Long ago, people lived on wild animals, fruits and other plants and they didn't need to use money.
As time passed, families had more products(产品) than they needed, such as animals and crops. So they needed to trade(交易) with others. They began to use money to make it easier. However, it was not like the money we use today. They used shells, rice, salt or large stones.
During the 600s BC, people began using coins as money. Because they were easier to carry than goods(货物), countries began to make coins as their money.

The Chinese were the first to use paper money, probably in the 11th century. An Italian traveler, Marco Polo, saw the Chinese use paper money when he visited China in the 1200s. After his travel, he told the western people what he saw. But European countries didn't start using paper money till the1600s.
Today we have many ways to pay for things, such as coins, paper money and cards. Some prefer to pay by card. That's because paying with a card is easier and safer than carrying around a lot of “real” money.

Are Sports Important?

    Sports are all around us. We watch and read sports news. There are also sports clubs, and even sports-only channels(频道) on TV. In many countries, players make millions of dollars every year. But why are sports so important? They're only games, right?

    Our readers answer:

    Vlad (Ukraine乌克兰)

    Sports bring people together. In 2006, our team was able to play in the 2006 World Cup for the first time. Everyone was happy. Rich and poor, old and young, men and women—everyone was in the streets together!

Mike (U.S.A.)

    Sports bring people together, but they divide them too. Fans of different teams fight all the Time-they shout and hit each other. And here's another example: My brother plays high school baseball. Last week, his team played an important game. At the game, two parents fought about a call .

    Come on … baseball is only a game! Sports are so competitive (有竞争力的) these days. It's all about winning. Then the game isn't fun.

    Oba (South Africa)

    Right now, some of the world's best soccer players are from African countries, and the 2010

    World Cup games will be held in South Africa. Yes, some players make a lot of money—maybe too much, but sporting events (like the World Cup) bring tourists and money to countries and people. And that is good for Africa.

    Many Chinese people will wonder what presents to get for their moms on Mother's Day, but not many know Mother's Day is actually a festival from overseas.

    Mother's Day originated(起源) in America during the early 20th century. The festival spread to China as early as the 1980s and was widely accepted.

    Why did a foreign festival become popular in China? In fact, Chinese traditional culture has always encouraged filial(孝顺的) devotion to parents. There are many stories which show filial respect in ancient China. For example, the story of "Taste Liquid(液体的) Medicine for Mother" tells us the filial virtue(美德) of Emperor Wen of the Western Han dynasty. His mother had been sick for three years. He often stayed up by her bedside and cared for her day and night. He tasted the liquid medicine first before she drank it. Also, mother love is a repeated subject in Chinese ancient poems, like "Song of the Parting Son" by Meng Jiao, a poet of the Tang dynasty. Now this poem is still a must in the school textbooks. Children in China are brought up with the education of filial devotion.

On special days, people often use roses or forget-me-nots to express love. Carnations are considered as the perfect flowers for mothers around the world, but few know that China has its own for mothers—the tiger lily.

    Love for mothers can have different ways of expression. What matters most is love, not the festival itself. What mothers truly want is perhaps just a simple expression of love from their children.

    Everybody knows that soccer is one of the most popular sports in the world.

    Soccer is not a new sport. People all over the world played the game in different ways long ago. For example, in China nearly 2,000 years ago, soldiers kicked a ball as part of their exercise. Five hundred years ago in Europe, games in the street were common.

    Soccer became popular in England in the 1800s. Different schools, clubs and groups played with different rules. In 1863, these English groups had meetings. They organized (组织) the different games into one game with similar rules. Soon, they formed the Football Association.

    Not everyone agreed with the new rules. In England, some groups wanted to hold the ball with their hands so these groups formed rugby clubs. Groups in the United States also wanted to use their hands in the sport so they formed "football" clubs. Americans who didn't want to use their hands called the game "soccer". Soccer is a short form of the word association.

    From England, soccer began to grow. The first official international game of soccer was played between Scotland and England in 1872. By the 1880s, there were professional soccer teams in several parts of Europe. English players also introduced soccer to Africa, South America and New Zealand.

    Soccer soon became very popular all around the world. FIFA, the international football federation(联盟), met for the first time in 1904. Seven countries came to the meeting. The first World Cup was in Uruguay in 1930. Only 13 countries played in the Uruguayan World Cup.

    The World Cup is now the most popular sporting event in the world. Over 720 million people around the world watch the final game of the World Cup.

    Next time you're playing soccer with your friends, remember that you're part of a long history of a fun and exciting sport.