1 . Help Foreign Guests at Formal Dinner

The Spring Festival is coming. The traditional family banquet (宴会) is also coming. You probably have tried many different Chinese dishes. But do you really know how to behave properly at such an important meal?     1     Don’t worry if you are not sure, and here are some tips.

In the West, everyone has their own plate of food or elder people at the table taste every dish first.     2     It is always polite to let guests or elder people at the table taste every dish first.

Don’t put your chopsticks upright in the rice bowl.     3     The reason for this is that when people die, family members give them a bowl of rice with a pair of chopsticks sticking out. So if you stick your chopsticks in the rice bowl, it looks like you want someone at the table to die.

Make sure the spout (壶嘴) of the teapot is not facing anyone as this is impolite. The spout should always be directed to where nobody is sitting, usually just outward from the table.

    4     Beggars (乞丐) are usually seen tapping (轻敲) on their bowls with chopsticks in the street, so tapping on bowls is not polite，especially when you eat in a friend’s home.

Although, teenagers are not supposed to drink any wine, you can still say “Ganbei” and drink to the health of your grandparents and parents.     5    

4 . Music influences your emotions. In turn, your emotions influence your behavior. One of these is your food intake.     1     What does science say about this subject?

Researchers at the University of Arkansas studied how music influences people when they eat in a restaurant. For the study, they used four types of music: jazz, classical, rock, and hip-hop. Their results showed that people had more appetite when they listened to jazz music while they ate.     2     This has a lot to do with emotions. For instance, when you listen to music with harmonic rhythms like jazz, you feel happier. This increases your appetite.

However, another study published in Psychological Reports suggests it isn’t only increased appetite that causes people to eat more.     3     A more stimuli-filled environment makes you eat more. In fact, they tend to urge you on to eat and even “encourage” you to eat faster. On the other hand, if the atmosphere in the restaurant is relaxed, you’re likely to feel more relaxed and spend more time enjoying yourself. For this reason, you’ll tend to eat less.

Besides, the study conducted by the Journal of the Academy suggests that the volume of music can also have an effect on how you eat. More specifically, the study states that, with low-volume music, you eat better because you make healthier choices. On the other hand, the study claims that music at high volume increases stimulation and stress.     4    

For this reason, restaurants should consider the fact when thinking about the optimization of their products and services.     5     They equip themselves with the technology needed to provide memorable experiences through music, greatly strengthening their relationship with the customer.

Shanghai never made anyone     1     (disappoint). Located in the mouth of Yangtze river, with the nickname “Paris of the East” or “Pearl of the Orient”, Shanghai makes     2     (it) a famous place for street food lovers from all over the world. With the mix-culture     3     East and West, Shanghai’s unbeatable and attractive food culture in sweet and oily cuisines is well-known everywhere. While     4     (comfortable) knocking about the street food corner of Nanjing West Road, you just cannot miss a few typical Shanghainese cuisines,     5     are usually served as breakfast for local Shanghainese.

Are you     6     (hunger) and don’t know what to eat? Just 4 pieces of Shanghai pan-fried dumplings can make your stomach feel better after a few hours     7     (wander) in search of food. This tasty dish is usually what Shanghai     8     (cook) are eager for after a long day inside the kitchen. Da Bing in Chinese literally refers to “large pancake”. Not only Da Bing is a popular street food dish     9     it is also a favorite in Chinese restaurants. As one of the Chinese “Four Kings of Breakfast”, Da Bing is a perfect substitute for rice at any meal and can     10     (eat) as snack at different times of the day.

8 . Superman，the first American superhero，appeared in 1938 with his cape (斗篷) and an “S” on his chest. Shortly after his appearance in comics, moviemakers began trying to bring superheroes to the big screen. In the early 1940s, they made their first attempts to bring comic books to life.    1    Instead, they were made as 5 to 10 minutes episodes that would play at movie theaters before the main feature. Unlike today’s superhero films, these serials were aimed mainly at children.

This pattern changed in 1978 when Richard Donner made his first Superman film. First of all, it was aimed at an adult audience.    2    Second, the film's special effects were very sophisticated（复杂的）for that time. Finally, the Superman film was a departure from earlier superhero films in that it used talented and famous Hollywood actors.     3    

Yet another revolution in superhero movies came in the 1990’s and 2000’s, when Computer-Generated Image technology made it possible to recreate even more fantastic landscapes and more monstrous（可怕的）creatures.    4    These films were similar to Donners Superman in that they targeted an adult audience Watchmen (2009), for instance, was released with an R rating, meaning that it was not intended for children under the age of 17.

    5    Their success at the box office continues to attract big-name Hollywood actors and directors and higher production budgets, so lovers of action and adventure should have plenty of reasons to go to the movies for years to come.

10 . In the foot hills of Chianti Classico in central Italy, Elena Lapini and her husband make their way down neat rows of grapevines and inspect their fruit. The grapes are ripening too fast under the hot sun. Too much bronzing on the vine, they will wither into raisins (葡萄干), turning the wine into a sour, unpleasant blend. Getting the harvest date right is crucial for this reason, but climate change is making it increasingly hard.

An analysis of harvest dates going back to 1354 in France found that air temperatures have increased so much that grapes are now harvested two weeks earlier than in medieval times. Elizabeth Wolkovich, a biologist researching the impact of climate change on vine yards, says rising temperatures are changing the taste of wine itself.

For some cooler regions, warming conditions have allowed winemakers to grow more flavorful berries and enjoy longer growing seasons. Germany, best known for its Riesling white wines, has become more favorable to heat-loving grapes. Parts of Britain where it rains frequently now have the perfect climate to make sparkling wines, giving British bubbly from Kent and Sussex a fair fight against French champagne. But in warmer places like France, Italy and Spain ripening grapes at a higher temperature means more sugar and less acid in the berry, making high-alcohol, honey-like wines.

Climate change is also threatening the world's wine supply. In April producers in Italy and France found themselves lighting thousands of bucket-sized candles to warm the air against a killer frost that threatened to destroy buds emerging with the first warm spells of spring. In some regions the frost wiped out 90% of the crop, resulting in an estimated €2bn loss, French officials described it as “probably the greatest agricultural catastrophe at the beginning of the 21st century”.