Different countries have different ideas about how to be polite. In Britain, table manners are important. Good table manners in England are as follows:

★How to sit

You should sit up straight in your chair. When you eat, don’t pick up the bowl and bring it to you. This is called very bad manners.

★Noises at the table

It is never a good idea to make a noise at the table.

★Using your fingers

Usually we don’t pick food up with our fingers when we are eating main dishes, but there are some foods such as pizza, sandwiches, chips (or fries) and fruit, we can eat them with fingers.

★Your mouth

It is not polite to talk with your mouth full of food, or to eat with your mouth open. And if possible, do not make any noises.

★How much to eat

It is polite to eat the food clearly that you have been offered, so a clear plate is a good plate. It shows that you enjoy the food. If you can’t finish everything and need to leave a little, that’s OK. You could saysomething like “That was very nice. ..Thank you.”

Many people know that rubbish is a big problem on planet Earth. What many people don’t know is that junk (垃圾) has become a problem in outer space too.

According to BBC News, there are more than 22,000 pieces of space junk floating around the earth.And these are just the things that we can see from the surface of the earth by telescopes (望远镜). There are also millions of smaller pieces of junk that we can’t see.

Objects (物体), like bits of old space rockets or satellites, move around the planet at very high speeds. They are so fast that even a very small piece can break important satellites or become a danger to astronauts. If the tiniest piece of junk crashed into a spaceship, it could damage the spaceship.

To make things worse, when two objects in space crash, they break into many smaller pieces. For, example, when a U.S. satellite hit an old Russian rocket in 2009, it broke into more than 2,000 pieces , increasing the amount of space junk.

To reduce additional space junk, countries have agreed that all new space tools can only stay in space for 25 years at most. Each tool must be built to fall safely into the earth’s atmosphere (大气层) after that time. In the upper parts of the atmosphere, it will burn up.

Many scientists are also suggesting different ways to clean up space junk. In England scientists are testing a metal net that can be fired into space junk. The net catches the junk and then pulls it into the earth’s atmosphere to burn up. The Germans are building robots that can collect pieces of space junk and bring them back to Earth to be safely destroyed.

“The problem is becoming more challenging because we’re sending more objects into space to help people use their mobile phones and computers,” says Marco Castronuovo, an Italian space researcher.

“The time to act is now. The longer we leave the problem, the bigger it will become,” he says.

Once upon a time the colors of the world quarreled. All thought that they were the best and most beautiful.

Green said, “Clearly I am the most important. I am the sign of life and hope. I’m the color of grass, trees and leaves. Without me, all animals would die.”

Blue interrupted, “Don’t just think about the earth. What is the color of the sky and the sea? Is not water the most important thing for life?”

Yellow laughed and said, “You are all so serious. I bring laughter, happiness and warmth into the world. Every time people look at a yellow sunflower, they start to smile, Without me, there would be no fun.”

Orange said at the top of his voice, “I am the color of health and strength. I carry the most important vitamins (维生素). Think of carrots, pumpkins and oranges. When I fill the sky at sunrise or sunset, everyone is shocked at my beauty and nobody gives another thought to any of you.”

Red could stand it no longer, so he shouted, “I am the color of danger and bravery. I am willing to fight for a cause.”

And so the colors went on quarreling. Their voices became louder and louder. The thunder (雷) got angry and the rain started to pour. When the colors began to cool, the rain said, “Your foolish colors. Don’t you know that each of you is unique? Join hands and follow me.”

They did what they were told and together made the most beautiful thing in the world—the rainbow.

People all over the world are fascinated by the magical places found in The Lord ofthe Rings (《指环王》) and Game of Thrones (《权力的游戏》)

    37     It’s no less colorful or attractive than those other places. This world is called Jianghu Xia (江湖侠), or fighting heroes, live in jianghu. They practice martialarts (武功) and fight for justice (正义) and honor.

    38     Among them, Jin Yong (金庸) (or Louid Cha Leung-yung) is the mostfamous one. His 15 martial arts novels have sold more than 300 million copies, according to The Guardian.

One of Jin Yong´s most famous books, Legends of the Condor Heroes (《射雕英雄传》), has been translated into English.     39     The story tells how Guo Jing (郭靖), a young boy, grows into a hero and protects his country.

