For many in the United States, Arab-Americans are an invisible part of the population. Though Arab-Americans as a community have made great contributions to American society in fields from literature to politics to medicine, many Americans know very little about Americans of Arab backgrounds.
Arab history in the United States goes back to the late 1800's when large numbers of Arab immigrants first began making their journey to a land known simply as “Amreeka”.
Historians generally describe Arab immigration to America in two waves. The first wave took place between 1860 and 1924.The first wave consisted of Lebanese and Syrian, and some Egyptian immigrants. These new immigrants, who were mostly Christian, came to America in search of better opportunities. Even the doomed Titanic, which set sail for America in 1912,had close to a hundred Arab passengers aboard. The majority of Arab-Americans today are descendents of the first wave of immigrants; they are the third or more generation Americans.
The second wave of immigrants followed after World War Ⅱ,caused by political unrest in the Middle East. This second wave of immigrants consists of mainly Arab Muslims（穆斯林）and continues to this day.
Arab-Americans make up 3 million of the population in the United States, according to demographers. And quite different from popular belief, 64 percent of them are American-born. Eighty-two percent of Arab-Americans are US citizens.
Arab-Americans are beyond the national average in both education and income. Education is important among Arab-Americans; 82 percent have high school diplomas, 36 percent have bachelor's degrees or higher, and 15 percent have graduate degrees. The-median（中位数的）average income among Arab-Americans is $39,580, which is higher than the US average.

    Do you know Coco ， a 3D film by Lee Unkrich? It is one of my favourite movies and its score gets to as high as 9.1 of 10 on a Chinese website Douban. I was lucky to be the first one to watch it in China on November 24th, 2017.

    The film Coco tells a story about a twelve-year-old boy called Miguel Rivera. Coco was his grand-grandmother. Miguel had a musical dream but his family didn't like his dream. However, he still worked hard for it secretly and never gave up. One day, he went into a place full of the dead after touching a special guitar. Luckily，with the help of his grand-grand-grandfather, a great musician named Ekotto, he had a wonderful time and returned to the real world.

    You can still watch Coco on the Internet! Don't miss it! You will like it!

①Hobbies are great ways to spend your time. Some hobbies can even change the way you see the world. Let's take painting as an example.

②When you're painting, you should pay attention to the colour. Think for a moment about what colour clouds are. Did you think white? Take a closer look at them next time. Clouds are mostly white, but the colours also include black, grey, yellow, pink and even blue. It depends on so many factors(因素), like what time of day you are looking at them, the kind of clouds or the angle (角度) you're looking at them. At sunset, you'll see many colours in clouds but you won't see at mid-afternoon.

③Painting is also a great way to notice shapes(形状). One of the easiest ways to paint faces or objects is to break them down into their relative shapes and combine them together. Everything in the world can be broken down into things like circles, squares and triangles. It's like putting pieces of a puzzle together as you're creating your painting.

④If you take up painting, you'll see more colours and shapes in the world. You'll notice small influences(影响) of colours in the evening and will be able to break anything down into their relative shapes. So everything is more beautiful than ever. In this way, hobbies introduce us to a new world.

Imagine you are going to give a speech the next day.The night before, you spend a lot of time thinking about the possible mistakes you might make and whether you're prepared enough. Well, you might be overthinking. 

Overthinking means going over the same thought again and again, analyzing( 分 析 ) the simplest situations or events too much. 

According to The Conversation, overthinking comes from one of our primitive instincts(原始 本能). The primitive mind will always see things in the worst possible light.Our brains are always looking for threats(威胁), to make a plan to deal with those threats and keep us safe. 

Some people believe that overthinking may be helpful because it helps us look at a problem from every possible angle(角度) and get ready for what might happen. However, research suggests that overthinking can make us stressed, anxious(焦虑的) and depressed (忧郁的). 

What's more, overthinking might create problems with how you get along with others.As you think the worst, make incorrect guesses, or worry about every little thing others do and say, you might misunderstand their intentions(意图). 

So, instead of sitting and thinking about a problem again and again, you can distract(转移注意 力）yourself for a bit. Your brain might find better ways to solve the problem while you're doing something fun, like gardening(园艺), or even while you're sleeping. 

Also, when you find yourself overthinking, challenge these thoughts. Ask yourself if they make sense and think about other possibilities.It can be hard at first,but recognizing that you are overthinking can help you make a change. 

 Paper cutting has been popular in China for over 1,500 years. Let's learn something about it.

 Wonderful meanings

 Paper cutting has some wonderful meanings. In our mind, paper cutting can always bring us happiness and good luck. At the Spring Festival, people put up"Fu" on the doors and windows. At a wedding(婚礼) , people also put up"Xi".

 The largest paper cutting in the world

 The largest paper cutting was made by Gao Xiaodong. It has an area of about 456 square meters. It is as large as a basketball court(球场).

 Why are most paper cutting red ?

 In old times, people respected the sun. Red is the color of the sun. We always regard red as the symbol of hope and good luck. Now we can still see red everywhere in China. The walls of old palaces are red. Lanterns are red. Weddings are always full of red things, too.

 Black paper cuttings in Shanzhou

 It's true that most of paper cuttings are red. But Paper cuttings in Shangzhou, Henan Province are black. Black is the best color there. Shanzhou is a dry place. The local people make the black paper cuttings to wish for rain.