【推荐1】Music is an important part in our life. We may feel boring without music. Today when you go to stores, stations or restaurants, do you notice music being played at any of these places? The answer must be “Yes”. And you might even hear music in offices or on farms.

There are many kinds of music. Classical music is great. Rock music is fast. Light music is relaxing. I like folk music best. It sounds very beautiful. It can bring me into the dream land. It can make me relax and forget all the problems. It makes me lean better and helps me to be more active. It is true that I learn better when I am relaxed.

Music can also influence people’s behavior (行为). Classical music makes people feel rich. When a restaurant plays classical music, people spend more money on food and drinks. When the restaurant plays modern music, people spend less money. Without music, people spend even less. Restaurants can make more money in this way.

【推荐2】May is National Physical Fitness and Sport Month. Here are some good ways to help kids to keep healthy.

    1     If you live near a park, get the whole family moving with a hike, or get out by bike to find parks and forests, or local playgrounds near you.

    2     Look for something that can help kids know about a sport. If kids don't like team sports, see if swimming at a local pool is interesting for them.

    3     Show kids an easy way to get exercise is to put on music and dance. Ask them to turn on the radio to a music station and get moving!

    4     Kids need to exercise for 60 minutes a day. Try to make a daily plan with your kids, and then help them to follow it.

    5     Talk with your kids about the healthy food and the sports. Make sure your kids have a good breakfast before they go to school.

What comes to your mind when you think of kung fu? Maybe the image of Shaolin monks（和尚）posing with a serious look in their eyes. But does it really present the meaning of kung fu?

Laurence J. Brahm, a documentary filmmaker from the United States, explored this question in Searching for Kung Fu. In the movie, Brahm traveled to cities in China and the US in search of the value of kung fu.

Brahm himself is a kung fu lover who has been practicing the art for more than 40 years. For him, it is more than a pastime. Ages ago, Brahm was unable to use one of his legs for two years and had to walk with a cane（拐杖）. But by practicing martial arts （武术）, he was able to recover step by step. Now, kung fu has become a daily activity for him and also the way he begins the day.

Still, there are other deep meanings in the practice. Nonviolence is one value, which is shown both in the name and practice of kung fu. The Chinese character Wu has two parts—ge, meaning “to fight”, and zhi, meaning “to stop”. So, the meaning of kung fu in Chinese is the art of stopping fighting, the art of nonviolence. Kung fu artists always greet people with baoquan. This lets each person know that there are no hidden weapons（武器） and shows trust.

“The traditional values of kung fu, actually, are in the minds of all Chinese people,” Brahm told Xinhua.

【推荐2】China is a large country. The population is over 1.3 billion. It has a special culture with a very long history.

Chinese food plays an important role for Chinese families. Different foods have special meanings. The main difference is that Chinese people eat their meals with chopsticks. One of the main foods in Chinese culture is rice. Tea is a favorite drink and it is popular in the market.

Chinese calendar is different from the one used in western countries. New Year’s Day is in late winter. It is also called the Spring Festival. It has a big celebration of ringing out the old and ringing in the new. It has special foods and traditions. For example, sweeping the floor before New year’s Day sweeps away all the old year’s bad luck.

The Chinese zodiac, known as Sheng Xiao, follows a twelve-year cycle. Each year is named for an animal. These animal signs are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. For example, the year that begins in 2016 is the year of the monkey.

Chinese is a complex language. Chinese writing developed almost 4,000 years ago and may even be older. Chinese writing has thousands of characters. A character stands for a word and also a meaning. Besides Putonghua, Chinese people speak six other forms of the language, and there are many kinds of dialects.

【推荐2】There are a lot of Chinese cultures about fish. In Chinese, “fish” sounds like “surplus” (余，盈余). Chinese people always like to have a surplus at the end of the year. They think if they save something at the end of the year, then they can make more in the next year. That’s why Chinese people like to eat fish for the New Year. Do you know what kind of fish Chinese people like to eat for the New Year?

Crucian carp (鲫鱼)	The first kind of fish is crucian carp. It sounds like the Chinese word “吉”. This Chinese word means “good luck”. Chinese people think that eating crucian carp can bring good luck for the next year.
Chinese carp (鲤鱼)	The second kind of fish is Chinese carp. It sounds like the Chinese word “礼”. It means gifts or presents. So Chinese people choose to eat Chinese carp during the Chinese New Year. It means “good future”.
Catfish (鲶鱼)	The third kind of fish is catfish. It sounds like two Chinese words “年余”. So eating catfish is a wish for a surplus in the New Year.

【推荐3】

When you cough or sneeze, you’d better turn your head away from others and cover your mouth with the full part of your hand. And then, you should say, “Excuse me.”

This seems so simple, but it is surprising how many kids have never been told to do this. Actually, I notice adults all the time who cough and sneeze in public without placing a hand over the mouth. One important thing I point out to the kids is that after they sneeze or cough on their hands, they should wash their hands as soon as possible. If not, they will be passing those germs (细菌) along to everything and everyone they touch.

If you come to a door and someone is following you, hold the door. If the door is opened by pulling, pull it open, stand to the side, and allow the person behind you to pass through first, then you can through. If the door is opened by pushing, hold the door after you pass through.

After a few weeks of seeing kids try to get through doors in the school and watching them enter restaurants as the door hit other people, I knew I had to discuss the problem with my students. Teaching them small acts of kindness, such as letting someone else go through a door first as they hold it open, may seem unimportant, but it can go a long way toward helping students realize how to be polite and thank others. Once they’ve been told it, they’re halfway there.

When we have to go up moving stairs, we will stand to the right. That will give others who are in a hurry a choice of walking up the left-hand side of the moving stairs. When we are going to enter a lift, the underground, or a doorway, we will wait for others to exit before we enter.

After college when I moved to London, I was surprised to see how polite everyone was in the subways. I was even more touched when I travelled to Japan. In both places, people made efforts to make way for others. On moving stairs, everyone stood to the right and walked to the left. On lifts, everyone would stand over to the side and allow others to exit before they would begin to enter.