There's no better way to better understand a foreign culture than through one of its festivals. Here are some interesting festivals in the world.
La Tomatina(Spain)
Last Wednesday of August
This "largest food fight in the world" is believed to have been started with a tomato—but it certainly didn't end with just one. Now, more than 50,000 people pack the streets of Bunol, Spain, armed with cheap tomatoes, ready to pelt friends and strangers alike. Gloves and safety glasses are suggested as the battle can get quite heated, even though it lasts just an hour. While past years allowed anyone and everyone to take part, the large number of attendees pushed town officials to require tickets.
National Beer Day(Iceland)
March 1
It's no secret that Icelanders are fond of a bit of partying. After all, when there are days when the sun won't stop shining, it makes sense to throw a few back to celebrate. However, it wasn't that long ago(1989) that Iceland was still under a form of prohibition(禁酒令) and unable to sell beer. When the laws were passed to make beer legal on March 1,1989, Icelanders were excited and have since celebrated National Beer Day each March 1 with pub dances and other celebrations that last until the early hours of the morning. Beer has since become the most popular drink in the country.
Lopburi Monkey Banquet(盛宴)(Thailand)
Last Sunday in November
If you've ever come in close contact with monkeys, you know that they're often a bit troublesome, taking a sandwich from your hand without warning or breaking into your hotel minibar if you forget to lock the doors (true story). However, in 1989, in Lopburi, Thailand, a local innkeeper decided to feed the monkeys a banquet as they're also believed to bring good luck. Thus, a tradition was born and the banquet has grown each year. As the monkeys run into the banquet, they soon get a bit excited and start dancing on the tables and throwing food. For visitors, it's a highly enjoyable sight—just be sure to wear clothes that you don't mind being decorated by the monkeys.
It was around the 4th grade when I started noticing that I didn't fit in that well with a lot of kids in my grade. While the other girls were starting to wear make-up, style their hair, and only wear fashionable clothing, I stayed the same. At first I didn't care, but then I started to feel a little worried. I was afraid that the other girls wouldn't like me. I wanted to be like them, but I really hated that.
After I entered the 5th grade my mom found a local vocal studio. I had always loved to sing, and taking lessons seemed like fun. I was thrown into a brilliant world of music. Something inside me just clicked, and I had finally found where I belonged. Music gave me a place of my own in the world.
Starting voice lessons was the first of many times that music has changed my life. In the 7th grade, I really didn't fit in at middle school. Being an athlete is what made you popular, and I was not super athletic. Music saved me again. Every day I knew I could come home from school and sing. I would become someone else. I would let the music fill my body and shine its light in the darkest corners. The light gave me strength. I became friends with other people who were into music. Music also gave me courage.
Friedrich Nietzsche once said, "Life without music would be a mistake." This is true for me. Without music, my life would be a mistake. Maybe I would have found another hobby, but I doubt that it would help and change me the way music did. I know that music had changed my life.
Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani student and education activist who began speaking out for girls' education at the age of 11. After surviving an assassination (暗杀) at the age of 15, she co-founded the Malala Fund with her father to create a world where girls everywhere could be educated without fear. Her fund supports every girl's right to 12 years of free, safe, quality education and works mainly in countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Nigeria.
Malala believes girls are the best investment (投资) in the future peace and further development of our world. It will never be a wrong choice to spend money on girls.
In 2014 the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai the Nobel Peace Prize for their fight against the suppression (镇压) of children and young people and for the right of all children to education. Malala became the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize winner.
Accepting the award, Malala said, "This award is not just for me. It is for those forgotten children who want education. It is for those frightened children who want peace. It is for those voiceless children who want change. "
In her new picture book, Malala's Magic Pencil, Malala returns to her childhood to teach young readers about the importance of hope, believing in magic, and making the world a better place.
Malala's first book, her personal life story co-written with Christina Lamb, I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World, was published in 2013. She is also the subject of the 2015 film He Named Me Malala.
How similar are language and music?
Language is part of our daily lives, no matter where we live in the world. Both language and music play a huge role in our culture and here are some of their similarities.
Both language and music have a writing system.
