My own experiment with culture shock came to a fruitless end when I returned with homesick from a year’s study in Italy. I had never heard of culture shock. All I knew was that I was unhappy and wanted to go home.

That was twenty years ago, and since then culture shock has become a real field of study. It is now understood that any normal person, finding himself or herself for an extended time in a new culture, is in trouble.

The process of “culture shock” is now recognized as so predictable that its four stages have been noticeable. The first is the honeymoon stage, familiar to those of us who love to travel, but never stay in one place long enough to find out what follows. In this stage, the new country and its people seem delightful. Everything is better than home. Everything is so different and charming.

Then the bloom comes off the rose. Now the people start to look shallow, selfish and stupid. The different ways of doing things don’t seem interesting any more. You start to feel tired all the time. Culture shock has set in. You feel at sea.

The emotional response to culture shock in stage two can be extreme. Confusion, depression, worry and resentment can all enter to varying degrees. You may become physically ill. Little things seem terribly annoying.

The happier resolution is to move on to stage three. Adjusting. Rather than listing what’s “wrong” with Americans, you remind yourself that “right” and “wrong” are not meaningful terms in cultural matters.

Instead, you try to understand what motivates Americans, perhaps realizing that many of the things you don’t like are related to the things you do like.

As time goes on, you should be moving into stage four. Acceptance. At this point, you simply don’t think any more about the specialties of Americans. You accept them as individuals. You have started to feel at home; you know how to do things. You have not rejected your old culture; but the American ways have settled upon you. You feel optimistic about your future here. You have truly arrived.

①A new study has shown how the colour of a bowl can influence the taste of the food it holds.

②Although it is hard to say what a picky eater (挑食的人) is like, the type may include people who have a limited diet, who have strong likes or dislikes for certain food, who require food to be prepared in a special way, who aren’t willing to accept new food, or who show signs of all these features.

③According to this new study, food was put into two groups in red, blue, or white bowls. While the colour made no difference in taste for non-picky eaters, the picky eaters reported changes in their taste senses based on the colour of the bowl being used. Snacks in red and blue bowls were thought to have more salt than those in white bowls, while snacks in red bowls were less pleasant than those in the other bowls.

④ “This knowledge can be useful for those who want to try more kinds of foods,” says Lorenzo Stafford, a psychologist from the University of Portsmouth in the UK. “For example, if you want to encourage a picky eater to try some bitter (苦的) vegetables, you can try to put them on a pink plate or in a yellow bowl, because this can give him or her a sweet feeling.”

⑤At first it may seem strange that a bowl colour can influence the taste of food, but the research before has shown how light and music can influence eating habits. All of our senses are connected, including taste.

⑥ “This new study can help in treating food neophobia—the unwillingness to try new food,” the team of the study says, and further studies will be required to find out more relationships between colours and foods.

⑦ “Through further studies, maybe we can decide ways to help actively influence a person’s diet, and as a result, their health in mind and body,” says Stafford.

You have waited 45 minutes for the valuable 10 minutes’ break. But when the bell for the next class rings, you can’t believe how quickly time has passed. If you have this experience, you’ll know how time flies when you are having fun and drags when you are bored. Now scientists have come up with a reason why this happens.

They have found that the brain changes its way to work according to how we direct our attention to a task. When we are bored, we pay more attention to how time is passing. And this makes our brains think the clock is ticking more slowly.

Recently some researchers who want to understand the conditions carried out an experiment. In the experiment, twelve volunteers watched a picture while researchers monitored their brain activity.

The volunteers were told to first notice how long a picture appeared, then the color of the picture, and thirdly, study the both. The results showed that the brain was more active when the volunteers paid attention to more subjects.

It is thought that if the brain is busy noticing many aspects of a task, it has to spread its resources, and pays less attention to the clock. Therefore, time seems to go quickly. If the brain is not so active, it spends its full energy on the passing of time. As a result, time seems to move slowly.

Next time you feel bored in class, perhaps you should concentrate on what the teacher is saying.