So, let's imagine you are walking down the street drinking a box of tea. You finish drinking the tea. Now, what do you do with the box? Do you drop it on the ground? Or, do you do the right thing and drop it in a trash can? Hopefully, you drop it in the trash can because, besides harming the environment, littering is also very impolite.

    Recently, a magazine published a list of the most polite cities in the world. They looked three things: did people litter, did shop clerks say thank you and did people hold the door open for the person behind them? The top three politest cities were New York, USA, Zurich, Switzerland, and Toronto, Canada. Hong Kong, China was number 35. Shanghai wasn't even on the list.

    Does that mean that Shanghai is not apolite city? Well, maybe. There are different ways to judge(判断) politeness but the survey was looking at how a visitor to a city would feel when walking around its public places. Visitors don't like to step over empty tea boxes as they walk down the street. They don't like it when they buy something and the shop clerk doesn't say thank you or even give them a smile. They also don't like it when someone lets a door slam(砰然关上) into them instead of holding it open.

    Shanghai is a nice city but it is not always the most polite city. I don't think this is intentional(有意的). I think it's just a lack of awareness(缺乏意识). China is becoming a popular place for tourists to visit. When they come to Shanghai they will find a friendly city: it would be nice if they also found apolite one. And, remember, being polite makes you feel good, too. It's nice to be nice.

    Every artist knows in his heart that he is saying something to the public. Not only does he want to say it well, but he wants it to be something that has not been said before. He hopes the public will listen and understand what he wants to teach them, and what he wants them to learn from him.

    What visual(视觉的)artists like painters want to teach is easy to make out but difficult to explain,because painters translate their experience into shapes and colours, not words. They seem to feel that a certain selection of shapes and colours, out of countless billions of, is exceptionally interesting for them and worth showing to us. Without their work we should never have noticed these particular Shapes and colours. or have felt the delight which they brought to the artist.

      Most artists take their shapes and colours from the world of nature and from human bodies in motion and at rest; their choices indicate(指示)that these aspects of the world are worth looking at, that they contain beautiful sights. Contemporary(当代的)artists might say that they merely choose subjects that provide an interesting pattern, that there is nothing more in it. Yet even they do not choose entirely without reference to the character of their subjects.

    If one painter chooses to paint a decaying(腐烂)leg and another a lake in moonlight, each of them is directing our attention to a certain aspect of the world. Each painter is telling us something, showing us something, emphasizing something-all of which means that, consciously(有意识地)or unconsciously, he is trying to teach us.

    Nobody knows how many different languages there are in the world. The most widely used language is English. It's used by business people, airline pilots all over the world. It's also the first language of sports and science. So it's very important for us to learn English.

    English is most widely spoken in the world, while Chinese has the largest number of speakers. There are not only over one billion people living in China, but also many Chinese people living outside China. You can find large or small groups of Chinese people living in almost every country in the world.

    There are some other important languages in the world, too. Chinese is of course very important, especially in Asia. Arabic is widely spoken in many parts of Asia and Africa. Russian is spoken both in Europe and Asia. French is widely understood, not only in Europe, but also in parts of Canada, Africa and Asia. Spanish has a growing number of speakers all over the world, especially in Central and South Africa.

    What language do people speak in the United Nations? There are so many different languages in the world, but they decide to use only six of them. They are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish. Everything spoken or written in one language is translated into the other five.

    Most people have heard of the Great Wall, but not many people outside China know about the Grand Canal. This man-made waterway is known to the Chinese as the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand. Canal. It is the longest as well as one of the oldest canals in the world and a place of interest. It's 1,797 kilometres long and some parts of it are more than 2,000 years old. Starting from Beijing, it passes through Tianjin and the provinces of Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the city of Hangzhou. The Grand Canal links the Yellow River and the Yangtze River.

    It was built as a way to transport grain from the rich agricultural land in China's south to cities in the north. In fact, it's not one canal, but a system of canals and rivers linked together. It's still an important part of the transport system in China. Thousands of ships use it every day to transport grain and many other types of goods.

    The Chinese government has done new work on the Grand Canal. It has made Darts of it deeper, so bigger ships can use it. The canal also helps to move water. There is a lot of rain in the south of China, but not as much in the north. The canal can carry millions of liters (公升) of water from the south to the north.

    The Grand Canal is much less famous than the Great Wall, and not very many tourists visit it. But it's possible to go on a cruise (乘船游览) along some of the oldest parts of the canal. Passengers on these cruises can see beautiful parts of China that other visitors don't see.

    When migrants（移民） arrive in the US, they face a world that can be confusing in many ways. They need to learn to live in a different environment. Some laws and rules are written down. They can learn about them before they arrive. But there are lots of "unwritten rules," too. Unwritten rules are behaviors that no one talks about, but that most people understand.

    Here is a list of five important issues any new arrival to the U.S. should know about.

    Be "on time." In some cultures, time is not a big issue. If you tell your friend to meet you at 2 p.m. and you arrive at 2:45 p.m., there is no problem. In the U.S., people feel that being on time is a sign of respect. If you are late by more than a few minutes, people will think you do not care. They will feel you are wasting their time. They will take your lateness as an insult.

    Be sure you always "tip." In many countries, after you eat at a restaurant, you only pay the amount shown on the bill. But, in the U.S., people who work in restaurants and bars often earn a low hourly wage. So, they try to provide excellent service, hoping the customer will give them a "tip," meaning a little extra. People in the U.S. tip between 15 percent and 20 percent of the bill. You also give tips to taxi drivers, hotel employees and the people who cut your hair.

    Be careful what you say. Any place you go there will be some things that are proper to talk about and some things that are not. Supposing that people have the same beliefs as you is a bad idea. In the past decade, people in the U.S. have become more open about discussing strong political and religious views. But it is still best to listen to people share their opinions first and then decide about sharing your own. Also, there are several topics you should avoid asking questions about: how much money a person makes and if they are married. But if a person offers this information, then there is no problem.

    Be polite for the situation. People in the U.S. define being polite in very special ways. For example, waiting in line involves a strong set of rules in this country. You must wait until the people in front of you have done what they are waiting to do. When going through a door, the person behind you expects you to hold the door for them. Also, it is common for people you do not know to say hello to you when passing you. But this does not always mean they are inviting you to stop and talk for a long time. Many times the person is just being friendly. If you don't say hello back to them they may think you are being unfriendly.