In English we record language using the alphabet, which is a collection of letters. Similarly, we use notes to keep a record of music. Musicians read notes and create meaning in the form of music. By writing pieces of text or music, we are able to share experiences through time. We can read the ideas or hear the composition of someone who lived hundreds of years ago.
You can make a good guess at where someone is from by listening to the language he uses. In the same way, we know that styles of music are different around the world, giving us the opportunity to explore many different cultures through their music and providing us with music for every situation.
Both share emotion.
Of course you may be able to see it in my face, but you will know for sure through my words. Similarly, music can sound angry, sad or happy. Music can show you exactly how the composer was or is feeling, and allows us to share that emotion. When you feel happy, you might want to sing and dance to a happy song to celebrate your happiness. I think we have all used music to express or process our emotions, often combining it with language in the form of song lyrics.
A. Both are various with culture.
B. Both are expressive around the world.
C. How do you know that I am angry?
D. We use language to express our thoughts.
E. So just as you read English, you can read music.
F. Similarly, music is also part of many people's lives.
G. In contrast, you probably also listen to sad music when you are feeling down.
When I was young, I never had a special Christmas gift that I dreamed of and was crazy about. I know I 1 a lot of great Christmas presents as I grew up. Chatty Cathy, Baby Thumbelina, Little Miss No Name...I just don't remember opening them. Although my parents had their financial 2, they always made Christmas 3for their four children. Dad worked a(n) 4 job as a referee in high school basketball games to 5 a little more cash, and Mum was the queen of bargain shopping. The gifts may have been inexpensive, but there was more than enough under the tree.
Stored in happy memories are the family 6: helping Mum and Dad drag the Christmas decorations out of the attic (阁楼), going with Dad to 7 the tree from the Kiwanis, and8the tree with strings of blue lights and Christmas lasting days and days and days. The piles of 9 under our tree packed in newspaper are more memorable than what was packed. The act itself of unpacking and 10 seeing what was beneath the newspaper was 11 and memorable. But the most clear are the images of smiles, the sounds of 12, not the images of toys or clothes.
It's the 13 of Christmas. The best moments, the happy moments were not the gifts, but the togetherness, the love of family. Even in the14 quarrels of brothers and sisters, even in the tiredness of late nights, even in the sometime stress of it all.
Christmas should not centre on what's on our gift lists. For it's not about what gifts we 15 or receive, but about what we do, what we experience.
Those are the happy moments that matter.
A motto is a sentence or a phrasecan inspire us especially when we (face) with difficulties. Many of us have our mottoes, such as "Where there is a will, there (be) a way. " or "Nothing is difficult if you put your heart into it." My motto is "God helps those who help(them)."Sometimes I am lazy and don' want to make efforts (work) hard, but the moment I think of my motto I will be (energy) again and devote myselfwhat I am doing. I write my motto where I can see it (easy). Every time I fail in my exam and begin to lose heart, the sight of my motto inspires me with much(confident).My motto also makes me become anindependent person. That is to say, I won't rely on others before I have try. My friend, what is your motto? If you still haven't got a motto, please choose one because a motto can have a great effect on you.
The United Kingdom, Great Britain, Britain, England — many people are confused by what these different names mean. So what is the difference between them, if any? to know a little bit about British history will help you solve this puzzle.
In the 16th century, the country of Wales was joined to the Kingdom of England. Later, in the 18th century, the country Scotland was joined to create the Kingdom of Great Britain. In the 19th century, the Kingdom of Ireland was added to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. , in the 20th century, the southern part of Ireland broke away from the UK, which in the full name we have today: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Most people just use the shortened name: "the United Kingdom" or "the UK". People from the UK are called "British", which means the UK is also often to as Britain or Great Britain.
The four countries that to the United Kingdom work together in some areas. They use the same flag, known as the Union Jack, as well as share the same currency and . However, they also have some differences. For example, England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland all have different education systems and systems. They also have their own , like their own national days and national dishes. And they even have their own football teams for competitions like the World Cup!
写作要求：可适当添加细节，以使行文连贯;词数80–100。
Dear Mike,
……
Yours,
Li Hua
