Europeans are being dug out from heavy snow after a week of very cold weather. The snowstorm is the harshest to hit Europe. Airports were shut down. And schools have been closed for a week.
Until Wednesday, at least 400 people across Europe had died because of the cold temperature. Several countries have said a state of emergency. In Ukraine, temperatures dropped as low as -33℉.
Although the situation is bad, at least one country is hoping the weather will last a little longer. In the Netherlands, the government is preparing for the country's “11 Cities Tour”. The 125-mile ice-skating marathon will be held along a network which joins 11 towns and cities together in Friesland Province.
The ice along the way must be inches thick for the event. Up to 2 million people are thought to cheer on the race's 16,000 competitors.
On Wednesday, Dutch soldiers joined in the preparations. They cleaned snow along the way. This will be the 16^th time that the event has taken place since the first race in 1909. Dutch General Hans said his soldiers were happy to lend a hand. “We want to do our bit for this national party.” he said.

    Many expressions that we use in American English come from novels. Today we will look at some of them from Lewis Carroll's famous novel "Alice in Wonderland" in detail.

    The story is about a young girl falling down a rabbit hole. When she finally lands, she finds herself in a strange world and meets some strange characters.

    The first character Alice meets is the White Rabbit, who runs past her and says some strange words. Alice chases（追赶）him, and that is where her adventures begin.

    In English, chasing a white rabbit means chasing an impossible clue and finding yourself in a misleading situation.

    Then, as she runs after the rabbit, she falls down the rabbit hole into Wonderland.

    To fall down the rabbit hole can mean to enter a confusing（令人困惑的）situation. However, usually we use this expression to mean we get interested in something to the point of distraction（分神）.It often happens by accident and is about something not that meaningful.

    Later in the story, Alice meets the March Hare and the Hatter at a crazy tea party. Hares（野兔）have long been thought to behave excitedly in March, which is their mating（交配）season. Scientifically, this may not be true. But to be mad as a March Hare means that someone is completely mad, or crazy. The expression mad as a Hatter also means to be completely crazy. Of the two, mad as a Hatter is more common. But don't tell the March Hare. Who knows how he will react（反应）！

    Near the end of the story, Alice meets the Queen of Hearts. A woman who is called a Queen of Hearts likes controlling others and always tries to control everything and everyone around her.

    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.

    Every year there is a Spring Festival in China. Usually it is in January or February. It is the most important festival in China. So before it comes， everyone has to prepare things. They buy pork， beef， chicken， fruits and many other things. And they often make a special kind of food—“dumplings”. It means “come together”. On the day before the festival， parents buy new clothes for their children. Children also buy presents for their parents. On the Spring Festival Eve（除夕），all the family members come back to their hometown. This is a happy moment. Some sing and dance，some play cards and others get the dinner ready. When they enjoy the meal， they give each other the best wishes for the coming year. They all have a good time.