and American Greetings, offer cards that are perfect for any occasion, with themes and illustrations that are great for all tastes.

Of course, you don’t need to buy your greeting cards in a store. Computers and home printers have made it easy to create and print out your own cards at home. Many people have also started to make paper crafts and their own greeting cards out of many different materials, which costs a lot of time but certainly shows strong emotion.

Greeting cards have developed from an item used only by the rich to an everyday tradition. Whether you want to communicate with relatives far away, or just let your sweethearts know how much you love them, greeting cards make a great way to brighten up their day!

I have never understood the importance of parties in the classroom. As a mother of two school age children, I believe that public schools should no longer   (1)   classroom parties during the school day.

  (2)   is very important to students in school today. Our school year is already too short. Teachers can only just get all the basics of the courses (课程) into the   (3)   instructional minutes of the day.   (4)  , there is no time for anything useless or silly.   (5)   time is best spent focusing on the primary goal — learning.

And what about food? For health and safety reasons, schools often require that   (6)   for these activities should be bought from a store. This   (7)   a real problem for many families. Biscuits for a class of students, plus drinks and napkins can   (8)  what it costs a family to eat a meal at home. The   (9)  of a classroom party is   (10)   a problem for many people, especially in these difficult times.   (11)  , we all know that our children have eaten enough sugar and junk food without the school   (12)   such unhealthy choices.

All the   (13)   that a party can create is unacceptable! I   (14)   those birthday parties held at home for my children. I would just buy the disposable (一次性的) plates, cups, and napkins   (15)   I didn’t need to do any cleaning up. But even so, I just   (16)   to fit all the party time rubbish into the rubbish bin (垃圾桶).   (17)  the trash thrown out by a school of 16 classrooms and over 400 students. It only adds to the   (18)   of our planet’s environment.

I am not sure when our public schools decided that classroom   (19)  needed to become a part of the school calendar (日历), but I do not see the   (20)  . So I do believe schools should forbid (禁止) classroom celebrations.

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, uneasiness, or worry. Silence may be viewed by some cultural groups as extremely uncomfortable; therefore attempts may be made to fill every gap (间隙) 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 (暗示) 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 persons may use silence to show agreement between parties about the topic under discussion. However, Mexicans may list 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, persons 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 (治愈) value of silence can use this understanding to assist in the care of patients from their own and from other cultures.

What does the author advise nurses to do about silence?

The advantages of an international language in the modern world are obvious. Thanks to modern methods of transport, we can travel everywhere more easily and more quickly than ever before, but the language problem still remains. Without a common language, there may be misunderstandings between people of different countries. There are two possible solutions to this problem: either we choose one of the main living languages of the world, or we make up an artificial one. But neither solution is simple because no living language will be acceptable to everyone and because an artificial(人造的)language, such as Esperanto, has no culture and would be thought boring by many learners.

It is often said that English is quickly becoming a world language. It is certainly the most widely used language in the world, and second only to Chinese in its number or native speakers, but there are certain worries of choosing English as an international language.

First of all, for political reasons and national pride, English is not acceptable to everyone as a world language. Many dislike its influence. English words enter their language and this often threats their own language. In France, a new word “franglais” has been invented to describe the results. Although English is being taught in more and more schools abroad, the process is not always popular. Not every nation is prepared to accept the leading position of English in their education system.

Should we allow modern buildings to be built next to older buildings in a historic area of a city? In order to answer this question, we must first examine whether people really want to preserve the historic feel of an area. Not all historical buildings are attractive. However, there may be other reasons— for example, economic reasons— why they should be preserved. So, let us assume that historical buildings are both attractive and important to the majority of people. What should we do then if a new building is needed?

In my view, new architectural styles can exist perfectly well alongside an older style. Indeed, there are many examples in my own hometown of Tours where modern designs have been placed very successfully next to old buildings. As long as the building in question is pleasing and does not dominate (影响) its surroundings too much, it often improves the attractiveness of the area.

It is true that there are examples of new buildings which have spoilt (破坏) the area they are in, but the same can be said of some old buildings too. Yet people still speak against new buildings in historic areas. I think this is simply because people are naturally conservative (保守的) and do not like change.

Although we have to respect people’s feelings as fellow users of the buildings, I believe that it is the duty of the architect and planner tomove things forward. If we always reproduced what was there before, we would all still be living in caves. Thus, I would argue against copying previous architectural styles and choose something fresh and different, even though that might be the more risky choice.

The values of artistic works,according to cultural relativism(相对主义),are simply reflections of local social and economic conditions.Such a view,however,fails to explain the ability of some works of art to excite the human mind across cultures and through centuries.

History has witnessed the endless productions of Shakespearean plays in every major language of the world.It is never rare to find that Mozart packs Japanese concert halls,as Japanese painter Hiroshige does Paris galleries.Unique works of this kind are different from today’s popular art,even if they began as works of popular art.They have set themselves apart in their timeless appeal and will probably be enjoyed for centuries into the future.

In a 1757 essay,the philosopher David Hume argued that because“the general principles of taste are uniform(不变的)in human nature”,the value of some works of art might be essentially permanent.He observed that Homer was still admired after two thousand years.Works of this type,he believed,spoke to deep and unvarying features of human nature and could continue to exist over centuries.

Now researchers are applying scientific methods to the study of the universality of art.For example,evolutionary psychology is being used by literary scholars to explain the long-lasting themes and plot devices in fiction.The structures of musical pieces are now open to experimental analysis as never before.Research findings seem to indicate that the creation by a great artist is as permanent an achievement as the discovery by a great scientist.

In a Station of the Metro（地铁）

The apparition of these faces in the crowd;

Petals（花瓣）on a wet, black bough（树枝）.

This is the only Ezra Pound poem that many people will read in their lives. Why? One obvious reason is that it’s just two lines long. The poem, which can be understood as “A man sees a bunch of faces in the subway and thinks they look like flowers on a tree branch,” is an exercise in shortness. Pound wrote it after having a spiritual experience in a Paris metro (subway) station.

In 1916, the US poet originally thought he could best describe his vision in a painting. Unfortunately, he wasn’t a painter. So he wrote a thirty-line poem, which he didn’t like. He dropped the long version in the waste bin. Six months later, he wrote a shorter poem, but didn’t like that one either. Finally, a full year after the experience, he had been reading short Japanese poems called haikus, and he figured he would try this style. The result, which was published in 1913, is one of the most famous and influential works in modern poetry.

This poem is one of the monuments (纪念物) of the 20th-century artistic movement known as “Imagism”. Basically, Pound and his friends thought that images (意象) weren’t just decoration: they were the highest form of speech. By finding the right image, the poet can express the true, spiritual reality of a thing, which is more important than using a bunch of adjectives to describe itsphysical appearance. Thus, “In a Station of the Metro” is a poem that consists of one image expressed with absolute (绝对的) exactness and nothing else.

To the imagists, the best way to describe an experience is not to use more and more words; the best way is to find exactly the right words. Have you ever told a beloved one that “words can’t express” how much you love them? Well, Pound would say that you’re just being lazy. In his view, words can express anything, even if it takes an entire year to find the right ones.