Most people drink tea in the world. But tea does not mean the same thing to different people. In different countries, people have different ideas about drinking tea.

    In China, for example, tea is often served when people get together. Chinese people drink it at home or in tea houses at any time of the day. They often use hot water to boil tea leaves.

    Tea is also important in other Asian countries. People in these countries have a special way of serving tea. They hold a tea ceremony in their houses when important guests come. It is very old and full of meaning. Everything must be done in a special way in the ceremony. There is even a special room for it in their houses.

    In the United States, people usually drink tea at breakfast or they drink it after meals. Americans usually use tea bags to make tea. This way is faster and easier than the way of making tea in teapots. In summer, most Americans drink iced tea. They like to put some ice in their tea.

    We always look forward to World Book Day—it's a chance to share our love of books and reading with even more people! Here are some of the activities in different countries and places to celebrate the World Book Day, April 23rd every year.

    School Children's Books

    School Children's Books are happy that best-selling writer Holly Webb is their World Book Day writer for 2012. Holly has written a large number of books for children and she has written a special Magic Molly story just for this year's World Book Day!

    Reading Package

    On the World Book Day, every primary school student in Britain will receive a package from their school. Inside, there is a story book, a beautiful card and a reading list. Besides these three things, they will also receive a special note, which is worth one pound. Children can use it to buy their favorite books. And they can also enjoy a special price-20% cheaper.

    Share of Reading

    It is an interesting on-line activity which is for one week. People can share their opinions of a book on line. There are also many reading-aloud activities in libraries. For example, in 2010's World book Day the former US first lady Michelle Obama read aloud a book called The Cat in The Hat for more than 200 children in a library.

    Information Card

A .Christmas Day

    It is the biggest and the best-loved holiday in the United States。The Christmas tree is very popular during this time．

B .Halloween

    This holiday comes on October 31．Children make all kinds of masks(面具)and go from ho use to house to play the game called “Trick or treat".

C .New Year's Day

    It is a legal holiday in the United States．Most people have a day off from work．They say “Happy New Year to you and your family” to each other to express their hope for the happiness in the new year．

D .Valentine's Day

    Valentine's Day is a day for lovers and one of the loveliest holidays in the United States．It comes on February l4th．

E .Lincoln's Birthday

    The holiday is celebrated to memorize one of America's most admired presidents．Lincoln．It is on February l2th．

F .Thanksgiving Day

    The holiday is on the fourth Thursday of November．On this day Americans usually have Thanksgiving dinner with their family．Turkey is one kind of the traditional foods．

G .Memorial Day

    Americans celebrate this holiday on the last Monday in May so that all can enjoy a three-day weekend．It is a day to memorize those people who have lost their lives for their country．

H．Independence Day

    Independence Day is a holiday throughout the United States．It is America'-s most important holiday．

    Whenever the sun dropped and the blue sky came up, my father and I used to climb the mountain near my house. Walking together, my father and I used to have a lot of conversations through which I learned lessons from his experiences. He always told me, "You should have goals(目标） like climbing the mountain." Without the mountain-climbing that we both enjoyed ，we couldn't have enough time to spend together because my father was very busy. I really got a lot from mountain-climbing. It gave me time to talk with my father and to be in deep thought as well as develop my patience (耐力).

    Once we climbed a very high mountain. It was so challenging for me because I was only ten years old. During the first few hours of climbing. I enjoyed the flowers and trees, and the birds' singing, but as time passed, I got a pain in both of my legs. I wanted to quit climbing. In fact, I hated it at that mountain, but my father said to me, "You can always see a beautiful sky at the top of the mountain, but you can't see it before you reach the top. ①Only there at the top, can you see all of the nice things, just like in life."

    At that time, ②我太小以至于不能理解他的话。But later after that, I got new hope and confidence. I found myself standing at the top of the mountain. And there, I could see the whole of the sky, which was as clear as crystal (水晶).

   请阅读下面内容，根据所提供的信息完成信息卡，并把答案写在答题卡指定的位置上。

    Hello! Nice to meet you. Now let me introduce myself (自我介绍)to you. My name is Mary. I'm 12 years old. I'm from Canada and I speak English. I'm a tall girl. I have long brown hair and big blue eyes. I like music a lot. I often sing songs with my friends in my free time. I have a happy family. There are four people in my family. They are my mom, my dad, my sister and me. I like China very much and I want to visit Beijing and make some friends there, but I can't speak Chinese at all. I hope(希望)to be your friend, then We can help each other with English and Chinese.

Information Card

    My mother is a nice woman. She is 37 years old. She is tall with a small mouth. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} She is a good Chinese teacher. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Her students like her very much and they like her clothes, too. Her clothes are always blue. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} She thinks a woman in blue looks young. My mother can speak English very well. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Students like the helpful teacher. She works in Xiamen now but she wants to go to UK. She hopes to be an exchanged (交换) teacher. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}