The picture vividly depicts a lovely American girl in traditional Chinese costume with a sweet smile on her face. She wears ribbons, necklaces and other accessories that are characteristic of the clothes of a certain Chinese minority group. Undoubtedly, the costume has added oriental charm/glamour to her beautiful look/appearance/features.
What the picture conveys goes far beyond only/merely a new fashion trend. Instead, it carries cultural meanings/implications as well. The fact that people from different countries are attracted to mysterious Chinese culture indicates that to some extent a culture can be accepted, respected, appreciated and shared internationally. In other words, a nation’s unique/distinctive culture can become international through worldwide economic and cultural exchanges. Since the trend of globalization become irresistible, the increasing cultural exchanges can effectively improve mutual understanding and friendship.
It is my view that national culture as priceless spiritual treasure should be preserved and cherished. Meanwhile, there are good reasons to advocate international culture for those ideas from the other cultures, controversial or even absurd at first sight, can provide a different perspective for us to observe the world in the long run. Nevertheless, when we are confronted with a different culture, we should be sensible enough to absorb its essence and to resist its dark side. Only in this way can we promote cultural development positively and make our world dimensional, colorful and vigorous. (221 words)
这幅图画生动描述了一位可爱的美国小女孩身穿传统的中国服装，面带甜蜜的微笑。她戴着具有某个中国少数民族服饰特征的发带、项链和其他装饰品。毫无疑问，这套服装为她美丽的外表增添了东方的魅力。
这幅图画所表达的远远不只是一种新的时尚潮流。反之，它具有文化内涵。神秘的中国文化吸引了各国人民这一事实，显示了在某种程度上，一种文化可以被国际性地接受、尊重、欣赏和分享。换而言之，一个民族独特的文化可以通过全球性的经济和文化交流走向世界。由于全球化潮流不可阻挡，所以文化交流可以有效增进相互间的理解和友谊。
在我看来，我们应该保存和珍惜作为无价精神财富的民族文化。同时，我们很有必要推广世界文化，因为来自其他文化的观点，即使乍看起来相互矛盾或荒谬，但从长远看来，可以为我们观察这个世界提供一种不同的视角。然而，在我们面临不同文化时，应该充满理智地取其精华、去其糟粕。只有这样我们才能积极发展民族文化，并使我们的世界丰富多元、五颜六色、充满活力。
There was a time when the owners of shops and businesses in Chicago had to pay large sums of money to gangsters in return for 'protection.' If the money was not paid promptly, the gangsters would quickly put a man out of business by destroying his shop. Obtaining 'protection money' is not a modern crime. As long ago as the fourteenth century, an Englishman, Sir John Hawk wood, made the remarkable discovery that people would rather pay large sums of money as have their life work destroyed by gangsters.
Six hundred years ago, Sir Johan Hawk wood arrived in Italy with a band of soldiers and settled near Florence. He soon made a name for himself and came to be known to the Italians as Giovanni Acuto. Whenever the Italian city-states were at war with each other, Hawk wood used to hire his soldiers to princes who were willing to pay the high price he demanded. In times of peace, when business was bad, Hawk wood and his men would march into a city-state and, after burning down a few farms, would offer to go away if protection money was paid to them. Hawk wood made large sums of money in this way. In spite of this, the Italians regarded him as a sort of hero. When he died at the age of eighty, the Florentines gave him a state funeral and had a pictured painted which was dedicated to the memory of 'the most valiant soldier and most notable leader, Signor Giovanni Haukodue.'
曾经有一个时期,芝加哥的店主和商行的老板们不得不拿出大笔的钱给歹徒以换取"保护"。如果交款不及时,歹徒们就会很快捣毁他的商店,让他破产.榨取"保护金"并不是一种现代的罪恶行径.早在14世纪,英国人约翰.霍克伍德就有过非凡的发现:"人们情愿拿出大笔的钱,也不愿毕生的心血毁于歹徒之手.
