Some people believe that international sport creates goodwill between the nations and that if countries play games together they will learn to live together. Others say that the opposite is true: international contests encourage false national pride and lead to misunderstanding and hatred. There is probably some truth in both arguments, but in recent years the Olympic Games have done little to support the view that sports encourage international brotherhood. Not only was there the incident of tragedy involving murders of athletes, but the Games were also ruined by lesser incidents caused principally by minor national contests.

One country received its second-place medals with visible anger after the hockey final. There had been noisy scenes at the end of the hockey match, as the losers disagreed with the final decisions. They believed that one of their goals should have been allowed and that their opponents' victory was unfair. Their manager was in great anger when he said: "This isn't hockey. Hockey and the International Hockey Federation are finished." The president of the Federation said later that such behavior could result in the suspension(停赛) of the team for at least three years.

    The American basketball team announced that they would not yield first place to Russia, after a disputable(有争议的) end to their contest. The game had ended in disorder. It was thought at first that the United States had won by a single point, but it was announced that there were three seconds still to play. A Russian player then threw the ball from one end of the court to the other, and another player popped it into the basket. It was the first time the US had ever lost an Olympic basketball match. An appeal jury (评审委员会) debated the matter for four and a half hours before announcing that the result would stand. The American players then voted not to receive the silver medals.

    Incidents of this kind will continue as long as sport is played competitively rather than for the love of the game. The suggestion that athletes should compete as individuals or in non-national teams, might be too much to hope for. But in the present organization of the Olympics there is far too much that encourages aggressive patriotism (爱国主义).

Do as the Romans Do

    The customs in different countries are rather different. If I have dinner with a Chinese host, he always puts more food onto my plates as soon as I have emptied it. That often discomforts me greatly. I have to eat the food even if I don't want to, because it is considered bad manners in the West to leave one's food on the plate. I have already noticed that when a Chinese sits at an American's dinner party, he very often refuses the offer of food or drink though he is in fact still hungry or thirsty. This might be good manners in China, but it is not in the West at all. In the United States, it is impolite to keep asking someone again and again or insist on his accepting something. Americans have a direct way of speaking. If they want something, they will ask for it. If not, they will say, “No, thanks.” When an American is fed with beer by the host, for example, he might say, “No, thanks. I'll take some diet, Pepsi-Cola（百事可乐）if you have it. ”That is what an American will do. So when you go to the United States, you had better remember the famous saying: When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

    In England, traffic keeps on the left. Cars, buses and bikes all move on the left side of the road. But the traffic keeps on the right in China. So when you are in England, you must be very careful in the street. Before you cross a street you must stop and look both ways. Look right and look left and look right again. If the traffic lights are red, the traffic must stop. Then the people on foot can cross the road. If the traffic lights are green, the traffic can go. People on foot mustn't cross.

    In the morning and in the evening, when people go to or come back from work, the streets are very busy. Traffic is very dangerous (危险的).

    When you go by bus in England, you have to be careful, too. Always remember(记住)the traffic moves on the left. If you don't have a look first, you will go the wrong way.

    In many English cities, there are big buses with two floors. You can sit on the second floor. From there you can see the city very well. It's very interesting.

    Xi'an celebrates the first-ever China Hanfu Day on April 18. There were catwalk shows and traditional music concerts held by people wearing traditional Chinese clothing. Hanfu fans from all over China gathered there to take photos and put them online for a Hanfu photo competition, which lasted until May 18.

    The national holiday is on the third day of the third month of the Chinese lunar calendar as China Hanfu Day, which is said to be the birthday of the Yellow Emperor (黄帝). In ancient China, this day was also known as Shangsi Festival (上巳节). It is organized by the central Committee of the Communist Young League (CCCYL,中央共青团)in cooperation (合作)with anime video site bilibili.com. Its purpose is to encourage young Chinese to take pride in traditional clothing, as well as classic Chinese culture.

    Hanfu is the traditional clothing of the Han people who lived in China before the Qing Dynasty. It has been around for about 3,000 years and changed greatly across different dynasties. However, some of its major characteristics have remained. One characteristic is the appearance of the front of the clothing. There are two parts that overlap (交叠) on the front, which is called "jiao ling (crossing collar)". Another major characteristic of Hanfu is that it usually uses ribbons(系带) instead of buttons (扣子), sometimes decorated with a few buttons.

    "China is becoming a leading power in the world, and the Chinese public feels more confident about its traditional culture,"Chen Chuyu, leader of a Beijing-based hanfu institution, told People's Daily Online. "Wearing traditional clothing might be an interesting way of showing how they feel about this."