Wonderful Events

   Horse Racing All Year Round

   The races start at 3 p.m. every Sunday. And the racetrack is only 20miles away. There is a lot of parking place here. So you don't need to worryabout where to park. We also provide presents for free. However, no childrenare allowed to go in.

100 Years of Pictures

   There are plenty of photos on show (now and then). You can see the Tajinhistory from 1900 to 2000. The show starts on February 1st and goes on to April30th. Our address is City Art Museum 730 High Street. The museum is open from10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day except Monday.

   Weekend Sales

   Everything is at the great sale (20% — 60% off) from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.this Saturday. Don't you want to save time and money? Come and visit us at BookGrandview Mall to realize your dreams! As soon as you come here, you'll fall inlove with prices we offer.

   Dance Party

   You must be tired after working for a long time. You need to take breaksaway from heavy work to celebrate a special date. Please come to Live Band,Country Club with your sweet heart on Sunday night. We prepare a dance party,which is from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. The price is $ 25 a couple or $ 15 a person.Enjoy your sleepless night!

    A new rubbish sorting system (垃圾分类系统) has been put into use in Fangchengyuan Community in Beijing. Local people not only sort their rubbish, but also put QR codes (二维码) on it.

    "When the rubbish is collected and the codes are seen, I will get reward points to exchange for small gifts and even some money," one of the local people told reporters. "It's really creative and encouraging."

    This smart system has been carried out in 350 communities in Beijing. The capital of China has joined a list of cities in the country that take action to support rubbish sorting. For example, Shenzhen and Shanghai have made laws to punish people and organizations for not sorting rubbish correctly.

    China produces quite a lot of rubbish every year. Much of the rubbish is buried (填埋) in soil or burned without being sorted. Landfills (填埋场) take up a lot of land and have a risk of polluting the soil and water nearby. And burning rubbish can produce harmful gases. Through rubbish sorting, we can reduce the use of landfills and air pollution.

    What's more, rubbish sorting saves resources, which could bring economic benefits (经济利益). For example, a ton of waste paper can be reused to make about 850 kg of paper, saving 17 trees and 50 percent of water. Because of the benefits, some countries have developed successful sorting systems.

    Japan has a strict and detailed system. When people throw away a water bottle, the cap, the wrapper (包装纸) and the bottle itself have to go into three different bins. Every year, families receive special rubbish sorting timetables and directions from their local governments. They are advised to follow the timetables and directions when they throw away rubbish.

    In Australia, every family is provided with three rubbish bins—the red lid (盖子) bin for "general waste" like food and plastic bags, the yellow lid bin for "recycling" like steel and glass, and the green lid bin for "green waste" such as grass and leaves. On the streets, the bins are printed with pictures of the things that are allowed inside. It makes recycling quite easy.

Animals

   Corona viruses are common in animals. Sometimes, animals get infected (感染的) with these viruses which may then spread to human beings. To protect yourself, you should not visit live animal markets or have direct contact with wild animals. Stay away from raw meat, animal organs and other undercooked animal products.

   When an infectious pet was found in Hong Kong, some may wonder if one can get virus from their pets. Until today, there is no evidence that a dog, cat or any pet can transmit (传播) COVID-19. Please do not kill or give up pets!

Touching surface with virus

   Studies suggest that COVID-19 virus may stay on surfaces for a few hours or up to several days. However, the number may change under different conditions such as type of surface, temperature or the environment.

   If you think a surface may be infected, clean it with ethyl alcohol (酒精). After touching it, clean your hands with alcohol or wash them with soap and water. Avoid touching your eyes, mouth, or nose.

Package(包裹)

   Before delivering to your home, a package has been moved, travelled, and exposed to different conditions and temperature. Therefore, the possibility of being infectious because of your package from COVID-19-reported areas is rather low. There is no need to send your package back.

Smoking

   An article posted on Wechat recently says that cigarette can protect smokers from COVID-19 and thus make cigarettes sell very well. It is an online rumor (谣言)! As has been known, smoking harms people's health. It weakens the immune system and worsens diabetes and blood pressure. No smoking is still a must!

Transportation

   According to Feng Luzhao, an expert from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the major routes of transmission are still through respiratory droplets and direct contact. In order to protect yourself in underground station, wearing a mask and keeping your hands clean are good ways. People are also encouraged to use a personal transportation card or pay for the ticket via an app. After taking public transportation, washing hands is necessary.

Many traditional Chinese festivals remind us of the special foods. As zongzi are to Dragon Boat Festival and mooncakes are to Mid-Autumn Festival, yuanxiao—sweet dumplings made of sticky rice flour—are special to Lantern Festival.

Lantern Festival usually falls on the 15^th of the first lunar month, marking the end of the Spring Festival celebrations. Apart from the round-shaped yuanxiao, another beloved part of the celebration is the lanterns, which come in almost every possible size and shape.

"Guessing lantern riddles(谜语)" is an essential(必不可少的) part of the festival. Lantern owners write riddles on a piece of paper and post them on the lanterns. If visitors have answers to the riddles, they can pull the paper out and go to the lantern owners to check their answers. If they are right, they will get a little gift. The activity emerged(出现) during people's enjoyment of lanterns in the Song Dynasty(960–1279). As riddle guessing was interesting and full of wisdom, it became popular among all social strata(阶层).

Lantern Festival was at its peak in the Tang and Song dynasties. It was a day of great fun at the time. In the evening, people went into the streets with all kinds of lanterns, watching lion or dragon dances, eating yuanxiao and setting off firecrackers.

The festival also provided a chance for unmarried young girls to go out freely in search of their true love, since they weren't normally allowed to do so. The famous poet Ouyang Xiu recorded this romantic tradition with the well-known line:"Atop the willow tree hangs the moon;my date comes in the evening soon."

Jim is a good student and he has lots of friends, but he also has a problem. Some older boys are bullying (欺负) him. Jim is very helpless and he doesn't know what to do about it. Here is some advice for him and other teenagers in this situation.

Bullying is not very common in schools. However, everyone should know something about how to deal with this problem.

Being bullied can make you feel very upset and angry, but you are not alone. Don't hide the problem. Find a person you can trust, such as a teacher or your parents, and tell him or her what you are suffering. After you talk to someone, you will get some support and feel better.

Maybe you will be nervous to speak to an adult, but there are other things you can do. Some people express their feelings more easily on paper. Write a letter to someone or keep a diary, including all the details about what the bullies do, as well as when and where the bullying happened. You can show your letter or diary to responsible adults, and let them know what is going on. The bullies will feel very afraid if their names appear in a letter!

Also, don't show your fear and don't try to fight with the bullies. You can get into trouble, Pay no attention to them and walk away, and the bullies will soon stop.

Dear David, 

Long time no see. I am really happy to 1 your email! Thank you for telling me about your Chinese friend Lily. I know you always dream to be the class monitor. You can get on well with 2 classmates. You are very 3 and you are always ready to help your classmates. That's good. At the new term, you should study hard and your dream will 4 soon. When you are at school, you should also try your best to help your 5 .

This term my classmates 6 me as the PE monitor in our class. 7 do they choose me as the PE monitor? That's because I run very 8 . My PE teacher and my classmates like me so much. They also want me to start a PE 9 . I think that it is a good idea. We can play basketball or football in the club at weekends.

Please send some of your 10 to me. I'm looking forward to seeing you.

Yours, 

Mike