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C
Last week, I visited my friend Pete in his new home, where he lives with his wife and daughter. Pete used to spend his holidays traveling around the world – visiting the pyramids in Egypt or scuba diving (水肺潜水) in the Caribbean. Nowadays, he prefers to spend his holidays and weekends making his house look more beautiful. Like hundreds of thousands of other British people, he's found the joy of DIY (do it yourself) home repairs. This means that if there's anything that needs fixing around the house, he will try to do the job himself.
Pete showed me his new kitchen, which he put together himself, and his newly-painted walls. I asked him where he got the idea to do these things. He told me that his favourite source (来源) of ideas is a DIY program on TV.
This got me thinking about how popular DIY programs are in the UK. Each main channel (频道) has at least one home or garden makeover show. There are even channels totally on the subject.
I suppose it's not really surprising that DIY programs are so popular. There are two common sayings in Britain – “an Englishman's home is his castle (城堡)” and “there's no place like home” – which show how important our houses are to us. With the social changes of the last ten years or so, many people can't afford to buy bigger houses. So they are looking at how they can make their house better without spending a lot of money. DIY, clearly, is the perfect choice.
B
When was the last time you gave or received a hug? Do your parents hug you before you go to school? In Western countries, it is quite common to greet close friends or relatives with a hug.
You might hug your teammates after winning a basketball game. If one of your friends is having a bad day, you can hug them to cheer them up. Friends who haven't seen each other for a long time will usually hug each other when meeting.
Of course, people in different countries have different opinions when it comes to hugging. After coming to China, I've noticed that people are generally more reluctant (不情愿的) to hug than they are in my home country, the US.
My Chinese friends told me that hugging is considered to be very intimate (亲密的) in their culture. It usually only happens between people who are really close to each other, like couples. Chinese people don't usually hug in public, either.
But people's attitudes (态度) towards hugging can also change. I remember watching a video story about a “hugging party” that was held in Shanghai. A local artist held the party, inviting strangers and asking them to hug each other.
The Chinese participants (参与者) clearly looked uncomfortable. However, after the party, several of them changed their minds. They decided that hugging doesn't have to be awkward (尴尬的) and can actually be quite nice. So next time you see your mom or dad, give them a hug –see how it makes you feel.
Steve was waiting for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn't – the girl with a rose. She was his pen friend. She had helped him a lot both in study and life. They planned their first meeting for 7 pm at Grand Central Station in New York.
“You'll find me,” she wrote, “by the red rose I'll be wearing on my coat.” So at 7 pm he was in the station looking for the girl with a red rose.
A young woman was coming towards him. She was wearing a green coat and was everything that he hoped Miss Maynell would be. But there was no red rose. Then a plain-looking (相貌平平的) woman walked past. She was well past 40 years old. On her coat there was a red rose.
He did not hesitate (犹豫). “I'm Steve Blanchard, and you must be Miss Maynell. I am so glad you could meet me. May I take you to dinner?” he asked.
A kind smile appeared on the woman's face. “I don't know what this is about, son,” she answered, “But the young lady in the green coat who just went by asked me to wear this rose on my coat. She said if you asked me out to dinner, I should tell you that she is waiting for you in the big restaurant across the street. She said it was a kind of test!”
C
China's national anthem, March of the Volunteers, is a song that we learn at the beginning of primary school and sing at every flag-raising ceremony. And now, there's even a law to protect it.
Last September, the government passed the National Anthem Law, which became effective(生效) from Oct.1, 2017. It states how we should sing or play the song, requiring all of us to behave towards it politely.
Primary and middle schools must teach the anthem to their students and make them understand the song's spirit and history. Moreover, the law requires us to be serious when we are singing the song. We can't joke about it or change the song's words or music. If someone breaks the law, he or she can be detained for up to 15 days, or face further punishment in more serious situations. The national anthem is different from other songs – it is the symbol of our country.
Many foreign countries also have laws for their national anthems. For example, American school children should put their right hand over their heart while singing their country's anthem at school. In Russia, the national anthem must be played on television and radio before the start and end of broadcasting. And in the Philippines, people are required to sing the national anthem with feelings when it's played in public.
D
What can be both red or green, round or sharp, big or small, and more importantly, loved or hated by someone? Yes, the answer is chilies (辣椒).
Many of us in China enjoy adding chilies to our food, but did you know that this spicy (辣 的) vegetable could also be dangerous? A 34-year-old US man recently ended up in hospital after eating a Carolina Reaper, the spiciest chili people have known so far. After taking just a single bite of one, the man suffered from serious headaches in the following days, reported BBC News.
In fact, eating spicy food causes stomachache and headache. But if chilies are harmful, why do people like to eat this vegetable? So what makes people love chilies so much? The human body is influenced by natural chemicals that produce “a sense of happiness”, noted BBC News.
And chilies do good to people in another way. Scientists found that the death rate of those who eat spicy food once or twice a week is 10 percent lower than those who eat it less than once a week. The death rate is 14 percent lower for those who eat spicy food six to seven times a week. This encourages people to eat more spicy food to improve health and bring less death risk at an early age. So, don't worry if you love spicy food. It seems that chilies are actually good for us.
B
Wang Fuman is a 10-year-old student. He is now studying in Zhuanshanbao Primary School in Zhaotong, Yunnan Province. On Monday morning (January 8, 2018), he braved -9℃ weather to travel over an hour to reach his school.
When he arrived, his hair and eyebrows had been completely frozen with snowflake (雪花). This made his 16 classmates laugh a lot. Fu Heng, Wang's teacher saw this and took a picture. He uploaded (上传) Wang's picture. The picture soon has got much attention to children from poor families in the countryside. Wang, who has been nicknamed “Snowflake Boy” by netizens, became famous online overnight. By Wednesday morning, his picture had been “liked” more than 260,000 times on Sina Weibo and shared more than 40,000 times.
After hearing Wang's story, the Yunnan China Youth Development Foundation held a public donation ( 捐赠) activity for children from poor families. The Foundation has promised to give each poor child 500 yuan ($75) to help them stay warm in winter.
By 1 pm on Wednesday, the Foundation had collected about 300,000 yuan in public donations, according to their website. Wang's village now has electricity and tap water, “…and my family is getting help to build a new house close to the school”, Wang said, “I think our life will get better.”
