Most of us don’ t know the reasons anymore but people today follow them because they are good fun.

Today the bride (新娘) carries flowers but long ago she carried strong-smelling grass. This was to frighten away the evil spirits and to cover the smell of people who do not wash often. People also used to believe that the bride brought good luck, so they would try to get something from her. Today, the bride will offer the guests some good luck by throwing the flowers to them after the wedding. It is said that if you catch the flowers, you will be the next one to get married. Of course, many of the single girls at a wedding try to catch the flowers.

In early times, the bridesmaids (伴娘) and the bride all wore similar dresses. This was to confuse the evil spirits. Now bridesmaids still wear similar dresses but the bride wears a different dress that is often white. Many brides wear veils (面纱) over their faces. This comes from a time when the young couple was not allowed to see each other before the wedding. The families were afraid that the bridegroom might not like the bride. So he was only allowed to lift her veil just before the wedding. By this time it was too late to refuse to marry her.

Brides often wear “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue”. In earlier times, if the bride did’t do this, she felt she would be in danger from the evil spirits. Wearing “something old” represents the journey between being single and being married. “Something new” represents the change from being a child to being an adult. “Something borrowed” means if you borrow something from a happily married couple, it will bring you good luck. And “something blue” comes from a time when the edge of the bride’ s dress was blue which represented purity.

B

       London’s Chinese community dates back to the 18^th century, when a small number of Chinese sailors moved to the city to work in Limehouse, east London. As time went on, other Chinese people came to this area and Limehouse began to be known as “Chinatown”. However, London’s Chinese community remained very small for many years: at the start of the 20^th century, there were just 545 Chinese people in Britain.

After the Second World War, many farmers in Hong Kong lost their jobs and came to London. As Limehouse had been almost destroyed during the war, they settled in a different area — a part of central London near Leicester Square. This area is now what Londoners called Chinatown.

At first, the new immigrants found it difficult to get jobs. In the 1950s, however, a small Chinese restaurant opened in London. Many British people visited it and said that Chinese food was wonderful! Suddenly, Chinese restaurants and take-away (外卖) started opening in every part of the city. Instead of too little work, the new Chinese immigrants now found that they had too much! They worked as cooks, managers or waiters. Most of them enjoyed their lives and arranged their friends and relatives to join them from overseas.

As time went by, London’s Chinese community became more and more successful. The sons and daughters of the original restaurant workers studied and worked very hard. And most went on to get highly paid jobs. Many Chinese families left Chinatown and moved to the more expensive outskirts. Chinatown, however, is still as lively as ever.

A student is learning to speak British English. He wonders: Can I communicate with Americans? Can they understand me? Learners of English often ask: What are the differences between British and American English? How important are these differences?

    Certainly there are some differences between British and American English. There are a few differences in grammar. For example, speakers of British English say “in hospital” and “Have you a pen?” Americans say “in the hospital!” and “Do you have a pen?” Pronunciation is sometimes different. Americans usually sound theirs in words like “bird” and “hurt”. Speakers of British English do not sound theirs in these words. There are differences between British and American English in spelling and vocabulary. For example, “colour” and “honour” are British, “color” and honor” are American.

     These differences in grammar, pronunciation, spelling and vocabulary are not important. However, for the most part, British and American English are the same language.