【推荐1】In almost every big city in the United States, football is a popular sport.

  American football is not like soccer. Players sometimes kick the ball, but they also throw the ball and run with it. They try to take it to the other end of the field; they have four chances to move the ball ten yards. If they move it to the end of the field, they can get six points. This is called a touch-down.

   It’s difficult to move the ball. Eleven men on the other team try to stop the man who has the ball. If the man does not move the ball ten yards, his team kicks the ball to the other team.

   The football season usually begins in September and ends in November. Each team plays ten or eleven games each season. If a team is very good, it may play another game after the season ends. The best teams play again on January 1st. Thousands of people come to watch it when there is a football game. They all yell (欢呼) for their favorite team. They dance and jump while they are yelling.

   Almost everyone in the United States likes football. Some of them enjoy playing it while others enjoy watching it. They all think it is a wonderful game.

As is known to all, "I am sorry.” is the phrase we hear most in daily communication in Britain. What does it mean? Does it always mean you apologize(道歉) for what you have done wrong? Let us review a scene happening in a British street one day.

A young man walked down a road playing with his smartphone when a lady came over in his opposite direction. The man tried in vain to give his way to the lady in time. As a result,he bumped(碰撞) into the lady. As a rule in China, the man must say“ I am sorry.”first，because he was so busy playing with his smartphone that he got in the way of the lady. However, both the persons apologized to each other by saying"I am sorry. Why is this the case? As a matter of fact, the phrase "I am sorry." takes on another meaning in Britain. Anyone should speak to the other this way if either of them creates inconvenience. The apology is just a way to avoid unnecessary fights between them.

Another cultural difference about "I am sorry. "can also be found at British restaurants. Supposing an old woman says to a waiter in a pub(酒馆)，“ I am sorry，but can I order another drink? "This time you must realize it doesn’t mean she apologizes to the waiter for what she has done wrong, but means she really needs the waiter to do something for her.

【推荐3】The Silk Road is a historically important international trade route between China and the Mediterranean Sea (地中海). It began during the Western Han Dynasty and has been a bridge between East and West for over 2, 000 years.

The ancient road started from Chang’an (now Xi’an) and ended in Eastern Europe, near today’s Turkey and the Mediterranean Sea. It was about 6, 500 kilometers long and went across one-fourth of the planet.

The Silk Road got its name in the 19th century because Chinese silk used to be carried along this road. Silk, jade (玉), ceramics (陶艺) and iron went west to Rome. And from the West came glass, gems (宝石) and food like carrots.

The Silk Road was very important to both China and the rest of the world. It was more than an ancient international trade route. Besides trade, knowledge about arts, science and literature (文学), as well as crafts (工艺品) and technologies was shared across the Silk Road. In this way, languages and cultures developed and influenced each other.

Today, China is trying to build the “21st Century Marine (海洋的) Silk Road”. With the help of APEC held in Beijing in November 2014, the dream of the One Belt One Road (the “Silk Road Economic Belt” and “21st Century Marine Silk Road”) (一带一路) is coming true.

Do sugary drinks cause overweight？While we know that sugary drinks have calories（卡路里）, which are believed to cause overweight, many questions remain. For example, better？Do you need a sports drink after going to the gym？Here are the facts to some common misunderstandings.

Misunderstanding 1:Clear soda（无色汽水） is healthier than dark soda.

The truth: The dark color of teeth has something to do with the coloring （着色剂） in soda. Lisa R. Young, a professor of Nutrition at New York University said. But the big difference dark sodas is the caffeine content（咖啡因含量）. Since a bottle of soda, such as Coca—Cola and Sprite（雪碧）, has less caffeine than that in a cup of coffee, most soda drinkers probably don’t need to worry about what to choose.

Misunderstanding 2: If you need caffeine to cheer you up, you should choose an energy drink rather than coffee.

The truth: There are more sugar than caffeine in energy drinks such as Red Bull（红牛）. Energy drinks may be easier to drink. But a cup of coffee has between 95 and 200 milligrams （毫克）of caffeine while Red Bull has about 80 mg per the same amount, according to US medical research group Mayo Clinic.

Misunderstanding 3:If you go to the gym, you need a sports drink.

The truth: It would be easy to think that you need a sports drink any time you sweat（出汗）. But the truth is that the energy in your body won’t be used up until you’ve done more than an hour of training. So you only need to drink some water after a 45—minute exercise on the running machine.

【推荐2】Fifteen years ago, I began to work as a reporter. The job was sometimes difficult, but for most of the time it was amazing because it taught me many unforgettable lessons.

In India, I visited a city. There were many homeless children living in the street. But a kind-hearted Indian lady called Rosa opened a home for them. She looked after about two hundred kids, fed them, taught them and gave them hope.

Another time, I was in Japan after a terrible earthquake. I met a lady. Her house fell down. Her son was missing and many people thought it was impossible to find him. But the lady did not give up hope. She kept moving heavy bricks（砖块） for four days by herself. She did not stop until she found her son. He was still alive!

Then in China, I met a young boy with a serious illness. He had to have twenty operations in hospital. But when I met him, he was still smiling!

Now I always remember the courage（勇气） of those people when I meet difficulties in my life.

【推荐3】Lofton is a little village not far from Manchester. Like many other villages near towns or cities, it is clean and quiet. Not many families live there, so the people all know each other. Most of them are polite and helpful. Though their homes are in Lofton, many people have jobs in Manchester. Some work in big factories. A few work in shops or offices. Most of these people go to work by train. It usually takes them about an hour to get from Lofton to Manchester.