【推荐1】

【推荐2】There are thirty-four bridges on the Thames in London. The following are among the most famous ones.

	Tower Bridge Tower Bridge has stood over the Thames in London since 1894 and is one of the finest, most famous bridges in the world. Tower Bridge is the only Thames bridge that can be raised. It used to be raised about 50 times a day, but nowadays it is only raised 4 to 5 times a week.
	London Bridge London Bridge started in 1176 and finished years later. Houses and shops were once built on the bridge, which made the road so narrow that it was often jammed with people, horses and carts. A “keep left” rule was made in 1733 to keep the traffic moving. This became the rule of the road in Britain.
	Millennium Bridge Millennium Bridge is a bridge for walkers. It was built in 2000. Thousands of people rushed to see the new bridge. Almost immediately after opening, the bridge had to be shut because of the dangerous waving caused by too many visitors. It has now been reopened.
	Westminster Bridge Westminster Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the Thames between Westminster and Lambent. The present bridge was opened in 1862 and took the place of an earlier bridge opened in 1750.

【推荐2】The dragon is a great animal in Chinese culture. It brings the wind and rain. It is said that every year on the second day of the second lunar (阴历) month, the dragon wakes up from its winter sleep and raises its head. Because of this, the day is called “Dragon Heads-raising Day” (Longtaitou). This year, it falls on March 14th.

Old people believed that after Longtaitou, there would be more rain. And rain is very important to farming. So Longtaitou was the start of spring and farming.

People have many ways to celebrate the festival. The most popular one is to have a haircut. Mary people believe that a haircut during the first lunar month may bring bad luck to your uncles—mainly your mother’s brothers. They hope getting a haircut on Longtaitou keeps them away from bad luck.

Among Chinese people’s festival traditions, there is always a place for food. During the Longtaitou festival, people eat food named after dragons. Noodles are called dragon’s beard (longxu). Dumplings are dragon’s ears (long’er). And spring roll (春卷) are dragon’s skin (longlin).

People also hold activities like dragon dancing on the day. In some places in Shandong province, people make dragon lanterns (灯笼) too. Small reed (芦苇) boats go down the rivers and carry the lanterns, which stand for people’s best wishes and good luck.

【推荐3】Thoughts in the Silent Night

The moon light is shinning through the window.

And it makes me wonder if it is the frost on the ground,   Looking up to see the moon,

Looking down I miss so much about my hometown.

Over a thousand years ago, Li Bai used his lines to show how he missed his family when he saw the beautiful moon.

Now, the moon is still in the sky, but when is the best time for us to enjoy the bright moon? Of course, it is the Mid-Autumn Festival, one of the most important festival s in China. This year, the festival is on September 29th. ▲ This tradition is thousands of years old.

In some places in China, people celebrate the festival in different ways. In Chaozhou, Guangdong Province,   people eat taro (芋头) to celebrate the festival, because the taro harvest (丰收) happens at the same time as the festival. They eat taro and hope the harvest is good in the next year. In Nanjing, people cook duck with sweet-scented osmanthus (桂花) , because Nanjing people think sweet-scented osmanthus is a symbol of peace. In some places people make fires inside towers to celebrate the festival, because they think the fire is a symbol of good business.

Nowadays, some traditions are not popular anymore. The younger people have their own ways to spend the Mid-Autumn Festival, such as shopping, going to a party, or traveling. It seems that they are forgetting the traditions of the festival. This is because many young people have a lot of stress in study, work or life. However, if they have a chance, they will come back home to have a big dinner with their family.