New baby brother

I was sitting in school

when I heard the news.

“Your baby brother is born,

and wants to see you!”

Dad got me from school

and to the hospital with no delay.

Hurrying on our journey,

he almost forgot the way!

My brother's hands were tiny,

and wrinkly soft, like a prune.

After he smiled at me,

Mom said, “He'll come home soon!”

Everyone “oohing” and “aahing”,

they say “He is so sweet.

And one day he'll walk around

on those little baby feet!”

    Although people everywhere seem to enjoy drinking coffee，they don't all have the same coffee culture. In Europe for example, coffee shops are common places for people to meet friends while they drink coffee. On the other hand, places like this were not as common in North America in the past. Instead, people in North America liked to drink coffee in their homes with friends. The coffee culture in the USA changed, when Starbucks (星巴克) coffee shops spread throughout the country．

    The first Starbucks coffee shop opened in 1971 in downtown Seattle, Washington，in the USA. It was a small coffee shop that cooked its own coffee beans. The coffee shop's business did well, and by 1981 there were three Starbucks stores in Seattle.

    Things really began to change for the company in 1981. That year, Howard Schultz met the three men who ran Starbucks. Schultz worked in New York for a company that made kitchen equipment (设备) . He noticed that Starbucks ordered a large number of special coffee makers, which caused his great interest. Schultz went to Seattle to see what Starbucks did. In 1982, the original Starbucks owners hired Schultz as the company's head of marketing (市场营销).

    In 1983, Schultz traveled to Italy. The special environment of the espresso (浓咖啡) bars there caught his eyes. Back in the USA, Schultz created an environment for Starbucks coffee shops that was comfortable and casual, and customers everywhere seemed to like it. Starbucks began opening more stores in the USA. Then the company opened coffee shops in other countries as well. Today, there are more than 16,000 Starbucks coffee shops all over the world.

    However，that does not mean Starbucks has not had problems. In fact, many Starbucks stores have closed over the past few years. On the one hand, this is because there were too many coffee shops competing (竞争) for business in one small area. On the other hand, stores in some countries closed because the coffee culture there did not match with the comfortable environment offered by Starbucks.

    Hi, my name is Murray Wenzel. But my friends call me Muz, Muzza, Wenz or even Moon. Yes, I have lots of nicknames. But in Australia, where I am from, that's quite common.

    In fact most men in Australia call their friends something other than their real name. It is part of our culture to shorten or make up names for those we know and love. For example, one of my friend's names is Alex, but we call him Al. Another is named Jayson, but everyone knows him as Jase. In Australia most men called William are known as Bill, while Jeremy is Jez, James is Jim and Joseph is Joey.

    Sometimes we use the person's surname in their nickname, like my friend Karl Schussig who we call Schuzza. Sometimes we combine them, like my friend Troy Cassels being called TC. And we sometimes make up a new name for our friends. My friend Nathan's nickname is “Prez”, because when we first met he joked that I should call him “El President”.

    Even more confusing is when we are given ironic(讽刺的) nicknames. For example, a man with red hair will be known as Bluey, a tall man will be called Shorty or a large man will be known as Slim.

    Most of my friends call me Muz, but those who I play hockey(曲棍球) with call me Moon. However, my parents still call me Murray.

    So, I have different names depending on who I am talking to. Nicknames are so popular that sometimes people forget what the person's real name is.

    I think it is our way of showing affection to those we are close to.

    Do you love a tomato fight? Come to Spain(西班牙) and enjoy its famous tomato festival, La Tomatina(西红柿大战).The Spanish love to eat tomatoes. Tomato sauce is served on the side with fried eggs, chicken, meat and omeletsat most Spanish dinner tables.

    There was a parade(游行) and festival in Bunol on the last Wednesday of August of 1945 when a fight broke out between some young men. With the help of a nearby fruit and vegetable store, they threw tomatoes at each other. The following year the young people brought tomatoes with them to the parade and started a tomato fight again. Each year the fight went on until the early 1950s. In fact, since 1980 the city government has served the tomatoes!

    Today La Tomatina is celebrated on the last Wednesday in August in the small town of Bunol in the east of Spain. The festival starts at 11:00 a.m. with the sound of rocket being fired and ends one hour later. Last year 40,000 people took part in throwing over 100 tons of tomatoes in the streets and this year even more are expected.

    During tomato fight, you must not bring bottles or other type of things that could make an accident. You must not tear(撕扯) or throw T-shirts. The tomatoes must be broken before throwing them, to stop from hurting people. You must be careful of any traffic. When you hear the second sound, you must stop throwing tomatoes.

    When the fight is over, everyone then sets off to the river to clean up. Sounds like fun.