Whether it is for a special festival, to express thanks or to just let someone know that you care about them, giving gifts is a common custom. The purpose of giving gifts may be similar, but the tradition varies from country to country. A gift of respect in one place may be considered rude in another. Take a look at three unique gift-giving traditions.
India
If you're invited to someone's home in India, you should bring a small gift, whether it's a box of chocolates or some flowers. Gifts shouldn't be wrapped (包裹) in black or white colors, because they are considered unlucky. Instead, use bright colors such as green, red or yellow. When giving money for any occasion, it should have an odd number (奇数) value. That's believed to bring good luck. Instead of receiving a gift with both hands, Indians generally only use their right hand because left hands are considered unclean.
Japan
For most Japanese, the ritual (礼节) of giving presents is more important than the gifts themselves. The correct way is to present or receive gifts with both hands. Every gift should be wrapped. That's because uncovered gifts are considered disrespectful. To show politeness and thanks, those who are receiving the gift may turn it down once or twice before finally accepting it. Gifts should be given in pairs, but four should be avoided just like in China. Lucky numbers also include eight. Eight is said to bring prosperity.
Native America
While it may be common for guests to prepare gifts for hosts, this is different in Native American communities. From weddings to birthday celebrations, guests are the ones who receive gifts. Gifts are usually homemade arts and crafts that are made by hand to show love, respect and appreciation.
Recently, my dad and I decided to take a day trip to the Florida Keys, a coral cay archipelago located off the southernmost coast of the US. I was super excited because I had not been able to go anywhere within the past nine months because of COVID-19.
With masks and hand sanitizer, we began our fun journey before sunrise. The Keys are about two hours away from where I live in Florida, so we would get there early to see the sun coming up over the ocean. On the road, we got to enjoy the Gulf of Mexico on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other.
When we stopped by Curry Hammock State Park, I was really amazed. The park contains 1,000 acres of land, which protects mangroves, rock land and seagrass beds that are important to the ecosyst (生态系统) in the Keys. During our time there, we were able to see some hawks flying by, and they followed the Gulf coastline of the Caribbean, migrating (迁徙) from Canada and as far south as Peru. These hawks put their wings out, "floated" up in the wide sky and then glided for long distances. After flying for thousands of miles, they still kept their fast flight patterns.
After that, we went to Key West and visited some iconic (标志性的) stops, like Duvall Street and Mile Marker 0. It was really cool because it is the very beginning of US 1, which is the longest road that runs from Key West to the Canadian border.
It was an amazing trip to the Florida Keys, and it was thrilling to have a change of scenery.
To stay healthy and fit, Chinese students do group exercises every day at school. Most of you probably do the same set of exercises. But some school exercises have grown popular online due to their local and innovative (创新的) designs. Let's check one of them out!
Singing in Sichuan dialects with energetic movements and unique mask-changing is not just a Sichuan Opera performance. It's the routine exercise for students of Mianyang Foreign Languages Experimental School in Sichuan province.
"Sichuan Opera is a local opera, and it is now facing a gap in inheritance (传承). Therefore, we cooperated with Mianyang Intangible Cultural Heritage Center to create a simple and easy-to-learn Sichuan Opera exercise," said Shen Junhua, who is in charge of organizing the school's exercise between classes.
According to Shen, this new type of exercise has been practiced since 2017 and has been popular among students. When students enroll (入学), they will spend several weeks practicing it. At present, almost all of the students and teachers have mastered it.
"In fact, we had hardly heard of Sichuan Opera before teachers taught us how to do the Sichuan Opera exercise," said Li Yangwen, 14, an eighth grade student who also joined the school's Sichuan Opera club out of interest. "It's very different from normal exercises. After practicing it, we found it very beautiful and became interested in it. Now, almost all of the students look forward to our daily exercise time and feel excited to do it."
"By combining opera with daily exercise, the daily class activity allows students to perceive and understand Sichuan Opera's culture", Shen said. After years of continuous effort to spread the seeds of traditional culture, the younger generation will finally catch on.
Choosing accommodation (住宿) is one of the most important considerations for students who study abroad. Dormitories (宿舍) , provided by universities can be a good choice.
Many foreign families open their homes to students across the world. In a homestay, students can observe, learn and experience a new lifestyle and culture, while practicing English skills in a home environment.
Students can even feel that they have found a second family who loves and cares for them. Hosts may involve their student guests in day-to-day family activities and also include them in social gatherings, such as holiday celebrations or trips to local attractions.
Homestay hosts can reflect the diversity (多样性) of the region in which they live. They may be single parents, retired couples or families with young children.
You can check university homestay programs, which will set certain standards for hosts, including transportation, facilities and access to shared rooms such as the kitchen and bathroom.
Although homestays can be convenient, host families are not completely responsible for students' welfare. Don't count on hosts to solve all of your problems. Also, remember that living in a homestay will require an adjustment period. There may be simple house rules or guidelines about internet usage, laundry, television viewing, meal times, cleanliness and money matters. Remember to be polite and respect the host family's different lifestyles.
A. They are ready to help students.
B. Students still need to be independent.
C. As guests, students always need to mind their manners.
D. Good homestay can help students learn foreign culture.
E. Successful homestay experiences can help ease homesickness.
F. In addition to dormitories, homestay is another popular choice.
G. They will come from different social and cultural backgrounds.
I am an imaginative girl. I have always been 1 about the future just like the great novelist, Liu Cixin.
What will life be like in the future? What will happen to humans and other living things? When I was a little girl, I often thought about these questions and drew 2 of my imaginary future life in my album.
How will people in the future 3? Perhaps there will be cities underground, in the air or in the sea, where there will be new kinds of 4 like underground express trains, airships and undersea trains. With 5 technology, we may even be able to fly on a broom, just like Harry Potter.
Living conditions will also certainly 6 . Just imagine such a house in 7 it feels like spring all year because of an intelligent thermostat. All complicated and boring chores will be8 by a robot.
As for travel, it may be possible to travel through time and space freely. What if there were time machines to travel to any time in history? If I could 9a time machine, I would go to the age of dinosaurs and take them to the 10. By that time, more and more people would 11 dinosaurs as pets—you might even see people walk dinosaurs in the streets.
Maybe one day, riding flying dinosaurs to fly to schools in cities in the sky will be common. All kinds of creatures will work and play with us. What a harmonious world it will be!
However, as science and technology 12, pollution may become more serious, and then people will need to 13 new planets to live on. At the same time, human beings may 14become too dependent on science and technology, but I'm 15 that we can solve these problems step by step.
On 8 November 2013, Super Typhoon Haiyan swept through the Philippines. All of a sudden, a whole city lay in (ruin). 70 to 80 percent of the buildings were (destroy). The people were so (frighten) that they felt as if the world were coming to end. However, hope was not lost. Many countries and (organise) came to the rescue. Slowly, the city began to breathe again.
My dream is to travel around the world. I (prefer) natural scenery in the past, but recently my attitude cultural landscape has changed. Now, I'm applying for my visa for Italy, an (extreme) beautiful country with many ups and . I can't wait to visit Italy I want to explore wonderful places of historical interest.
增加：在原句中缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧）；在该句右边横线上写出应增加的词。
删除：在原句中把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉；在该句右边横线上写出应删除的词，并且也用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线；在该句右边横线上写出改正后的词。
例如：
增加 I will pay attention ∧ this problem next time. to
删除Because
Linda studied very hard, so she ranked first in the exam. so
改正 Bob is a honest boy. an
