1.The word "culture" is most commonly used in three basic senses: Excellenceof taste in the fine arts and humanities, also known as high culture. An integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for symbolic thought and social learning. The set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution, organization or group.2.Some historians believe the West originated in the northern and easternMediterranean with ancient Greece and ancient Rome. Over time, their associated empires grew first to the east and south, conquering and absorbing many older great civilizations; later, they grew to the north and west to include Western Europe.3.Western culture is a term used to generally refer to most of the cultures ofEuropean origin and most of their descendants.4.Foundations of Western Culture are: ancient Greece (concretely Greekphilosophy), the Roman Empire (specifically Roman law), Catholic and Protestant Christianity.5.Western culture originates from 2 ancient cultures: Hellenistic culture （emphasizing rationality）and Hebraic culture （emphasizing virtue & discipline）6. 3 most noted achievements of ancient Greeks: Mythology; Architecture;philosophy.7.Greek Mythology, set of diverse traditional tales told by the ancient Greeksabout the exploits of gods and heroes and their relations with ordinary mortals.8.The Greek gods resembled human beings in their form and in their emotions.9.The Olympians refers to the twelve major gods and godd esses dwelling onMount Olympus.10.Zeus is the god of gods, the god of sky, the supreme god, the father of bothgods and men.11.Hermes (Mercury) is god of physicians and thieves; messenger of gods.12.Apollo is the sun god, the god of music, a god of prophecy.13.Dionysus is god of wine and ecstasy.14.Hephaestus is god of fire; celestial blacksmith.15.Athena is the goddess of war, wisdom and handicraft.16.Hera is queen of heaven and of the Olympians, the goddess of marriage andfamily, the protectress of married women and their legal children.17.Poseid on is the god of sea, the protector of seamen, the god of earthquakesand tsunamis.18.Had es is god of the und erworl d.19.Two of the most important of the semi historical myths involve the searchfor the Golden Fleece and the quest that led to the Trojan War.20.Aphrodite is the godd ess of l ove and beauty, the protectress of sailors.21.Heracles is a divine hero, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, stepson ofAmphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus, the greatest of the Greek heroes.22.The ancient Greek Olympic games was a religious rather than secular festival,celebrating the gods in general and Zeus in particular.23.The idiom “Pandora’s box” means the fountainhead of all evils.24.The idiom “Cupid’s arrow” signifies the magic power of love.25.“Tantalus’s torture” means permanent frustration by the sight of somethingdesired but inaccessible. It also means eternal thirst and hunger.26.The idiom “Sisyphean task” suggests everlasting fruitless hard labor.27.“The golden fleece” means very valuable thing which is rare an d verydifficult to get.28.“Golden touch” therefore refers to the magic power to change cheap metalsinto gold, or worthless junks into treasures.29.“The golden apple” or “the apple of discord” refers to the things that giverise to conflicts and strife.30.“A chilles’s heel” refers to the only part of the body that remains vulnerable.31.“Trojan horse”, or “the wooden horse” means a trap intended to underminean enemy, or subversion from inside.32.The term “Oedipus complex” was chosen by Sigmund Freud to designate ason’s feeling of love toward his mother and jealous hatred toward his father.33.“Narcissistic (personality) disorder” or “narcissism”, means the indulgencein self-admiration.34.“The sword of Damocles” on one hand signifies the impending danger, andon the other hand, indicates the precariousness of power and rank.35.Constellations: Aries (the Ram)白羊座, Taurus (the Bull)金牛座, Gemini (theTwins)双子座, Cancer (the Crab) 巨蟹座, Leo(the Lion)狮子座, Virgo (the Virgin)处女座, Libra (the Scales)天秤座, Scorpio (the Scorpion)天蝎座, Sagittarius (the Archer)射手座, Capricorn (the Goat)摩羯座, Aquarius (the Water Carrier)水瓶座, Pisces (the Fishes)双鱼座.36.Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle are Classical Greek philosophers.37.Western culture originates from the Hebraic-Christian culture that isund oubtedly embodied in and found ed upon the Holy Bibl e.38.Christianity was the inheritor and the reformer of Judaism, and so theChristian Bibl e includ es the Ol d Testament and the New Testament.39.The Old Testament is the coll ection of books written prior to the life of Jesusbut accepted by Christians as scripture.40.The Torah, or "Instruction," is also known as the "Five Books" of Moses，includ es Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.41.The Torah contains the ten commandments, of God, reveal ed at Mount Sinai.42.Christianity is a monotheistic religion centered on the life and teachings ofJesus as presented in the New Testament.43.God is the eternal being who created the universe and all there is have theproperties of holiness, justice, omnipotence, omniscience, omnibenevol ence, omnipresence and immortality.44.Christians call the message of Jesus Christ the Gospel ("good news").45.The central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God andthe Messiah (Christ).46.Christians generally believe that Jesus is God incarnation and "true God andtrue man" (or both fully divine and fully human).47.Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born from the Virgin Mary.48.The Eucharist (called Holy Communion, or the Lord's Supper) is the part ofliturgical worship that consists of a consecrated meal, usually bread and wine.49.Christianity was l egalized in the 4th century, when Constantine I issued anedict of tol eration in 313. From at l east the 4th century, Christianity has played a prominent rol e in the shaping of Western civilization.50.Christianity may be broadly represented as being divid ed into five maingroupings: Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthod oxy, Oriental Orthod oxy, Protestantism, Restorationism.51.Food is important to keep traditions alive as they are part of our history andour culture.52.The multitud es of food styl es of the Western society mainly result from thehistory, heritage, and geographical differences.53.A full course dinner usually consists of multipl e dishes. Usually it is mad e upof three or four courses, such as appetizer, main course and d essert.54.At the end of the meal, napkin shoul d be l eft semi-fold ed at the l eft sid e of theplate.55.Celebrating birthdays became popular almost universally because birthdaysgive peopl e a reason to gather in friendly groups, share food, and enjoy kinship.56.In many portions of the worl d an individual's birthday is cel ebrated by a partywhere a specially mad e cake, usually d ecorated with l ettering and the person's age, is presented. The cake is traditionally stud d ed with the same number of lit candl es as the age of the individual.57.Religious symbolism suggests that lighting candl es opens a channel forprayers to the unseen worl d above. This concept has been borrowed to convey the id ea that blowing out birthday candl es sends a birthday wish to heaven.58.Baptism is consid ered to be a form of rebirth—"by water and the Spirit"—thenakedness of baptism (the second birth) parall eled the condition of one's original birth.59.The removal of cl othing represented the "image of putting off the ol d manwith his d eeds, so the stripping of the body before for baptism represented taking off the trappings of sinful self, so that the "new man," which is given by Jesus, can be put on.60.Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worl dwid e youth movementwith the stated aim of supporting young peopl e in their physical, mental and spiritual d evelopment, that they may play constructive rol es in society.61.If the coupl e of l overs are going into marriage, the man shoul d make aproposal by giving an engagement ring to the woman.62.The marriage will be recognized by: a marriage license and wed dingceremony.63.The reason why brid esmaids and groomsmen are need is that the evil spiritswoul d be confused by so many similarly dressed peopl e.64.A funeral is a ceremony for celebrating, sanctifying or remembering the life ofa person who has died.65.A funeral may take place at either a funeral home or church.66.Funeral services commonly includ e prayers; readings from a sacred text;hymns (sung either by the attend ees or a hired vocalist); and words of comfort by the cl ergy. Frequently, a relative or cl ose friend will be asked to give a eul ogy颂歌, which d etails happy memories and accomplishments; often commenting on the d eceased's flaws, especially at l ength, is consid ered impolite.67.Festivals are precious human heritage that links to religion, customs, historyand peopl e’s lifestyl es. Festivals, of many types, serve to meet specific needs, as well as to provid e entertainment.68.Though festivals many have religious origins, others involve seasonal changeor have some cultural significance.69.New Year’s Day is universally cel ebrated on the first day of the calendar,January 1.70.Chinese New Year is celebrated in many countries around the worl d, it is thefirst day of the lunar calendar.71.Valentine's Day is a holiday cel ebrated on February 14(in most countries).Love and affection are celebrated between l overs by sending greeting cards andgifts, dating.72.Mod ern Valentine's Day symbols includ e the heart-shaped outline, d oves, andthe figure of the winged Cupid.73.Passover is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of theExodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt. 74.Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year, celebrating theresurrection of Jesus. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from thed ead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated onEaster Day or Easter Sunday (also Resurrection Day or Resurrection Sunday) .75.Easter egg is seen by foll owers of Christianity as a symbol of resurrection:whil e being d ormant it contains a new life sealed within it.76.Mother's Day is a cel ebration honoring mothers and celebrating motherhood,maternal bonds and the influence of mothers in society. It originated from an ancient Greek ritual which was to respect the Mother of Gods, Hera.77.Halloween is a yearly holiday observed around the worl d on October 31, thenight before All Saints’ Day, much like Day of the Dead celebrations.78.The American Thanksgiving Day is a traditional family feast with a traditionalturkey dinner, usually in the mid-afternoon. Typical Thanksgiving food also includ es sweet potatoes, pumpkins, cranberries, and fruit salads.79.Carnival typically involves a public cel ebration or parad e combining someelements of a circus, mask and public street party. Peopl e often dress up or masquerad e during the cel ebrations, which mark an overturning of daily life.80.The three very important European Film Festivals are Venice Film Festival,Cannes Film Festival, and Berlin International Film Festival.81.The Gold en Lion is award ed to the best film at Venice Film Festival.82.The Gold en Palm is the highest prize award ed at The Cannes InternationalFilm Festival.83.The Gol d en Bear is the highest prize award ed for the best film at the BerlinInternational Film Festival.1。