Weddings are quite different——from nation to nation, from area to area, and from the past to the present. However, all people consider weddings to be important and happy events.
People in the Western world go to church for their weddings, while some tribes（部落） in Africa hold their weddings in the open around a campfire, with much dancing.
In China, weddings are different from those abroad. People in the countryside used to carry the bride in a sedan chair from her parents' house to her new home. Now sedan chairs are seldom seen. Instead, the bridegroom may take the bride to their own new house by bicycle or by tractor（拖拉机）. In the city the bride usually prefers a car, brightly decorated(装饰) with flowers and a Chinese character(汉字) meaning double happiness. However, a wedding dinner is necessary in both the countryside and the city. Relatives(亲戚) and friends who are invited to the dinner usually drink to the happiness of the bride and bridegroom.

    Table manners are how to behave when you have a meal. They include how to handle knives, forks and spoons and how to eat in a polite manner. To behave well abroad, you should know some table manners.

    EATING MANNERS

    Japan: It is ＂perfectly＂ okay to slurp when you eat noodles. Unlike making big noises, slurping slightly is not rude. Japanese also say it tastes better if you slurp.

    Russia: Your wrists should be placed on the edge of the table while eating, fork in left hand, and knife in the right. It is not good manners to rest them on your lap. Keep your elbows off the table. Leave some food on your plate to show that the host has give you enough to eat.

    France: Never discuss money or religion over dinner. What is different from the manners in Russia is that finishing everything on your plate is considered good manners.

    Mexico: Whenever you catch the eye of someone who's eating, even a stranger, it's good manners to say ＂provecho＂, which means enjoy. In Mexico, dining is more than a meal. It's a social occasion — lunches are seldom quick and suppers can last for hours. Before you get seated, look for place cards, or wait until the host seats you. And you must say ＂enjoy your meal＂ before you leave the table.

    DRINKING MANNERS

    America: If you empty a bottle into someone's glass, it obliges that person to buy the next bottle. It's polite to put the last drops into your own glass.

    Australia: In a pub it's usual to buy a round of drinks for everyone in your group. When it's your turn, say ＂It's my round＂. When it's their round, they will buy it for you. Don't leave before you've bought a round.

    Japan: Don't fill your own glass of alcohol. Instead, you should pour for others and wait for them to do it for you.

    Many children go to the zoo on October 4 to see elephants, monkeys and tigers because that day is World Animal Day.

    Now, more children like animals and want to make friends with them. In the zoo, they learn about animal life. They don't need to go out to show their love of animals. They have pets(宠物)at home.

    Mark is a middle school student. He has a black cat. He gives it milk to drink and meat to eat. The cat is his true friend. Jane is also a middle school student. She has two tortoises. They are as big as her hand. Every day, she changes(换)the water for them. She likes to watch them.

    China and Western countries may have different cultural beliefs about certain animals, but when it comes to pigs, we have somehow reached an agreement—that pigs are ugly, lazy, stupid and shameless.

    Just look at the idioms and phrases in our languages. In Chinese, we have the likes of "Boiling a dead pig" and "A pig looking in the mirror is still a pig". And in English, there are expressions such as "eating like a pig" and "sweating like a pig". None of them are exactly praise.

    But truth is that pigs do have some fine qualities. And maybe there's no better time to clear their names than now, with the arrival of Year of the Pig on Chinese Spring Festival.

    For starters, science had proved that pigs aren't stupid at all. According to a paper published last year in the International Journal of Comparative Psychology, pigs are "mentally and socially similar to dogs and chimpanzees(黑猩猩)". By training, pigs can learn some skills, such as dancing and swimming. They like to play. They have good long-term memories. And they can tell between who treat them well and those who don't.

    There are popular pig characters in cartoons too. In the UK cartoon series Peppa Pig, the four members of the cartoon's pig family teach children from all over the world about love, friendship, and the value of family. And in China, the adventures of McDull, a piglet who works hard toward his dreams even though he keeps failing, have been recounted in films since 2001. "People care too much about the immediate results, but McDull is slow and patient, and not afraid of repeating failure," said McDull's creator Brain Tse. "He has a heart of gold."

    Perhaps these are the qualities of pigs to keep in heart when we celebrate the New Year—their wisdom, cuteness, patience and bravery.