Ramadan is one of the most important festivals for Muslims. The name of the festival comes from the Arabic month in which it is celebrated. Ramadan is celebrated in countries all over the world, especially in Africa and the Middle East. The time for celebrating Ramadan varies each year. People celebrate it in the ninth month of the Arabic lunar calendar. During Ramadan, people must not eat during the day: from when the sun comes up to when the sun goes down, people celebrating Ramadan will not eat or smoke. When the sun has gone down, however, the celebration begins. People often stay up all night eating singing and dancing.

    In late spring, many people around the world celebrate Easter. The festival is a celebration of spring and it is also a religious holiday. It is the time for Easter bunnies and egg hunts, and of course for eating lots of delicious foods. Easter is celebrated in late March or early April but the exact dates are different form year to year. People celebrate Easter in different ways: in some countries, the Easter Bunny—a big rabbit—will visit and children will go on egg hunts, looking for eggs and candy that have been hidden by their parents. In other countries, Easter is a time for children to dress up like witches and go from door to door asking for candy—much like Halloween in the US. The Easter Bunny and the Easter Egg are popular symbols of the festival.

    When I was trying to find a place where to spend my December holidays, I met by chance some cheap flights to Iceland. After checking just a few winter pictures of Iceland, I realized that the country, known as the land of fire and ice, during the cold months of the year could offer me experiences I had never had before.

    For sure you can't miss the chance to go to Iceland in winter if your traveling wish list includes at least one of the crazy experiences Iceland can offer. Iceland in the North

    Atlantic Ocean is a paradise ( 乐 园 ) for all those who want to see the northern lights, experience cold weather conditions and put themselves in geothermal ( 地 热 的 ) baths while the snow is falling on their head.

    The best way to move around Iceland is with a rental car. Distances are huge and public transport in winter is not really common out of the major towns. As we wanted to be even more convenient we decided to rent a small camper ( 野 营 车 ). Sleeping and cooking in a camper saved us a lot of driving, money and gave us the chance to be always in the right place at the right time.

    There were also no locals and in many cases no tourist facilities (设备). For us, as we slept in a camper, it was easier. But for tourists traveling by normal cars it is necessary to check the opening times of hotels and restaurants as many of them run just from June to September.

    It is amazing to experience how the weather is changing in Iceland. However, Icelanders prefer to stay inside their houses. They have even no time to complain about the weather in December. All they care about is Christmas. They love to decorate their houses, sing Christmas songs and eat typical Christmas food.

    Animals can be reproduced by technology now; researchers can clone them. A clone is an exact copy of another animal or plant. Scientists have cloned a sheep which they have named Dolly. Researchers took genes from a ewe (母羊) and used them to create a copy (Dolly) of the ewe.

    Why are scientists doing this research? One reason is to get information about genes so they can improve our health. They also want to learn how better farm animals can be produced. Cloning is a controversial issue for people. Some people think it is good because this research can help us, but other people think cloning is unacceptable. Some people think it might be possible to save endangered animals by cloning them. Tigers, elephants, and other endangered animals might be saved in this way.

    In China, pandas are endangered because they are hunted and they are losing their habitat, so some Chinese scientists want to try to clone pandas to save them from extinction.

    I don't really like the idea of cloning animals, but I don't think I want panda to become extinct. If the best way to save them is to make cloned pandas, they must be cloned.

    I want to live with a lot of animals and nature. I don't want animals to die out, especially pandas. I think humans must think more about protecting animals and nature. Maybe cloning is the way to save all endangered animals.

Outdoor Science Field Trips!

    In a world full of Kates and Sarahs, you might think it'd be nice to have a unique name to help me stand out in a crowd. Being named Stacia (pronounced stay-sha) is not so lucky to me. I'll get the occasional "Your name is so pretty" after introducing myself, but eventually my name causes me more frustration than happiness. For example, Microsoft Word always tries to tell me my name isn't a real word. I couldn't even pronounce my own name correctly until I was five.

    I once had a professor who pronounced my name differently each class. After a while I stopped correcting him, and that's been my reaction to strangers ever since. In other cases, I'd rather tell the seller my name is Staci and save both of us, as well as the people standing behind me in line, valuable time.

    Meeting new people gives me anxiety, and I've realized it's easier just to lie about my name altogether in certain cases. Actually I did—so many times that Brittany is now my chosen "going out" name. It may have caused some confusion for my friends at first, who would let out a small laugh or have a confused look, but I've trained them to keep a straight face whenever I whip out this fake (假的) name. Now going out on weekends means I get to have a shift of identity.

    Frustrations aside, being the owner of a unique name has made me appreciate the little things in life. Someone pronouncing or spelling my name correctly on the first try brings me more joy than it probably should. I also love it when I meet another Stacia and we get to bond over our shared struggles.

    To any other Stacias reading this—I feel you, girl. P. S. I apologize to any real Brittanys out there. Thanks for letting me borrow your name.

    Now in 2019, jazz music is an important part of Indianapolis' art culture. Jazz clubs around the city still host concerts with local jazz musicians like Rob Dixon and Joel Tucker. One of these clubs, the Chatterbox Jazz Club, still has live jazz seven nights a week.

    But the real history of jazz in Indy is much less simple. Along with the Avenue's culture, jazz music was gone from the streets for many years.

    Indiana Avenue was the heart of a neighborhood along the White River. It was a center for black music and live street music. The wealthy avoided this area. So it became a place that poorer families, including many African-American and immigrant (移民) families, moved to.

    Jazz prospered in the mix of American cultures around the Avenue in the 1930s and 1940s. But in the 1950s, things changed. After the war, there were projects to make the city beautiful and build a university nearby. Both of these seemed like good changes. However, the new university and buildings caused poorer families to have to leave the area. This destroyed the Indiana Avenue community - and with it, its jazz culture.

    After many years, Indianapolis remembered the value of its arts and music culture. It began to bring back lost cultures such as live music on the Avenue. To do so, it began to make new changes. The changes included repairing historic areas like the Avenue. Once again, the high living costs in these historic arts areas pushed low-income families out.

    Today there are several old-style jazz clubs where friends can meet up to remember the past or just enjoy a summer evening. It might seem at first that jazz is alive again, but there is a sad reality behind these jazz clubs: Modern Indy jazz is only a shadow (影子) of the lively culture that was once on Indiana Avenue.