Nowadays, many people like to live in a city,     1     (尤其) the young who like new and modern things. It is     2     (合乎常情的) for young people to live in the city. It     3     (允许) them to do a lot of enjoyable things in the city. They can eat in good restaurants, visit museums, enjoy the s    4     in theatres or go to parks. Meanwhile, there are also many ways of travelling, you can take the bus or train to anywhere you like.

H    5    , in my opinion, living in the city will c    6     more. For example, parking in the city is usually very expensive. What’s more, many people move to the city, so the p    7     of the city is getting larger and larger, so the city is always c    8    , noisy and dirty. It’s a     9     (遗憾) that people can’t find a relaxing place and enjoy fresh air. So people are doing everything they can     10     (改善) the serious situation in the city.

In China, dragons are called Loong. They are super important and are thought to be really     1     (智慧) and lucky. When there is a big celebration, you’ll see amazing dragon     2     (舞者) with dragon costumes (装束) of different colors dancing around. It’s something people from China do all o    3     the world.

However, I have ever h    4     dragons in stories from places like Europe are pretty different. In a lot of western stories, dragons are usually the trouble makers. They are big, breathe fire and often f     5     with heroes. They’re known for being scary and causing problems. So they’re     6     (有点) of like the bad guys in those stories.

In China, even though dragons might look scary, they’re a    7     seen as good guys. Chinese dragons are thought to be really good and helpful. They are not just about     8     (带来) luck. They're also like guards who can bring     9     (安全). It is really different from how they’re seen in western stories.

It’s so interesting to know how one creature (生物) can mean such different things in different places. You can s    10     your stories with me.

【推荐2】Customs on Eating

Food in China and western countries is different. Chinese people choose food very     1    . They only use fresh materials（新鲜的材料）to make food. For example, they only eat fresh fish. Chinese have a lot of ideas for cooking. They can cook a chicken in     2     than ten ways. That’s why Chinese food is so popular     3     the world. Western countries, like England or America, don’t have fresh food because they buy their food from supermarkets which only sell stored materials (储存的材料). Western people also prefer fast food     4     as hamburger and chips. They are     5     [ʌnˈhelθi] for man’s body. Western people do not have many skills for cooking, and mostly they only boil, steam (蒸) and bake the food. By the way, western people are very good at     6     desserts and chocolate. These kinds of food are very sweet and they can make you become     7     quickly.

In China, the person who invites other people for meal would pay for the meal, but it’s not the same way in western countries. In western countries, people will thank you only invite them but don’t need to pay for them. They can     8     [əˈfɔ:d] it themselves. They won’t be happy if you pay for them. In western countries like America or England, people will always give tips (小费) to the waiter after they finish the meal in a restaurant. If you don’t, the waiter will not be happy. In China this only happens in some top restaurants and     9     (宾馆) in large cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Another difference in eating is that: Chinese people use     10     (筷子) but western people use knives and forks.

Chinese people only have three meals during a day. But western people may have more. They usually have afternoon tea when they would have fruit, cakes or biscuits with cheese.

【推荐3】What would people like to eat on their birthday? The answer would be different in different countries.

In many countries, people have birthday cakes. They put candles on the cake. The n    1     of candles is the person's age. The birthday person can make a wish. Then he or she b    2     out all the candles in one go (一口气), the wish will come true. 

In China, it is getting p    3     to have cakes on their birthday. But many people still eat long noodles for their birthday. They n    4     cut up the noodles because the long noodles are a symbol (象征) of long life. In some places, Chinese people also eat e    5     on their birthday. They are a symbol of life and good luck.

All of these birthday foods may be different, but the ideas are the s    6    . They bring good luck to the birthday person.