【正文】 of them was cal l ed Panoram a, thi s show explored probl em s and progress al over the worl d, so nobody was surpri sed when i t began wi th a report on the excel ent noodl e harvest i n the south Swi tzerland. The programm e m enti oned two reasons for the good crop: an unusual l y warm wi nter and the di sapearance of the i nsect that attacked the noodl e crop every year. The reporter showed many noodl e trees wi th the farmers pul i ng noodl es off them and putti ng them i nto baskets. The peopl e watchi ng were tol d that they m ay not have heard of noodl es from thi s part of the worl d because noodl es were grown as part of sm al l fam il y businesses. The program m e m akers m akers real i zed that peopl e mi ght 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’ pati ent research wi th the tree to produce noodl es of exactl y the sam e l ength. ” But even so they expl ained, the li fe of a noodl e farm er was not easy. “The l ast two weeks of March are an anxi ous ti m e for noodl e farm ers. There i s al ways a chance of very col d weather spoil i ng thei r crop. Then it i s di ffi cult for them to get top prices on the m arkets.” Many peopl e i n Engl and bel i eved 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 “place a pi ece of noodl e i n a ti n of tom ato sauce and hope for the best. ” Thi s m ay seem very si l y, but i n the 1950s very few Bri ti sh people travel ed aboard for thei r holi days and even fewer of them ate noodles. So i t seem ed possi bl e to im agine that noodl es grew on tree li ke appl es, pears and nuts. People al so trusted the Panoram a programm e for i ts careful research and seri ous inform ati on. So they were shocked to fi nd the next day that they had al l beli eved an April Fool’s joke. Even today the report of the noodl e harvest i s remem bered as one of the best April Fool’s jokes ever! Uni t 4 Comm uni cat ion: No Pr obl em ? Yesterday, another student and I, representi ng our universi ty’s student associ ati on, went to the Capi tal Internati onal Ai rport to m eet thi s year’s internati onal students. They were i ng to study at Bei ji ng Uni versi ty. We should take them first to thei r dorm itori es and then to the student cantee. After an hour of wai ti ng for thei r fli ght to arrive, I saw several young peopl e enter the waiti ng area l ooking around curi ousl y. I stood for a mi nute watchi ng them and then went to greet them . The fi rst person to arrive was Tony Garci a from Col um bi a, cl osel y fol owed by Jul i a Sm i th from Bri tai n. After I m et them and then introduced them to each other, I was very surpri sed. Tony aproached Juli a, touched her shoul der and ki ssed her on the chek! She stepped back appeari ng surpri sed and put up her hands, as i f in defence. I guessed that there was probabl y a m ajor mi sunderstandi ng. Then Aki ra N agata from Japan cam e i n smi li ng, 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 m om ent, however, Aki ra bowed so hi s nose touched Gee’s movi 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 m et yesterday, he m oved very cl ose to m e as I i ntroduced m yself. 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 Darlene 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 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 Musli m countri es wi l often stand quite cl ose to other men to tal k but wi l usual l y not touch wom en. As I get to know m ore i nternati onal fri ends, I l earn m ore about thi s cul tural “body l anguage”. Not al cul tures greet each other the sam e way, nor are they fortabl e i n the sam e way wi th touchi ng or di stance between peopl e. In the sam e way that peopl e m unicate wi th spoken language, they al so express thei r feel i ngs usi ng unspoken “l(fā) anguage” through physi cal di stance, acti ons or posture. Engl i sh peopl e, for exam pl e, do not usual l y stand very cl ose to others or touch strangers as soon as they m eet. However, peopl e from pl aces l i ke Spain, Ital y or South Am eri can countri es approach others cl osel y and are m ore l i kel y to touch them. Most peopl e around the world 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 ply ways in whi ch cul tures have devel oped. I have sen, however, that cultural custom s for body l anguage are very general not al m em bers of a cul ture behave i n the same way. In general, though, studyi ng i nternati onal custom s can certai nl y hel p avoi d di ffi culti es in today’s worl d cul tural crossroads! Showi ng our feli ngs Body l anguage is 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 l knds of feel i ngs, wi shes and atti tudes that they m ight never speak al oud. 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 muni cati on. O f course, body l anguage can be m i 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 smil 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 truly hapy, however. Sm il es around the worl d can be fal se, hidi ng other feel ings l i ke anger, fear or