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    Do you have a lucky number? What is it? Many people have a special number. They hope it will bring them good luck.

    In Chinese culture, people believe some numbers are lucky or unlucky. This is based on the Chinese word that the number sounds similar to. 

    For example, the Chinese word for the number 8 sounds like the word for "making a fortune". So, people consider it a very lucky number. Some people spend a lot of money to have 8s in their phone numbers or vehicle license plate (车牌照) numbers. The opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics began at 8:08 pm on August 8, 2008.

    The number 9 is also a lucky number because of its connection to the emperors (皇帝) of China. There were nine dragons on emperors' robes (龙袍). Today, 9 often stands for "long lasting". That's why a man always proposes to (向…求婚) a woman with 99 or 999 roses.

    So what's a "bad luck" number in China? It might be 4. Many Chinese people see 4 as a "bad luck" number because it sounds similar to the character for "death".

    Because of this, many buildings skip the fourth floor, and simply call it the fifth floor. In Hong Kong, some buildings even skip all floors numbered with 4, such as, 4, 14, 24, 34 all 40-49 floors. Some buildings also skip the 13th floor, as 13 is an unlucky number in the West. As a result, a building whose highest floor is 50 may actually have only 35 floors.

    The Chinese New Year is called the Spring Festival, which is the biggest festival in China.

It usually comes in January or February. Where there are Chinese, there is the Spring Festival. Each Chinese year has a name. We may call it the Year of the Tiger, the Year of the Pig or the Year of the Snake. And the year of 2015 is called the Year of the Goat. The year after it is the Monkey Year.

    People always spend a month before the festival in preparing for it. They are busy shopping and cleaning their houses. On the eve there is a big family dinner. All the family stay up late to welcome the New Year, watching the CCTV programs or playing cards. On the first day of the Chinese New Year, people put on their new clothes and go to visit their relatives(亲戚) and friends, saying "Happy New Year", "Good luck" and some other greetings to each other. It often lasts to the Lantern Festival, which is also an important Chinese festival and people usually have sweet dumplings (yuanxiao).People always have a very good time, especially children. Children can usually get some money for the new year from their parents and the elder relatives.

    American schools begin(开始) in September after a long summer holiday. There are two terms(学期) in a school year. The first term is from September to January, and the second term is from February to June. Most American children begin to go to school when they are five years old. Most children are seventeen or eighteen years old when they finish school.

    High school students take only five or six subjects each term. They usually go to the same class every day, and they have homework for every class. After class, they do interesting things.

    After high school, many students go to colleges (学院). They usually have to pay a lot of money. So many college students work after class to   ▲   .