1 . If you want to know something about British life, their spirit, and even their humor, watching some classic British films will certainly help. Here are some for you.

Life of Brian by Terry Jones in 1979 tells the story of a young man who is in a case of mistaken identity (身份).The film shows the unusual and wonderful British sense of humor. As a film certain to entertain, Life of Brian is not to be missed by those looking for an insight into what makes the British laugh.

Danny Boyle’s 1996 comedy-drama Trainspotting is about a group of Scots in the 1980s, adapted from Irvine Welsh’s book. With a cast of truly great actors, the tale impressed the moviegoers globally. It rapidly became a success.

Released on 21 May 1999, Notting Hill directed by Roger Michell was well-received and also got a British Comedy Award in the same year. The story is of a romance between a British nobody (Grant) and a Hollywood star (Roberts) who happens to walk into his shop.

This 1997 film directed by Peter Cattaneo is a comedy about six unemployed men who form a group to make money for a better life. The film receiving British Comedy Awards dives deeper into some serious issues surrounding working-class culture. The Full Monty is an encouraging film that helps know more about the work and life of the working class in Britain.

2 . Scientists discovered that fewer humpback whales made the singing noises, as their population grew. “It was getting more difficult to actually find singers,” marine biologist Rebecca Dunlop in Brisbane said. She added, “When there were fewer of them, there was a lot of singing-now that there are lots of them, no need to be singing so much.”

Eastern Australia’s humpback whales came close to disappearing in the 1960s. With the end of commercial whaling (捕鲸), the population began to regrow, climbing to about 27,000 whales by 2015. That number is near estimated pre-whaling levels. As the density (密度) of whales increased, their singing behaviors changed. While 2 in 10 males made crying noises in 2004, 10 years later the number had dropped to 1 in 10, Dunlop said.

The team’s study appeared in a recent issue of Nature Communications Biology. Dunlop said she thinks singing played a big part in bringing in mates when populations severely declined. When humpbacks live in denser populations, males looking for mates also have to deal with competing whales.

Boris Worm, an ocean biologist, was not involved in the research. “As animal populations recover, they change their behavior-they have different cries,” Worm said. The research suggests the seas are still noisy with humpback whale sounds.

Many humpbacks seek to bring in mates with a combination of singing and physical movements, the study notes. The large increase in the humpback population during the study period provided valuable data about changes in the animals’ behavior and they must have been singers long before whaling reduced their numbers, said Simon Ingram. But the new study demonstrates (证明) how necessary their complex and beautiful songs were to their survival and recovery, he added.

Intangible cultural inheritors and folk     1     (artist) from nine provinces and regions along the Yellow River gathered in Dongying, East China’s Shandong province, at a festival    2     (display) the rich cultures cultivated along the river basin.

Bi Wenjing’s booth (摊位) presenting Huanghekou Huamo was     3     popular attraction. The craftswoman created a flower-shaped steamed bun. She     4     (place) a huge sample of her handiwork, weighing 30 kilograms, in the booth, attracting tourists to take photos. Bi said she started work     5     9 am and visitors were still coming to view it as darkness fell.

In addition, more than 100     6     (agriculture) products were on sale, while delicious food was also available, including barbecued delights from Zibo, Shandong province,     7     was recently popular on social media.

Sun Zhaohai, a resident of Dongying, said people could taste mouthwatering food while learning about folk customs at the festival, making it perfect for children. The Yellow River, the second     8     (long) river in China, originates on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and flows through nine provinces and regions from west to east,     9     (eventual) reaching the Bohai Sea. It     10     (call) the cradle (摇篮) of Chinese civilization, too.

6 . When traveling in foreign nations, you have to know their way of life.    1    Otherwise, you may get yourself on the wrong side. The following are the things you need to know when organizing sightseeing in a foreign nation.

Know as much as possible about your destination before travelling. What one country values might not be accepted in a different country. Get to know the religion, language, culture and things that appear obvious.     2    

Travel in the low season. There are times when people do sightseeing in large numbers. During such times, you need to pay lots of money for your flight.    3    You may also find hotels with food and accommodation are half the regular prices.

    4    You will get treated in the way you interact with the people that you meet. Share information with the people you meet, and you may get a nice experience in return. They may teach you their language, customs, lifestyles and so on. Besides, you may learn how they call certain foods.

Enjoy without reservation. Don’t think of the next time.    5    Things change pretty fast, and you may have only one chance. Take part in the activities the locals engage in and make your trip a memorable one.

7 . A rising number of Chinese mobile apps are having an influence around the world. From top short-video app TikTok to the biggest fashion app Shein and karaoke video app StarMaker，the Chinese apps are getting big. In 2021, the overseas revenue (收益) of China’s entertainment apps grew 204 percent year-on-year, according to a report by market research company, iResearch. The US, Japan and South Korea were the main overseas sources of income for Chinese apps. Downloads of Chinese apps also increased in Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia in 2021.

Experts said that this has shown the strong innovative (创新的) power of Chinese companies. “The global market is promising for Chinese companies. Though it takes a long time to develop a brand in foreign markets, Chinese companies are good at research and development,” said Fang Han, the developer of StarMaker.

For example, TikTok has more than one billion downloads in 150 markets and 75 languages worldwide, noted Harvard Business Review. Apart from showing videos to users according to their interests, it also offers simple creative video editing tools, such as music, filters (滤镜) and stickers (贴纸) to meet local cultural needs, reported People’s Daily.

The Chinese government has also made great efforts to encourage companies to go global. In July 2021, a guideline came out. It says more efforts will be made to help with the companies’ research and development overseas. They are encouraged to work together with foreign technology companies in fields such as big data, 5G and artificial intelligence.