【推荐1】 ?     1     about Hamburgers

Although “hamburger” has a German name, it actually started in the USA and is now popular all over the world. The most basic hamburger is two buns with a piece of beef and some lettuce and sauce in the middle, but a hamburger can have many other ingredients as well. In Shanghai, you can eat all different kinds of burgers. In Las Vegas, you can even taste a burger with gold foil (金箔)!

【推荐2】But ugly fruits should be loved, too. In recent years, a new crop of “ugly produce” companies have been around the U.S. These start-ups sell those ugly fruits that supermarkets refuse. And they send them right to your door.

The companies say they’re on a mission（使命）. They want to stop billions of pounds of imperfect produce（农产品）from going to waste. Think of it this way: Is a banged-up (be knocked and some places broken) banana any less tasty in a peanut butter sandwich? Why should it be thrown away?

Sounds like these companies have the right idea. They even offer deep low prices. That’s great news for customers. But not everyone is happy. Some people say these companies may be thinking only about themselves.

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Imperfect produce isn’t always wasted.

Many small farmers had already been selling imperfect produce to customers and farmers markets. Then the ugly produce companies started growing up. These companies, such as Imperfect Produce, can offer more fruits and veggies from large farms around the country. They make it harder for smaller farms to compete. So the farmers are losing money.

Also, ugly fruits and veggies already have uses. Take the food service industry for example. There, produce is sliced, diced, blended, and more. No one cares if the fruit is pretty or ugly. On farms, fruits can be fed to animals. Rotted（腐烂的）fruit is added back into soil for nutrients. And, what’s more, ugly produce companies have been charged with taking food away from the needy.

Are these start-ups causing more bad than good?

Not So Bad, After All?

What do ugly produce companies say? They are guarding themselves.

In March 2019, Imperfect Produce told people that the company doesn’t take away from the needy. It gets resources from farms only after food banks take what they want, it said. Also, the company often gives food to food banks. Put that in your food basket!

It is true that produce goes to waste in America. The Department of Agriculture has said that food waste is a big problem. In fact, about 30 to 40 percent of the country’s food is wasted.

But Imperfect Produce says both farmers and ugly produce companies can help reduce food waste. It doesn’t have to be either-or.

No matter whose side you’re on, remember this: It’s what’s on the inside that counts.

The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. This is what Chin a offered me the moment my feet touched its ground. My first date with Chinese food was not a good experience.     1     But something unexpected happened, which led my interest to Chinese foods.

One day, my Chinese classmates took me to a Chinese restaurant near our university. It was a treat from our older student. As we went inside the restaurant, I saw big round tables with a number of chairs around. My classmates then called the waiter for our orders.     2     One by one, dishes were served.

    3     It was my first time to see such a meal, with more than 10 dishes on the table. As I am a slow eater, I was quite hesitant (犹豫), knowing from my past experience of Chinese food, I thought that I should only pick what I could eat. Eventually, I tasted them one by one, little by little. There was no single dish that I did not like.     4    

    5     This experience with my classmates opened my heart to more Chinese cuisine adventures. Chinese food is unique and delicious in its own way.

【推荐1】Flamenco is very popular in southern Spain. It begins with guitar music and clapping（击掌）and then dancers join the performance. Sometimes a woman dances alone and sometimes she dances with a man. The woman always wears a long, colorful dress. She moves her arms and hands slowly but her feet move in fast difficult steps. The man often wears black. Both dancers click their shoes on the floor when they dance around each other.

Cossack dances are from Russia and Ukraine. They are very energetic—some are more like gymnastics than dancing! Dancers have to be very fit because they jump very high and kick their legs up and down. They often jump over swords（剑）. The movements are similar to traditional Cossack activities, for example, sword fighting and getting on and off horses.

Limbo dancing is first from West Africa but today it is an important part of celebrations in the Caribbean. Young people have to dance under a pole（杆）. The pole is often on fire and the dancer mustn’t touch it! After a successful “limbo”, they put the pole lower and do it again. Some dancers can dance under a pole just twenty centimeters off the ground!

Mask（面具）dances are important for the Dogon people in Mali. Each village makes different masks. They are often huge and colorful. There are masks of people, monsters or local animals like crocodiles and monkeys. Mask dancers are always men and they dance to the sound of drums for hours after the death of a person in the village. Today, Dogon villagers also perform the dances for tourists.

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【推荐2】My name is Bob. I am an American boy but I am living in China now. I’m studying in Yucai Middle School. My parents are both teachers in this school. My school is not big but very beautiful.

You can see a big playground when you come into my school. Usually there are many students doing sports between classes. Around the playground, there are many tall trees. Under the trees, there are many stone(石头) tables. We can sit on them and have a rest. On the left of the playground. there is a classroom building. It has six floors. There are five classrooms on each floor. In front of the playground, there is a dining hall. We have breakfast and lunch in it. Behind the playground, there is a big garden. There are many beautiful flowers in it. You can see butterflies dancing among(在……之间) flowers, too. The multi-function(多功能的) building is behind the classroom building.

Welcome to my school and I will show you around it.