Mr. Miller had a shop in a big town. He1ladies' clothes, and he always had two or three shop girls to help him. They were always 2because they were cheaper than older women, but none of them worked for him for very3 , because they were young, and they did not meet many boys in 4shop.
Last month a girl came to work for him. Her name was Helen, and she was very good.
After a few days, Mr. Miller5a young man come into the shop. He went 6 to Helen, spoke to her for a few 7 and then went out of the shop. Mr. Miller was very 8and when the young man left he went to Helen and said, "That young man didn't 9 anything. What did he want to 10?"
Helen answered, "He just wanted to see me."
People often say that the Englishman's home is his castle. They mean that the home is very important and personal to him. Most people in Britain live in houses rather than flats, and many people own their homes. This means that they can make them individual(个体的): they can paint them, and change them in any way they like. Most house have a garden, even if it is a very small one, and the garden is usually loved. The house and the garden are the private(私人的) space of the individual.
People usually like to mark their space. Are you sitting now in your home or on a train? Have you marked the space around yourself as yours? If you are on the train you may put your coat or small bag on the seat beside you. If you share a flat you may have one corner or chair which is your own.
Once I was travelling on a train to London. I was in a section for four people and there was a table between us. The man on the space on my side of the table didn't notice me at all. I was angry. Maybe he thought that he owned the whole table. I had read a book about non-verbal communication, so I took various papers out of my bag and put them on his briefcase! When I did this he stiffened and his eyes nearly popped(瞪出) out of his head. I had invaded(侵犯) his space! A few minutes later I took my papers off his case in order to read them. He immediately moved his case to his side of the table. Of course, it is possible that he just wanted to be helpful to me!
If you are visiting another country you may feel that you don't have any private space. Hotel rooms look much the same in every country in the world. All day long, you share public spaces with other people. You see the local people in their private spaces and you feel lonely and "outside". Local people can create their private spaces by talking about things you don't know about. And you even feel that they like you to be outside them so that they will enjoy being inside even more! This is one of the difficulties of being a traveler! But if you understand it then it helps you. Haven't you enjoyed being part of a group and "owning" a bit of space?
When I was a foreign teacher in China, every day I taught English to my students and they taught me about China. One day the topic turned to saying "I love you". I was shocked to learn that not one of my students had said this to their mothers, nor had their mothers said it to them. "Does your morn love you?" "Of course," they answered.
"How do you know?" was my logical question. They responded that their moms cooked and always told them what they were doing wrong to show their caring. I was stunned. So mom's cooking and criticizing read out as "I love you". "Then how do you say 'I love you' to her?" They agreed that getting good grades, followed by good jobs would be how they showed their love.
I come from a culture where most people are expressive enough, so I repeated these queries in classes over time. Gradually, I began to get different response. Some of them had exchanged those sentiments with their morns.
One of my favorite stories of change came from a girl. When she came home from university, her mother met her at the door and hugged (拥抱) her. This had never happened before, but her morn said, "Now that you have gone, I have more time to myself. I noticed that in some places mothers and children hug each other and I decided it was a good idea and that I would begin hugging you. "
In my family we all say "I love you" a lot. While it is true that we often say the words without having great depth of feelings at that moment, it is almost like a blessing we give each other. Those three little words carry a world of meaning, even when said as a greeting, but most especially if they are the last words we say to or hear from those we love.
