Tom has a strong and faithful dog, Bruce. The dog likes playing with Tom. Sometimes he also follows Tom's father to work.
One morning when Tom's father worked in the field, he took off his coat and put it on the ground under a big tree. He turned to the dog and said,“Watch my coat, Bruce!”
   Bruce sat down on the coat. Later Tom's father remembered he had to buy some food. So he hurried to the shop. After shopping, he went home directly and forgot all about his coat and the dog.
   Late in the evening Tom looked for his dog everywhere in the house, but he couldn't find him. At this time Tom's father suddenly remembered his coat and the dog. He went back to the tree at once. He found that Bruce was still sitting on the coat!

    The Chongyang Festival falls on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month and is also called the Double Ninth Festival. As both the month and the day are nine, it got this name. To celebrate the day, people usually climb mountains and enjoy chrysanthemum (菊花), so the festival is also known as the Height Ascending (登高) Festival or the Chrysanthemum Festival. In China, nine has the similar pronunciation with the word “forever”, meaning long life. So the Chinese government set the day as the Seniors' Day.

    The festival has a history of over 2000 years. During the Warring States Period, there was the Chongyang Festival. But it was only celebrated in the imperial palace. From the Han Dynasty, it began to be popular among the common people. The name of the Chongyang Festival first appeared in the Three Kingdoms Period. During the Jin Dynasty, there were customs of enjoying chrysanthemum and drinking wines on the day. It was not (A) officially set as a festival until the Tang Dynasty. Since then, all the people have spent the festival with kinds of activities. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, people in the imperial palace all ate flower cakes to celebrate. The emperor climbed the mountain on the day as well. In 1989, the Chinese government set the day as the Seniors' Day.

    As September has the clear sky and fresh air, it is a very good time to climb the mountain. There will be a happy sense of excitement by climbing the mountain in this season. Also, it is good for health. Since the Western Han Dynasty, it has been the custom of climbing on the Chongyang Festival.

    On the day, enjoying chrysanthemum is very popular as the flower means long life. Drinking chrysanthemum is regarded as a way to prevent disasters and bad things. Inserting Zhuyu and sticking chrysanthemum are also traditions to avoid the bad as (B) they have special smells which can repel (驱逐) insects and keep out the cold.

    Eating Chongyang cakes is another tradition on the festival. There is no fixed way of the cake but the one with nine layers (层) with two sheep on it is the best. Two sheep means Chongyang. Nine layers show people could do well in everything.

    Mr. Guo is a teacher from Xi'an. He asked his students to hand in their homework through a QR code(二维码). "We spent an hour or two in class learning how to generate(使产生) the codes, and in the end everything gets easier." Said Guo, "When students finish the homework, they keep it on WeChat. Then, each student makes his own QR code and gives it to me. So I can check their work anywhere using my computer or telephone."

    The QR codes can be sent to Mr. Guo by email, QQ and WeChat. When Guo scans(扫描) his students' QR codes, their homework appears on his phone. He finds that their homework becomes more creative, with many pictures, music and even videos.

    Guo's students like the new way and think it is interesting. "We are living in the information age. Many students like to work with computers, which makes learning more fun." Said Tingting, a student of Guo's. "The paper is not easy to keep, but the code is easy to keep and share." Guo said, "It is worth trying to use new technology in education. Education itself is a kind of creation. I don't want my students to fall behind the times."

    However, some parents are worried. They are afraid that their children will spend too much time on computers and less time communicating with teachers. But in fact, it's unnecessary. Students still need to look up information in books and write it down when they do their homework. They only use the codes when they hand in their work, which doesn't take them too much time. Also for teachers, it allows them to check the students' work at any time. And it's also an easy way to share homework with other students.

    International travelers, whether traveling for business or pleasure, will find themselves alone from time to time. Here are a few ways to meet new people and perhaps even get new travel chances.

{#blank#}1{#/blank#}⑴Be polite and friendly. Remember to put yourself in social situations. Restaurants, shops and parks are all great places to meet people. If you want to make local friends in a country, stay near the places the locals often visit.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#}⑵Keep a small photo album in your bag when you travel. Photos of family, friends and pets will help your new friends learn more about you. They will share their similar experiences with you, and it will help you learn more about your new friends.

{#blank#}3{#/blank#}⑶Can you help your new friends improve their Chinese? Can you cook a traditional Chinese meal? By sharing your experiences, you can have a close relationship with your new friends that they won't soon forget.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#}⑷Many foreigners love Chinese goods but have to pay a lot when buying them in homeland, so you'd better prepare some gifts such as silks, tea and china (瓷器). They are always popular.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#}⑸If you and your new friends get along well, you can give them your information and plan to live in each other's house for your next trip. Then you can visit their countries and stay in their houses while they stay in yours. In this way you will improve your friendship and live like a local abroad, but pay less for traveling.