Almost all cultures celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of another in some way. Different cultures celebrate the beginning oi a new year in different ways, and at different times on the calendar.

    In Western countries, people usually celebrate the New Year at midnight on December 31st--January 1st. People may go to parties, sometimes dressed in formal clothes, and they may drink champagne (香槟) at midnight. During the first minutes of the New Year, people cheer and wish each other happiness for the year ahead.  But some cultures prefer to celebrate the New Year by waking up early to watch the sunrise. They welcome the New Year with the first light of the sunrise.

Many cultures also do special things to get rid of (摆脱) bad luck at the beginning of a new year. For example, In Ecuador, families make a big doll from old clothes. The doll is filled with old newspapers and firecrackers. At midnight, these dolls are burned to show the bad things from the past year are gone and the new year can start afresh (重新). Other common traditions to keep away bad luck in a new year include throwing things into rivers or the ocean, or saying special things on the first day of the New Year.

    Other New Year traditions are followed to bring good luck in the new year.  One widespread Spanish tradition for good tuck is to eat grapes on New Year's Day. The more grapes a person eats, the more good luck the person will have in the year. In France, people eat pancakes for good luck at the New Year. In the United States, some people eat black-eyed peas for good luck--but to get good luck for a whole year you have to eat 365 of them!

    Autistic (患自闭症的) children may learn better from robots than from human beings, according to a study at a school in Birmingham.   Two robots like humans, Max and Ben, have been helping teach autistic children at Topcliffe Primary School since March last year. The school is the first in the UK to try the new way.Ian Lowe, the head teacher, said, “The robots have no feelings, so autistic children find that they are less terrible than their teachers.” He added, “They are really cute-looking. Autistic children are hard to communicate with adults and other children, but for some reasons they like these robots. Some children are not able to communicate with others. But they come into school and start to communicate through the robots.”

    The robots are knee-high and move like children. The school is using them to teach phonics (声学) and play cards or memory and imitation (模仿) games with children from five to ten.Dr Guldberg said, “We do many different activities with the robots acting as a model for the children's behavior. It is amazing to see how interested and concentrated the children can be when they are working with the robots. It can be very difficult to get autistic children to concentrate.” He added, “If you can meet the needs of autistic children, you can meet the needs of all children. And you know, when people feel safe and interested, they learn much better.”

    As a well﹣known Chinese TV hostess, Dong Qing is now hosting two cultural shows, Chinese Poetry Conference and Readers. The two shows are encouraging people to love traditional culture and find the beauty of life.

    Dong was born in a highly educated family in 1973. She had a great love for traditional literature（文学） from an early age. In 2015 when she was about to study in the U.S, Dong received an invitation from the director of Chinese Poetry Conference asking her to be the hostess. Because of her passion for traditional literature, Dong accepted the job.

    "The contest interests me very much. Hosting it is a process of learning about poetry and performing," said Dong. To her great joy, the show has become more and more popular.

    Under the slogan (口号) "Reading touches people's hearts", the new TV show Readers has become a success. It invites famous guests from all walks of life to read something. Dong works as both hostess and producer.

    Readers became a turning point in Dong's 21 years of hosting. She said it brought her "quite a huge challenge".

    "There is no shortcut（捷径） in this world. If you want to be a good host, you need to make thorough preparations," said the beautiful hostess. "The charm of life lies in its unknown, so we just have to try and keep going."

    On October 31,2016, an Egyptian (埃及的) university held a Chinese movies week with China Radio International (CRI).

    The first movie Go Lala Go was shown at the Suez Canal University in Ismailia. Ismailia is about 120 kilometers northeast of Egypt's capital Cairo, It was greatly enjoyed by over 100 Egyptian students learning Chinese at Confucius Institute (孔子学院) in the university.

    "I would like to thank the Chinese Cultural Center that gave many books to the university, which are important for our students and for the teaching process. I hope everyone enjoys the movie and understands more about China," said Hassan Ragab, a worker of Confucius Institute.

    An 18-year-oid girl student who studies Chinese expressed admiration (崇敬) for the Chinese movie that depicts a woman's efforts (努力) to achieve success. "Since I study Chinese, it's necessary for me to watch such Chinese movies and get to learn about the culture, habits and traditions," she told Xinhua.

    Zhang Li, director of CRI Middle East headquarters (总部), said, "Many Egyptians told me that they liked watching Chinese movies and they found Egypt and China shared similar (相似的) cultures." She added, "The reason to hold this Chinese movies week is that we want Egyptians to know more about modern China, and we also hope to develop the interest of Egyptian students to learn Chinese."

    Carrots (胡萝卜) are grown on farms and in small family gardens all over the world. They are easy to plant and easy to harvest (收获). They have a good taste.

    When people think about carrots, a picture of a long, thin, orange-colored vegetable usually comes into their minds. But carrots come in many different sizes and shapes. And not all carrots are orange.

Carrots should be grown in sandy soil that does not hold water for a long time. The earth also should not be too hard. To prepare your carrot garden, dig up the earth and turn it over (翻土).

    Weather, soil, condition and time affect (影响) the taste of carrots. Warm days and cool nights are the best time to grow great delicious carrots.

    The best way to decide if a carrot is ready to be harvested is by its color. Usually, the brighter the color is, the better the taste is.

    Most people do not know that carrots can be grown during the winter months. If the winter is not cold enough to freeze the ground, you can grow and harvest carrots the same way as you do during the summer months.

Carrots are prepared and eaten in many different ways. They ate cut into thin pieces and cooked with other vegetables or meat. They are also washed and eaten just as they come out of the ground.