In many English homes people eat four meals a day: breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner. People have breakfast at any time from seven to nine in the morning. They eat porridge，eggs or bread. English people drink tea or coffee at breakfast. Lunch comes at one o'clock. Afternoon tea is from four to five in the afternoon and dinner is about half past seven. First they have soups, and then they have meat or fish with vegetables. After that they eat some other things, like bananas，apples or oranges. But not all English people eat like that. Some of them have their dinner in the middle of the day. Their meals are breakfast, dinner, tea and supper and all these meals are very necessary.

    Silk production has a long history and colourful history unknown to most people. Scientific discoveries have shown that silk production began in China around 2,500 B.C., although it could be much older. For hundreds of years, China kept the secret of silk to itself as one for the most closely protected secrets in history. Anyone telling the secret of silkworms or trying to take silkworm eggs out of ancient China was punished in prison.

    At one time silk was served only for the Chinese emperor. Step by step, others began wearing silk. In addition to being used for clothing, silk was used to make musical instruments, fishing lines, ropes and even paper. During the Han Dynasty silk became a form of money.

    However, the Chinese finally lost their monopoly(垄断) on silk production. It reached Korea in around 200 B.C. when some Chinese people arrived there. Silk production came to India in 300 A.D. In 500 A.D., silk production came to Europe when travelers smuggled(偷运) out silkworms in empty pipes of bamboo. These were used to set up silk factories in Rome, although Chinese silk was still considered to be the best.

    Silk was brought to Rome from China by means of the Silk Road. There were actually two Silk Roads, one over land and one on the sea. Especially the land route had a huge effect in history. All sorts of trade goods were passed along this road. Ideas travelled the Silk Road, too. For example, the religion of Buddhism(佛教) was carried to China from India by traders on the Silk Road. The Silk Road created the first international culture, showing many people the ideas and treasures of both Western and Chinese cultures.

    An important question about eating out is who pays for the meal. If a friend of yours asks you to have lunch with him, you may say something like this, "I'm afraid it'll have to be someplace cheap, as I have very little money." The other person may say, "OK, I'll meet you at McDonald's."

    This means that the two agree to go Dutch, that is, each person pays for himself. He may also say, "Oh, no. I want to take you to lunch at Smith's," or "I want you to try the Chinese dumplings there. They're great." This means the person wants to pay for both of you. If you feel friendly towards this person, you can go with him and you needn't pay for the meal. You may just say, "Thank you. That would be very nice."

    American customs (1) about who pays for dates (2) are much the same as in other parts of the world. In the old days, American women wanted men to pay for all the meals. But, today, a university (3) girl or a woman in business world will usually pay her way during the day. If a man asks her for a dance outside the working hours, it means "Come, as my guest (4)." So as you can see, it is a polite thing to make the question clear at the very beginning.