A、They may be misinterpreted occasionally. B、Their wording may become different. C、Their origins can no longer be traced. D、The

Proverbs, sometimes called sayings, are examples of folk wisdom. They are little lessons which older people of a culture pass down to the younger people to teach them about life. Many proverbs remind people of the values that are important in the culture. Values teach people how to act, what is right, and what is wrong. Because the values of each culture are different, understanding the values of another culture helps explain how people think and act. Understanding your own cultural values is important too. If you can accept that people from other cultures act according to their values, not yours, getting along with them will be much easier. Many proverbs are very old. So some of the values they teach may not be as important in the culture as they once were. For example, Americans today do not pay much attention to the proverb "Haste makes waste", because patience is not important to them. But if you know about past values, it helps you to understand the present. And many of the older values are still strong today. Benjamin Franklin, a famous American diplomat, writer, and scientist, died in 1790, but his proverb "Time is money" is taken more seriously by Americans of today than ever before. A study of proverbs from around the world shows that some values are shared by many cultures. In many cases, though, the same idea is expressed differently.
23. Why are proverbs so important?
24. According to the speaker what happens to some proverbs with the passage of time?
25. What do we learn from the study of proverbs from around the world?