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　　A new research has uncovered that culture is a determining factor when interpreting facial emotions(情感)．The study reveals that in cultures where emotional control is the standard, such as Japan, focus is placed on the eyes to interpret emotions．Whereas in cultures where emotion is openly expressed, such as the United States, the focus is on the mouth to interpret emotion．

　　“These findings go against the popular theory that the facial expressions of basic emotions can be universally recognized,” said University of Alberta researcher Dr．Takahiko Masuda．“A person’s culture plays a very strong role in determining how they will read emotions and needs to be considered when interpreting facial expression．”

　　These cultural differences are even noticeable in computer emoticons(情感符号), which are used to convey a writer’s emotions over email and text messaging．The Japanese emoticons for happiness and sadness vary in terms of how the eyes are drawn, while American emoticons vary with the direction of the mouth．In the United States the emoticons：)and：-)show a happy face, whereas the emoticons：(or：-(show a sad face．However, Japanese tend to use the symbol(‘ ‘)to indicate a happy face, and(; __ ;)to indicate a sad face．

　　“We think it is quite interesting and appropriate that a culture tends to mask its emotions．The Japanese would focus on a person’s eyes when determining emotion, as eyes tend to be quite subtle(微妙的),” said Masuda．“In the United States, where open emotion is quite common, it makes sense to focus on the mouth, which is the most expressive feature on a person’s face．”

完形填空

　　When I was 10, I announced in English class that I was going to write my own books．“Don’t be stupid．Only 　　1　　 can become writers,” my English teacher 　　2　　 me．“ And you are getting a D this term．”

　　I felt 　　3　　 and almost burst into tears．That night I wrote a sad poem about 　　4　　 dreams and mailed it to a newspaper．To my surprise, they 　　5　　 it and sent me two dollars．I was a 　　6　　 writer! I showed it to my teacher and fellow students．“ Just a dumb luck,” the teacher said．I’d tasted success and that was fine with me, 　　7　　 it was just “luck”．I continued, never 　　8　　 my writing to my teachers or friends again．They were dream 　　9　　．By the time I graduated from high school, I had scrapbooks(剪贴簿)　　10　　 with my published works．

　　But sometimes you do need a friend who 　　11　　 your dreams．I began to write a book, Crying Wind, 　　12　　 by a friend, who said “Anyone can write a book if they want to．” It took nine months．I chose a publisher and mailed 　　13　　 without making a 　　14　　 of the manuscript(底稿)．A month later I received a contract and a letter 　　15　　 me to start working on another book．Crying Wind became a bestseller and also became 　　16　　 reading in Native American schools in Canada．People ask what college I attended, what 　　17　　 I have, and what qualifications I have to be a writer．The answer is 　　18　　．I’m not a genius and I am not gifted, but I’ve finally 　　19　　 the weakness．Writing is easy, and it’s fun．Anyone can do it．Of course, a little dumb 　　20　　 doesn’t hurt．