【正文】 i t is di ficul t for them to get top prices on the markets.” Many peopl e in Engl and beli eved thi s story. They rang the BBC to fi nd out hoe to grow thei r own nodl e tree. They were told to “pl ace a piece of noodl e in a ti n of tom ato sauce and hope for the best. ” Thi s m ay seem very sil y, but in the 1950s very few Bri ti sh peopl e travel ed aboard for their holi days and even fewer of them ate noodl es. So it seemed posibl e to im agi ne that noodl es grew on tree l i ke appl es, pears and nuts. Peopl e al so trusted the Panoram a programm e for i ts careful research and seri ous i nform ation. So they were shocked to find the next day that they had al bel i eved an April Fool’s joke. Even today the report of the noodl e harvest i s rem em bered as one of the best April Fool’s jokes ever! Uni t 4 Comm unicat ion: No Probl em ? Yesterday, another student and I, representing our university’s student asoci ation, went to the Capi tal Internati onal Ai rport to meet thi s year’s i nternati onal students. They were ing to study at Beijing Uni versi ty. We shoul d take them fi rst to their dormi tori es and then to the student cantee. After an hour of wai ti ng for their fli ght to arive, I saw several young peopl e enter the waiti ng area l oking around curi ously. I stood for a mi nute watchi ng them and then went to greet them . The fi rst person to arive was Tony Garcia from Col um bi a, closel y fol owed by Jul i a Smi th from Bri tai n. After I met them and then i ntroduced them to each other, I was very surpri sed. Tony aproached Juli a, touched her shoulder and kissed her on the cheek! She steped back appeari ng surprised and put up her hands, as if i n defence. I guessed that there was probably a m ajor mi sunderstandi ng. Then Aki ra Nagata from Japan cam e i n smil ing, together wi th Gee Cook from Canada. As they were i ntroduced, Gee reached hi s hand out to the Japanese student. Just at that mom ent, however, Aki ra bowed so hi s nose touched Gee’s m ovi ng hand. They both apol ogi zed another cul tural mi stake! Ahm ed Azi z, another i nternati onal student, was from Jordan. When we met yesterday, he m oved very close to m e as I i ntroduced m ysel f. I m oved back a bit, but he cam e cl oser to ask a questi on and then shook my hand. When Darl ene Coul on from France cam e dashing through the door, she recogni zed Tony Garci a39。s sm il ng face. They shook hand and then ki ssed each other twi ce on each cheek, since that is the France custom when adults m eet peopl e they know. Ahm ed Azi z, on the contrary, sim pl y nodded at the gi rl s. Men from Mi ddl e Eastern and other Muslim countri es wi l often stand quite close to other men to tal k but wil l usual y not touch wom en. As I get to know m ore i nternati onal friends, I learn m ore about thi s cultural “body l anguage”. Not al l cul tures gret each other the sam e way, nor are they fortable i n the sam e way wi th touching or di stance betwen people. In the sam e way that peopl e muni cate wi th spoken l anguage, they al so express thei r feeli ngs using unspoken “l(fā) anguage” through physical distance, acti ons or posture. Engl ish people, for exam pl e, do not usual y stand very cl ose to others or touch strangers as soon as they meet. However, peopl e from places li ke Spai n, Ital y or South Am erican countri es aproach others closel y and are m ore li kel y to touch them. Most people around the worl d now greet each other by shaki ng hands, but som e cul tures use other greeti ngs as wel l, such as the Japanese, who prefer to bow. These acti ons are not god or bad, but are sim pl y ways i n whi ch cul tures have devel oped. I have sen, however, that cul tural custom s for body l anguage are very general not al l m em bers of a culture behave i n the sam e way. In general , though, studyi ng i nternati onal custom s can certainly help avoi d diffi cul ti es i n today’s world cultural crosroads! Showi ng our feel ings Body l anguage is one of the most powerful s of m uni cati on, often even m ore powerful than spoken l anguage. Peopl e around the worl d show al knds of feeli ngs, wi shes and atti tudes that they mi ght never speak al oud. It i s possi ble to “read” others around us, even i f they do not i ntend for us to catch their unspoken m unicati on. O f course, body l anguage can be mi sread, but many gestures and acti ons are universal . The m ost uni versal facial expressi on i s, of course, the smil e – it ’s functi on is to show happi ness and to people at ease. It does not al ways means that we are truly happy, however. Smi les around the worl d can be fal se, hi di ng other feeli ngs l ike anger, fear or wory. There are unhappy sm il es, such as when som eone “l(fā) oses face” and sm il es to hide it. H owever, the general purpose of sm il ing is to show good feli ngs. From the tim e we are babi e, we show unhapiness or anger by frowni ng. In m ost places around the world, frowni ng and turning one’s back to som eone show anger. Maki ng a fist and shaki ng i t al om ost means that som eone i s angry and threatening another person. There are m any ways around the worl d to show agreement, but noddi ng the head up and down s for agreem ent alm ost worl dwi de. Most people also understand that shaki ng the head from si de to si de m eans di sagrem ent or refusal. H ow about showi ng that I am bored? Looki ng away from peopl e or yawni ng wi l , i n m ost cases, m ake me appear to be uninterested. However, i f I turn toward and l ook at someone or som ething, peopl e from almost every culture wil l thi nk that I am i nterested. If I rol m y eyes and turn m y head away, I m ost li kel y do not bel i eve what I am heari ng or do not l ike i t. Bei ng respectful to peopl e i s subjective, besed on each culture, but i n general i t is probably not a god i dea to gi ve a hug to a bos or teacher. In alm ost every culture, it i s not u