While tea may have originated in Asia, now there are many countries all around the world that have tea woven into their food culture and traditions. This is one of the very special parts of tea as it has a way of connecting people all over the world in different ways and ceremonies that finally all results in a group of people sitting together and enjoying a cup of tea.

Chinese tea culture

Since China is viewed as the birthplace of tea, it is no wonder that Chinese tea culture is rich with history and tradition. Today, Chinese tea continues to be used in Chinese medicine and is commonly consumed on both casual and formal occasions both for personal enjoyment and to represent Chinese cultural traditions.

Japanese tea culture

Japan also has a long history with tea, especially Japanese Matcha, which is a kind of ground green tea that is commonly used in Japanese tea ceremonies and only in recent years became popular in western culture.

British tea culture

When many people think about tea, British tea culture is what comes to mind. A hot cup of English Breakfast or Earl Grey tea serves with a little milk and a biscuit in the afternoon as a pick-me-up for the day. Even though tea may not be native to England, this British tea tradition is still going strong today.

Moroccan tea culture

When you visit Morocco, it is hard to miss the outstanding tea culture that is such a large part of Moroccan hospitality. Before any gathering, negotiation, or sale of a product, a pot of mint tea is always prepared and served among the host and guests. This is an expression of Moroccan tradition and hospitality, which should always be accepted by guests as a sign of appreciation and respect to the host.

This year I am living abroad in Germany and trying to learn as much German as possible. But one thing I didn’t realize was how many new words I would face every day. I see and hear new words everywhere: the notices in the train station; menus in restaurants; the local newspaper and of course from my German-speaking friends. New words are all around you when you are in a foreign country.

At first, a lot of German words I didn’t understand gave me a headache. I kept on looking up new, words but by the end of the day I had forgotten most of them already. It upset me. A month later, I went to a shop and bought a small notebook. I set myself the goal of writing five new words a day into my little blue notebook. Since then, in my bag, I have always carried an important thing — my little blue word notebook.

I don’t have any rules about which words I write down. Most days I write down words that I learn from my partners at work, or words that I have read. I have also learned the names of many fruits and vegetables from looking at their labels (标签) in the supermarket — a very unexpected way of learning words. And I have learned many words that I have heard on TV or on the radio. If I hear a word that I even don’t know how to spell, I write down how I think it is and look it up later.

My little blue word notebook is now like my closest friend. We are like Batman and Robin; we go everywhere together. Setting the small daily goal has made me feel much more in control of my language learning and I am already seeing an improvement. I will continue to use it for the rest of my stay in Germany and also when I return to university at home in September.

There is nothing quite like enjoying the sights, sounds and culture of a city while tasting a cup of coffee outdoors. But it is not that enjoyable when heat waves sweep the city. An outdoor cooling system produced by Kinonko, an Israeli company, began to be tested in Tel Aviv. The sweltering city is a perfect place to try the new technology.

With global warming heating up the temperature, it will soon be too hot to sit outside in cafés. While outdoor cooling systems have existed for a while, most of them use some sort of water or misting system to cool the air around them, consuming too much water and power. After two years of development, the perfect solution to the problem was found. “We have invented a new generation of air conditioner,” Kinonko CEO Leizer said.

As Leizer introduced, the energy is from the pressure created between liquid nitrogen (氮) and gas nitrogen. When liquid nitrogen at-196 degrees turns into gas, it produces a very strong pressure and the pressure is used to run a mechanical engine. It is that mechanical engine that slowly releases freezing nitrogen gas to cool down the air around it.

The technology is unique and amazing. Beyond the coolness of the concept, it also has other advantages. The work unit doesn’t need to be power-driven, and doesn’t blow out harmful warm air as it works. As for the potential price, it will probably be no more expensive than any other air conditioner. In addition, the liquid nitrogen container will need to be replaced every seven to ten days, depending on usage. This makes it an affordable option for all sorts of businesses. The cooling system is expected to be on the market in 2024.

We all know that unpleasant feeling when we’re talking about something interesting and halfway through our sentence we’re interrupted (打断). But was that really an interruption? The answer depends on whom you ask, according to new research led by Katherine Hilton from Stanford University.

Using a set of controlled audio clips, Hilton surveyed 5,000 American English speakers to better understand what affects people’s perceptions of interruptions. She had participants listen to audio clips and then answer questions about whether the speakers seemed to be friendly and engaged, listening to one another, or trying to interrupt.

