1 . The traditional Chinese lunar calendar(阴历) divides the year into 24 solar terms(节气). Lichun, the first of the 24 solar terms, lifts the curtain(窗帘) of spring. After that everything turns green and is filled with energy. People clearly see that the daytime is becoming longer and the weather is becoming warmer. Here are some things you might not know about Lichun.

As a solar term, Lichun entered people’s lives in the Spring and Autumn period. At that time, there were eight solar terms. According to some experts, the 24 solar terms were used for the first time in books during the Western Han Dynasty, when people set Lichun as the Spring Festival.

Wearing fabric swallows(织成的燕子) is a custom in some areas in Shaanxi. Every Lichun, people like to wear a swallow made of colorful silk on their chests(胸部). The swallow is a sign of spring and a symbol of success, wealth and happiness.

In China, it is said that the egg can be set upright on the first day of Lichun. It is believed that if someone can make the egg stand on the first day of Lichun, he will have good luck in the future.

In many parts of China, people follow the custom of “biting the spring” on the first day of Lichun. They eat spring pancakes, spring rolls(春卷) and so on.

Durrow Scarecrow(稻草人) Festival 2022 will take place from July 24th to August 1st! The whole city is running a scarecrow competition and all the works will be shown during the festival. That will be nine full days of family friendly fun, along with other activities , including traditional games, and charitable activities!

Humans have used scarecrows around the world for over 3,000 years. The first recorded use of scarecrows was by the Egyptians to protect their wheat fields along the Nile River. Scarecrows were mainly used to scare away hungry birds. Nowadays, numerous exciting and enjoyable scarecrow festivals are born for all the citizens to attend.

The England scarecrow festival started in 1994. A man held a charitable activity by encouraging villagers to make scarecrows depicting (描绘) their jobs. The idea of homemade scarecrows arose people’s interest. Later, the festival grew into England’s village tradition. Every year it attracts countless visitors from all over the world to join in the fun.

Scarecrow festivals help people let their creativity out by experiencing DIY with straw. They also become a talking point for neighbors who have never met each other before. Citizens join in the fun and show off their creative flair(才华) to each other. Besides, through the competition, the team spirit will be displayed.

We all know that reading books builds a bridge between our life and the unknown world. In our country, people read books at any time. They enjoy reading books even when they’re on a break at the beach, or relaxing from a hike. Good reading habits lead you to a lifelong love of books. Here are some tips on how to develop good reading habits.

Choose the books which suit you. In most middle schools, teachers give students a reading list every few weeks. Most books are easy to read, like youth novels. The students themselves can also buy books which they’re interested in or the best-selling books.

Reading in short periods. 15 minutes after getting to school, 15 minutes while waiting for friends, 15 minutes before going to sleep. Then you can read books for about five hours every week in total.

Talk about your reading with your family or friends. This helps you have a better understanding.

Our government is doing its best to prevent the rapid spread of the Novel Coronavirus across China. Here are some simple precautions (预防措施) that you can do personally to keep safe from the virus.

When you leave your home, wear masks and gloves and keep them on in subways, buses or in a supermarket. If you are in a social situation where you should take off your gloves, do not touch your face or eyes, no matter what itches (发痒). Keep your hands away from contact with your face. And before you put your gloves back on, wash your hands thoroughly with soap and warm water. Change gloves daily, washing them thoroughly, and don’t wear wet gloves. Stay away from crowds and keep your distance from individual people—a half meter is a good standard. If someone is coughing, you can ask them to put on a mask to protect you from their potentially contaminated (污染的) fluids. If they don’t agree, you step a meter away from them or leave. Don’t shake hands or hug people—politely leave, saying its better for both of you not to come in close contact during an epidemic (流行病).

If you share meals, do not use your personal chopsticks to get food from a serving bowl or plate and. Of course don’t drink out of anybody else’s cups. Place serving spoons in each dish and instruct everybody at the table to get what they want from the serving dishes onto their personal plates or bowls, return the serving spoon to the main dish, and then use their personal chopsticks only to pick food from their personal plate or bowl into their mouth.

With these simple precautions, if they were taken by everybody in your household, building, office, and school, you will dramatically reduce the spread of the virus.

Music is a big part of our lives. But some US schools have cut music classes in recent years. For example, Chicago public schools hurt arts education when it fired（解雇）over 1, 000 teachers. Among them, 10 percent of the teachers taught art or music, according to The Washington Times.

In fact, this is not just a problem in the US. In other countries, such as China and the UK, music classes are not thought to be as important as other subjects like science, math and history. That’s because music is not seen as a very important life skill, and it isn’t tested. Many students are busy with schoolwork, so parents and students choose to focus on（专注于）subjects that are tested more often.

However, music education is very important for all students. Music helps with math and science. Students learn to count and how to divide. Students also use science to help them discover what sounds good together and what doesn’t. Students can learn a lot about languages through music. Many songs are written in other languages. Students must learn to translate these works to understand what they are singing about. Students can also learn about art. Some famous pieces are written about important pieces of art, and students learn about the artists as they’re playing the music.

Music education brings higher thinking to our children. It allows them to think about complex（复杂的）patterns. Students have to sense what every other musician does at every time.

Students also learn plenty of cooperation（协作）of body parts through music. It is not as simple as it looks. For example, when playing the piano, people see music notes and decode（解码）them in their brains. They also use their fingers to make sounds.

In Thailand, the Water Festival is a very big festival. It is a very special festival for all their people. It is the beginning of their New Year. It is usually at the end of March or the beginning of April. Before the Water Festival, people clean their houses and cook nice food. When the Water Festival begins, people splash(泼) water over each other. Everyone gets very wet, but they are very happy.     

In classes, your teachers will talk about the topics that you are studying. The information they provide will be important for you to know when you take tests. So you must be able to take good written notes from what your teachers say.

Here are three stages (阶段）of taking notes and what you should do during each stage.

Before class

Review your notes you have taken before you come to class. This will be good for remembering what was covered. Get you ready to understand new information your teacher will provide.

During class

Keep your attention on what your teacher is saying and “the signal words” that tell you what your teacher is going to say and it is important to write in your notes. Examples of signal words are “The most important point.”and “Remember that...” Be sure to include in your notes information that your teacher repeats or writes on the blackboard. Write quickly so that you can include all the important information in your notes. Do this by writing abbreviations such as med for medicine, using symbols such as % for percent, and writing short sentences.

After class

Rewrite your notes to make them more complete and accurate（准确的）by changing abbreviations into whole words, symbols into words, and shortened sentences into longer sentences. Use them to answer your questions. If necessary, ask your teacher for help.