I arrived in the UK last weekend to learn English．So far I have already made a few friends and had some traditional English food there．But after having three days of hamburgers，sandwiches and potatoes，I thought none could be more delicious than Chinese food，especially my favorite﹣huo guo．You can't imagine how excited I was when I got to know that there was going to be a free meal of hotpot to welcome the new students．On the way to the canteen ， I seemed to smell huo guo in the air．

    To my surprise，when I went into the room，I didn't see any sign of huo guo．Where was it？

    With many questions in my head，I sat down to have the free meal．After talking with an English girl，I got to know that Chinese huo guo is completely different from hotpot．Chinese huo guo is written in two words﹣hot pot； and hotpot，one word，is a traditional English dish．

    Hotpot is made from mutton and onion．On the top are pieces of potatoes．People put it in the oven all day in a heavy pot on a low heat．It takes very little effort to prepare．You can often see it at parties in the UK because it's easy to prepare for a large number of people and is not expensive．

    Hotpot doesn't taste bad．However，I still miss huo guo﹣hot pot，two words!

    Traveling to every part of the world gets easier, but how well do we know and understand each other. Here's a simple test. Imagine you are planning to hold a meeting at four o'clock. What time should you expect your foreign business friends to arrive? If they are Germans, they'll arrive on time. If they are Americans, they'll probably be 15 minutes early. If they are Englishmen, they'll be 15 minutes late, and you should allow up to an hour for the Italians.

    The British seemed to think since the English language was widely used in the world, people would always understand what they do. However, they found they were completely wrong. For example, the British are happy to have a business lunch and discuss business matters and have a drink during the meal. The Japanese prefer not to work while eating. Lunch is a time for them to relax and get to know each other and they don't drink at lunchtime. The Germans like to talk business before dinner. The French like to eat first and talk afterwards. They have to be well fed and watered before they discuss anything.

    Among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the oldest one is the Great Pyramid of Giza. There are three large pyramids at Giza, outside the modern capital of Egypt, Cairo. The largest and most famous one is called the Great Pyramid. The workers built it as s tomb（坟墓）for the Pharaoh Khufu（法老胡夫）.

    It took more than twenty years to build the Great Pyramid When it was built, the pyramid was about 146.5 metres high. Over the years it has lost about eight metres off its top.

    The pyramid is made of large stone blocks（石块） 一 2, 300,000 of them! Each of these blocks weighs over 2, 000 kilograms. The ancient Egyptians did not have any modern machines. How did they build the pyramid? The pyramid shows that the ancient people were intelligent and had great skills.

    People once thought that the Egyptians made slaves(奴隶) do all the work on the Great Pyramid. But in fact, they used farmers.

    How do you spend your spare time? There will be different answers to it. Most people in Poland（波兰）have their own ways of spending free time. They have many different hobbies，which help them to get away from their everyday problems and spend their free time happily.

    Many Polish（波兰的）people like travelling. They always look for new places that they have never been to and add new and exciting experiences to their journey. Some of them like to climb mountains, others like to go to a sea or a lake to swim，because these can make them get exercise and are good for their health.

    Many Polish people also like to do sports in their free time. They are usually crazy about football，and football is regarded as the Polish national sport. Many football tans may support a certain team, so they go to watch every match of the team they support, and they buy many things that have relations with the team. Watching sport and doing it are both good ways to relax.

    In addition, doctors say that doing sports is very good for health. Many people in town, especially young men, often go to the gym to attend the exercise classes to keep fit.

    It has been forty years since China's Reform and Opening-up(改革开放). Let's see how China has changed through the years.

    1978—1988: New Look

    In a 1978 Japanese documentary(记录片) China's New Look, there was a scene showing Chinese people' life back then. In front of an old-fashioned TV set, some Shanghainese gathered around to watch a TV show. In 1981, only one out of every 170 city families in China had a color TV.

    1988—1998:         

    In October 1990, the first McDonald's on the Chinese mainland opened for business in Shenzhen. It quickly became the hottest tourist spot(旅游景点). "Many Chinese customers waited in line and shouted to the shop assistant, "I want 10 Big Macs," recalled a waiter at McDonald' s at that time.

    1998—2008: Here Comes WTO

    For many Chinese, the year 2001 was very unforgettable. It marked the start of a new millennium(一千年) and led to a whole new era(时代) as China joined the World Trade Organization(WTO). From 2001 to 2017, China's average(平均) growth of the import(进口) of goods and services was more than twice the world's average.

    2008—2018：New Beginning

    Shanghai, a city of long-time business culture, is always a step ahead in China's foreign trade. With the successful hosting of China's first import expo(展览会) in November 2018, the city went on to develop China's import business. The expo will be remembered as a new beginning for China's import history.