600年前,约翰.霍克伍德爵士带着一队士兵来到意大利,在佛罗伦萨附近驻扎下来,很快就出了名.意大利人叫他乔凡尼.阿库托.每次意大利各城邦之间发生战争,霍克伍德把他的士兵雇佣给愿给他出高价的君主。和平时期,当生意萧条时,霍克伍德便带领士兵进入某个城邦,纵火烧毁一两个农场,然后提出,如向他们缴纳保护金,他们便主动撤离。霍克伍德用这种方法挣了大笔钱.尽管如此,意大利人还是把他视作某种英雄。他80岁那年死去时,佛罗伦萨人为他举行了国葬,并为他画像以纪念这位"骁勇无比的战士、杰出的领袖乔凡尼.阿库托先生."
Lesson 24 A skeleton in the cupboard “家丑”
We often read in novels how a seemingly respectable person or family has some terrible secret which has been concealed from strangers for years. The English language possesses a vivid saying to describe this sort of situation. The terrible secret is called ‘a skeleton in the cupboard’. At some dramatic moment in the story, the terrible secret becomes known and a reputation is ruined. The reader's hair stands on end when he reads in the final pages of the novel that the heroine, a dear old lady who had always been so kind to everybody, had, in her youth, poisoned every one of her five husbands.
It is all very well for such things to occur in fiction. To varying degrees, we all have secrets which we do not want even our closest friends to learn, but few of us have skeletons in the cupboard. The only person I know who has a skeleton in the cupboard is George Carlton, and he is very proud of the fact. George studied medicine in his youth. Instead of becoming a doctor, however, he became a successful writer of detective stories. I once spent an uncomfortable weekend which I shall never forget at his house. George showed me to the guest-room which, he said, was rarely used. He told me to unpack my things and then come down to dinner. After I had stacked my shirts and underclothes in two empty drawers, I decided to hang one of the two suits I had brought with me in the cupboard. I opened the cupboard door and then stood in front of it petrified. A skeleton was dangling before my eyes. The sudden movement of the door made it sway slightly and it gave me the impression that it was about to leap out at me. Dropping my suit, I dashed downstairs to tell George. This was worse than ‘a terrible secret’; this was a real skeleton! But George was unsympathetic. ‘Oh, that,’ he said with a smile as if he were talking about an old friend. ‘That's Sebastian. You forget that I was a medical student once upon a time. ’
在小说中，我们经常读到一个表面上受人尊重的人物或家族，却有着某种多年不为人所知的骇人听闻的秘密。英语中有一个生动的说法来形容这种情况。惊人的秘密被称作“柜中骷髅”。在小说的某个戏剧性时刻，可怕的秘密泄漏出来，接着便是某人的声誉扫地。当读者读到小说最后几页了解到书中女主人公，那位一向待大家很好的可爱的老妇人年轻时一连毒死了她的5个丈夫时，不禁会毛骨悚然。
这种事发生在小说中是无可非议的。尽管我们人人都有各种大小秘密，连最亲密的朋友都不愿让他们知道，但我们当中极少有人有柜中骷髅。我所认识的唯一的在柜中藏骷髅的人便是乔治·卡尔顿，他甚至引以为自豪。乔治年轻时学过医，然而，他后来没当上医生，却成了一位成功的侦探小说作家。有一次，我在他家里度周末，过得很不愉快。这事我永远不会忘记。乔治把我领进客房，说这间房间很少使用。他让我打开行装后下楼吃饭。我将衬衫、内衣放进两个空抽屉里，然后我想把随身带来的两套西服中的一套挂到大衣柜里去。我打开柜门，站在柜门前一下子惊呆了。一具骷髅悬挂在眼前，由于柜门突然打开，它也随之轻微摇晃起来，让我觉得它好像马上要跳出柜门朝我扑过来似的。我扔下西服冲下楼去告诉乔治。这是比“骇人听闻的秘密”更加惊人的东西，这是一具真正的骷髅啊!但乔治却无动于衷。“噢，是它呀!他笑着说道，俨然在谈论一位老朋友。“那是塞巴斯蒂安。你忘了我以前是学医的了。”
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