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The Spring Festival is one of the most important festivals in China. During the Festival, Chinese people have many activities. They paste up Spring Festival couplets(舂联) , greeting the New Year and saying 1to the old year. On the first day of the Spring Festival, people 2, wearing new clothes. Nowadays, children get 3pockets from their parents and their relatives by web chat. It is a good time for people to visit relatives and friends. More importantly, the Spring Festival is celebrated not only in China but also in4parts of the world.
The Spring Festival was 5 in the UK from 1980. Every new year, people also get together and have lots of activities. They sing songs, dance6music, share photos with friends or watch7in the cinema. Additionally, the Spring Festival has become a key time for Chinese living in the US. They8in a large evening party to welcome the traditional new year. The Chinese New Year will be welcomed with three weeks of celebrations across Australia. Thousands ofpeople come to Sydney's Chinatown. They enjoy fireworks(鞔炮) and lion dances. The family dinner on New Year's Eve is an important tradition for Chinese9they were born in Singapore or moved there from China. They usually hold it at10because having it in a restaurant takes away the meaning of the tradition.
Many Chinese students find it hard to learn English, but not Chinse, because Chinese is their mother tongue.1 ， Chinese is much more diffcult to learn than English.
Still some students in other countries can speak Chinese very2 If you don't see them, you may think they are Chinese.What3them learn Chinese so well?
“For me,conversation is really helpful,I try to speak in4.If you only listen to what others speak,you will be good at5But if you talk as much as you6,you will find you can speak good Chinese. ”says Jenny Brown,a girl from Canda Now she is7Chinese at Peing University.She is interested in China and8history.She thinks that to learn a language, one must try to know9about the country.
Chinese is10from English, but we can use the same way in leamning it."
Did you know that tea, the most popular drink in the world was invented by accident? Many people believe that tea was first 1 about 5,000 years ago. It is said 2 a Chinese ruler called Shen Nong was the first 3 tea as a drink. One day Shen Nong was boiling drinking water 4 an open fire. Some leaves from a tea plant fell into the water and remained there for 5. It produced a nice smell so he tasted the brown water. It was quite 6, and so, one of the world's favorite drinks was invented. A few 7 years later, the book called Cha Jing described how tea plants 8 and used to make tea. The tea trade from China to Western countries 9 in the 19th century. This helped to spread the 10 of tea and tea plants to more places around the world.
The Spring Festival is often called "Chinese New Year" by people in western countries, because people in China 1 the end of a lunar(农历)year, and the start of a new lunar year.
At Spring Festival, people want to keep away from 2, so that the new year will 3 with good luck. There are a lot of 4 for the Spring Festival. People 5 their houses (before New Year's Day), cut their hair, and buy lots of new 6 to wear. They decorate their houses with couplets, paper-cuts and lanterns. The decorations are all 7, because red is a "lucky colour".
Older people give young people red packets 8 money in them. People eat jiaozi for New Year and yuanxiao at Lantern Festival.
Then there's the dragon dance and fireworks. These are 9 to bring good luck for New Year. It's a great time and everyone feels 10.
In the US Mother's Day is a holiday on the second Sunday in May. It is a day when children give their 1cards，presents and flowers.
One of the best ways to celebrate Mother's Day is to give your mother the day off. Let her have a good rest while other members of the family do the 2.
Many families begin Mother's Day with3in bed. Usually Dad and the children will let Mum4late as they go into the kitchen（厨房）and get ready5 her favourite meal. A Mother's Day breakfast can make anything your mum likes.
After the food is cooked, keep everything nicely on a plate. Don't forget to put the bottle6 only one flower. It's spring here, and the children can pick the nicest 7from the garden outside. When everything is ready, carefully carry the plate and Mum's favourite books and newspapers up to her bedroom. Cards and small presents from the children can be put on the plate8it is given to Mum in bed.
Many families take Mum out to her favourite restaurant for a meal. It is a good day to let your mum9and let her see what a wonderful10she has.
Jazz is a type of music. Some people say that jazz is America's only true art form. That's because it began here. Hundreds of years ago, black people worked as slaves (奴隶) and made up songs to pass the time. It wasn't called jazz then, but the way the slaves were playing and singing music was special.
