【推荐1】“Ouch”! little Tom cries. “Why did you pinch me, Grandpa?” “You forgot to wear green today,” says Grandpa with a smile. “Why do I need to wear green?” asks Tom. “Because it’s Saint Patrick’s Day! If you’re not wearing green on this day, other people can pinch you!” says Grandpa.

Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated every year on 17th March. The festival started in Ireland. When some Irish people came to live in the USA, they celebrated this festival and made it popular in the USA.

The festival is named after a man called, Saint Patrick. It is said that he once drove all of the poisonous snakes out of Ireland. He was also a very important religious figure in Ireland.

A popular symbol of Saint Patrick’s Day is shamrocks. Most shamrocks have three leaves. Many people believe they are a symbol of faith, hope and love. If you are lucky enough, you can find a shamrock with four leaves and the fourth leaf represents good luck.

On Saint Patrick’s Day, people like to tell stories about little green men called leprechauns. They have magic power and hidden pots of gold. If you can catch one leprechaun, you can keep his gold.

On this day, many people also wear green, a colour that represents Ireland. Ireland is a rainy island and the hills have a bright green colour in spring.

【推荐2】Everybody hates it, but everybody does it. A recent report said that 40% of Americans hate tipping.     1    

The common opinion in the past was that tips both rewarded the efforts of good service and reduced uncomfortable feelings of inequality (不平等). It is believed that the better the service is, the bigger the tip will be.

But according to new research from Cornell University, tips no longer serves any useful function.     2     The connection between larger tips and better service was very weak.

    3     In America, tipping is regarded as part of the accepted cost of a service. Hairdressers can expect to get 15%-20% and the man who delivers your fast food $2. In Europe, tipping is less common. In many Asian countries, tipping has never really caught on at all.     4    

According to Michael Lynn, the Cornell papers’ author, countries in which people are more social or outgoing tend to tip more. He says, “In America, where people are expressive and eager to mix up with others, tipping is about social approval.     5     Tipping well is a chance to show off.”

【推荐2】

Every year on October 31, people celebrate World Thrift Day (世界勤俭日). Our world is running out of many of its natural resources (资源). The purpose of World Thrift Day is to call on people to practice frugality (节俭) so that our society can continue to develop in a healthy manner.

Food is one of the most important resources that human beings need. Everybody needs food to go on with his or her journey in life. However, over the past 10 years, the living conditions of many people have improved greatly. As people have become wealthier, the wasting of food has become more and more serious.

In our school, we have buffets (自助餐) for lunch. Students can decide for themselves what to eat and how much to eat. This has helped to reduce food waste greatly. Our teachers have suggested that we should keep a balanced diet and that we should never order more than we can eat. And there are students in our canteen supervising (监督) food waste. The “observer” of each class checks the plates of his or her classmates and keeps a record. The school will give a reward (奖赏) to the class that wastes the least amount of food. The reward is small, but it does remind us of the importance of saving food. By emptying our plates, we are showing our respect (尊重) for the farmers and food scientists who have worked so hard to feed all of us.

I think my classmates and I have been doing a good job by saving food. We should stick to this good habit and learn how to treasure all of the other valuable resources we need in our lives.

① get small rewards   ② order less food     ③ keep a record   ④ get the plates checked

【推荐3】Every year, a lot of visitors around the world go to Tibet(西藏). The best time to visit Tibet is from April to October.

Summer in Tibet in cool. It’s not so hot or cold but there’s much sunshine. If you go there, you have to take a pair of sunglasses.

In spring and autumn, it can be cold. It may be snowy at night, and it can be sunny and warm in the morning and afternoon. If you don’t hate the cold weather, you’ll enjoy the blue sky(天空) and see the high mountains far away. But you need to bring some jackets.

It’s very cold and windy in winter. People there always wear warm clothes. Not many people come to visit Tibet this time because of the bad weather. In fact(事实上), most visitors would like to travel to Tibet in summer. It’s a good place for people to be away from the high temperature(高温) in summer.

【推荐2】Eurochocolate Festival of Perugia(佩鲁贾) is the biggest chocolate celebration in Europe(欧洲). Between October 14th and 22nd, about 200,000 people go to the beautiful town in Italy(意大利) to celebrate the Chocolate Festival. Would you like to be one of them? Can you think of anything better than spending nine days in the world of chocolate?

There is chocolate everywhere you go in Perugia. In the center of the town, there are giant chocolate figures(塑像). Some of them are 5 meters tall and 12 meters wide. And some even weigh(重) about 7,000 kilograms. Be careful when you walk if it’s sunny.

There are lots of special events to enjoy. You can see chocolate shows and lean about the history of chocolate. You can also visit chocolate shops and see how chocolate is made. You can buy chocolate postcards, and of course drink and eat chocolate. Trust(相信) me, it will be a great experience for you!

【推荐3】Different countries have different festivals. There are many festivals in India. Every month people celebrate one.     1    

Holi comes in the spring eve.     2     People prepare a lot of things for the important festival.

On Holi, people like going out early in the morning.     3     It’s difficult to recognize (认出) your close friends at that time. There is a pool near my house. I love to play with my friends in it.     4     Then we try to push (推) each other into the water. It is great fun.

    5     Everyone enjoys this festival. But we must be careful to play with colors. We should not hurt others. In that way everyone will have a good time in this festival.