Green is an important color in nature. It is the color of grass and the leaves on trees. It is the color of most growing plants, too.

Sometimes, the word green means young, fresh and growing. Sometimes, it describes something that is not yet finished or plants that are not ripe.

For example, a greenhorn is someone who has no experience, who is new to a situation. In the fifteenth century, a greenhorn was a young cow or ox whose horns had not yet developed. A century or so later, a greenhorn was a soldier who had not yet had any experience in war (战争). By the eighteenth century, a greenhorn had the meaning it has today a person who is new in a job.

About one hundred years ago, greenhorn was a popular expression in the American west. Old-timers used it to describea man who had just arrived from one of the big cities in the east. The greenhorn didn’t havethe skills that he would need to live in the hard,roughcountry.

Someone who has the ability to grow plants well is said to have a green thumb. The expression comes from the early nineteen hundreds.

A person with agreen thumb seems to have a magic touch that makes plants grow quickly and well. You might say that the woman next door has a green thumb if her garden continues to grow long after your plants have died.

The Green Revolution (革命) is the name which was given some years ago to the development of new kinds of rice and other grains. The new plants produced much larger crops. The Green Revolution was the result of hard work by agricultural (农业的) scientistswho hadgreen thumbs.

Gao Wenqi, 49, owner of a restaurant in Xi'an, Shanxi, started to offer a new service on April 13, 2013: suspended meals (待用快餐). Now many restaurants in China, such as in Henan, Chongqing and Yunnan, have joined the program.

   You can pay 10 yuan for a meal, which should be sold at 16, and leave it at the restaurant. Then other people in need, such as the disabled(残疾人), the poor elderly or homeless children, can have it without paying.

   This idea comes from the cafes(咖啡馆)in Naples, Italy. It's a tradition that someone there paysin advanceof an extra(额外的) cup or two. Then another coffee—drinker can take them for free.

   “The program is mean ingful. It offers help with dignity(尊严),”said Gao to Xinhua. However, people are worried that someone who is able to pay would also ask for the suspended meals, so there should be rules for this program.

Different countries celebrate the New Year in different ways. Many countries still follow the lunar calendar, meaning that their new year often starts in late January or in February. New Year celebrations for some countries (like China, Vietnam, and Korea) last not one day, but up to two weeks!

In the US, many people attend New Year parties. They drink, dance, and cheer at midnight.

In the southern US, many people eat black­eyed peas for good luck in the new year.

In Mexico and Venezuela, many people wear red or yellow for good luck.

In Brazil, people wear white clothes for good luck, and in China, they wear red clothes and give children red envelopes with money in them.

In Iran, people wear brand new clothes on the first day of the New Year.

In Scotland, people open the front door at midnight to let in the New Year, and open the back door to let out the old year.

In Switzerland, people kiss each other three times at midnight.

In Japan, they ring a bell 108 times to get rid of(除掉) the 108 bad desires.

In Korea, they ring a bell 33 times for 33 old soldiers(士兵).

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

In China, for example, people always drink tea when they are getting together. The Chinese people drink it at any time of the day at homes or in teahouses. They prefer their tea plain(素净), with nothing else in it.

Tea is also important in Japan. The Japanese have a special way of serving tea called tea ceremony(仪式、典礼). 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 Japanese homes.

Another tea-drinking country is England. In England, the late afternoon is “tea time”. Almost everyone has a cup of tea then. The English usually make tea in a teapot(茶壶) and drink it with milk and sugar. They also eat cakes, biscuits and a little sandwich at teatime. This is the so-called(所谓的) “Afternoon Tea” in England.

  In the United States, people drink tea mostly for breakfast or after dinner. Americans usually use tea bags to make their tea. Making tea with the bags is faster and easier than making tea in teapots. In summer, many Americans drink cold tea—“iced tea”.

When we talk about old and famous cities in China, which city comes to your mind? The most famous ones are Beijing, Xi’an, Luoyang, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Kaifeng, Anyang, Zhengzhou and Datong. On October 25^th, Chengdu joined the list(清单), too. Chengdu becomes the tenth greatest old capital cities in China.

  Chengdu is the capital city of Sichuan. It has a long and rich history. Chengdu is also good at keeping its history. Chengdu became a city about 4,500 years ago. And it started to be a capital city over 2,000 years ago. The city has never changed its name in the past 2,000 years. It has never moved. This is not only rare(稀有的)in China, but also in the world.

Chengdu is an important city for sure, and there is great culture in this city, too. The Dujiangyan irrigation system(都江堰灌溉系统)is the oldest water-control project(工程) in the world. To be named one of the ten old capital cities will make the city more famous and more visitors(参观者) will come to Chengdu for a visit.

In almost every big university in the U.S.A. American football is a favorite sport. American football is not like soccer. Players sometimes kick the ball, but they aslo throw the ball and run with it. They try to take it to the other end of the field. They have four chances to move the ball ten yards (码). They can carry it or throw it. If they move it to the end of the field, they receive six points. This is called a touchdown.

   It is difficult to move the ball. Eleven men on the team try to stop the man who has the ball. If the man does not move the ball ten yards, his team kicks the ball to the other team.

   Each university wants its team to team to win. Thousands of people come to watch. They all cheer on their favorite team. Young men and women called cheerleaders (啦啦队长) come to the field to help the people yell more. They dance and jump when people yell.

   Each team plays ten or eleven games each season. The season begins in September and ends in November. If a team is very good, it may play another game after the season ends. The best teams play again on January 1, the first day of the New Year. Many people go to see these games and many others watch them on television.

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Idioms(习惯用语) are phrases and sentences that do not mean exactly what they say. Even if you know the meaning of each word you see or hear, you may not understand the idiom because you don't understand the culture behind it.

For example, if an American boy asks his mother what's for dinner tomorrow, she may say “I'll play it by ear”, that means she doesn't have plans for dinner and she will decide later.“Play by ear” used to mean playing music using the sheet music（乐谱）, but now people often use it when they're not talking about music.

There're many idioms in English. If you learn to use them, your English will be more vivid（生动的） and colorful. English idioms are more common in spoken English. They can be difficult to remember sometimes. Next time when you hear somebody saying to you, “Give me a hand”, you don't necessarily stretch out your hand to him/her, but you do need to be helpful. And when the situation is out of hand, you usually can do very little to manage all that. What about a green hand? It's not about the color of your hand! You're a green hand when you are very new at your work and don't have much experience. If you and your partner always work together hand in glove, you two definitely work together very well.

Can you guess the meanings of some common English idioms to do with parts of your body?

If you go to England, you may want to visit Big Ben. Big Ben is not the name of a man but a name of the clock in London. It has a long history of about 150 years. It is at the north end of the Palace of Westminster. The big clock has four faces. So you can read the face of the clock everywhere. The hands of it are about four meters long each. When the new year comes, it chimes to welcome the start of the new year. There are also many fireworks over the clock tower.

The big clock makes a very loud sound “Ding dong. Ding dong”--the clock gives the sound every 15 minutes of an hour.

As we know, National Day is a day to remember the start of a country. Different countries celebrate National Days in different ways. Look at the celebrations below: