When you are about to do something brave, a cheerful wish of "Good luck!" from a friend can be helpful. But if you think you need lots of luck, what else might you do?

    In the UK and US there are some strange traditions for bringing yourself a little more good luck. Some are hundreds of years old and some are much newer.

    Have you heard the saying "When you wish upon a star"? If you are looking up at the sky on a clear night and you see a sudden flash of light, it is probably a shooting star! Seeing one doesn't happen very often. The saying goes that you have been very lucky if you see one, and so if you make a wish, it will come true.

    Maybe you have heard of the lucky  rabbit's foot. Some people believe that rabbits are lucky animals, so they carry a part of the rabbit, its foot, for good luck. There are all kinds of strange, unclear rules about which of the rabbit's feet is the luckiest. It is said that this good luck tradition is the oldest one of all. However, as the funny saying goes, "Depend on the rabbit's foot if you will, but remember it didn't work for the rabbit!"

    People in Britain love trees. If it is autumn and leaves are falling from the trees, some people try to catch the leaves as they fall because they think each leaf they catch will bring them a lucky month in the following year—they will need to catch 12 falling leaves to have a whole of good luck!

    The government in China ended his one-child policy and let families have two children instead in 2015.

    A Chinese Communist Party statement gave a number of reasons for the change in policy. The statement said the change is meant to balance population development, stop a falling birth rate(出生率)and strengthen the country's labor force(劳动力). China, with the largest population in the world, started the one-child policy in 1980. But the government allowed only a small number of couples to have two children. For example, some families in the countryside could have two children, if the first-born is a girl.

    In 2013, the Chinese government gave other couples a chance to have two children if one of them was an only child.

Jiang Quanbao, a teacher and population expert, explained how Chinese families react(反应) to the newest policy. "Too many young people in the cities are no longer interested in having a second child," he said. "People in the countryside are more interested. But some of them are already allowed to have two children." At the end of 2014, China had a population of 1.37 billion people. A total of 800 million of them have jobs. But the labor market need of labor by the year 2050. With the two-child policy, an increase in births can solve this problem.

    Boys and girls, what do you think of the two-child policy? Do you want to have a new-born brother or sister?

    Dragons are not real animals, but look like a combination(结合体) of many animals such as snakes, fish and deer. They have two horns(角) and a long moustache(胡子). With fantastic powers, they fly in the sky or swim in the sea. They can make rain, too. The Chinese dragon is a symbol of strength and good luck. The emperors of ancient China loved dragons. Their clothes were covered with pictures of dragons.

    We are proud to call ourselves the “descendants(传人)of the dragon”. In Chinese, “excellent” people are often called “dragons”. A number of Chinese sayings talk about dragons, for example, “Hoping one's child will become a dragon”, which means hoping he or she will be successful.

    It is said that people born in the year of the dragon have certain characteristics(特征). They are creative, confident, brave and quick-tempered（性急的）. They are some famous “dragons” who have done excellent things, for example, the great man Deng Xiaoping, the famous businessman Li Jiacheng and the movie star Zhao Wei. They are all very successful.

    There are also some traditional festivals about dragons in China, such as Dragon Head-Raising Day and Dragon Boat Festival. We have different kinds of activities to celebrate them. These two festivals come every year, but the Year of the Dragon comes every twelve years.

    The dragon is very important in Chinese culture. As the “descendants of the dragon”, it is necessary for us to know the opinions on dragons in our culture. It can help us understand why our parents always want us to be “dragons”.

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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.

    Mothers Day is a celebration in memory of mothers. It celebrates the importance of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, mostly in March, April or May. Let's see how different people celebrate their Mother's Day.

    Mexico(May 10)

    Children make gifts and give them to their mums on Mother's Eve (May 9).On the morning of May 10,families make a special trip to church and cat tamales(玉米饼),sometimes filled with meat, cheese or vegetables.

South Africa(Second Sunday of May)

    Besides giving mums Mother's Day cards, people show their thanks for their mothers by wearing red and pink flowers called carnations. If their mothers have passed away, they wear white carnations.

    United Kingdom(Fourth Sunday of Lent(大斋期))

    Mother's Day is a traditional day for people to visit their hometown and attend their home churches. People also bake(烘焙)special fruitcakes to give to their mums.

    Indonesia(December22)

    People throw big parties for their mums, filled with fun activities-such as cooking competitions and kebaya-wearing competitions!(A kebaya is a traditional blouse and skirt.)