Tea parties have been around for over 3,000 years. People all over the world have tea parties every day. Let’s talk about tea parties.

1 Choose your time. Traditionally, a tea party is in the afternoon, either late noon (11:30 am to 12:30 pm) or afternoon (3:00 pm to 4:00 pm).

2 Send out invitations about two weeks before the tea party.

3 Set out fresh linen(亚麻布) on the table, and make sure the garden is nice or the room for the tea party is clean.

4 Begin to set out your fine china, tea cups, eating utensils(器具) and decorations(装饰) about two hours in advance(提前).

5 Begin boiling the water and setting out food about 10 minutes before guests arrive. Take this time to put the tea inside the tea pot. You may use this time to talk when the water is boiling.

6 When the water is ready, put the water into the tea pot and take the tea pot to the table.

7 Bring guests to the table and chat, slip tea and eat the delicious food.

As an old saying goes that the British like a nice cup of tea in the morning and a nice cup of tea at night. And at half past seven, their idea of heaven is a nice cup of tea. They like a nice cup of tea with their dinner and a nice cup of tea time, and before they go to bed, there is a lot to be said about a nice cup of tea!

Sometime it seems that no one likes tea as much as the British does. But in fact, tea is liked in countries around the world. In China and Japan tea was first used as a medicine, many years later, people there drank tea as a beverage（饮料）.

People in the world like to drink different kinds of tea — green, black or red as some people call it. It is served in different ways. But they all know that drinking tea is good for one’s health.

Most people around the world are right-handed. This also seems to be true in history. In 1799, scientists studied works of art made at different times from 1,500 B.C. to the 1950s. Most of the people shown in these works are right-handed, so the scientists guessed that right-handedness has always been common through history. Today, only about 10% to 15% of the world’s population is left-handed.

    Why are there more right-handed people than left-handed ones? Scientists now know that a person’s two hands each have their own jobs. For most people, the hand is used to find things or hold things. The right hand is used to work with things. This is because of the different work of the two sides of the brain. The right side of the brain, which makes a person’s hands and eyes work together, controls the left hand. The left-side of the brain, which controls the right hand, is the centre for thinking and doing problems. These findings show that more artists should be left-handed, and studies have found that left-handedness is twice as common among artists as among people in other jobs.

    No one really knows what makes a person become right-handed instead of left-handed. Scientists have found that almost 40% of the people become left-handed because their main brain is damaged when they are born. However, this doesn’t happen to everyone, so scientists guess there must be another reason why people become left-handed. One idea is that people usually get right-handed from their parents. If a person does not receive the gene(基因) for right-handedness, he/ she may become either right-handed or left-handed according to the chance and the people they work or live with.

   Though right-handedness is more common than left-handedness, people no longer think left-handed people are strange or unusual. A long time ago, left-handed children were made to use their right hands like other children, but today they don’t have to.

Working after school has become almost a trend (趋势) for teenagers in the U.S.. More than 80 percent of American teenagers work at some point during their high school years. Many teenagers inAustraliaandEuropealso work part-time.

But in general, teenagers in East Asia (亚洲) have not followed this trend. Parents in these cultures encourage their children to study not to“waste” their time working. But is working really a waste of time for teenagers? The answer is unclear. Experts point to both benefits (利益) and pitfalls of teenager employment (工作).

One study showed that teenagers who work more than 15 hours a week have bad grades. They are also less likely to go to college.

But experts haven’t decided that teenager employment should be avoided (避免) after all. They believe that holding a part-time job can teach teenagers about teamwork. Teenagers also learn about managing (安排) their time and money. Employment does bring benefits. Teenagers should be careful, however, to spend less hours working and always put schoolwork first.

Every year, when the Nobel Prize winner list is made public, there are some certain winners who are labeled asunexpectedand surprised. This year, as an American musician, Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Undoubtedly, he made full expressions of that label as he is the first musician winning this prize.

On the contrary, the modern Japanese writer Murakami Haruki felt sad again even though there is strong support for him. As a favorite candidate(候选人), Murakami Haruki just narrowly missed the Nobel Prize again. Luckily, he is very positive---- readers are the most important and it doesn’t matter whether winning a prize or not.

And Nobel Prize awards the words(授予颁奖词) for Bob Dylan----for having created new poetic expressions in the great American song tradition.

Up to now, Bob has released more than 30 albums. And he has won many other awards such as Oscar Award, Golden Globe Award, Pulitzer Prize and so on. Moreover, he is still a painter and poet.

Lately, the rumors(谣言)flew that Bob refused to accept the Nobel Prize in literature. But Bob doesn’t officially respond on this matter. However, there is still time before the final Nobel Prize awarding day in December. No matter whether Bob will accept the prize or not, his music has already influenced many people across the globe!

How often one hears children wishing they were grown-ups and old people wishing they were young again! Each age has its pleasures and its pains, and the happiest person is the one who enjoys what each age gives him without wasting his time in their useless regrets.

 Children live at a time when there are few responsibilities (职责) for them to make a living. If a child has good parents, he is well fed, looked after and loved no matter how he behaves. It is impossible that he will be ever again in his return. What’s more, life is always giving new things to the child—things that have lost their interest for older people because they are too common for them. But a child has his pains: he is not so free to do what he wishes to do; he is repeatedly being told not to do something, or being punished for what he has wrongly done.

 When a young man starts to earn his own living, he can no longer expect others to pay for his food, his clothes, and his room, but has to work if he wants to live comfortably. If he spends most of his timeplaying aboutin the way that he used to as a child, he will go hungry. And if he breaks the laws of society just as he used to break the rules of his parents, he may go to prison. If, however, he works hard, keeps out of trouble and has good health, he can have the great happiness of building up for himself his own position (位置) in society.

The book Harry Potter and the Half-Blood(哈利·波特与混血王子) is warmly welcomed by the children in China. It sells well across China. You can see and hear the advertisements about the book here and there.

First-class Reading,for children should be interesting, and written in their language.

New Technology Revolutionizes(变革) LearningMore and more people believe that technologies are great for learning. Today, such teaching tools as iPads are used in a lot of courses, including language, history and science.

Many teachers are supporters of using iPads in language learning. They say that students now have much more time for discussion in the classroom. Instead of spending valuable class time listening to texts or watching teaching videos, students can do this on their own and come to class prepared for discussion.

The teachers also say that iPads allow students to learn at their own pace. Some students might listen to a dialogue only once and understand it, so they can save time for doing other things. Other students, however, might need to listen to the same dialogue again and again to understand it. Using iPads is especially helpful to students who are learning a language at different paces.

The students who are using the new tool in some courses are also happy. They believe that using iPads is a more enjoyable way to learn (such as listening to stories and watching movies). The class has become much more interesting and creative.

There are other advantages for students. By using iPads, they can pay more attention to the material and learn more. Teaching notes are stored in their iPads and are easy to find. Some students spend more time studying now. "I can listen to my language material or watch teaching videos on the bus, instead of having to wait until I get home," a student explained.

Many adults complain that technologies such as iPads are doing harm to students. They worry that students might use iPads to download teaching notes and use them to cheat during exams. Some believe that iPads may separate students from each other. If a student spends more time watching videos on an iPad, he will have fewer opportunities to have face-to-face communication with others.

However, technologies are already a part of most studentsˈ day-to-day lives. As for cheating, teachers can ask students to hand in their iPads when they take exams. Education needs to make changes with the times as technology is playing an important part. We should look forward to a wonderful future when iPads and other technologies can add a lot to the classroom.

A lot of people like taking a trip with no plans(计划).They think it is very exciting and has more fun. But in fact(实际上), it is not good. Making vacation plans is very important.

First, a vacation plan can make sure that everything goes well. If you visit a place but you don’tbooka hotel, you may have no place to stay at night.

Second, you have lots of things to take with you for a vacation. You need to plan what things you have to buy and what things you need to put in bags. For example, you want to visit one place, but when you arrive at the airport(机场), you forget to bring your ticket! You maybe late for the plane.

Third, making a vacation plan can help you save a lot of money. No one wants to spend more money than they want to. If you surf the Internet before you go on a vacation, you may find some cheap plane tickets and hotel rooms.

Next time when you go on a vacation, try to write down some plans. They can help you have more fun in your vacation