Hilton found that American English speakers have different conversational styles. She identified two groups: high and low Intensity speakers. High intensity speakers are generally uncomfortable with moments of silence in conversation and consider talking at the same time a sign of engagement. Low intensity speakers find it rude to talk at the same time and prefer people speak one after another in conversation.

The differences in conversational styles became obvious when participants listened to audio clips in which two people spoke at the same time but were agreeing with each other and stayed on topic, Hilton said. The high intensity group reported that conversations where people spoke at the same time when expressing agreement were not interruptive but engaged and friendlier than the conversations with moments of silence in between speaking turns. In contrast, the low intensity group perceived any amount of simultaneous (同时) chat as a rude interruption, regardless of what the speakers were saying.

“People care about being interrupted, and those small interruptions can have a massive effect on the overall communication,” Hilton said. “Breaking apart what an interruption means is essential if we want to understand how humans interact with each other.”

Volunteering is a great way to help your community. It is something that people should be doing more often, because it is a great way to help out those less fortunate. Another reason that you should volunteer is that it has a lot of health benefits, which people don’t seem to really know about.     16    .

Reduce depression (抑郁)

Volunteering is a great way to decrease depression, especially if you are someone who doesn’t have a great support system at home.     17    . When you are volunteering, you are around other people often talking and laughing, which helps reduce depression.

    18    

A lot of volunteering involves packing boxes or moving things, and that is very good for your heart. You can actually walk the dogs and clean cages at a local animal shelter, which are all ways to stay active. If you are volunteering to do something you love, you may not even notice that it takes a great deal of physical energy, so it’s much better than just working out because you enjoy it.

Make you feel satisfied (满意的)

When you do voluntary work, you feel this satisfaction out of what you are doing, because you know you are helping other people. When you feel this satisfaction, your mental and physical health improves, and you just feel better overall (全面的).     19    . And this is something that volunteering provides.

Reduce anxiety

    20    . When you start volunteering, you find new ways to communicate with other people. It helps reduce your anxiety levels. It can help you find ways to interact with others and can help you build confidence around others.

Nine years ago, I moved to an absolutely new town. Though I was _________, with various new things to explore, I was still lonely. I was eager to establish _________.

This could explain my enthusiastic “Count me in!” when _________ to participate in a half marathon. Considering my usual 3 miles, I must have been _________ — 13 miles seemed a(n) _________ task.

However, the original _________ gradually faded away. I found comfort in burying myself in training. Though taking it slow, one mile, and then two, I gradually made _________. Mile after mile, I managed to step beside my new friends. We talked about our favorite music and _________ funny stories about our children. At about mile 10, the conversations _________. We shared our past and hopes for our future, our fears and regrets. By the time we were finishing 12 miles, I was __________ that I’d made lifelong friends.

__________, the day of the race arrived. At the start line, armed with my friends, I already felt like a champion. My time training had __________. I managed to hold a steady pace and kept up with my __________. Finally, we crossed the finish line together.

Although it started as a __________ of building social ties, running not only provided me with friendship, but with a skill that would __________ me for the rest of my life.

The Hezhen is one of the smallest minorities in China. Early Hezhen people developed methods     36     producing clothes, bedding and thread out of fish skin. But over time, there has been a loss of Hezhen culture, including     37     (make) clothing from the skin of fish. Besides, few young Hezhen wanted to learn the skill. Fish-skin clothing is also not     38     Hezhen people wear today.

Knowing this, You Wenfeng, a now 68-year-old woman, started to share her knowledge with local Han Chinese women in the 1990s. Her followers also learn the Yimakan,     39     kind of storytelling that uses both speeches and songs in the Hezhen language. They also memorize songs sung by the Hezhen people. For environmental     40     (protect), You Wenfeng has decided to buy fish from the market and use a special sewing tool and cotton thread. The first step is to remove the fish's skin     41     (cautious) and dry it. The skin is then repeatedly passed through wooden “teeth” to soften it. The process takes a month, and sewing it then requires about twenty     42     (many) days.

So far, fish leather     43     (inspire) some high-end clothing design houses, including Dior and Prada, to use it in their clothes. But the material     44     (be) still not common. In 2006, Hezhen fish skin clothing was listed by China as intangible cultural heritage（非物质文化遗产）, which means a special effort is made     45     (preserve) the tradition.