Clapping （教材第三册P29） Why do we clap? To show we like something, of course. But we don’t clap at the end of a television programme or a book, however good they are. We clap at the end of a live performance, such as a play, or a concert, to say thank you to the performers. First they give, and then we give. Without us --- the audience --- the performance would not be complete. The custom of clapping has early beginning. In classical Athens, applause meant judgement and taking part. Plays were often in competition with each other, and prolonged clapping helped a play to win. The theatre was large-it could hold 14，000 people, half the adult male population of the city, which meant that the audience could make a lot of noise. Applause was a sign of being part of the community, and of equality between actors and audience. The important thing was to make the noise together, to add one’s own small handclap to others. Clapping is social, like laughter; you don’t very often clap or laugh out loud alone. It is like laughter in another way, too; it is infectious, and spreads very quickly. Clapping at concerts and theatres is a universal habit .But some occasions on which people clap change from one country to another. For example, in Britain people clap at a wedding, but in Italy they sometimes clap at a funeral. 鼓掌（教材第三册P29）
