The Chinese New Year is 1 holiday for the Chinese people. The New Year comes 2 the first day of the First lunar month, 3 January 21 and February 19. People get ready 4 the holiday for about fifteen days.
5 , at midnight it is the first day of the First lunar month. People close the shops and the streets are empty. Everyone 6 at home.
It is an important time for the family. The younger people bow 7 the older people. Chinese call this "Ke Tou". This means 8 the ground with the forehead". Then the younger people wish the older people a happy New Year. The older people give children money in red envelopes. The family then 9
In the morning, people 10 their new clothes. Some people stay at home, others go out to pay a New Year call. They are very polite and do not use bad words. It's the most important day of a year.
Gift-giving is different from culture to culture and person to person.
When people give gifts, sometimes color is important. For example, for many Chinese people around the world, red is a lucky color, and people often like to wrap gifts in red. However, do you know that in South Korea, red is a color of death? That is why you should not wrap your gifts in this color if you are giving a gift to a person there.
What about Western countries? In Western countries, the color of wrapping paper is not really important. But color does matter when giving flowers, especially roses. You should not give red roses to a Western person you don't know very well because they are a symbol of love. You could give yellow roses instead, as these are a symbol of friendship. You could also send pink roses as gifts to say thank you.
What other things should you remember when giving gifts to someone from a different culture? Well, one thing you should keep in mind is the person's religion (宗教). When choosing a gift for a Muslim (穆斯林的) or Jewish (犹太教的) friend, you should never get food including pork, or things made from pigskin. Another thing that you should not get for a Muslim person is alcohol (酒).
In most countries around the world, 16-year-olds have to wait for another two years to be able to drive a car. Not so for 16-year-old Max Verstappen. He will become the youngest ever F1 driver when he races for the Toro Rosso team next year. He will be 17 when he takes part in his first Grand Prix（汽车大奖赛）, with drivers like Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel. Now the youngest F1 driver, Jaime Victor, is 19 years and 125 days. Verstappen will make his first show at the Australian Grand Prix. He said: "Ever since I was seven, F1 has been my career goal（职业目标）, so this chance is truly a dream come true. "
The Toro Rosso team boss Franz Tost was very excited, saying: "We are happy to welcome Max into the Toro Rosso family...We think Max is one of the most skilled young drivers and we believe he has the ability to take on this challenge（挑战） successfully. It will now be up to us to offer Max a car to make him have the best possible start to his F1 career. "Max is the son of the former F1 driver Jos Verstappen. He said: "First of all, thanks to my father, who has always been by my side, day and night, year after year. "
Different countries have different customs. When you travel to other countries, please follow their customs, just as the saying goes, "________."
Very often people who travel to the United States forget to tip. It is usual to tip porters who help carry your bags, taxi drivers and waiters. Waiters expect to get a 15% tip on the cost of your meal. Taxi drivers expect about the same amount.
In England, make sure to stand in line even if there are only two of you. It's important to respect lines there. It's a good idea to talk about the weather. It's a favourite subject of conversation with the British.
In Spain, it's a good idea to have a light meal in the afternoon if someone invites you for dinner. People have dinner very late, and restaurants do not generally open until after 9 p.m.
In Arab countries, men kiss one another on the cheek. Your host may welcome you with a kiss on both cheeks. It is polite for you to do the same.
In Japan, people usually give personal or business cards to each other when they meet for the first time. When a person gives you a card, don't put it into your pocket right away. The person expects you to read it.
Don't forget to be careful of your body language to express something in conversation. A kind of body language that is acceptable in one culture may be impolite in another.
Bob: The weather is so warm today.
Jim: I shall wear shorts tomorrow!
Bob:
Jim: I've no idea.
Bob: Shall we go bike riding?
Jim: No. Let's not. I rode my bike two days ago. I think I need a new one.
Bob: What about volleyball, then?
Jim: The ball always hits me on the head.
Bob: How about going hiking?We can climb the hill and play games.
Jim: Great. Let's tell David, Lin Tao and Han Mei to go with us.
Bob: OK. See you after school!
Jim: See you.
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A. Shall we go bike riding? B. It was broken. C. Yes. It's twenty-four degrees. D. I don't like volleyball. E. What do you want to do after school? F. I like climbing. |
