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.

Imagine that you have woken up on the first day of your vacation. You enjoy a delicious breakfast, take a walk on the beach, and read the morning newspaper as you drink coffee. You are feeling happy and relaxed. But you may start to feel bored by the time the late afternoon comes around!

If you have ever felt like this, you're not alone. It turns out that having unlimited (无限的) free time is not always as great as we expected. What is the best amount (数量) of free time for our happiness?

Researchers tried to answer this question by surveying tens of thousands of people, collecting data (数据) on how they spent their time and how happy they were. After looking at the data, the research team found that having less than two hours of free time a day, was not enough to be happy. People with under two hours of free time a day usually had more stress. It means that they were simply too busy with work to get their happiness.

The fact that being too busy cuts happiness is true. It might lead to the answer that more free time is simply better. Surprisingly, having a lot of free time is not a panacea (灵丹妙药) for happiness. People surely get a certain sense of joy from finishing tasks. Having more than five hours of free time a day makes us lose the sense of joy. It is in fact cutting our happiness. But I think it is how we spend our free time that matters. When free time is used in more active ways, like playing a team sport, then five or more hours a day can keep of even produce happiness. However, spending five or more hours of free time alone can stop happiness.

Helen is my friend from London. She always tells me that London is a{#blank#}1{#/blank#}（绝妙的）place. And she believes {#blank#}2{#/blank#}（每人）will enjoy themselves there. There are lots of tall {#blank#}3{#/blank#}（建筑物）. And she is{#blank#}4{#/blank#}（外向的）and she is interested in travelling. She travels with her parents at{#blank#}5{#/blank#}（至少）twice a month. She believes that travelling is an important part in her life. It is{#blank#}6{#/blank#}（健康的）for body and mind. Of all the places she has visited, she likes New York best, because it is both modern and{#blank#}7{#/blank#}（有名的）. She was told that China is a large country with a long history. She is interested in Chinese {#blank#}8{#/blank#}（文化）. This July, her family {#blank#}9{#/blank#}（计划）to come to China. I'm very happy they will first come to my city. They will stay here for two days. So we can{#blank#}10{#/blank#}（分享）many things together.

The Flame Mountain (火焰山) is about 200 km away from Urumqi (乌鲁木齐) in Xinjiang. It is in a place with many high mountains around it. The mountain came into being millions of years ago when the earth was changing a lot. It is much hotter than nearby places. If you want to enjoy the feeling of a hot shower in summer, it's the right place to go!

On hot summer days, it can get hotter than 80℃. Try to cook eggs or cakes in the sand and they will be ready in a few minutes!

Does rain help make it cooler? People hardly see rain in 10 out of the 12 months in a year. Why? For most of the time, the raindrops dry in the hot air before they get to the ground. 

There aren't any plants on the top of the mountain, only red rocks (岩石). They make the whole mountain look red. In hot air and strong sunshine, the mountain looks like a burning flame. That's why the mountain is called The Flame Mountain.