Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa. It is also the second largest lake in the world. It is an important lake because it is one of the sources(源头) for the longest river in the world, the Nile River. Lake Victoria provides a source of water, food, and power(电力) for several African countries. Lake Victoria is a big part of African life.
   Unfortunately, Lake Victoria has a problem. It is shrinking. There are several power stations at Lake Victoria in Uganda. These are on the Nile River, and besides producing power, they keep the water of the lake at a certain level. For the past forty years, that level has been 11.9 meters. Over the last several years, the water level has dropped by about 2.5 meters. There seem to be several reasons for this drop.
   One possible reason is drought(干旱). Drought has been very bad in the area since 2000. Lake Victoria gets all of its water from rain, so the drought means less water in the lake.
   However, some environmentalists believe that the real problem is the power plants(工厂) on Lake Victoria. Uganda depends on those power plants for most of its power, and they made the power plants larger in 2000. Many people believe the power plants have been taking too much water off Lake Victoria. As a result, they have been asked to use less water until Lake Victoria goes back to its old level.
   Whether the low water level is caused by drought or power plants, the result is the same. This is already a poor area of Africa, where many people live a really hard life. People, animals and plants around Lake Victoria will suffer even more from low water levels on the lake. Many people need Lake Victoria for fishing or growing food. Fish need the water to live, and animals need it for water. Plants around the lake will die without the water, and then more animals and people will suffer. Unless the lake fills soon, many people will suffer and die.

    I arrived in the UK last weekend to learn English．So far I have already made a few friends and had some traditional English food there．But after having three days of hamburgers，sandwiches and potatoes，I thought none could be more delicious than Chinese food，especially my favorite﹣huo guo．You can't imagine how excited I was when I got to know that there was going to be a free meal of hotpot to welcome the new students．On the way to the canteen ， I seemed to smell huo guo in the air．

    To my surprise，when I went into the room，I didn't see any sign of huo guo．Where was it？

    With many questions in my head，I sat down to have the free meal．After talking with an English girl，I got to know that Chinese huo guo is completely different from hotpot．Chinese huo guo is written in two words﹣hot pot； and hotpot，one word，is a traditional English dish．

    Hotpot is made from mutton and onion．On the top are pieces of potatoes．People put it in the oven all day in a heavy pot on a low heat．It takes very little effort to prepare．You can often see it at parties in the UK because it's easy to prepare for a large number of people and is not expensive．

    Hotpot doesn't taste bad．However，I still miss huo guo﹣hot pot，two words!

    Do you use WeChat or QQ to chat with your friends? If yes, then you must be a user of memes(表情包), too. Memes are now an important part of online chatting among Chinese.

    Memes can be pictures of GIFs. They are usually of stars, TV and film scenes or animated images(动画形象). There is often a line of text in a meme. It explains the picture.

    The memes of singer Huang Zitao are very popular. Huang runs and says his famous line, "I will not easily go die."

    There are some other popular memes, too. TV hostess Dee Hsu rolls her eyes. Actor Zhou Jie shouts with anger. Basketball player Yao Ming laughs but looks like he is crying.

    These people have exaggerated(夸张的)facial expressions. Users make memes of them for fun. On the other hand, memes can give people information in an easy, funny way.

    If you are tired of using the popular memes, then make your own. Meme apps can help you do that. Why not try it for yourself?

    American people like to say "Thank you" when others help them or say something kind to them. People in many countries do so, too. It is a very good habit.

    You should say "Thank you" when someone passes you the salt on the table,  when someone walking ahead of you keeps the door open for you, when someone says you have done your work well, or you have bought a nice thing, or your city is very beautiful. "Thank you" is used not only between friends, but also between parents and children, brothers and sisters.

    "Excuse me" is another short sentence they use. When you hear someone say so behind you, you know that someone wants to walk past you without touching you. It's not polite to break others when they are talking. If you want to speak to one of them, say "Excuse me" first, and then begin talking. You should also do so when you begin to cough or make any noise before others.

    Let's learn to say "Thank you" and "Excuse me".