【文章內(nèi)容簡介】 cause noodl es were grown as part of sm al fami ly busi neses. The programm e m akers m akers reali zed that peopl e m ight wonder why noodl es were al ways the sam e si ze so that they expl ai ned that “it was the resul t of m any years’ patient research with the tree to produce noodl es of exactl y the sam e length. ” But even so they expl ained, the life of a nodl e farm er was not easy. “The l ast two weks of March are an anxi ous tim e for noodl e farm ers. There i s al ways a chance of very col d weather spoiling their crop. Then it is difficult for them to get top prices on the m arkets.” Many peopl e i n England bel ieved thi s story. They rang the BBC to fi nd out hoe to grow thei r own noodl e tree. They were tol d to “pl ace a piece of noodl e in a tin of tom ato sauce and hope for the best. ” This m ay seem very sil y, but in the 1950s very few British peopl e travel l ed aboard for thei r holi days and even fewer of them ate nodl es. So i t seem ed posi bl e to i magi ne that nodl es grew on tree li 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 ati on. So they were shocked to find the next day that they had al beli eved an April Fool’s joke. Even today the report of the noodl e harvest is rem em bered as one of the best April Fool’s jokes ever! Unit 4 Com municati on: No Problem ? Yesterday, another student and I, representing our university’s student association, went to the Capital International Airport to m eet this year’s international students. They were i ng to study at Bei jing Uni versi ty. We shoul d take them fi rst to thei r dorm i tori es and then to the student cantee. After an hour of wai ti ng for their fl ight to ari ve, I saw several young peopl e enter the wai ti ng area l oki ng around curi ousl y. I stood for a m i nute watchi ng them and then went to greet them. The fi rst person to arri ve was Tony Garci a from Col um bi a, closel y fol lowed by Juli a Smi th from Bri tai n. After I m et them and then i ntroduced them to each other, I was very surpri sed. Tony approached Jul i a, touched her shoul der and ki ssed her on the cheek! She stepped back appeari ng surprised and put up her hands, as i f i n defence. I guesed that there was probably a major mi sunderstandi ng. Then Akira N agata from Japan cam e i n sm il i ng, together with Gee Cook from Canada. As they were i ntroduced, Gee reached hi s hand out to the Japanese student. Just at that m om ent, however, Akira bowed so his nose touched Gee’s moving hand. They both apol ogized another cul tural mi stake! Ahm ed Azi z, another i nternati onal student, was from Jordan. When we m et yesterday, he m oved very cl ose to m e as I i ntroduced m ysel f. I m oved back a bi t, but he cam e cl oser to ask a questi on and then shook m y hand. When Darl ene Coul on from France cam e dashi ng through the door, she recogni zed Tony Garci a39。s smi li ng face. They shook hand and then ki sed each other twi ce on each cheek, si nce that i s the France custom when adul ts meet peopl e they know. Ahm ed Azi z, on the contrary, si mpl y nodded at the gi rl s. Men from Mi ddl e Eastern and other Musli m countries wi l often stand qui te cl ose to other m en to tal k but wil l usual ly not touch wom en. As I get to know m ore international friends, I l earn m ore about this cul tural “body language”. Not al l cul tures greet each other the same way, nor are they fortabl e i n the sam e way wi th touchi ng or di stance between people. In the sam e way that peopl e m unicate with spoken l anguage, they also express their feelings using unspoken “l(fā) anguage” through physical distance, actions or posture. Engli sh peopl e, for exam pl e, do not usual y stand very cl ose to others or touch strangers as soon as they m et. H owever, peopl e from pl aces l i ke Spai n, Ital y or South Am eri can countri es approach others cl osel y and are more l ikel y to touch them. Most peopl e around the worl d now greet each other by shaki ng hands, but som e cul tures use other greeti ngs as wel , such as the Japanese, who prefer to bow. These acti ons are not good or bad, but are sim pl y ways i n whi ch cultures have devel oped. I have seen, however, that cul tural custom s for body l anguage are very general not al l m em bers of a cul ture behave in the sam e way. In general , though, studyi ng i nternati onal custom s can certai nly hel p avoid difficul ties in today’s worl d cul tural crosroads! Showi ng our feel ings Body l anguage i s one of the m ost 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 feel i ngs, wi shes and atti tudes that they m ight never speak aloud. It i s possi bl e to “read” others around us, even i f they do not i ntend for us to catch thei r unspoken m uni cati on. O f course, body l anguage can be mi sread, but m any gestures and acti ons are uni versal . The m ost uni versal faci al expressi on i s, of course, the sm il e – it’s function i s to show happi nes and to peopl e at ease. It does not al ways m eans that we are trul y hapy, however. Smi l es around the worl d can be fal se, hi di ng other feel ings l i ke anger, fear or worry. There are unhappy smi l es, such as when som eone “l(fā) oses face” and smi l es to hide i t. H owever, the general purpose of smi li ng i s to show good feli ngs. From the tim e we are babi e, we show unhappi ness or anger by frowni ng. In m ost pl aces around the worl d, frowni ng and turni ng one’s back to som eone show anger. Maki ng a fist and shaki ng i t al om ost m eans that som eone i s angry and threateni ng another person. There are m any ways around the worl d to show agrem ent, but nodding the head up and down s for agreem ent al m ost worl dwide. Most peopl e al so understand that shaki ng the head from si de to si de m eans dis