Men have always wanted to fly like birds. Birds can fly easily because they are light, but men's bodies are heavier.

    Men first went up into the air in balloons. These were big bags, and they were filled with gas. Hydrogen (氢气) is a useful gas for balloons. It is lighter than air. Helium is also lighter than air, but it costs a lot of money. So balloons are usually filled with hydrogen.

Balloons have to fly with the wind as they have no engines (发动机) to drive them. Later, men made airships. They are balloons with engines. They are also filled with hydrogen.

    Aircrafts (飞机) with wings now take people across the world. Powerful engines drive these machines across the sky. Some of the engines are like the engines of cars, but they are more powerful.

    There is another kind of engine, we call it the jet (喷射) engine. An English engineer invented the jet engine. At the same time, Germans were also building a jet engine. In May 1941, the English engineer's new engine was fixed in an aircraft, and the aircraft flew quite well.

    Jet engines are very powerful. Usually two to four are enough for an airplane, but some big aircraft need six. Anyone in a moving jet plane can feel the power of the engines. Jet planes can travel faster than sound. As a flying jet plane leaves its noise behind, we do not hear it until it has gone.

    Traveling to every part of the world gets easier, but how well do we know and understand each other. Here's a simple test. Imagine you are planning to hold a meeting at four o'clock. What time should you expect your foreign business friends to arrive? If they are Germans, they'll arrive on time. If they are Americans, they'll probably be 15 minutes early. If they are Englishmen, they'll be 15 minutes late, and you should allow up to an hour for the Italians.

    The British seemed to think since the English language was widely used in the world, people would always understand what they do. However, they found they were completely wrong. For example, the British are happy to have a business lunch and discuss business matters and have a drink during the meal. The Japanese prefer not to work while eating. Lunch is a time for them to relax and get to know each other and they don't drink at lunchtime. The Germans like to talk business before dinner. The French like to eat first and talk afterwards. They have to be well fed and watered before they discuss anything.

     About twenty years ago，Gao Xiaosong wrote the lyrics(歌词)of the classic folk song My old Classmate that touched millions of hearts．Now，as the producer of the new youth film of the same title，he is trying to do it again．

Starring Zhou Dongyu，22，and Lin Gengxin，26，My Old Classmate follows the pair's life and love from middle school，when they are tablemates(同桌)，through high school， college and beyond their graduation．

    In the first half hour，audiences(观众)constantly see the symbolic items(标志性物品)of the early 1990s,including pencil boxes and comic books．

The film also mentions important events that took place during the period from 1993 to 2013，including China's entry into the World'Frade Organization，the terrorist attacks against the US on Sept.11，2001，and the 2002 SARS outbreak in China．This attention to detail brings back many memories, especially among those who were born in the 1980s．

Then there's the main focus：the first love between Zhou's and Lin's characters．The film doesn't have a fairy tale(童话)ending，but director Guo Fan's way of storytelling is quite impressive．If audiences can see a little bit of themselves in the film，it has fulfilled its goal．And those who are experiencing their sweet first love need not worry too much，because no matter how it ends，the precious memories of it will always stay．

    Even nowadays there are a lot of misunderstandings between nationalities. Let's have a look at what the following people have to say.

Maria Conti: I find the English people insincere (虚伪), cold and unfriendly. They keep saying "Thank you", "I'm sorry", even when they don't know each other. They are even polite to their own relatives! Except for helping you find your way in the streets, they aren't really friendly and never invite you to their houses.

Giannis Sinios: On the contrary I found them both broad-minded and friendly. I was invited to people's houses and they all showed great interest in my ideas, Greek life and people. In England I learned that it was possible to be warm, friendly and polite at the same time.

Judy Brown: I lived in both Italy and Greece for a few years. At first there were a few misunderstandings between my foreign friends and myself. For example, I once gave a Greek friend a present for her birthday. I was rather sorry that she didn't unwrap it immediately. What's more, she even didn't thank me until I asked her if she liked it! I've learned from different experiences that a lot of foreigners find our attitude to what we English people call politeness is rather insincere. They feel that politeness isn't necessary between friends.

    When you are learning English, you find it not clever to put an English sentence, word for word, into your own language. Take the sentence "How do you do?" for example. If you look up each word in the dictionary, one at a time, what is your translation? It must be a wrong sentence in your own language.

    Languages don't just have different sounds; they are different in many ways. It's important to master the rules for the word order in the study of English, too. If the speaker puts words in a wrong order, the listener can't understand the speaker's sentence easily. Sometimes when the order of words in an English sentence is changed, the meaning of the sentence changes. But sometimes when the order is changed, the meaning of the sentence doesn't change. Let's see the difference between the two pairs of sentences.

    "She only likes apples." "Only she likes apples." "I have seen the movie already." "I have already seen the movie."

    When you are learning English, you must do your best to get the spirit of the language and use it as the English speaker does.