It may be hard to believe, but the American Revolution(革命)—the war that freed the American states from British control—began over a cup of tea. Tea was not the only thing that caused the war, of course, but it played a very big part.

    The British people's love of tea is well-known. When the British won control over mush of North America in the early 1700s, they brought their tea- drinking habits with them. Tea quickly became the continents most popular drink. As tea could not be grown locally, just as in Britain, it was shipped into the country—mostly from India.

In the early 1700s, the Britain government made a special deal with the East India Company, as an English trading company. They agreed that no other company was allowed to bring tea to Britain or any country controlled by Britain, including America. It was a great deal for the East India Company, since it meant that the company could decide whatever price it wanted for its products. And it always decided on a high price!

In North America, the local people did not like having to pay such high prices. Instead of overpaying for tea from the British, they turned to Dutch traders, who secretly brought tea to the country that was just as good—and much less expensive. Although this broke the law, the American people didn't care. They got the same cup of tea at a much lower price.

The East India Company, however, didn't like this at all. By the 1760s, they were losing millions of pounds each year to Dutch traders—a huge amount of money in a time when ￡60 a year was considered a good income. Instead of reducing their prices to compete with the Dutch, the company asked the British government for help and the government agreed.

    In 1767, the British introduced new law that increased the prices of all goods which were brought into America. These laws helped make the East India Company even richer and forced local people to pay much more for everything. The American leaders asked the British government not to do so, but the British refused to listen. These unfair laws increased Americans' anger about British rule and the rest, as they say, is history.

    Are you good with money? Do you get pocket money from your parents or do you work to make money? Read on to find out about British teenagers and their money!

    Pocket money

    Most teenagers in Britain receive pocket money from their parents. They might have to do some housework to get pocket money, including cleaning, cooking, washing dishes and so on.

    Part-time work

    A part-time job is a choice for teenagers who don't have pocket money or who want to get extra money. About 15% teenagers have a job. Only children over the age of 13 can work. Popular part-time jobs for teens include babysitting, delivering (递送) newspapers, restaurant work and shop work. Children in Britain can work two hours a day at the most on a school day but not during school hours. During weekends and school holidays, they can work longer hours.

    Bank accounts (账户)

    Some children and teenagers have a bank account. There is no age limit at which you can open a bank account, but a bank manager can decide whether to open an account for a child or a young person. Parents can put pocket money directly into their child's bank account. Most banks have a prepaid bank card designed for young people.

    Mobile apps

    Many companies have made mobile apps for children, including GoHenry, Osper and Gimi. Parents can add money to their children's accounts and check to see how the money is spent. Children can choose to save their money or spend it using a card. The apps suggest that kids from 8 to 13 can use the cards.

    So, many teenagers are getting experience working part-time, dealing with banks and deciding whether to save or spend their money. These are all steps towards becoming a financially independent (经济独立的) person and making and looking after your own money.

Children love spring for different reasons. Let's have a look.

Hi, Friends! I'm Peter from Hungary. 1 is my favourite season? Well, I like spring best 2 after the long cold and wet days, it is warm again. The weather changes quite a lot. It is cloudy sometimes but the sun shines 3 most of the time. When I go out, I 4 see lovely spring flowers everywhere.

Hi, I'm Li Hua from China. Spring is my favourite. It's the best time for family activities. And Spring Equinox(春分) is in this season. It was 5 March 20 last year and there was great fun in my house. I 6 the eggs in many colors with my family. 7 also tried to help the eggs stand on their ends. It was really funny!

"I don't like my school, and I want to go home!" Do you have that idea that? A lot of children do. Now let's talk about it.

If you don't like your school, the first thing is to know why. You may not like your teachers. You may not have many friends at school. You may have problems with your subject s or homework

But what can you do with it? You can make some new friends. Going to school can be very interesting if you have many friends at school. You can make friends after school or when doing sports, then you can talk with them and do the same thing with them. You can also make school easy. If you don't like your teachers, you can talk with them. If you think your subjects are boring and difficult, you can ask others for help.

School is not a prison (监狱). You can learn to make your school life easy and interesting.

Every week, Wu Lin, a 19-year-old college student, will wait at a store selling food nearing its expiration date (保质期) , and return to school with a bag of snacks. "These products are usually sold at 30% to 50% off and many of them are from big brands. I'm really a big fan of them," she said.

Wu is among a growing number of young Chinese who buy near-expired food. According to a report by iiMedia Research, China's near-expired food market went beyond 30 billion yuan in 2020 and 47.8 percent of the consumers were aged 26 to 35.

Unlike the traditional thought that buying such food is penny-pinching（吝啬的） or embarrassing, more and more young people like Wu regard it as a way to help reduce food waste. "I don't care much about the date, as long as I can eat them before their expiration dates. It meets my needs while saving resources and protecting the environment, which is a good thing," says Wu.

Physical stores (实体店) selling near-expired food have sprung up (突然兴起) in cities across China. HotMaxx, a chain store that opened in 2020 in major Chinese cities, has increased to more than 200 in number across the country. Online shops selling such food are growing rapidly, too. On Taobao, around 2.1 million people buy near-expired food every year.

From a food safety standpoint（观点）, which may concern many consumers, experts believe that such products won't do any harm. "Near-expired food is safe and buying these products is a good practice to help prevent waste of resources, which should be encouraged," says Zhou Yu, a professor of food nutrition (营养) and safety at Anhui Agricultural University.