For many Chinese, winter holiday season doesn't seem complete without the CCTV Spring Festival Gala. But it's impossible to satisfy all 1.3 billion Chinese.

    Even if you, especially young audience（观众）complain about the Spring Festival Gala, watching it while having Lunar New Year's Eve dinner has become a common way for families to get together. It's much more than just a TV program, it's also a way to bring family members together and get them talking during the holiday. Think about how you'll watch the gala and discover its fun.

1. Share your opinions（观点）about the programs and artists with your family members. Introduce artists who young people enjoy to the elderly memebers of your family, such as “fellow brother” William Chan, or former（以前的）singing group EXO members Kris Wu and Lu Han.

2. Post your compliments and complaints on micro blogs and WeChat moments to share with friends. Then they will know what you're satisfied with and what you complain about. In recent years, the gala is trying to attract young people by using Internet slang（俚语）. Guessing when and what Internet chat lingo（术语）will be mentioned in the show is surely going to be hot on social media. Will there be “drunk and tired”（也是醉了）? Have a bet with friends.

3. Online video websites such as IQiyi and Youku have introduced a real-time online discussion system. All comments（评论）are displayed on the screen. You can try watching the show in this interactive（互动的）way instead of the traditional TV sets so that you may know others' opinions about the programs in the Spring Festival Gala.

How often do you use your car? Can you use your car less often? Do you know the following facts in the UK?
·About 50% of all car journeys are just for fun.
·Over 80% people go to work by car.
·25% car journeys are under two miles.
·70% car journeys are under five miles.
WALKING & CYCLING

Instead of using the car for short journeys, why not walk or ride a bicycle? Walking is the most popular form of exercise—it's healthy and it can save money. If you work nearby, try walking or cycling instead of driving. Walking your children to school gives them valuable road experience.
BUSES

Bus companies are using new buses: some run on new fuelswhich produce less pollution; some have easier access（通路）for disabled and old people. There are special traffic lanes (行车道)to make bus journeys easier. So do something to help solve the pollution problem—-let the bus take you to work and your children to school.
TRAINS

All car journeys, long or short, can be hard work. For some trips, it is wiser to take the train. Leave your car at home and walk, cycle or take a bus to and from the station. Train travel is fast, safe and comfortable. Train tickets are not always expensive.

      Do you remember the first word that you spoke? If you can, you are unusual. Suppose what your life was like during the first few months. I'm sure that it took your most time to eat，sleep and cry. As you grew older you slept less. Your parents would spend more time playing with you and talking to you. You watched and listened. You got to know that people make some sounds to go with some things.

      Then you began to cry and to make sounds you heard. And little by little you could make right sound for one thing.

      Then you got to understand the secret of the language. It is that a certain sound means a certain thing. One sound could be as good as another. But it is not so good as a word if everybody doesn't agree on its meaning. Only when a group of people make and use the same set of sounds of things they can understand each other. Their own language comes into being.

      After you knew the “secret” you learned words. Some of the words meant things such as cars, books, birds and stores. Some of the words meant movements such as come, fly and swim. And other words express things such as “I would like to make friends with you.” This is language that people can communicate by the way of language. That is to say, languages mean communication.

B

     The 2018 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXIII Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as PyeongChang 2018, was held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Korea. Some opening rounds events were held on 8 February 2018, the eve of the opening ceremony.

     Pyeongchang was chosen as the host city in July 2011 in South Africa, which was the host country of last term Winter Olympics. This was the first time that South Korea had hosted the Winter Olympics and the second Olympics held in the country, and that was the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. It was also the first of three consecutive (连续的) Olympics to be held in East Asia. The other two will be the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing．      

     The Games had 102 events in fifteen sports, with the addition of “big air” snowboarding, mass start speed skating, mixed doubles curling and so on, to the Winter Olympic programme. 2,914 athletes from 92 countries or regions competed, including Ecuador, Eritrea, Kosovo, Malaysia, Nigeria and Singapore which were the first time to take part in the Winter Olympics. North Korea entered with South Korea during the opening ceremony as a united Korea．

     Norway won 39 medals in all, followed by Germany's 31 and Canada's 29. Germany and Norway were tied for the most gold medals won: both won fourteen golds. Host nation South Korea won seventeen medals, their highest medal at a Winter Olympics, five of which were gold.

    In the eyes of many foreigners, Chinese are the best hosts (主人) and the worst guests in the world. They're not really bad guests, but because the guest-host relationship in China is much different than in some western counties, it appears they are not nice guests. And western guests sometimes look rude (粗鲁的) in the eyes of Chinese guests.

    In China, guests are almost like gods. Whenever I enter a Chinese person's home, there is always fruit on the table for me, and someone is quick to bring me a cup of tea or water. In the west, generally the guest is not a god. Acting according to the host's way of doing things is usual behavior for a guest.

    My wife's mother, a very kind elderly Chinese lady, doesn't smoke. When I see some of her guests smoking in her house, as a non-smoker, I feel unhappy. Usually I want to stop them directly, but I must realize that in China, to be a good host, she must not do that. In most North America homes, if you are a guest, and the hosts are not smokers, you should not smoke in their house. At the very least, you could ask, “Is it OK if I smoke?” “But, don't be surprised if they say, “No, you can't smoke.” In our culture, if you smoke in their home, you are a bad guest, but if they don't allow you to smoke in their house, they are not a rude guest.

    Guests in China also have special habits. Some western people may not adapt to these habits very soon. Thankfully my wife is Chinese, so whenever we visit a Chinese family she tells me to buy them a gift. However, giving a gift to a host is not always necessary in my country. So, if you invite international guests to your home, don't be too surprised if they don't bring you a gift.

    In China, you probably won't need to change the guest-host relationship very much because you will probably only be the host, and Chinese are naturally very good hosts. If western hosts invite you to their house, try not to be too surprised if their style of treating you is not what you have expected.