There is nothing like chocolate. Just thinking about it can make your mouth water. September 13 is the International Chocolate Day. which gives us a good reason to celebrate the world's most popular sweet.

   Chocolate comes from a civilization (文明) called the Maya. They had a special food called cocoa. The word cocoa means "gift from God". The Europeans found the Mayans(玛雅人) and used cocoa to make chocolate. For centuries, only the rich could enjoy chocolate, and normal people could not. All this changed when European companies started to produce chocolate bars in the 19th century. Chocolate comes in different colours and sizes, The biggest chocolate bar was ever made in holy in 2011 and weighed almost six tons! There are also different shapes of chocolate and people often take them as holiday gifts. Chocolate bunnies (小兔子) and eggs are popular on Easter, and chocolate hearts are great gifts for Valentine's Day. At certain parties and wedding ceremonies (结婚庆典) ate fountains always surprise guests. Lots of people say chocolate is had for your health. But scientists now say it is good for people's heart and can make the body release chemicals that actually make us happy and make us feel better. However, don't eat too much of it.

When we say the way of life, it means culture. It is the way people do things, for example, culture of eating. Festivals and holidays are also part of culture. Let’s have a look at the American way of life.

Fast food

Fast food is so popular in America. Every street in America has a fast food restaurant. You can find McDonald’s, Burger King, Taco Bell, Papa Johns, Pizza Hut, Dominoes, IHop, Dennys and so on. McDonald’s is the most popular place to go to.

Greetings

 Americans shake hands with each other when they are first introduced (介绍) or when they meet again. Social kissing (亲吻) with a hug (拥抱) is also common between men and women who know each other well and among women. American men hardly hug or kiss each other.

Family

A family here includes a pet. Most families have a dog. It is a good friend in the house and it is part of the family. For some, it is even considered (认为) as one of their children.

Sports

 Americans love sports. Soccer, baseball and basketball are the most famous sports here. Most of them like wrestling (摔跤运动) too, if you would consider that a sport.

 Every language has its own special words and expressions. "Hot" is a smiple word. Most of the expressions made with the word "hot" are also easily understood. But not always, as we shall see.

   The phrase "hot potato", for example, give you no idea at all to the meaning of the expression, hot potato. The potato is a kind of popular food in America. Imagine trying to carry a hot potato in your hand. It would be difficult, even painful, to do so. ________ Fot example. air pollution which is a very serious problem now is a hot potato.

   Another expression is "not so hot". If you ask someone how he feels, he may answer "Not so hot." He means that he doesn't feel well. The expression is also a way of saying you don't really like something. You may tell a friend that the new play you saw last night wasn't so hot. That means you didn't like it.

   A hot shot is a person, often a young person, who thinks he can do anything. He is very sure he can succeed. But he often fails. The expression was born in the army. A hot shot was a soldier(士兵) who fired without aiming carefully.

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Every year there is a Spring Festival in China. Usually it is in January or February, it is the most important festival in China. So before it comes, everyone has to prepare things. They buy pork, beef, chicken, fruits and many other things. And they often make a special kind of food—“dumplings”. It means “come together”. On the day before the festival, parents buy new clothes for their children. Children also buy presents for their parents. On the Spring Festival Eve(除夕), all the family members come back to their hometown. This is a happy moment. Some sing and dance, some play cards and others get the dinner ready. When they enjoy the meal, they give each other the best wishes for the coming year. They all have a good time.

There are many festivals around the world. Some of them are important and interesting.

The Spring Festival is one of the most important festivals in China. People usually have 7 days off to celebrate it. Family members get together and have a good time. There are also a lot of interesting TV shows for the festival. The Mid-Autumn festival is also an important festival in China. On the evening of the festival, people usually get together and enjoy the full moon in the open air.The most popular food is moon cakes.They are round like the moon. Another important festival is the Dragon-Boat Festival. People can watch dragon boat races (赛龙舟) and eat a kind of Chinese food called Zongzi (rice dumplings) on that day.

Christmas is the most important festival in the USA, Canada, Australia, England and many other countries in the West. When Christmas comes, you can find beautiful Christmas trees, nice Christmas cards and presents everywhere. People all enjoy shouting “Merry Christmas” and give gifts to each other. They often have a party and have a big meal. Thanksgiving Day comeson the fourth Thursday of November in the USA. It is a special festival for Americans to give thanks. People usually eat pumpkins and turkeys on that day.

Have you heard about paper-cutting? Paper-cutting is an important art form in China. Paper-cuts were used for many purposes, and everything can become the theme of paper-cuts, from people to the things that can be found in everyday life such as birds, flowers and animals.

Each paper-cut brings out the personal ideas of the author（作者）. People express traditional culture or their own feelings with different styles of paper-cuts. For example, when someone marries, we put up some red paper-cuts on the wall, dressing table or other furniture to express our best wishes.

It is easy to learn paper-cutting but very difficult to make it perfect. We need a long-time practice to learn how to use the scissors and how to paint. Besides, we need to learn some cutting skills.

At present, in many parts of China, paper-cutting skill has become a must for women and a symbol of a clever mind.

Santa Claus has a best friend. He is a dog named Paws. Paws loves Christmas very much. But as Christmas is coming, Paws and Santa find that the boys and girls of the world have lost the spirit of the season. They are worried, so they take a trip to New York City to see what happened.

In an accident, Santa loses his memory. So Paws teams up with a girl named Quinn and a wonderful group of magical talking dogs to save Santa, and Christmas.

Christmas is supposed to be a time to enjoy ourselves. But sometimes we are so busy that enjoying holidays seems to be a waste of time.

This is not true. Holidays, like Christmas, are fun, joyful, and a little bit magical. They give us a time to stay with family and friends，a spirit to enjoy life, and most of all, a good mood that may continue all year! This is the true meaning of Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Do you know an old city (城市)－"Langzhong" in Sichuan？The old city is not far (远的) from Chengdu，the capital (省会) of Sichuan. It's a city with a history of 2300 years.

   The old city is not very big. Some of the buildings (建筑物) have only two floors (层). There are (有) Chinese-style (中式) stores in the street.

   Langzhong is a round (圆的) city. The city has a river(河) near it. And you can eat nice food in Langzhong. Try Langzhong Zhang Fei beef (牛肉) and you must love it.

   Langzhong is a good place (地方) to visit (参观). You can take cars (小车) there for 3 hours from Chengdu. Welcome (欢迎) to Langzhong.

  If you go to Russia, bring matryoshka or nesting dolls (套娃) back with you. They make great presents.

It looks like any other doll on the outside. But if you open it, you will find a smaller doll inside. Then a smaller one inside that one, and on and on!

In a nesting doll, there are dolls inside one another, from large to small. The largest one can be half a meter high. The smallest is as small as a peanut（花生）. Usually, there are eight dolls. But there can be anything from three to 50.

The dolls are often pretty Russian girls in colourful dresses.

They wear scarves (头巾).They sometimes have other kinds of faces on them. There are cartoon（卡通）people or men with white beards (胡子). They even have great men like President (总统) Vladimir Putin on some of them.