1 . The first World Friendship Day was proposed for July 30, 1958 by the World Friendship Crusade, an international civil organization to foster a culture of peace through friendship.     1     Just as in the US and several other countries, the festival has been greatly commercialized（商业化）.

Days before the festival, card and gift companies launch a large campaign(活动) to attract people into buying cards and gifts for their friends. Streets and stores are filled with advertising programs aimed at young people.     2     This marketing strategy(策略) has been severely criticized(批判) by many people. Many feel that such crazy commercialization has damaged the meaning of Friendship Day.

    3     especially the pink and yellow ones. The day is observed with great pleasure and merry. A highly popular thing connected with the day is the well-known friendship band—the modern day symbol of friendship that friends give to one another to form an everlasting bond. Friendship bands are the favorite items for youngsters and available in stores all over the country. Friendship poems and Friendship Day gifts are exchanged between best friends to renew the bond of friendship and express gratitude and love for each other.     4    

Since its beginning in 1935, Friendship Day celebrations have come a long way.     5     Friendship Day remains the time when you acknowledge your friends’ contribution in your life, express love for them, cherish their presence in your life and pay them a salute. Today, Friendship Day is being celebrated around the globe, across diverse cultures and social periods.

2 . The Lantern Festival, a traditional Chinese festival, is celebrated on the 15th day of the first lunar month. And it falls on Tuesday this year.    1    The day leads to the first full moon night of the year, and is also the night when the earth returns to spring.

It was also a romantic festival in ancient China, providing an opportunity for unmarried men and women to meet.    2    But during the Lantern Festival, it is a tradition that all people? including those young women，come out for lantern shows. People hang lanterns everywhere, in their house or in the streets, which depict various characters, like flying birds, leaping fishes, and shining fireworks, showing an atmosphere of joy.    3    .

Another activity，guessing the answers to lantern riddles，gave young people a chance to interact with each other and know more about each other. For thousands of years, there have been numerous love stories originating during the Lantern Festival.

Besides watching lanterns and guessing the answers to lantern riddles，there are many other traditions for the festival.

1. Dragon lantern dance

    4    At the festival, people perform dragon lantern dances and look forward to this year’s good weather and peace.

2. Lion Dances

It is similar to the dragon lantern dance，delivering good wishes and good luck.

3. Eating yuanxiao

Eating yuanxiao on Lantern Festival is another tradition.    5    The stuffing includes bean paste, sugar，hawthorn various kinds of fruit and so on. It can be boiled, fried or steamed   to eat.

3 . Small talk is a good way to make friends. If you travel to other countries or have friends from abroad, do you know how to use small talk to make conversation?

In Britain, the best topic is the weather. British weather is changing all the time.     1    

Besides weather, it's good to talk about gardens with British. You could say "Those roses look really beautiful, don't they?'*     2     So it's also nice to start with "What a lovely dog! What is his name?”

In America, people like to talk about sports news, such as American football and basketball.     3     So you might say "It's a nice shirt! Where did you get it?" Weather is a safe topic there, too.

    4     Don't ask people "How old are you?" Never ask: "How much money do you make?"It makes people uncomfortable. Don't ask strangers weather they are married.     5     There are others in our daily life.

4 . The holidays can be one of the happiest times of the year. However, all of that holiday happiness comes with high costs. The good news?     1     Here are some ideas to get you started.

♦ Book your flight early and on “off” days.

The price of travel during the holiday season increases. However, strategically (战略性地) booking your flight can help save big on your airfare.     2     For Christmas, aim to fly on Dec. 17 or 18. This might allow you to escape the high fares.

♦ Make DIY gifts that people will actually like.

It’s possible to make gifts that are inexpensive but valuable. Homemade gifts offer a personal touch that a store-bought item can’t.    3     Maybe you have an uncle who loves golf and you love to paint. You could paint him a portrait (画像) of his favourite golf course.

♦    4    

Instead of flying, you can use many other cheaper ways of travelling. One idea is to take a train back to your hometown, which offers both beautiful views and low prices. You can also make friends along the way with other locals who are heading for your hometown !

♦ Find other ways to celebrate.

    5     You can find tree lighting ceremonies, Christmas light displays, free concerts, and perhaps charities where you can donate your time. There’s nothing like volunteering to help you to experience the real meaning of the holiday.

5 . The world is colorful, where different languages, skin colors, and different cultures exist.     1    A way to develop this appreciation is to try to learn about other cultures around the world.

There are several ways to become knowledgeable about different cultures.     2     . Reading works by authors who have a close relationship with a particular culture allows people to gain an accurate understanding of the food, music, language, religion, and way of a life of a particular group of people. For example, when you really wish to expose your students to a different culture, you can often read them stories based on a cultures folktale.

    3    . A variety of language-learning books, software, and audio programs are available at the public library or bookstores.     4    . Moreover, making contact with people who are native speakers of the language also allows you to gain firsthand knowledge of a particular culture, which, on the other hand, can help you learn more.

    5    . Whether you want to learn more about regions in Japan, the Middle East, Africa, or any other world culture, becoming familiar with its food is a giant step in the right direction. Food is an important part of different cultures and allows people to gain insight into a particular cultural group's way of life.

