English is spoken as a first language（语言）by most people in the USA, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. But it is also used in many other     1    . If you go to France（法国）or India, you will use English. It is used by travelers and business（生意）people all over the world（世界）. That’s     2     we are learning English in China. It is one of the most     3     languages because it is used everywhere. If we learn English     4    , we will find that it is both useful and interesting.

When the people around us feel down, we say jiayou. When we watch the dragon boat races, we can also hear jiayou. We     1     say it when we encourage someone. It means “add oil” in English.     2     where is it from? And why do we use it?

There is a story behind “add oil”. It took place during Qing Dynasty. “Add oil” started     3     an official (官员) named Zhang Ying. He was the zhifu, or mayor (市长), of Xingyi in Guizhou. He believed that good education could help build a strong country,     4     he tried to develop local education better. What he did made much     5     people study. He sent lower officials to walk around the city with buckets (桶) of     6    . In ancient China, people used oil lamps (灯) at night. If these officials saw the light of oil lamps in someone’s home and heard the sound of     7    , they would knock on the door and say, “The mayor adds oil for your lamp!” The officials would then give the person oil so that he could study till the night.

Zhang did this and     8     for the oil for 13 years. Many young people in Xingyi later became officials, poets (诗人) and scholars (学者). “Add oil” is     9     used today. Next time, say jiayou to your     10     when they need you to cheer them up. It’s very useful.

The BBC recently reported a rise in the use of British English in the US. Words like “cheers”, meaning “thank you”, and “mate”, meaning “friend”, are becoming popular. No one knows     1     this has happened, although the success of British films like Harry Potter may have something to do with it.

British English and American English are a little different. The two are the     2     in grammar but different in the way they pronounce and spell some words.     3     pronounce words like car, better and sweater with an /er/ at the     4     while British people say these words with an /e/. The British way of     5     “color” is “colour” and they write “favorite” as “favourite”.

English is the most     6     language in the world because of the British Empire（英帝国）. Its colonies（殖民地）    7     covered 25 percent of the planet. In some parts of the US, people really like the British accent.

Actor Hugh Grant, with his accent, was very     8     in Hollywood. His accent is very popular, and Americans often think British accents     9     elegant（优雅的）. Maybe this has something to do with the Queen.

Don’t     10     about the difference between British and American English. When you have exams, it is fine to use the English that you learned     11     your textbooks. The differences are not so important.

It’s very important to know something about traditional presents. In the     1    , people often take flowers when they visit others. Different flowers have different     2    . For example, people often give red roses to     3     persons who they love. In Greece, you must not give white flowers because white flowers     4     for the people who passed away. When you go to a foreign country, it is always best to check what people usually do. If you remember this, you can avoid     5     a lot of mistakes.

When people say “culture”, we think of art and history. But one of the most famous     1     in American culture is a cartoon. We all know and love Mickey Mouse. Over 80 years ago, he first appeared in the cartoon Steamboat Willie. When this cartoon     2     in New York on November 18, 1928, it was the     3     cartoon with sound and music. The man behind Mickey was Walt Disney. He became very rich and     4    . In the 1930s, he made 87 cartoons with Mickey.

Some people might ask how this cartoon animal became so popular. One of the main reasons is that Mickey was like a common man, but he always tried to face any     5    . In his early films, Mickey was unlucky and had many problems such as     6     his house or girlfriend, Minnie. However, he was always ready to try     7     best. People went to the cinema to see the “little man” win. Most of them wanted to be like Mickey.

On November 18, 1979, Mickey became the first cartoon character to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Today’s cartoons are usually not so     8     as little Mickey Mouse, but everyone still knows and loves him.

Is it true that we British people have a different sense of humor from people in other     1    ? Let's have a look at what we laugh at in Britain。

To us British people, powerful and important people often cause laughter. It's not     2     politicians who make us laugh, but anyone whose job is to tell other people what to do and who takes     3     too seriously.

We laugh at the power, but also, pitifully, at anyone who is    4    badly. We know they cannot win, but if they do win sometimes. It's even    5    . Our clowns are often silly people doing silly things, while in America, they are often clever people doing clever things-and     6    at last.

The fact that we laugh     7    other people might feel hopeless is one of the strangest things to learn about British humor. We do have a strong sense of irony. After some terrible experience, we might say, "Not very     8    .” And we might say in the middle of a typhoon, "It’s a bit windy today, " or " There is a tiny problem." When something has gone     9    wrong. We don't like to express strong feelings, but just "keep calm and carry on".

Another thing that can make it difficult to    10    British humor is that we don't always laugh or even smile when we say something funny. We often keep a straight face or use an unsmiling expression when we’re making a joke.

Do you think the British sense of humor is special?