【推荐1】Birthday is a special day for most people. We may spend much time celebrating (庆祝) it. On birthdays, we may go for a trip, have a party or watch a movie with our parents and friends. We can also enjoy some special food. Do you know what people eat on their birthday all over the world? Here are three people from different countries. They tell us what food they eat on their birthday.

Liu Jing is from Beijing. “The long noodles are a symbol of long life. In China, red is a symbol of good luck. We think red eggs bring us good luck. So you can see Chinese eat long noodles and red eggs when they celebrate their birthday.” says Liu Jing.

“I am so happy because today is my birthday. I want to have a birthday party. At the party, we can play games, sing and dance. We can also eat a big birthday cake with fifteen candies. I’m sure we can have a good time at my birthday party.” says David from America.

“In Canada, people put a coin (硬币) into the cake. If the birthday person eats the cake with the coin, he or she will be lucky. I am so happy because I eat the cake with acoin,” says Sandy.

【推荐2】What is your favorite time? Lily goes to school from Monday to Friday. And lunchtime is her favorite time.

Lily loves the school lunch. Some students don’t like the school lunch, because they think it’s not good. They bring their lunch to school. Their mothers make hamburgers or salad for them for lunch. Some students bring leftovers (剩饭菜) for lunch. But Lily doesn’t! She thinks the school lunch is good. Her lunch is only about $1.45. She can buy good and healthy food. She has lunch with her friends. Boys can have lunch with girls. They like to talk about their favorite subjects, their favorite teachers and their favorite days. After lunch, they like to play games.

For Lily, her school days are very happy because she really likes the lunchtime!

Do you like eating zongzi? Do you know anything about it?     1     People often eat it during the Dragon Boat Festival to remember Qu Yuan. He was one of the greatest poets in ancient China.

Qu Yuan threw himself into the river on May 5th. It is said that people rowed some boats on the river and tried to save him.     2     They were very sad. They dropped some rice balls into the river to keep the fish away from Qu Yuan’s body. Since then, having dragon boat races on May 5th has become a custom(习俗).     3    

In the past, zongzi was only made during the Dragon Boat Festival, but now it is quite common.     4     People can eat it anytime. Also different areas have developed different kinds of zongzi. Some are made of rice and eggs.     5     If you don’t want to make zongzi by yourself, it’s easy to buy some in supermarkets. You can find some new tastes, like zongzi filled with fruit.

【推荐1】Gulongzhong is a beautiful place in Xiangyang. And now, it’s also a good place to relax. For people around it, they usually go there to spend the weekend. They usually take the No.512 Bus to get there. It’s about a half-hour drive from the People’s Square.

Why do people like to go there? First, Gulongzhong has a long history. Some people go there to learn about old stories there. Then parents also take their children to visit the home of Mr. Kongming. People there are very friendly. Sometimes they climb the mountain with their children and they can also get some natural fruit. Of course, they can take many interesting photos. Next, if you have enough time, you can enjoy a wonderful show in the evening. The actors dress up as they were in ancient (古代的) times. I watched it last year and I want to watch it one more time.

Do you like Gulongzhong? Would you like to go if you have time?

【推荐1】Yuan Longping is a great scientist who is the first person to develop hybrid rice. His research greatly solved the problem of the food shortage in the world.

Yuan Longping started the research in 1964. He put forward the idea of hybrid rice, did experiments（实验）on the farm, and succeeded in 1973. The new technology was tested in many areas of South China in 1974, and then he continued to test it in other areas. China has become the first country that can produce hybrid rice. Yuan made it possible to grow hybrid rice in large amounts, and he is called “Father of Hybrid Rice”.

Besides being a respected scientist, he is also a romantic husband and a caring grandfather.

Yuan’s granddaughters remembered that when he traveled to Hong Kong, he wanted to buy his wife a new watch, but it was too expensive, so he bought a candy instead. When he was 90 years old, his family held a birthday party. Hundreds of people came to the party. There was a moving moment: Yuan cut the first piece of cake and immediately gave it to his wife. They also said that their grandfather paid much attention to their English and math studies. No matter how tired he was after work, he would still ask about their studies.

Yuan Longping loved playing the violin, swimming and driving. What’s more, he had a special habit—playing Mahjong（麻将）with friends for an hour every evening to train his brain. Just like common people, the scientist laughed when he won and didn’t hide his disappointment when he lost. When his requirement to build a research center was agreed to, he was very excited.

This is Yuan Longping: an ordinary person who made great achievements.