Every day, it is easy to see advertisements in English all around us. Look at your own bags and clothes, and at the bags and clothes of your classmates. How many different advertisements can you see which use English words?

Often bags and clothes show the name of the company that made them. This is a popular form. A special picture or symbol called a lo go(标识语)is sometimes used. Logos appear on many different products(产品). They are popular because when you see a logo, it is hard to forget that product or company.

    It is common to see advertisements on TV and hear them on the radio. Most advertisements are very short. Sometimes the advertisers use a short sentence which is easy for people to say and remember. Nike, for example, has a simple English sentence which is used all around the world: “Just do it.” Advertisements often use funny situations as well. It is simple to remember it.

    All advertisements are designed(设计) to make people buy a product. An advertisement for a soft drink, for example, might show a group of young people who are having fun. The young people are all drinking the soft drink. Advertisers are saying to you, “Why don't you buy this drink and be like these people? You can be young and modern.”

    You might think that advertisements are not after you, but next time you buy a soft drink, ask yourself this question: Why am I buying this particular(特别的) product?

    Over the years, fried chips have become known worldwide and been enjoyed by adults and children in almost all countries. But do you know the world's First Potato Fry Museum was opened in November, 2013 in Belgium? For the fans of fried chips (French fries), they have a museum of their own!

    The world's first museum of chips, was set up by Eddy Van Belle and his son in Belgium. The museum calls itself "the first and only museum for potato fries".

    Eddy and his son are always proud of their favorite food. Eddy said, "Over the years, fries have become popular throughout the world. We are so proud that they originated from Belgium."

    "So it is normal and necessary that the first fried chips museum is opened in Belgium," Eddy added.

    The museum is in an ancient building with two floors. The museum shows a lot of exhibits, including ancient potato cutters, chip-making machines, and the pictures about the history of potatoes. You can see different potatoes and chips. You can also learn to make chips. It's a great place to learn about the history of fries and enjoy eating them, too! Do you know the biggest fun in the museum? You can eat many kinds of chips!

    When my family moved to America from a small village in Guangdong, China, we brought not only our luggage, but also our village rules, customs and culture. One of the rules is that young people should always respect elders. Unluckily, this rule led to my very first embarrassment in the United States.

    I had a part-time job as a waiter in a Chinese restaurant. One time, when I was serving food to a middle-aged couple, the wife asked me how the food could be served so quickly. I told her that I had made sure they got their food quickly because I always respect the elderly. As soon as I said that, her face showed great displeasure. My manager, who happened to hear what I said, took me aside and gave me a long lecture about how sensitive Americans are and how they dislike the description “old”. I then walked back to the table and apologized to the wife. After the couple heard my reason, they understood that the problem was caused by cultural differences, so they laughed and were no longer angry.

    In my village in China, people are proud of being old. Not so many people live to be seventy or eighty, and people who reach such an age have the most knowledge and experience. Young people always respect older people because they know they can learn from their rich experience.

    However, in the United States, people think “growing old” is a problem since “old” shows that a person is going to retire or that the body is not working well. Here many people try to keep themselves away from growing old by doing exercises or jogging, and women put on makeup, hoping to look young. When I told the couple in the restaurant that I respect the elderly, they got angry because this caused them to feel they had failed to stay young. I had told them something they didn't want to hear.

    After that, I changed the way I had been with older people. It is not that I don't respect them any more; I still respect them, but now I don't show my feelings through words.

By Jack

    The Silk Road is the name of different roads that long ago connected Europe, Africa and Asia. People reached these different places along these roads. Scientists believe people began to travel the Silk Road about 3000 years ago. By the time the Chinese silk trade became important in the world. The Silk Road covered almost 6500 kilometers. It went from Rome to China, which is from the West to the Far East.

    Merchants travelled along the Silk Road to carry silk, of course. They also carried and traded other things like spices (香料), cloth, jewels and gold.

    Along and around these ancient path(小路), have come many fascinating and mysterious stories.

    It is said that Roman soldiers who lost a war travelled through central Asia. They decided to live somewhere near the ancient Chinese villages. Some of these Romans married local Chinese women and the legend of the blond-haired, blue-eyed tribes of China was started.

    Some historians believe that the people of Kashmir were taken away from their country Israel. They were prisoners (俘虏) of war almost 2800 years ago. People say that these people travelled along the Silk Road. They kept their Jewish way of life for a long time.

    During its busiest period, the Silk Road allowed people from many different cultures and countries to meet each other and mix. The Silk Road allowed the sharing of valuable things and new ideas. It included people and trading goods from different areas. All these peoples travelled the Silk Road. And they shared goods, stories, languages, and cultures.

    In modern times, the old Silk Road routes (路线) are still used, but now they are crossed by trains instead of camels and horses. There is even silk route museum in Jiuquan in China. It has over 35, 000 objects from all along the Silk Road. In this way, China protects the history of many countries and peoples.

    Our new foreign students are going to arrive very soon, and here are some ways to communicate with them politely.

    How close do you stand when you talk to a friend? You can stand close to people in the Middle East but don't stand too close to North Americans! Give them more personal space.

    Do you know how to touch people correctly? Chinese girls often walk arm in arm with their friends. South Americans sometimes hold your arm when they talk to you, so you can't move away! But in Britain many people don't like other people to touch them at all.

    Do you look at people when you talk? In some places，it isn't polite to look at people when you talk，but in other countries it isn't polite to look somewhere else. In Britain and the U. S., people usually look at each other when they talk.

    And how do you say goodbye? That's easy, wave to say goodbye. But be careful! In Greece, it's not at all polite. In fact, it's very rude.