One day, I heard an American boy say to a Chinese student of English, "You speak very good English." But the student answered, "NO, no. My English is very poor." The foreigner was quite surprised at the answer. Thinking he had not made himself understood or the Chinese student had not heard him clearly, he said, "Yes, indeed, you speak very well." But the Chinese student sill kept saying "No." In the end the American boy could not understand and didn't know what to say. What's wrong with the student's answer? He didn't accept a compliment in the same way as the American people do. He should answer "thank you" instead of "no". He really understood what the American boy had said, but he thought he should be modest .In the west, people will feel proud and confident when they are praised. So if someone says the dishes you have cooked are very delicious, you should say "Thank you". If someone says to a woman "You look so beautiful with the new clothes on." She must be very happy and answer "Thank you". In our country we think being modest is a virtue and being proud is a bad thing, but in my opinion, being confident does not mean being proud, so  sometimes you should be confident instead of being modest. If you are modest and say, "No, I'm afraid I can't do it well" while working in a western country, the others may think that you really cannot do it. If you often say "No", you will certainly be looked down upon by others. If asking for a job, one says something like "Yes, I can certainly do it" instead of "Let me have a try", he or she will expect to get it. So in the west, you should be brave to show your self-confidence! We can learn that the writer wants us to   _   through his passage.
be modest be confident be clever be beautiful