Almost all cultures celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of another in some way. Different cultures celebrate the beginning oi a new year in different ways, and at different times on the calendar.

    In Western countries, people usually celebrate the New Year at midnight on December 31st--January 1st. People may go to parties, sometimes dressed in formal clothes, and they may drink champagne (香槟) at midnight. During the first minutes of the New Year, people cheer and wish each other happiness for the year ahead.  But some cultures prefer to celebrate the New Year by waking up early to watch the sunrise. They welcome the New Year with the first light of the sunrise.

Many cultures also do special things to get rid of (摆脱) bad luck at the beginning of a new year. For example, In Ecuador, families make a big doll from old clothes. The doll is filled with old newspapers and firecrackers. At midnight, these dolls are burned to show the bad things from the past year are gone and the new year can start afresh (重新). Other common traditions to keep away bad luck in a new year include throwing things into rivers or the ocean, or saying special things on the first day of the New Year.

    Other New Year traditions are followed to bring good luck in the new year.  One widespread Spanish tradition for good tuck is to eat grapes on New Year's Day. The more grapes a person eats, the more good luck the person will have in the year. In France, people eat pancakes for good luck at the New Year. In the United States, some people eat black-eyed peas for good luck--but to get good luck for a whole year you have to eat 365 of them!

    Audrey is a Chinese-American student. She has found value (价值) differences between Chinese and Americans.

    About money:

    ①Americans would like to spend more than they have, so many of them are always in debt (欠债). Chinese usually spend less than they have, so many of them always have money left in the bank.

    ②American kids love to make money by themselves. Chinese kids always ask their parents for money.

    ③Americans parents think that it is not useful to send their children to an expensive university. Chinese parents would do anything to send their children to good universities and that might make them very poor sometimes.

    About school:

    ①Many American girls take part in sports, dancing and singing groups while Chinese girls take part in academic groups.

    ②Some American students think that "B" is a gift while Chinese students think that "B" is terrible.

    About American parents and Chinese parents

    American parents allow their daughters or sons to have some part-time jobs in their free or at weekends. Chinese parents usually don't allow their children to do so in middle or high schools.

    Family traditions are special habits or customs that your family have. For example, in the family of Bill Gates, his parents keep the tradition of reading with children. And what's the tradition in your family？

    Reading is very important. World Book Day falls on April 23 every year. It encourages people, especially teenagers, to discover the pleasure of reading. It is also the day to honor (尊敬) great writers.

    Many countries celebrate (庆祝) World Book Day. On that day, millions of school children can buy books at a much lower price than usual in any bookstore in England. It has been done every year since 1998. World Book Day is also celebrated in China. Wen Jiabao, Premier of China, is an avid reader. He does lots of reading every day though he is very busy. On World Book Day 2009, he called on (号召) people to do more reading. Wen suggested that young people should spend more time reading. "Books can not change the world, but people can change the world by changing themselves through reading," he said.

    Reading helps us become more knowledgeable and smarter. Reading helps us to follow the latest developments of science and technology (技术). Reading gives us information about other cultures and places in the world. Reading is also one of the most important ways to learn a foreign language like English. We all know that it is difficult to learn everything in the classroom, for example, the ways English people are living and working today can be learnt by reading.

    Books, magazines, newspapers and other kinds of reading materials can help us to know more about the outside world. Therefore, it is necessary for us to spend time reading every day.