Coffee and tea are two of the most popular hot drinks. Coffee is very popular in Western Europe and in the Middle East. Different people drink coffee differently. Some people in Northern Europe put cream and sugar in their coffee. But in the United States many people like to drink their coffee "black ", that is, without cream or sugar. Some oriental(东方的)countries such as China, Japan, traditionally drink tea as a national drink. In the Orient, people drink tea without sugar, but in England, where it is also a national drink, it is different. Many people in England put both sugar and hot or cold milk in their tea, while others use lemon. Coffee may also be done differently when it is ordered by the customers, the waiter may ask "regular", which means" Do you want lots of cream in it?" If coffee with lots of cream is not wanted, ask for "black" (no cream)or "dark"(meaning with a small amount of cream in). However, in most cases you may have your own choice by being provided with coffee and cream separately.

    Coffee is the most popular American drink and it is ordered almost at all hours of the day. In the light of statistics(数据), Americans drink 500 million cups of coffee each day.

    What we have been aware of is that people from Italy speak Italian and people from Russia speak Russian. But have you ever wondered the reason why people speak Spanish in so many South American countries? Do you know why the brilliant footballers of Brazil speak Portuguese?

    And why is French the first language of some people in Canada? The answer is that all these countries belonged to European empires at one time. The next question is: How did these empires begin? To answer that question we have to probably go back to the 15'h and 16 centuries, the golden age of European explorers.

    Although this period is known as the golden age of European explorers, it was not the beginning of European exploration. As you probably know, Marco Polo travelled a long way to China at the end of the 13" century and some people say that the Vikings discovered America

    long before Columbus set sail in 1492. However, it is during this “golden" period that some famous voyages took place. Columbus' voyage to America is the best known voyage of exploration, but Ferdinand Magellan sailed round the world in this period, and Spanish explorers such as Central and Pizarro reached South America. Cortez defeated the Aztecs in what we now know as Mesico and Pizarro defeated the Incas in what we now know as Peru. The roots of the Spanish empire were established and that is why he Spanish language is so widely spoken in Central and South America today.

Almost all of us have had a flag raising experience.Hold it，then raise it.It's so easy.But doing so on the moon can be really difficult. 

There is no air on the moon，which leads to the first problem with flag raising—there's no wind to keep the flag flying. 

In the earlier Chang'e missions，the national flag of China was painted on the surface of the moon landers and rovers（月球着陆器和月球车）.In the Chang'e-5 mission，a special flag display system was invented.Since the Chang'e-5 didn't carry an astronaut to the moon，the work had to be done by a robotic arm.Researchers worked hard to make the display system weigh only 1 kilogram. The material of the flag is also a big problem.Normal flags on the earth would be broken or even destroyed quickly on the moon because of the radiation from the sun and huge temperature differences during the day and night. 

It took the researchers more than a year to find the ideal material.It was developed by Professor Xu Weilin and his team from Wuhan Textile University.It could help the flag keep its color and shape in the environment on the surface of the moon. 

The scene of the five-star red flag against the dark sky on the surface of the moon was taken by a camera on the lander and then sent back to the earth.Every Chinese was amazed at the history-making moment（时刻）.At the same time，we should also know and remember the teams behind this great effort.

We all study in the classroom in the school, but what are classrooms like in different countries?

In China, children have a fixed (固定的) classroom. In a classroom, you can see desks and chairs in lines. There are usually about 40 or more students in every class. They always face the blackboard.

In the UK, most classrooms are similar. There are usually about 30 students in every class. Usually, two children have a long desk.

In the US, classrooms usually have single (单人的) desks for every student. There are about 15-25 students in a class. The US children don't have a fixed classroom. They always go to different classrooms when the classes are different.

Students in Japan have a fixed classroom and they have single desks, too. At the back of the classroom, there are places for students' clothes. At the gate of the school building, there are places for their shoes.

Where do our happy feelings come from? It's dopamine (多巴胺) that works as a star in our brains. It is often called the "feel﹣good" chemical (化学物质). When there's an ongoing dance party in our minds, dopamine is the DJ playing music of happiness. 

Dopamine is important not only because it controls our feelings, but also it plays a big role in different parts of our brains and bodies. As for brains, it influences our motivation (动机) and affects our learning and memory to help us keep knowledge for a longer time. As for bodies, it controls our body movement and helps us do actions more quickly, correctly and smoothly. Thanks to dopamine, we are encouraged to explore and learn more fun things, make more plans and want to achieve more goals. 

What can we do to make dopamine come out? It's interesting that everyday activities like exercise and even listening to music can help our brain to make it. Also, when we experience something enjoyable, like eating tasty food or reaching a goal, our brain releases dopamine. Besides, scientists have also found that dopamine isn't just about personal pleasure, but also does something with social interactions. When we talk with others, share a laugh or a bond with friends, our brains will also release dopamine. Dopamine keeps us feeling that it is enjoyable to be with others. 

However, too much or too little dopamine can be knotty, which means the brain's dance is not easy. If there's too much, it might make us feel too excited. If there's too little, it can make us feel a bit sad. Therefore, we should try our best to keep a balanced diet and do regular exercise, which is really important for a healthy and happy brain. 

So, if we find ourselves in a happy moment the next time, we should know that it's not just our heart dancing with joy, but also a wonderful dance of dopamine creating a beautiful ballet of happiness in our brain. Enjoy the dance, taste the joy, and let the chemistry of happiness lift the spirits to right heights!

Youth Activity Center

Address: No. 68 Chengnan Road

Business hours: From 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. every day