1 . Tea and coffee are two of the most popular drinks in the world. However, people usually like one more than the other. These drinks also have very different uses.

Tea drinking started in China over 4,000 years ago. Tea is made from leaves. These days, some people drink tea for health, using it to help with stress(压力) or losing weight. However, most people in tea-drinking countries think of tea as more than just a healthy drink. In fact, tea drinking in some countries is a part of the culture. In Turkey(土耳其), tea is always there when people meet. Whether in someone’s home or a company, tea is always offered as a way of welcoming. In the UK, homes and offices usually have tea time. Tea and other dishes are served at tea time in the afternoon. It is a way of relaxing with friends or co-workers(同事).

Coffee came much later than tea, just over 1,000 years ago. Coffee is made from beans. Something in the coffee beans makes a person feel active. Most people do not drink coffee to relax. Instead, they drink coffee to get going. Many people drink coffee in the morning to help them wake up. Others will also drink coffee during short breaks in the afternoon to keep going through the working day. Some people may visit coffee shops just to meet and talk with friends. However, many people in coffee shops drink coffee while working on their computers.

Is tea or coffee more common in your country? Between the two, which do you like to drink more?

2 . The Fuxing train has started running in southwest China’s Tibet along the Lhasa—Nyingchi Railway(拉萨—林芝铁路).

The 435-kilometer railway links Lhasa and Nyingchi. It is China’s first electrified(电气化的) railroad on the “Roof of the World”. It shortens the journey between Lhasa and Nyingchi from over five hours to about 3.5 hours.

The new railway covers an area of 226,000 square kilometers. It goes through 47 tunnels (隧道) and crosses 121 bridges. The train has a top speed of 160 kilometers per hour. It is the fastest train on the high land, but it’s a bit slower than some other Fuxing trains in our country because of the special environment. The railway not only makes local people’s life easier, but also brings more tourists to the area.

“The railway trip is so relaxing and fast. The new train has brought our family members closer than ever before,” said a teacher who lives in Nyingchi. She used to drive more than five hours from Nyingchi to Lhasa to visit her parents during the summer vacation.

Besides carrying passengers, the railway also provides good chances for farmers to sell local products to more places. It’s sure to put new energy into Tibet’s economic(经济的) development.

Mars（火星）is a planet and is the 4th closest planet to the Sun. The distances from the Sun to Mars is more than 141 million miles. Mars is the largest planet in the solar system（太阳系）, which makes Mars the 2nd smallest planet in the solar system. Mars is one of the four planets in the solar system that is a rocky planet. These rocky planets are called “Terrestrial（类地的） Planets”.

It’s not known when Mars was found and by whom as Mars has been known for a very long time, and one of the planets that can be seen from the Earth without a telescope（望远镜）. Mars’s orbit（轨道）around the Sun is the 4th fastest orbit of all the solar system planets. Mars is red in colour and is very cold. Not the coldest of planets in the solar system but very cold all the same. The temperature on Mars is on average 80 degrees, and can get a lot colder at times.

At times in the summer near the Mars the temperature can reach 70 degrees. You may think it’s warm enough to live; however, the atmosphere（大气层）is over 95%. Mars orbits the Sun in 687 days, which means 1 Earth year on Mars is 687 days.

5 . As one of the world’s favorite drinks, tea has become more and more popular. Chinese tea art with its custom was included in intangible cultural heritage lists by UNESCO（联合国教科文组织非物质文化遗产名录）in 2022.

China is the _________ of tea and tea has a long history. It is said that a Chinese ruler called Shen Nong was _________ first person to discover tea as a drink. When a leaf dropped into _________, the taste of the water was changed, and so tea was born. From that moment on, the Chinese began _________ the soul（灵魂）of this special leaf.

It’s known that tea culture gradually _________ normal people’s life in the Tang Dynasty. The people in the Tang Dynasty not only drank tea, _________ ate the tea leaves. That was why the process of tasting tea was _________ “tea eating”. However, the Song people preferred “whisking tea”（点茶）. In the Ming Dynasty, tasting tea gradually went back   _________ its true nature of “drinking tea”. Later, the tea culture of _________ country finally was blended（融入）into normal families.

Nowadays, making tea around a stove（炉子）is a special way of drinking tea. It __________ already brought a wave of new lifestyle in China.

Tea culture is a kind of sublimation（升华）of tea. In the long river of historical culture, tea combines the characters of the time

In western countries, the birthday cake is a dessert on his or her birthday. Birthday cakes are usually decorated with the person’s name. They also place some candles on the cake. After lighting the candles, people usually close their eyes and make a wish before blowing them out. The number of the candles is the same as the age of the person.

Do you know the history of the birthday cake? In earlier times, the Greeks made round or moon-shaped honey cakes and took them to the Goddess of Moon. The cakes stood for moon. Nowadays, some people think that cake in the ancient world has something to do with the cycles of life and nature. Round shapes were preferred as the cycle. Also, some people believe that the tradition of birthday cake started in Germany.