A Bite of China

    Are you aneating-lover? Do you want to eat every delicious food in the world? Then do you watch the popular program A Bite of China? It's a TV program on Chinese delicious food which has been produced by CCTV. Is there any holiday that isn't celebrated with special festival food? Here are several traditional Chinese foods:

    Noodles are asymbol of long life in Chinese culture. They are as much a part of Chinese birthday celebration as a birthday cake with its candles lit in many western countries. Since noodles mean long life, it is considered very unlucky to cut it off.

    Although westerners sometimes may be very sorry to see fish lying on the plate, in Chinaa whole fish is a symbol of richness. In fact, at a party it is a tradition to serve the whole fish last, pointed towards the most valued guest. Fish also has a special meaning because the Chinese word for fish, yu, sounds like the word for richness or plenty, and it is believed that eating fish will help your wishes come true in the year to come.

    A very popular dish during the Dragon Boat Festival is Zongzi. This tasty dish is made of rice dumplings with meat, peanuts or other delicious food in bamboo leaves. The tradition of Zongzi is meant to remind us of a great man, Qu Yuan in Chinese history.

参考单词：1. decent 合宜的, 得体的; 2. reputation 名声; 3. incidental 伴随发生的

    Hollywood movies are regularly filled with sex and violence. They can be exciting films but sometimes all you want is a little light-hearted entertainment.

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    Have you heard of Bollywood? All singing, all dancing and unrealistic, it is the perfect alternative to normal Hollywood movies. Bollywood is the Indian film industry, based in Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay. Most Chinese school kids have probably never seen an Indian Filmgare Awards, Bollywood's Oscars, turn 50 years old.

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    The typical Bollywood movie usually has the following ingredients: a cup of romance, a teaspoon of comedy, a dash of international sight- seeing, served with a huge slice of singing and dancing. There will also be one brave hero, one beautiful heroine and one baddie. The result is a fun-filled musical.

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     There is never any mention of politics, poverty or war. The actors change clothes and locations within a single song. But the audiences don't mind. To Indian movie lovers, especially the poor, such films are a gateway to heaven and the stars are their gods. The films take them to a magical world away from their everyday troubles. The films tell them the impossible is possible and that true love conquers all.

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    But, behind the beautiful scenes, Bollywood still emphasizes traditional family values. In moat films, if two lovers want to break an arranged marriage, they can't just run away. They must win over their parents.

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    So if you are tired of all that Hollywood actions, check out the following Bollywood films. They will take you to a brighter, cheerier and more colorful world, where it's still cool to dance around a tree and sing a love song.

    There are many different kinds of festivals around the world. Here are four of them.

    Saint Patrick's Day in Ireland

    Ireland is an island country. It's in the west of Europe, There are wide green fields.

    Saint Patrick's Day is on 17th March. It's an important holiday in Ireland. This holiday is to remember Saint Patrick. He did good things for the people of Ireland.

    During the holiday, there are parades and lots of green. You can see people in green clothes, and you can even see green buildings.

    Red Wednesday in Iran

    Red Wednesday is a fire jumping festival in Iran. It is on the eve(前夜) of the last Wednesday of the year. People jump over the fire. They hope that it will take all the bad things away.

    Quebec Winter Carnival in Canada

    When winter comes, it's party time in Quebec City, Canada. The Quebec Winter Carnival is all about outdoor fun. It starts from the end of January and ends in mid February.

    One of the most popular activities is the dog sledding race(狗拉雪橇比赛). It has more than 30 teams and the race goes on for 6 kilometres. You can see happiness on every face.

    The Desert(沙漠) Festival in Tunisia

    Tunisia is a very important country in North Africa. Every year on the last Sunday of December, the Desert Festival is held in Tunisia. As "Ships of the Desert", camels are very important in the festival. There is camel racing and camel wrestling(摔跤).

    Mother's Day is a celebration in memory of mothers. It celebrates the importance of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, mostly in March, April or May. Let's see how different people celebrate their Mother's Day.

Mexico (May 10)

    Children make gifts and give them to their mums on Mother's Eve (May 9). On the morning of May 10, families make a special trip to church and eat tamales(玉米饼), sometimes filled with meat, cheese or vegetables.

    South Africa (Second Sunday of May)

    Besides giving mums Mother's Day cards, people show their thanks for their mothers by wearing red and pink flowers called carnations. If their mothers have passed away, they wear white carnations.

United Kingdom (Fourth Sunday of Lent(大斋期))

    Mother's Day is a traditional day for people to visit their hometown and attend their home churches. People also bake(烘焙)special fruitcakes to give to their mums.

Indonesia (December 22)

    People throw big parties for their mums, filled with fun activities-such as cooking competitions and kebaya-wearing competitions! (A kebaya is a traditional blouse and skirt.)

    When George was thirty-five, he bought a small plane and learned to fly it. He soon became very good at it and made his plane do ①all kinds of tricks.

    George had a friend. His name was Mark. One day George wanted to take Mark up in his plane. Mark thought, "I've traveled in a big plane several times, but I've never been in a small one. So I'll do."

    They went up, and George flew around for half an hour and did all kind sof tricks in the air.

    When they came down again, Mark was very glad to be back ②safely, and he said to his friend in a shaking (颤抖的)voice ,"Well ,George, thank you very much for those two trips in your plane."

    George was very surprised and said, "Two trips?"

    "Yes, my first and my last," answered Mark.