【推荐1】Coca-Cola is probably the most famous brand in the world, and in some areas you can even access it easier than clean drinkable water. Although the company is trying to present itself as a health-conscious company, you can’t really say that drinking cola is healthy for you. Still, we all drink cola, some more and some less, and we tell ourselves that it’s all okay as long as we don’t overdo it. However, Coca-Cola has other functions besides drinking.

Cola removes the tarnish (暗锈) from old pennies. Got some old rusty (生锈的) pennies? Don’t worry! Put them inside a glass of cola and let them rest for a while. When you get them out, you’ll have shiny pennies that will look as if they were coined a couple of days ago. If you couldn’t clean those pennies with industrial acids (酸), just buy a can of cola and let it do its magic!

You can remove gum from your hair with cola. If you’ve got gum stuck in your hair and don’t know a better way to get it out, don’t worry, you won’t have to cut it. Just pour some cola into a bowl and dip the part of your hair with gum on it inside. Leave it for a couple of minutes and then simply wipe off the gum.

You can make an exploding fountain (喷泉). You probably know about this one. You can make an exploding fountain by putting a mint (薄荷糖) inside a two-liter bottle. Then move away from the bottle and get ready for a Coca-Cola explosion (爆炸). This is a fun thing to do, but it is also a warning — don’t eat a mint and drink cola at the same time, because a similar thing could happen to your stomach.

【推荐2】It sometimes feels difficult for some people to find out a proper way to express gratitude in daily life.     1     Christina Costa, a psychologist who has studied the positive effects of gratitude on the brain, offers advice about how to be thankful for the smallest of things—and how to be better at showing gratitude easily.

    2     Make it a habit to put down the things that you’re thankful for. “Set up a timer. I like writing in my journal in the morning because that sets my day up best. Or do it on your phone. Make it as easy as possible,” says Costa.

Write a letter. Think of someone in your life who you have not had the chance to thank, says Costa. “Why are you grateful for that person? Think of a specific example when they helped you. Then send them a letter, an email.     3    ”

If you’re having trouble finding someone to thank, think small. “The smaller you start, the more you will start seeing things you’re grateful for.” says Costa. Say “    4     You think, I’m going to write about this later in my gratitude journal. I’m so grateful to him.”

There’s a difference between saying “thanks to” and “thanks for.” “Make sure you are giving thanks to something and not for something.” says Moore.     5     Being grateful “to” something or someone indicates a direct relationship. It reminds you of your connection with and responsibility to that person or thing.

【推荐1】While coffee is the morning drink for many Americans, many Brits prefer to go for a cup of tea. You won't often see us carrying white cups of coffee across the street during rush hour. Instead, we sip (饮；喝) tea at home, a tradition that starts the day properly.

In my home and many other homes in the UK, the first person to wake up has to make the cups of tea for the family.

Tea has become part of our culture and one of popular stereotypes (模式化形象) about British people is that they often have afternoon tea with sandwiches and cakes.

In reality, tea is a drink British people can have any time of the day to help them wake up, warm up, or relax.

When I first came to China and ordered tea, I was in for a big surprise and was introduced to a whole new world of tea. In the UK, it is common to drink black tea, which is imported from Africa, India, and Sri Lanka. It is very strong and bitter, a taste which British people don't often enjoy, so people often add milk and sugar to create a sweeter, less strong flavor.

In China, however, there are wider ranges of tea available and each is enjoyed without adding anything. There is no tea bag, and certainly no milk or sugar, in these beverages (饮料). And people love it. However, for someone who is used to tea being sweet, it takes some time to get used to tea without sugar and milk.

While black tea is still the most popular, green tea has been getting more popular in the UK because people are becoming more aware (意识到的) of its health benefits. But the tradition of the tea bag is still going—it's harder for us to have loose tea leaves than to give up sugar and milk when drinking green tea.

【推荐2】There is more of a connection between food and culture than you may think. On an individual level, we grow up eating the food of our culture. It becomes a part of who we are. Many associate food from our childhood with warm feelings and good memories and it ties us to our families, holding a special and personal value for us. Food from our family often becomes the comfort food we seek as adults in times of frustration and stress.

On a large scale, traditional food is an important part of culture. It also operates as an expression of culture identity. Immigrants bring it wherever they go, and it is a symbol of pride in their culture and means of coping with homesickness.

Many immigrants open their own restaurants and serve traditional dishes. However, the food does not remain exactly the same. Some materials needed to make traditional dishes may not be readily available, so the taste and flavor can be different from what they would prepare in their home countries. Additionally, immigrants do not only sell dishes to people from the same countries as them, but to people from different countries. Therefore, they have to make small changes in the original dishes to cater to a wider range of customers. Those changes can create new flavors that still keep the cultural significance of the dishes.

We should embrace our heritage through our traditional food but also become more informed about other cultures by trying their food. It is important to remember that each dish has a special place in the culture to which it belongs, and is special to those who prepare it. Food is a window into culture, and it should be treated as such.