From red lanterns (灯笼) to hongbao or red envelopes, did you ever wonder     1     the color red is so popular in China, especially on the Chinese New Year? Legend has it that it all began with the Nian, a dangerous creature     2     would frighten villagers on the New Year,     3     (eat) crops (庄稼), and even children. But villagers learned that this half bull animal     4     a lion head was afraid of three things: fire, noise, and the color red. Nian was driven away, and from then on, the color red was considered     5     (bring) good luck to all.

“    6     (usual) red lanterns are hung outside the doors to push away bad luck.” suggests Karen Katz, author of     7     picture book My First Chinese New Year. “Also people hang red cutout papers on the walls. If you live near a Chinese neighborhood, you should be able to buy these items. If not, you can go online and order them. You can also make your own cutouts.”

Still, the most popular way to observe the Chinese New Year is to hand out red envelopes     8     (fill) with money. However, like     9     (toy) under the Christmas tree, some traditions are meant for children, and Chinese red envelopes     10     (give) to them to keep away bad luck.

In Asia, especially the so-called “rice bowl” cultures of China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, food is usually eaten with    1    (chopstick).

Chopsticks are usually two long, thin pieces of wood or bamboo. They can also    2     (make) of plastic or mental. Sometimes chopsticks are quite artistic.    3    (true) elegant chopsticks might be with Chinese characters. Skilled workers also combine various hardwoods    4    metal to create special designs.

Five thousand years ago, Chinese people probably cooked their food in large pots,    5    (use) branches to remove it. Food in small pieces could be eaten easily with branches     6    gradually turned into chopsticks.

Some people think that the great Chinese scholar Confucius, who lived     7    551 to 479 BC, influenced the     8    (develop) of chopsticks. Confucius believed knives would remind people of killings and     9    (be) too violent for use at the table.

Chopsticks are not used everywhere in Asia. In India, most people traditionally eat     10    their hands.

4 . The British Sense of Humour

The British are known for their sense of humor. However, it is often difficult for foreigners to make sense of their jokes. The main thing to remember is that the British like to make fun of themselves as well as others.     1     Another key to understanding British humor is to know that the British often use understatement.

Understatement means saying less than you think or feel. For example, if someone is very impolite and shouts at another person, someone else might say, 'She isn’t exactly friendly.' Understatement is often used in unpleasant situations or to make another person look silly.     2    

The British like to make fun of many other things. They often laugh about the silly and terrible things that happen to us every day, like when someone accidentally falls over in the street. They also like to make jokes about people from different classes of society.     3    Finally, the British love to watch comedies about people who do not know how to behave in society. The comedy programme Mr. Bean is a good example of this kind of humor.

    4    In pictures, he almost never talks, and instead he uses his body movement and facial expressions to make people laugh. Perhaps what makes Mr. Bean so funny is that he does things that adults in the real world cannot do. For instance, once Mr. Bean bought a large chair. He needed to take it home, but it was too big to fit in his small car. His solution was to put the chair on top of his car.     5    Mr. Bean is popular in many countries around the world because you do not have to speak English to understand the humor. Because of this, many people can better understand the British sense of humor.

Geography plays a part in making dialects. Some people who live in the mountains of the eastern USA speak with an older kind of English dialect. When Americans moved from one place to another, they took their dialects with them. So people from the mountains in the southeastern USA speak with almost the same dialect as people in the northwestern USA. The USA is a large country in which many different dialects are spoken. Although many Americans move a lot, they still recognize and understand each other's dialects.

7 . Chopsticks, or kuaizi in Chinese, are used to eat Asian food. The earliest evidence of a pair of chopsticks made out of bronze was found in the Ruins of Yin near Anyang, Henan province, dating back to roughly 1, 200 BC.

Chopsticks are round on the eating end which symbolizes heaven, and the other end is square which symbolizes earth. This is because maintaining an adequate food supply is the greatest concern between heaven and earth in Chinese culture.

There is no single standard for the use of chopsticks, but better bear some rules in mind eating with them. Playing with chopsticks is considered bad manners and rude, just as playing with a fork in a Western environment would be considered impolite. Besides, chopsticks are not used to move bowls or plates or to toy with one’s food. Chopsticks are not supposed to stab food, either. Exceptions include tearing larger items apart such as vegetables. Also, chopsticks should not be left standing up in a bowl of food. Any stick-like object pointing upward resembles(像) the incense sticks that some Asians use as offerings to family members who have passed away. In addition, avoid tapping chopsticks on the edge of one’s bowl, as beggars are believed to make this noise to attract attention. Furthermore, chopsticks should not be chewed on, or linger in one’s mouth for too long.

Today, chopsticks serve many functions besides as tableware. For example, you can buy a pair of chopsticks as a gift for a newly-married couple as their wedding gift. In Chinese, ‘chopsticks’ reads ‘kuaizi’, which means to have sons soon. Skillful craftsmen paint beautiful scenery on chopsticks to make them like fine artwork. Additionally, it has been said that using chopsticks improves one’s memory, increases finger flexibility and can be useful in learning and improving skills such as Chinese character printing and brush painting.