A rabbit is running into its hole. You may ask, “What happened?”

    Well, when a rabbit sees something dangerous, it runs away. Its tail moves up and down as it runs. When other rabbits see this tail moving up and down, they run too. They know that there is danger. The rabbit has told them something without making a sound. It has given them a signal（信号）.

    Many other animals use this kind of language. When a bee found some food, it goes back to his home. It cannot tell the other bees where the food is by speaking to them, but it does a little dance in the air. This tells the bees where the food is.

    Some animals say things by making sounds. A dog barks, for example, when a stranger comes near. A cat purrs (发出呼噜呼噜的声音) when pleased. Some birds make several different sounds, each with its own meaning.

    But human beings have something that no animals have -- a large number of words about things, actions, feelings or ideas. We are able to give each other information, to tell or inform other people what is in our mind or how we feel. By writing words down we can remind ourselves of the things what have happened, or send messages to people far away. No animals can do this. No animals has the wonderful power of language.

    No one knows how man learned to make words. Somehow he learned to make them. As centuries went by, he made more and more new words. This is what we mean by language.

    People living in different countries made different kinds of words. Today there are about fifteen hundred different languages in the world. A very large English dictionary, for example, contains four or five hundred thousand words. But we do not know all these. The words we know are called vocabulary. We should try to make our vocabulary larger. Read as many books as possible. When we meet a new word, look it up in the dictionary. A dictionary is the most useful book.

    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.

A

    Everyone has a family name. My name is Jane Armstrong. Armstrong is my family name. What does Armstrong mean (意思)? Does it mean my arms are strong? But I am a slim (苗条的) girl. I don't like strong arms. My best friend is Lucy Long. Is she a tall girl? No, she isn't. She is short. But she has long hair. Some family names come from jobs. My friend's name is James Cook. Does it mean he can cook(烹饪)? No, it doesn't. And he doesn't like cooking at all. He only likes eating nice food. And he likes the TV show A Bite of China(《舌尖上的中国》) because it is all about nice food. Some people get family names from places. Ann Hill is my classmate. Is there a hill near her home? Yes. There is one hill behind( .....后.面) her home. But her uncle, Tom Hill, lives 20 km from a hill.