The music of America's black people began to be called jazz in the early 1900s.
What makes jazz special is improvisation (即兴创作). That means making the music up on the spot (当场). No music in front of you. No long discussion with other people in your band.
"It's free. It's beautiful," says Geoffrey, a sixth-grader at Stratford Landing Elementary School. Geoffrey is such a good musician that he has performed at the Kennedy Center.
Geoffrey says, "It's easy to express your feelings through jazz. You are more focused on being creative and using your imagination in jazz. "
Washington DC is a very important place in the history of jazz. It has a famous jazz piano player: Duke Ellington.
Born in Washington in 1899, Ellington as a child wanted to play baseball instead of the piano. But his parents played the piano, so he started playing the piano when he was seven years old.
In 1920, he played small shows at the Howard Theatre. When he was 24, he moved to New York, but he didn't forget his hometown. He called his band the Washingtonians and later he returned to perform at the Lincoln Theatre.
People of all ages, especially young children, follow comic strips in newspapers, magazines and the movies. Who is your favourite superhero-SPIDER-Spiderman? Wonder Woman? These heroes have been around for a long time. Comics came out even earlier. In ancient times, people made funny drawings of animals1paper.
Comic strips first came out during the 1800s and remain much the same style today. These comics are drawn in connected boxes. The HENIFILMT IDE boxes usually show a dramatic2. Some comic strips are printed in newspapers, which often continues from day to day. Some people even read the comics before they read the front page.
The comic books first3during the 1930s. It seemed that everyone wanted to read comic books. They loved reading about the adventures of the Man of Steel and Batman. During the 1940s, the nation was at war and some comic book characters, such as Captain America, reflected(反映) the times. Others, such as Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, made people laugh during this4time in history.
After the war, people became5interested in old comic book characters, so new superheroes had to be made. The new superheroes, such as Fantastic Four, X-Men, and Spiderman, talked and acted more like real people. As time went on, comic books had to6TV because TV has offered a lot of fun to people.
Comic strips are usually good for a laugh or at least a smile. But they have held a place in history. They take people away from their daily lives into another world. In this world, the hero always wins, and failure only comes to the bad guys.
In China, when you refused someone, he or she might say he or she eats a bowl of door-closing thick soup. In Chinese, it is called "吃闭门羹" What is the story behind this saying?
It is said that during the Tang Dynasty, there lived a beautiful woman named Shi Feng. Many young men wanted to marry her. But Shi was hard to impress. She asked her admirers (追求者)to write poems and show them to her. She did this to see how talented they were.
If Shi liked someone's poems, she would agree to meet him. If she didn't, she wouldn't meet him. But then, to be polite, she would at least give him a bowl of "geng "to eat. Geng" is a type of thick soup. It is usually made with grain, fruit and vegetables.
As time passed, "eating a bowl of thick soup "came to mean "being refused". The dish was also nicknamed" door-closing thick soup", since Shi would not open her door for the people who received the dish.
But there is a twist(转折)to this story. "Door-closing thick soup" was said to be so tasty that people started coming to Shi's door--not to marry her, but to have a taste of the soup!
Do you know what hand gestures are? They're a way of 1 with others and showing our feelings. These gestures are the most 2 when someone is peaking to a stranger who doesn't know the 3 language. The meanings of hand gestures in different cultures may be translated (被翻译)4 .
To explain my point. I'll take a common 5 of President George W. Bush. He once made a small mistake (错误) 6 gestures during a visit to Australia.
After some visits and meetings, he saw many people. He tried to show a peace sign by 7 the two fingers as a V-sign at the crowd. You may think it's just a simple gesture. But he was really 8! His palm (手掌) faced inwards instead of facing outwards. In Australia, it is impolite to do like this. So Australians felt very puzzled (困惑的). As we can see, it's important to understand the 9 of gestures before we travel to other countries. Some gestures are good ones in one country, but maybe they're impolite gestures in other countries. So, if we go to different countries, we should 10 different hand gestures. It may make us become more popular.