The novel is loved in China widely Almost every Chinese person knows some of the characters or mar-tial arts moves from the story. But what about the English version(版本)? Will foreign readers enjoy reading about jianghu?

Anna Holmwood, the woman who translated the book, thinks Chinese martial arts culture can be easily connected to Western culture.

    40     French writer Alexandre Dumas The Three Musketeers (三个火枪手) has been a classic since the 19th century. These stories are all very similar to Chinese martial arts novels.

“Many(people) have considered Jin Yong’s world too foreign, too Chinese, for an English-speaking readership,” Holmwood wrote in her book’s introduction. “And yet this story of love, loyalty (忠诚), honor... is as universal (普世的) as any story could hope to be.”

Dinner customs are different around the world. If you are a guest in Ghana, this ________ will help you a lot.

In Ghana (加纳), dinner is usually from four in the afternooon to six in the evening. But there are no ________ rules about time. Whenever a guest arrives, a family ________ food. When you go to a home, the person ________ receives guests takes you to the living room first. At this time ________ welcomes you. Then you go to the dining room. There you wash your hands in a bowl of water. All the food is on the table.

In Ghana you usually eat ________ your fingers. You eat from the same dish as everyone else. But you can only eat from one ________ of the dish. It is impolite to get food from the ________ sides of the dish. After dinner, you wash your hands again in a bowl of water.

Most meals in Ghana contain a dish called fufu. People in Ghana ________ fufu from the powder of someplants. Sometimes they cut the fufu with a saw (锯子) ________ it is very hard. You must chew (咀嚼) fufu well, or you may get sick. You should eat fufu with the fingers of your right hand only.

Students across China watched the third space lecture. “Welcome to our new ‘classroom’!” said Chen Dong, one of the three     51     (astronaut) of the Shenzhou XIV mission (神舟十四号任务). They were     52     (give) a science class 400 kilometers above Earth on Oct 12. It was the     53     (three) space class from the Tiangong space station, but the first one from the Wentian lab module (实验舱) since its launch in July. The former two classes     54     (hold) in the Tianhe core module (核心舱).

What does the new “classroom” look like? Chen, together with Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe, showed us around. “The beds in the Tianhe module are placed horizontally (横着), while our beds are kept upright,” said Liu. That     55     (mean) astronauts in the Wentian lab module need to sleep standing up! But as Liu explained, people don’t feel any difference because there’s no gravity (重力)     56     space. Astronauts can even sleep on the ceiling (天花板) or upside down! The astronauts     57     showed their “space farm”, where lettuce, wheat (小麦), thale cress (拟南芥) and rice are grown. “Take a picture!” “Send the picture!” Through a voice-controlled camera, Chen already sent a picture of the thale cress to scientists on Earth. Then he used scissors to cut a sample (样本). “I’ll put it     58     a fridge at -80 ℃ and later give it to scientists on Earth,” said Chen. Scientists will study how the environment of space affects the     59     (grow) of plants.

“Can you see the water drops coming from the leaves? This is called guttation (植物吐水)” said Liu, holding the well-known rice. In space, the water jobs are much     60     (big) than those on earth, so people can clearly see this guttation. “We hope in the near future, we can harvest the food grown on our own” said Chen. Maybe one day we can grow food on the moon and even on Mars.

Laws (法律) are the rules of society, like when you play games you need rules to tell you how to play. In our everyday life, there are laws that act like rules to tell you what to do and not to do. Every country has its own set of laws and some are special to that country. Of course, laws are more powerful than game rules. If you break the law, you may be fined or go to prison.

Laws are very important because they bring order to society. For example, drivers must stop when the traffic light turns red and go when it is green. If people go and stop freely, driving will be dangerous. That’s when the Road Traffic Safety Law is used. There is also Criminal Law (刑法). It punishes people’s bad behaviors such as stealing or killing someone. Usually, a country has many laws to guide us in life. Among them, the constitution (宪法) is the most important.

The constitution lists people’s basic rights and duties (义务). For example, China’s Constitution (宪法) protects peoples privacy. This means that nobody can look at your letters without your permission (允许). It also says that when you reach the age of 18, you will have the right to vote (投票) and stand for election (选举). Since the constitution is so important to our everyday life, it must be taken seriously. In China, the National People’s Congress (NPC), which is made up of a group of people who are elected by Chinese citizens is the highest authority (行政管理机构). It has the power to make and change the constitution and other laws.