There is a man ________ Rubik who invented a special cube. He called it Magic Cube (魔方) . It has become one of ________ puzzle games (益智游戏) all over the world.

Rubik was born in Hungary (匈牙利) ________ World War II. Rubik’s family was very interesting. His mother was a poet. She was a free thinker who put her thoughts of life to paper. His father was an aircraft engineer (航空工程师) . When Rubik ________ a child, his thoughts had to be very special and exact. Rubik was ________ by his parents. He loved sculpture (雕刻) , and went to college to study art and sculpture. After graduation (毕业) , he wasn’t satisfied. He went back to college and studied architecture (建筑学) .

Rubik ________ his famous cube in 1974. It was not his plan to ________ a new toy. He was only ________ in how to design things himself. Rubik said, “It was wonderful to see how the colors became mixed after only a few turns. After a while, I thought it was time ________ back, so I want to put the colors back in ________. And it was at that moment that I faced the big challenge: What was the way home?” Thus, the first Magic Cube was invented.

There are some ways to improve your English, but I think the most important thing is to make English all around you. Here’s some advice for you.

Listen to the radio in English. If there are no English radio stations where you live, listen to one on the Internet.

Watch TV and movies in English. If you have English channels on your TV, watch them. If there are no English channels, you can buy some DVDs of English movies.

Speak English to your friends. You can find a friend who is good at English and speak English with him as much as possible. You’d better find friends whose native language is English. Ask your friend to correct you when needed.

Study or travel to an English-speaking country. Of course the best way to improve your English is to live in English environments. You’ll find yourself surrounded（围绕）with the language everywhere. It can be a more difficult and expensive choice, but you may find it to be a very valuable and helpful experience.

You know gift giving plays a very important role in modern society. Now let’s see what happened in some countries.

Australia

Australia is known for its friendly informality and lack of etiquette (缺乏礼节) . At a trade show, T-shirts, ties or a pin may be suitable souvenirs. Anything more than these types of gifts could cause embarrassment.

Greece

The most common form of showing appreciation in Greece is probably an evening’s entertainment. If you are invited to a Greek home, flowers or a cake for the hostess is a fit gift.   

Germany

A West Virginia executive (主管) , visiting Germany for the first time, was invited to the home of his largest customer. He decided to bring his hostess a bouquet of flowers. He selected a dozen red roses. Oh! Terrible mistake! Flowers are often taken to a hostess of a dinner party at her home, but there are three taboos to remember: 1) red roses signify a romantic interest. 2) an even (偶数的) number of flowers stand for bad luck, as does the number thirteen. 3) always unwrap the flowers before presenting them. This West Virginia executive was making what amounted to (等同于) a pass at his customer’s wife.

Italy

When you are invited to a person’s home for dinner, it might be nice to bring flowers or a box of chocolates for your hostess. And in Italy never send chrysanthemums (菊花) . Since they suggest death.

The Spring Festival is one of the most important festivals in China. During the festival, Chinese people have many activities. They paste Spring Festival Couplets (春联), greeting the New Year and saying goodbye to the old year. On the first day of the Spring Festival, people hang out, wearing new clothes. Nowadays, children get red pockets from their parents and their relatives. It is a good time for people to visit relatives and friends. More importantly, the Spring Festival is celebrated in other parts of the world.

The spring Festival was celebrated in the UK from 1980. Every New Year, people also get together and have lots of activities. They sing songs and share photos with friends or watch movies in the cinema. Besides the Spring Festival has become a key time for Chinese living in the US. They join in a large evening party to welcome the traditional New Year. The Chinese New Year will be welcomed with three week f celebrations across Australia. Thousands of people come to Sydney’s Chinatown. They enjoy fireworks and lion dances. The family dinner on New Year’s Eve is an important tradition for Chinese whether they were born in Singapore or moved there from China. They usually hold it at home because having it in a restaurant takes away the meaning of the tradition.

When visiting Yunnan, you’ll find 18 oddities(云南18怪) here. For example, “girls wear flowers in all seasons” and “three mosquitoes(蚊子) make up a dish.” Maybe you’ve never heard of these expressions before. Now more and more people fall in love with the delicious flower dishes in Yunnan.

The people in Yunnan have been eating flowers for a long time. After the Spring Festival, March is always the best time to eat the flowers. One popular kind of flower is Tanglihua Flowers(棠梨花), which can be picked in the mountains. The flower sellers say it is very hard to pick two kilos of these flowers each time. They have to climb up to the tall trees and pick the flowers carefully. Have you ever tried Tanglihua Flowers? They taste a little sweet!

The other kind is Jinquehua Flowers(金雀花). It is also used as helpful medicine when people don’t want to eat anything! My grandma can cook Jinquehua Flowers very well. She says it’s a traditional way of cooking Jinquehua Flowers with eggs. Delicious and healthy!

If you have a chance, try these flowers!

The customs in different countries are quite different. Chinese people are usually polite to their guests. If I have dinner with a Chinese host, he always puts more food onto my plates as soon as I have emptied them. That often discomforts (使不舒服) me greatly. I have to eat the food even if I don’t want to, (1) because it is considered bad manners in the West to leave one’s food on the plate. I have already noticed that when a Chinese is at an American’s dinner party, he very often refuses the offer of food or drink though he is in fact still hungry or thirsty. This is good manners in China, but it is not in the West at all.

In the United States, it is impolite for a host to keep asking the guests again and again. Americans have a direct way of speaking. If they want something, they will ask for it. If not, they will say, “No, thanks.” When an American is fed up with (厌倦了) beer by the host, for example, he might say, “No, thanks. I’ll take some Coca-Cola if you have it.” So when you go to the United States, you had better remember the famous saying: (2) When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

Chinese shooter Yang Qian won the first gold medal of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games in the women’s 10m air rifle(气枪) on July 24, 2021.

Yang was born in 2000 in Yangjianong village, Yinzhou district of Ningbo. She was selected(挑选) into the shooting team of Ningbo Sports School in 2011, where she started her shooting career(生涯). In 2019, Yang became a member of the national shooting team.

Yu Lihua, Yang’s first shooting coach at Ningbo Sports School, has taught shooting for more than 30 years. He watched the live broadcast(现场直播) of the competition with Yang’s parents and villagers. “It is the first time that my student won a gold medal at the Olympic Games, especially as it’s the first gold medal(金牌) that the Chinese team has won at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. I’m so proud of Yang Qian.” Yu said.

“She deserved(应得) it,” said Yu excitedly. “Players in the Olympic Games should have not only great skills but also good mood(心态), Yang Qian has such a good ability to control herself well under such pressure.”

Yang studied at Maoshan Primary School. Zhu Xiaomei, her instructor(教练) said Yang’s victory would encourage both teachers and students here greatly.

“As long as they work hard, they will be the top talents in their own field, like what Yang has achieved,” Zhu said.

87. 根据要求完成大作文

转眼间，初中的学习生活已过去了两年，相信你在各方面都有了很大的改变，请以”How I’ve changed”为题写一篇作文，描述自己的变化以及对未来一年的展望。

How I’ve changed.