February 14 is a day for people who have fallen in love. On this day, these men and women give gifts (presents)and cards to each other for Valentine's Day(情人节).This day has been popular with people in love for a long time. At first，this holiday was called Lupercalia. Then the name of the day was changed to Saint Valentine's Day. The man named Saint Valentine was killed on February 14，270 AD, because he was a Christian (基督教徒).
Before Saint Valentine was killed，February 14 was the old Roman holiday，Lupercalia. The church wanted people to think of a Christian holiday on this day，so the church changed the name of the holiday.
This change did not stop people in love from giving gifts to each other. People usually gave gloves, handkerchiefs, or even underwear was gifts. Sometimes people also put hearts and flowers on the presents before giving it to the other persons.
Valentine cards did not become popular until the 1750s. The first Valentine cards were made by hand. People wrote their own words on the cards. These words were usually funny.
Now, every year around February 14，cards and chocolates fill shops for people in love.
Dick lived in England. One day in January he said to his wife, “I'm going to fly to New York next week because I've got some work there.” “Where are you going to stay there?” his wife asked. “I don't know yet.” Dick answered. “Please send me your address from there in a telegram (电报),” his wife said. “All right,” Dick answered.
He flew to New York on January 31st and found a nice hotel in the center of the city. He put his things in his room and then he sent his wife a telegram. He put the address of his hotel in it.
In the evening he didn't have any work, so he went to a cinema. He came out at nine o'clock and said, “Now I'm going back to my hotel and have a nice dinner.”
He found a taxi (出租车) and the driver said, “Where do you want to go?” But Dick didn't remember the name and address of his hotel.
“Which hotel are my things in?” he said, “and what am I going to do tonight?” But the driver of the taxi did not know. So Dick got out and went into a post office. There he sent his wife another telegram, and in it he wrote, “Please send me my address at this post office.”
“Homestay is a form of study abroad program. It allows the visitor to rent a room from a local(当地的)family to better understand the local lifestyle. It also helps to improve the visitor's language ability,” said a teacher during a school meeting last term. “Students who wish to learn more about foreign cultures or to get foreign experience should join this kind of holiday. I am sure you won't be disappointed(失望的).”
After this special meeting, I always thought about this kind of holiday. Last month, I had a chance at last to go on such a holiday with some of my schoolmates and we went to London, a place where I had wanted to go since years ago.
As we were still young, we had a group leader who planned things for us and looked after us. After we got to London, we went to stay with different families. I was lucky that my host family(寄宿家庭) was a white couple who had a daughter about my age. They treated me as a daughter of their family during my stay there. They were interested in me and I learnt a lot of things from them, too.
The holiday was filled with activities every day. After breakfast, a local teacher would come to take us in his car. Then we would have classes or go on a sightseeing trip to different places of interest like the Big Ben, the London Bridge, and the Buckingham Palace. We would go back to our own homes after the activities.
The holiday was a valuable experience for me. I enjoyed every minute of it. Yet, time really flew fast. Three weeks later, we had to leave “homes”for Hong Kong.
( B )
Liang and Wang, both teachers, are going to take their summer holidays at some beautiful seaside. They like good wine and shopping. Chen Hui and Li Hong, university students, want to travel with very little money, and would like to get to know the country by working with the local people for two weeks. Mr Zhang, a young and busy manager, needs a holiday to relax. He would like to go somewhere warm and sunny, where he can swim in the sea, and he enjoys sports and dancing. Mr Lee and his wife, who have recently retired(退休), want to see places of cultural and historic interest, but Mrs Lee hates flying. Ling Xia, a nurse in a hospital in Guangzhou, hopes to spend her 21st birthday in the north and skate on real ice. | A. Seven Days on Jinsha Island Seven-day holidays on Jinsha Island，lovely beach with golden sand and deep blue sea. Sailing and some other water sports as well as dancing to local music. B. East China in Comfort Comfortable coach tours around five cities in East China. Six days out of normal holiday season，seeing local culture. C. A Four-day Holiday in Guilin Relax yourselves for a four-day holiday in Guilin. Stay in the Lijiang Hotel. Taste delicious Guilin rice noodles. A tour on the Lijiang River by boat. D. Holiday Homes in Sanya Holiday flats in Sanya in summer season by the sea, yet near shops and restaurants. E. One Day Travel in Guangzhou Climb Mt. Baiyun in the morning, visit Yuexiu Park and other sceneries after lunch. A night time boat trip on Pearl River at 8:00. F. One Week on Sun Island,Harbin One-week holidays in the Full Moon Hotel. Beautiful flats with sights of Sun Lake. Skating, skiing and other winter sports. G. Farm Holidays in Guizhou Working holidays on a farm in Guizhou for one to three months, if prepared to work with the farmers. Rooms, food and trips all provided free — you only pay for the low cost traffic. |
People all over the world like taking part in sports. Bicycle riding becomes more and more popular. It's1to ride a bicycle. The old people, the young people, the teenagers, all have 2own bicycles. Every day, we can3people riding their bicycles to workplaces, to schools, to shopping centers, and so on. There are many kinds of4. For example, racing bikes are easy to go5, and mountain bikes are durable（耐用的）for6roads.
Riding a bike is7in many ways. First, it doesn't make much8or cause（引起）air pollution. Second, riding a bike is a kind of good9. It can help you keep10.
Third, people don't need to pay for gas（汽油）or worry about heavy11.
Now more and more12ride bicycles. Why not13computer games and go bike riding14weekends? You will have a good time riding a bicycle with friends and become much15.
Dear Jack,
How are you? I had great fun last Saturday, June 20th. It was a traditional festival (call) Dragon Boat Festival that day.
This festival is in memory of Qu Yuan, one of(great) Chinese poets. He killedby jumping into the Miluo River on May 5th of the Lunar calendar, 278BC. People there rowed the boats(save) him, it was too late. They were very sad and then threw rice into the river to feed the fish so that they would stay away from his body.
From then on, every year on this day, people enjoy(eat) zongzi once a year, but now we regard it as our daily food.
Have you ever(watch) the dragon boat races on TV? It is another important part of this festival. Several(team) row their dragon-shaped boats as fast as they can. The first team to reach the finish line.
If you have a plan to visit China next year, would you like to spend this festival us?
Best wishes,
Xiao Qiang
Paper cutting is a special form of traditional art in China. It has been aroundover 1,500 years. People started to paper cutting in China in the 6th century. It has a number of special uses in Chinese culture.Almost all of them are for , happiness or peace.Red is the most commonly of all the colors. Since long ago, Chinese people were in cutting paper into traditional Chinese characters.
Paper cutting is popular around the world, only the Chinese paper cutting is listed in the UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists (联合国教科文组织的非物质文化遗产名录)．The Chinese paper cutting gets place because it has long history and it tells people so much about Chinese history and culture
Paper cutting has developed over the past few years. It ispopular in China now.During special like the Chinese Spring Festival, people cut beautiful pictures and put them on windows and doors.They are often seen at Chinese weddings as well.