6 . Bank holidays! We all love them!

A bank holiday is an English term for a public holiday. During the day banks and offices are closed and a lot of people have a day off work. In the UK, people only get eight bank holidays in one year.     1    

People in Colombia are much luckier. There are twenty bank holidays for the whole country in one year! And there can be even more, depending on which region(地区) you live in.     2     As in the UK, most of the bank holidays in Colombia exist for religious reasons.

    3     One such example is Independence Day on 20 July every year. This is just like Bastille Day in France on 14 July.     4     It is in memory of the day that Christopher Columbus, first reached America in the year 1492.

Bank holidays are very important for western people.     5     They may also choose to stay at home to relax and forget about work.

7 . Ready to take a gap year？ A "Gap Year" is a period of time when a student takes a break before going to university. It is often spent travelling or working．    1    

Gap years are popular with European and Australian students, but remain less popular in America. However, in recent years, more and more American students are preparing for college by taking a gap year. The advantages of taking a gap year are as follows：

    2    

Although you don't have to go abroad to experience gap years, most gap year students catch the chance to travel abroad. You are able to work out who you are and what you are for. The experiences of different cultures offer you interesting lessons. You can learn more about the world and get to know yourself better．

A gap year is not only a time to take a vacation, but also a time to face challenges. Gap year students usually work, volunteer or take service projects. You have to learn how to get along in the real world. This process isn't always easy, but it is an important part of growing up．    3    

Save money and improve your college admission chances

There's a common thought that gap years are only for rich students, but it's not true. Actually, taking a gap year can save your money. Gap year students often take a part-time job. Besides, at the end of a gap year, students are much more likely to know what to study in college.     4    

    5    Both of them are excellent and have high grades. However, one student has much practical experience or has volunteered in his vacation. Who do you think the admission officer will choose？

8 . Culture means any human behavior that is learned in human society. All of the meaningful parts of a culture are passed on to different generations through tradition or social learning.     1    Culture exists in agricultural as well as industrialized societies.

Culture is necessary for the survival and existence of human beings as human beings. Practically everything humans know, think, value, feel, and do is learned through taking part in a sociocultural system.     2     Here is one of the cases of children growing up apart from human society. In the province of Midnapore in India, the director of a children’s home was told by local villagers that there were “ghosts” in the forest. Upon looking into the case, the director found that two children, one about eight years old and the other about six years old, appeared to have been living with a group of wolves in the forest.     3     In his diary, the director describes his first view of Kamala (as the older child was named) and Amala (the name given to the younger child):

Kamala was a terrible-looking being, the head, a big ball of something covering the shoulders.     4    Their eyes were bright and sharp, unlike human eyes. They were very fond of raw meat and raw milk. Gradually, as they got stronger, they began going on all fours, and afterwards began to run on all fours, just like squirrels.

Children learn human language in the same way they learn other kinds of human behavior--by taking part in a cultural community.     5    .

9 . Taking a vacation is a perfect way to help family members connected with one another, which is especially important when you consider the effects it has on children.

The following will help you   know how to choose the right vacation for bringing your family together.

Making the time

With summer filled with school work there are fewer times available for families to take vacations together.     1     You can get kids excited by packing them up for a fun—filled weekend trip in winter or spring

Choosing the location

The first step you'll want to take is picking a place. There are plenty of choices, but one of the best choices is a place connected to the outdoors.     2     These kinds of activities give your family a sense of accomplishment(成就).

Setting some goals

    3     You should also think about how you want the connection with your family to develop. Vacations are a chance to open up to one another. Spending a few days in the mountains with only your family members can help bring meaningful conversations in a beautiful setting.

    4    

One thing you don't want is your children not getting along well with each other. Often the best solution is to keep your schedule full and include different activities. Perhaps include your children's opinions on what they want to do.

Family vacations can lead to a real turning point for family members providing a memorable experience that also makes everyone happier.     5    

10 . To an outsider，any culture can seem confusing.And the UK's got a thing or two that raises a few eyebrows.However，understand the why and things might be less puzzling.    1    .

In a world where 61％of nations drive on the right，Brits drive on the left.Why? Most people think it goes back to Medieval，maybe even Roman times.    2     when you remember that right-handed people wear a sword on their left hip.Travelling on the left allowed you to   keep your weapon arm toward your opponent，who would be on your right.This practice continued until the 18th century when a law was passed requiring all traffic crossing London Bridge to keep to the left.

Visitors to the UK that have just washed their hands in an old-fashioned sink might be wondering why one tap is only for hot water，the other cold.    3    .So，why this oddity? It relates to a time when hot and cold water were kept separate to prevent pollution.Drinkable cold water came from a mains supply，but hot water came from attic tanks and was not considered suitable for consumption.So they were kept apart.

Millions of people drink tea worldwide，but the odd Brits put milk in theirs.Why? This mysterious practice relates to the quality of china cup used in the 18th century when tea was first imposed.For the majority of Brits，the cups available couldn’t stand the heat of the boiling water and would break，so milk was added first.    4    .And this practical tweak soon became a national habit.

    5    .As you can see，these odd Brits have perfectly clear reasons for left-hand driving，two-tap sinks and tea with milk.Even if they still seem strange，at least now you’re in the know.