It’s well-known by all the people to greet friends with a smile and a wave. 【小题1】 However, what happens if your face and body send mixed messages? Would someone tend to believe the look on your face or the way you behave?

Recently, scientists have dealt with these questions. They found that when a person is staring at your face, he might not believe what he sees if your body doesn’t match the feeling that your face shows. 【小题2】 Previous study had showed that the tone of a person’s voice can be more important than the words spoken. For example, most people are more likely not to believe a person who says in a flat voice, "I’m so excited."

When talking about emotions conveyed by facial expressions and body language, most scientists suspected that the face was more important. To test if this was true, psychologists from the Netherlands and Boston showed people a number of pictures of isolated faces and isolated bodies that showed anger or fear, 【小题3】

An angry face had low eyebrows and tight lips. A frightened face had high eyebrow and a slightly open mouth, 【小题4】 A scared body had arms forward and shoulders square, as if ready to fight back.

These results told the researchers that mixed messages can confuse people. Even when people

pay attention to the face, body language surely influences the emotion they read.

【小题5】 And if you want to be understood it helps to avoid sending mixed messages.

Gift-giving is a satisfying way of showing the people in your life that you care about them. 【小题1】But don’t worry. You can refer to some practical tips.

Identify your message to the recipient. Before you start wracking your brain for what to give the person, think about your relationship with the person, how you feel about him/her, and what you would like to tell him/ her. 【小题2】

Make a list of items that might help you convey that message. Once you have identified the message you want to send, start making a list of gifts that could help you to send that message. Be sure to consider the person’s tastes and interests. 【小题3】And for a coworker, you might give him/her a gift card from his/her favorite shop so that he/she can go out for shopping.

【小题4】The person you need to buy for might like something specific that you could find out about with a little detective work. You can check the person’s Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and other social media histories for clues(线索) For example, if the person posted about a favorite coffee shop on the social media account，get him/her a gift card for that coffee shop.

Talk with people who know the person well to help you choose. If you have trouble coming up with ideas for the person, turn to other people who know him/her well. 【小题5】In that case, you can choose the exact gift. For example, you can ask your best friend’s mother if she has any suggestions. For your significant other, you can question your significant other’s best friend to see if he/she has dropped any hints.

Down-to-earth means being honest, open,and easy to deal with. It is a pleasure to find someone who is down-to-earth. A person who is down-to-earth is easy to talk to. He or she accepts others as equals. A down-to-earth person may be an important member of society, of course, but they do not let their importance go to their heads, and they do not consider themselves to be better than others who are less important. Someone who is filled with self-importance and pride, often without cause, is said to have his nose in the air. There is no way a person with his nose in the air can be down-to-earth.

Americans use another expression that is similar in some way to down-to-earth. The expression is both feet on the ground. Someone with both feet on the ground is a person with a good understanding of reality. He has what is called common sense. He may have dreams but he does not allow them to block his knowledge of what is real. The opposite kind of person is one who has his head in the clouds. A man with his head in the clouds is a dreamer whose mind is not in the world (Sometimes such a dreamer can be brought back to reality) sharp words from the teacher, for example, can usually get a daydreaming student to put both feet back on the ground.

The person who is down-to-earth usually has both feet on the ground. But the opposite is not always true. Someone with both feet on the ground may not be as open and easy to deal with as someone who is down-to-earth.When we have both our feet firmly on the ground, we are realistic and we act honestly and openly toward others,and our lives are like the ground below us,solid and strong.