One day, I heard an American boy say to a Chinese girl student, "You speak very good English." But the girl answered, "No, no. My English is very poor." The foreigner was quite surprised at the answer. Thinking he had not made1understood or the girl had not heard him clearly, he said, "Yes, indeed, you speak very well." 2 the girl still kept saying, "No." In the end the American boy could not understand and didn't know 3 to say.
What's wrong with the girl's answer? She didn't 4 a compliment(恭维) in the same way as the American people do. She should answer "Thank you." instead of "No." She 5 understood what the American boy had said, but she thought she should be modest. In the West, people will feel proud and 6 when they are praised. So if someone says the 7 you have cooked are very delicious, you should say, "Thank you."
In our country we think being modest is a virtue (美德) and being proud is a bad thing, but in my opinion, being confident does not 8 being proud, so sometimes you should be confident 9being 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 10. When asking for a job, if 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 selfconfidence.
Have you ever listened to jazz music? Louisiana is1for its jazz. There have been many great jazz masters that were born in this state—Louis Armstrong, Fats Domino, and Wynton Marsalis, to name2.
We will start with the best—Louis Armstrong. Louis was born in New Orleans31901. When he was twelve years old, he was sent to a boarding school4he had fired a gun into the air on New Year's Eve. He was sent home 18 months later where he5coal with a cart(手推车)to earn a little money. He loved to listen to bands 6in the city. Joe "King" Oliver was a great jazz musician7took young Louis under his wing. When Louis was 21 years old, Oliver8him to play in his band. Louis loved9! By 1929, Louis had his own band named Hot Five. Louis went on to10one of the best jazz musicians of all time.
Fats Domino was born in 1928 in New Orleans. He was tall and strong, which is11he earned the nickname(绰号)of "Fats". He worked12in a factory but earned little after he left school. He would also play the piano and sing in clubs around town13the time he was in his early 20's, he had become a great success.141955 and 1960, Fats Domino had almost twenty Top 20 singles. He was a great15and was picked into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.
What is a museum? A museum is a good place to keep1and beautiful things. A museum may be a place to learn about science. A museum can be a place2art of humans or animals.
What is3a museum? Some museums4old cars and airplanes.5museums have pictures and sculptures. Others have rocks and old bones. One museum even has6coal mine inside!
Many cities have museums. Some very small7have museums8. Indianapolis has a9museum. Children do not have to pay to get in. Children often go to the museum. They like10at the dinosaur bones. They see a white bear which is ten feet tall. They go inside an old log cabin (小木屋).11Saturday, Indianapolis children can12talks about animals and trees.
One day, I heard an American boy say to a Chinese girl student, "You speak very good English." But the girl answered, "No, no. My English is very poor." The foreigner was quite surprised 1 the answer. Thinking he had not made 2 understood or the girl had not listened to him clearly, he said, "Yes, indeed, you speak very well." But the girl still kept saying: "No, no." This time the American boy could not understand and didn't know 3 to say.
What's wrong with the girl's answer? She didn't 4 a compliment (恭维) in the same way as the American people do. She should answer, "Thank you" instead of "No". She 5 did understand what the American boy said, but she thought she should be modest (谦虚的). In the 6, people will feel proud (骄傲) and 7 when they are praised (表扬). So if someone says the dishes you cooked are very delicious, you should say, "Thank you."
In our country we think being modest is a virtue (美德) and being proud is a bad thing. But in my opinion, being confident does not mean being proud, so sometimes you should be confident 8 being modest.
If you are modest and say, "No, I'm afraid I can't do it" while working in a western country, others may think that you really can't do it. If you often say "No", you will certainly be looked down by 9. When asking for a job, if one says something like "Yes, I can certainly do it" instead of "Let me have a try", he or she will 10. So in the west, you should be brave to show your self-confidence.
China is a country with a rich culture in calligraphy(书法). 1computers are everywhere in our life, Chinese people should not2the skill of writing with hands.
Now the computer can help people to write. People are3computers more often than before. So many people are forgetting how to4Chinese characters(汉字). People often make a lot of mistakes in handwriting.
Today, China is trying to help students and teachers to5their handwriting. We6that teachers can write well on the 7and students can write well on their exercise books, too. Teachers should make their teaching plans and students should8their homework by writing with their9. We are sure our handwriting can become10and better in this way.
