Kunqu Opera (昆曲),also known as Kun Opera, is a kind of Chinese musical drama (戏剧).But it is more than just drama. It is actually a kind of art{#blank#}1{#/blank#}history, music, dancing and others.

It is {#blank#}2{#/blank#}believed that Kunqu Opera is the beginning of all the other forms of Chinese opera. With a long history of over 600 years, Kunqu Opera started in the city of Kunshan at the end of the Yuan Rynasty. It became quite {#blank#}3{#/blank#}in the Ming and Qing dynasties. In 2001,Kunqu Opera was {#blank#}4{#/blank#}as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity (人类口述和非物质遗产代表作).

The weather is getting hotter and hotter. You are thirsty playing basketball or riding home from school. A cold drink may be just the thing. But be careful what you are drinking. Something that looks cool may not be good for your health.

There are plenty of "energy drinks" advertisement on TV. Most of them have beautiful colors and cool names. They tell you they are helpful to your health. Sounds great and lots of people believe them!

But after a careful check you may find that most energy drinks have lots of caffeine (咖啡因) in them. These drinks are especially aimed at young people, students, busy people and sports players. Makers sometimes say their drinks make you better at sports and can keep you awake. But he careful not to drink too much.

Caffeine makes your heart beat fast. Because of this, the International Olympic Committee has limited (限制) its use. Caffeine in most energy drinks is as strong as that in a cup of coffee or tea. Possible health dangers have something to do with energy drinks. Just one box of energy drink can make you nervous, have difficulty sleeping and can even cause heart problems. Scientists say that teenagers should be discouraged from taking drinks with a lot of caffeine in them.

    Dragon Boat Festival is a fun Chinese holiday. Usually, it's in June or July. Both children and adults（大人）like this holiday.

First, there are dragon boat races. Dragon boats are very long. They have bright colours, In each boat, there are many people rowing（划）. There's also somebody beating a drum（击鼓）. The winners（获胜者）of the races can get a lot of money.

During Dragon Boat Festival, people also eat a special kind of food-rice dumplings. To make these dumplings, people prepare（准备）many things. Then they can make different flavors of dumplings. Some are sweet（甜的），some are salty（咸的）. They all taste good. People give them to friends.

On the evening of the holiday, families have a big meal together. Dragon Boat Festival is a great time for everybody.

    Do you know Singles Day (November 11) in China? Many people, even your parents, go to bed late that night. They were shopping online to get big savings (省钱). Well, the US has something like it called Black Friday.

Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving. It is on November 27 this year. It is one of the biggest shopping days in the US. People want to start shopping for Christmas gifts, so they go shopping on this day to save money.

It's called Black Friday because shops used to record (记录) sales with black ink (墨水). So when there was a lot of black ink on a page, the shop sold a lot.

On Black Friday, people go shopping at actual stores (实体店). It is different from Singles Day. People stand in line (排队) for hours. Sometimes they fight over things because there are only a few left. TVs, computers and video game systems are some of people's favourite things to buy.

Several times each year the Queen gives afternoon tea parties at which guests are served tiny cakes filled with cream from her own cows. Cakes and sandwiches are bought in by footmen, yet you never see the Queen touch a thing. She

simply sits beside a big silver plate, pouring cups of tea for everyone and carefully avoiding the cakes.

At cocktail parties the Queen moves from group to group, chatting informally, and manages to make one glass of diet drink to last a whole evening. Tours abroad are difficult because hosts seem to believe the warmth of their welcome must be shown with wonderful state banquets(宴). But the Queen has perfected the art of appearing to enjoy her meal without actually eating much. During one visit to the Pacific islands of Tonga, a specially-prepared dinner was set up in   a hut made of wood and bamboo leaves. Deep holes were dug in the ground, filled with hot stones and baby pigs, and the pigs were slowly cooked with dry heat over several days. The Queen looked uneasily at her plate when she discovered a   whole roast(烤) pig was her serving.

Then she became uneasy when a turkey, some meat, bananas and an apple were also carried in for each guest. So she depended on her old favourite trick of talking with her host, King Tupou IV, carrying on a warm conversation. At the same time she pushed her food around her plate and only ate a piece of turkey and some fruit.

Reporters traveling with her have noticed that the Queen will sometimes seem so interested in a foreign leader's political(政治的) chat that she simply never has time to finish a meal before it is time to get up and make her speech. She will lift her fork, then put it down again to make another point, leaving almost all of her meal untouched.