Canada Day

      Since 1982, July 1st has been officially known as Canada Day. Canadians of all ages take part in this festival across the country.
　　Canada Day is the year's biggest national party. In many towns and cities, the government organizes a lot of events, often outdoors. These include parades（游行）, concerts, festivals, firework displays and ceremonies for new Canadian citizens（公民）. The celebrations often have a patriotic mood. Canada's national flag, a symbol for Canada Day, can be seen everywhere and a lot of people paint their faces red and white, which are Canada's national colors. The celebrations in Ottawa, Canada's capital city, are especially grand and exciting.
　　In the province of Quebec, many home rentals（租赁）start on July 1st and last for exactly one year, and many people in Quebec spend Canada Day moving from one house to another. So in Quebec, Canada Day is also known as Moving Day.
　　Many organizations, businesses and stores are closed this day. Only some bookstores, ho spitals and gas stations may be open. Post offices are closed, too. As Canada Day falls in the Canadian summer holiday period, all schools are closed as well. In some areas, special services are provided for large events. The concerts, parades and festivals may cause some traffic jams.

    If you are really interested in music festivals, then you have probably heard of the Bestival Music Festival. It takes place every September on the Island of Wight, the UK. As it is at the end of summer, people think it's their last chance to go to a festival and have fun before going back to boring work.

    The dream begins as soon as you start traveling to the island. In order to get to the campsite (营地) of the Bestival, you have to take the ferry (渡轮). The ferry is full of happy festival lovers who are ready to join in the fantastic music party. After you arrive at the campsite, you can put your tent up. There people talk with each other openly. They are not that cold like those you meet in your everyday life. 

    The festival lasts for four days. During that time you forget all your worries and problems, just like living in a dream. And it is really hard for you to come back to "reality" after that. 

    It seems that Bestival gives people a real sense of unity. I joined in the Bestival with my friends the year before last. It was so happy and we all lost ourselves in the beautiful music. We Are Family sung by Sister Sledge was my favorite. I'm really looking forward to joining in it for a second time.

C

    Halloween was Monday, Oct 31. Trick or treat! We had a whole week to celebrate. It was called the spirit week.

    On the Friday before the spirit week, we were allowed to wear Halloween costumes to school. I dressed up as a witch (女巫). That was pretty fun! We got points for our class by dressing up.

    We also had performances during the week. Each class had a theme. We performed Alice's Adventures in Wonderland on Monday during the spirit week. The performance included a dance and skit (滑稽短剧). I was in the skit, and I played the character March Hare.

    On Monday, we arrived at school at 6 am to do our last rehearsal (排练). I was so excited, even though it was early in the morning and it was very cold outside. Our performance was in the main gym, and every student was there.

    I think we really did an excellent job! Although I only had four lines in the skit, I was still proud and happy. The other two classes performed on the following days during spirit week. Theirs were also very nice, but I think ours was the best.

    Our hallway was also beautifully decorated. Everyone's locker was painted with colorful pictures. The curtains (窗帘) were hung below the lights to make the hallways look dreamy. I liked it so much.

    By the way, we still had our classes as usual during the week. Anyway, I really had a wonderful time! I am looking forward to next Halloween.

    The Vieira family moved to the United States in 1981. At that time, they decided to stop speaking Spanish at home and only communicate in English. This was because they were now living in an English-speaking country.

    Now the Vieira children are adults, and they sometimes travel to Spain to visit their family and friends. But they cannot communicate with them. Unfortunately this is common. When people move to new countries, they often leave their own customs and mother language behind. This is a mistake because there are many benefits to knowing more than one language.

    One advantage of speaking more than one language is that you can communicate directly with more people around the world. You do not have to depend on others to talk for you, so you're more independent. People who know only one language must use others to help them communicate.

    Furthermore, speaking a second language also allows people to experience other cultures and customs more effectively. Local expressions, vocabulary, and even jokes can have a powerful effect on a person's understanding of another culture. So, knowing more than one language increases your knowledge of other cultures.

    Finally, having more multi-language speakers improves relationships between countries. If people from different countries can communicate well, the world can become closer. Countries will then have more respect for each other and better understand each other's problems.

    The benefits of knowing more than one language are clear. In fact, there are no disadvantages. It is very sad that many people don't try to learn another language. It is even worse when people let themselves forget their mother language and become silenced.

    Today there are policemen everywhere, but in 1700, London had no policemen at all. A few old men used to protect the city streets at night and they were not paid.

    About 300 years ago, London was starting to get bigger and more and more people began to live there. The city was very dirty and many people were poor. There were so many thieves who stole money in the streets that people stayed in their houses as much as possible.

    In 1749, Henry Fielding started to pay a group of people for stopping thieves. They were like policemen and were called "Bow Street Runners" because they worked near Bow Street.

    Fifty years later, there were about 120"Bow Street Runners", but London had become very big and needed more policemen. So in 1829, the first Metropolitan (or London) Police Service was started with about 3, 000 officers. Most of the men worked on foot, but a few rode horses.

Today, London police are quite well—paid and for the few police officers who still ride horses, the pay is even higher than for the others.

    Many scientists think that the earth is getting warmer and warmer. If the change continues, the natural world and human society will face danger. Scientists believe human activity is responsible for the climate change. We produce too many greenhouse gases. They keep heat in the air and make the earth warm.

    Many of the world's governments agree. And they want to solve the problem. So from December 7 to 18, 2009, they held a conference in Copenhagen, Denmark to talk about global warming and climate change.

    Representatives(代表) from 192 countries and regions went to the meeting. Although they have not reached an agreement, the Copenhagen Accord(《哥本哈根协议》) was an important beginning to save the earth. It was made by a small group of countries including China, the US, India, Brazil and South Africa. Some other countries at the conference also showed support.

    What are the key points of the Copenhagen Accord? The accord limits global temperature increases to 20C by 2050 compared to pre-1850. Scientists think it could help the world to avoid serious climate change.

    The accord also says that developed countries must promise to cut greenhouse gas emissions(排放) to the UN by January 31, 2010. The accord asks developed countries to give money to help developing countries.

    Many countries and organizations are disappointed that the conference didn't reach a legal document(法律约定). And they think the accord is not clear enough about its goals.

    African leaders are worried that the goal of a 20C global temperature increase isn't good enough, because it will mean a much higher increase in temperature across Africa. This could cause big problems like food and water shortages across the continent.

    Still, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon believes the conference was an "improvement".