Thanksgiving is an American holiday. It is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November in the US. On this special day, family get together to thank God for the autumn harvest (收获). Turkey and apple pie are Thanksgiving food for every family. But Thanksgiving is not the only way to celebrate harvest for people around the world.

In Israel, the harvest festival is called Succoth. The holiday goes on for seven davs. Usualiy people build small outdoor houses to stay in during the festival. In these houses, they thank God and eat fruit and biscuits. For kids, this is a lot of fun. The roof of a small house is covered with blue and golden cloth. Families eat and sleep inside them.

In Vietnam, the 15th day of the eighth lunar (阴历) month is Tet-Trung-Thu Festival for harvest. Vietnamese families hold activities centered around their children on this special day. Parents buy lanterns (灯笼) for their children so that they can go to a lantern party. Lanterns mean brightness, so the parents hope that the party could bring good luck to their kids.

British people pride themselves on their polite manners towards one another in public. They often use the word ‘sorry’—even when they don’t really mean it! Usually, if they want to ask a stranger for the time, they would start by saying ‘Sorry to bother you. Do you know what time it is?’ If they’re five minutes late for an appointment（约会）, they would generally greet the person by saying ‘Sorry I’m late!’

They use the word ‘sorry’ in so many different situations that the meaning of the word has changed a little overtime. The two main dictionary definitions（释义） of ‘sorry’ are:

1） feeling sad for someone else because of their problems or bad luck;

2） feeling regret because you’ve done something wrong.

Now, think about this. Normally, when they want to ask a stranger a question, they start with ‘Sorry to bother you’. In this situation, they aren’t saying sorry because they feel sad for that person or because they feel regret.

So what does ‘Sorry’ really mean? And why do British people use it so much? Well, in the British culture, saying ‘sorry’ is a way to be polite, especially to people who they don't know very well. It’s also a very clever way to get what they want. In a recent experiment, an actor went up to different strangers on a rainy day to ask if he could use their mobile phones in order to make a call. When he went up to one group of strangers and asked them without saying ‘sorry’ first, he was only 9 percent successful in borrowing their phones. However, when he sat ‘sorry’ to another group of strangers about the bad weather before asking if he could use their mobile phones, he was 47 percent successful. So maybe saying ‘sorry’ is not just being polite, but it is also a good method to get what they want too!

【推荐1】Reading books is a good hobby for all kinds of reasons. First, reading books is fun. You can always keep yourself pleased if you like reading. This is especially useful when the weather is bad. It is a relaxing hobby, too. You can really become lost in a book.

Next, you can read a book almost anywhere: in a car, in a waiting-room, on a plane, in bed—even in the bath. All you need is a book! Reading is a convenient（方便的）hobby as it is easy to stop and then start again.

Anther good reason for reading books is that it is useful.   If you read as a hobby you will get better and better at it. This means that you will read faster and will become better at understanding what you read. As your rending improves, you will probably（很可能）find that your schoolwork becomes much easier.

Some people say that reading is out of date. This is not true. You have to be able to read on the Internet. And the better you read, the better your computer skills will be.

Good readers are most likely（可能）to be good writers, too. They are usually good at spelling as well, and have more things to write about.

【推荐2】Everyone knows London is an important city in England. London was bigger than the other cities in the world years ago. But now, many cities are much bigger than it. London has a population of seven and a half million. And it's an old city. Many tourists come from all over the world to visit its famous buildings and hear the famous clock-Big Bang. Like many big cities, London has problems with traffic and pollution (污染). Over one million people use the London subway everyday. But there are still too many cars in the streets. The air isn't clean enough. But it is cleaner than it was one hundred years ago. There are more than five parks in the centre of the city. But for children, their favorite place is Harmleys, one of the biggest toy shops in the world. They can buy good toys there.

Do you know that people will die early if they have no friends during their lifetime? The survey shows if you want to live longer and more happily, you need to have some friends who can share your sadness and happiness or can be helpful when you are in trouble.

The following four types of friends are just what you need to keep the doctor away.

1. A Loyal Best Friend     Everyone needs a friend who will support you in different situations. This kind of friend knows all of your deepest and darkest secrets, but still loves you all the same.

2. A Friendly Neighbor     These days, a lot of people don’t know their own neighbors. It’s a shame, because some neighbors can be the most helpful people. If you forget to lock the front door when you are on holiday, you can call your neighbors to lock it for you. So it’s wonderful to have nice and helpful neighbors.

3. A Workmate     You’ll find it much easier to chat with someone than eating lunch alone every day. Your workmate doesn’t have to be your best friend. If you two get along well with each other, you can always start going out with them outside of the office.

4. A Friend From a Different Culture     If everyone had a friend from a different culture, the world would be a much better place. Remember that don’t be friends with someone just because they’re from a different culture. Instead, keep your mind open, and if you meet someone from other places, try to learn about their customs, values, and traditions.

If you have such kinds of friends, you will surely live longer and more happily.

Friendship Day is a great day for celebrating friendship. It falls on the first Sunday of August every year. Celebrating the festival was firstly started by the US in 1935. But now this doesn’t only happen in the US. People in other countries are interested in it, too.

The idea of spending the day with friends was spread all over the world. With more and more countries joining in the celebrations, Friendship Day soon became an international festival.

Between 1936 and 1997, Friendship Day didn’t have a symbol（象征）, like Santa Claus for Christmas. However, in 1997, the United Nations named Winnie the pooh as the world’s Ambassador（大使）of Friendship.

The traditional celebrations include activities such as meeting with friends and exchanging（交换）cards, flowers and gifts. Some people may have parties with their friends. Some may have lunch or dinner together. Others may hang out or go to the movies with friends on this special day. These are popular among all age groups from teenagers to old people.

Although Friendship Day and its celebrations may have changed over the years, the basic idea behind the festival remains the same. People enjoy the moment they spend together and express love and care for their friends.

In the USA, there are two special days when people honor their parents: Mother’s Day, which falls on the second Sunday in May, and Father’s Day, which takes place on the third Sunday in June.

An American girl named Ann started the idea to have a day to honor mothers in 1915. Similarly, Father’s Day first appeared in America in 1910. These days are set up to show love and respect for parents who raise their children and educate them to be good people.

These two special days are celebrated in different ways. On these days, it is common for people to send carnations(康乃馨), a type of flower, to their mothers and fathers. Besides, people get together either at home or in restaurants to spend a good time together. These days are always filled with fun, good feelings, and sweet memories.

Another way is giving cards and gifts. Children usually make gifts by themselves. It’s not about the price of the gift, but the love and effort that they pour into it make the gift even more special and meaningful. Card shops, candy stores, and other stores get busier as people look for special things for their loved ones.

On October 31 every year, children in the US will see “witches（女巫）” and “ghosts” walking on the street. Is this the end of the world? No, but it is Halloween!

Halloween is exciting and popular with the people in the US and Canada because of many colorful activities held to celebrate it. One traditional and favorite game is trick-or-treat.

During the night of Halloween, children who wear scary clothes walk around the town. They knock on nearby houses and shout, “trick or treat!” This means “You can give us some candies, or we’ll play a trick on you!” Most people love giving sweets to children. So there are seldom tricks. Some schools also hold Halloween parties. Sometimes, teachers are happy to dress up and join in the party. Grown-ups may visit haunted houses. It can be very scary sometimes.

But they just love following the saying “The scarier, the better.” What exciting night of scares!