Wonder is the story of a ten-year-old boy who lives with his parents and sister in New York. August, or Auggie, is an ordinary boy in many ways. He rides a bike and likes playing with his Xbox. But Auggie has deformities(畸形) of the face and looks very different from other children.

    At the start of the book, he tells us “My name is August. I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse.” In the street, people look at Auggie and his appearance shocks them.

    Auggie has never been to school because he has spent a lot of time in hospital. His mother teaches him at home. But now he's ten, she thinks he should go to school. At first, Auggie doesn't want to go. He worries that other students will look at him and say bad things. But then he visits a school with his mum. He likes the head teacher and decides to go. Auggie's first year at school has good times and bad times. Auggie makes some good friends but other children are unfriendly to him. At the end of the year, Auggie goes on a school trip and a frightening event there changes things completely.

    Nobody knows how many different languages there are in the world. The most widely used language is English. It's used by business people, airline pilots all over the world. It's also the first language of sports and science. So it's very important for us to learn English.

    English is most widely spoken in the world, while Chinese has the largest number of speakers. There are not only over one billion people living in China, but also many Chinese people living outside China. You can find large or small groups of Chinese people living in almost every country in the world.

    There are some other important languages in the world, too. Chinese is of course very important, especially in Asia. Arabic is widely spoken in many parts of Asia and Africa. Russian is spoken both in Europe and Asia. French is widely understood, not only in Europe, but also in parts of Canada, Africa and Asia. Spanish has a growing number of speakers all over the world, especially in Central and South Africa.

    What language do people speak in the United Nations? There are so many different languages in the world, but they decide to use only six of them. They are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish. Everything spoken or written in one language is translated into the other five.

Happy New Year

    Lots of fun is waiting foryou on New Year's Eve!

    Chinese food

    Beijing Restaurant: 5:00 p.m. ~ 7:00 p.m.

    Lion & dragon dance from

    Guangdong and Fujian

    Central Square(中心广场), 1:00p.m. ~ 5:00 p.m.

    Fireworks

    Central Square, 8:00 p.m. ~ 11:00 p.m.

    The New Year parade(游行)

    Tianjin Street, 2:00 p.m. ~ 4:00 p.m.

    Chinese music & dance

    Central Square, 5:00 p.m. ~ 8:00 p.m.

    Sunday Date: Sunday, January 22nd, 2012

    Place: Chinatown

    More programmes(节目) are on CCTV. Let's welcome the New Year together!

    Different gestures (手势)mean different things in different countries. Sometimes a gesture that is polite in one country is not polite in another and should not be used. Different meanings of gestures can also cause problems in understanding what another person is trying to say. A gesture that many people do not understand is one that uses the thumb. Most westerners will sometimes show that they like something by holding out a closed hand with the thumb lifting in the air. This is called give someone or something "the thumbs up". Often, only one thumb is used, so it should be "the thumb up".

    The usual explanation (解释)for the origin of this gesture is not really correct. It says that in ancient Roman times, when people were pleased with the way a gladiator (角斗士) had fought, they showed their thumbs up. When they were not pleased, they gave the thumbs down. When a gladiator was given the thumbs up, the emperor allowed him to live. When a gladiator was given the thumbs down, the emperor ordered him to be killed.

    The truth is, however, it was translated into a wrong meaning by mistake. If people wanted to save the gladiator, they put out their hands and hid their thumbs in their hands. If they wanted the gladiator to die, they pointed their thumbs straight at him.