Tea is tasty and good for you. It is also one of the most popular drinks around the world. But what is tea? And why is it so popular?

    All tea comes from tea leaves but tea is not always the same. There are many kinds of tea. You can drink black tea, green tea, white tea or fruit tea. Each type of tea has a different taste and a different colour.

    The history of tea begins in Asia. In China, Korea and Japan, tea is still very important today. In Japan, it can take many hours to prepare and drink tea with your guests. In Malaysia, a popular drink at breakfast is teh tarik ('pulled tea'). Malaysians say it is good for you and tastes good with canai bread.

    Tourists in Kuala Lumpur like watching the tea sellers make ‘pulled tea'. The tea sellers pour hot water on black tea. After five minutes, they add sugar and milk. Then they 'pull' the tea—they pour the tea from one cup to another many times.

In many countries, you must have a special kettle to make tea. People in different countries also like to add different things to their tea. For example, Russians use a special kettle called a samovar. They like drinking tea with lemon. Sometimes, they also drink tea with some sugar or jam.

    In Turkey, tea comes in a Caydanlik. A Caydanlik has two kettles: one for the water and one for the tea. Drink Turkish tea with some sugar.

    Arab tea, called karak, has cardamom, ginger, milk and sugar. In the United Kingdom, they add some milk and sugar.

    The British usually eat biscuits with their tea. In Japan, they like…

    Happy, Happy Chinese New Year by Demi Hitz

    In a book that is itself a celebration, Demi explains the ideas behind the Chinese New Year festival. The last 15 days of the old year are spent cleaning and preparing （Wash your hair and get a new haircut. Pay the debts that you owe and collect what is owed to you!）.On the eve of the new moon, a special feast is prepared…The first 15 days of the New Year are spent celebrating with lion dances, firecrackers, and other activities.

    Demi has long been interested in Eastern art and philosophy, which inspired her to create this book about the Chinese New Year celebration. She has written and illustrated more than 20 books for children, including The Empty Pot, Gandhi, and Kites：Magic Wishes that Fly Up to the Sky.

    Chinese New Year for Kids by Cindy Roberts

    Chinese New Year for Kids is a full color book with beautiful, Chinese illustrations. This is a hands-on workbook for parents and teachers, written for children from ages 3 to 12 years old, for use in the classroom or at home. Children will enjoy the Chinese New Year party ideas, dragon dances, lion dances, art projects, and Chinese games.

    The art projects for Chinese New Year are designed to be easy, as well as inexpensive to reproduce for large groups. All the activities in this book have been tested in the classroom, with very successful results, and have caused lots of enthusiasm from children and teachers alike. Music, physical movement, art, and food all add to the ambiance of taking an imaginary trip to China during the Chinese New Year.

    Robert likes to take a walk in the park after work. One day when he was walking in the park, he heard a woman calling his name. He stopped to look around, but didn't see anything except a little snake. Shortly after Robert saw it, it was gone.

    Though Robert felt a little strange, he did not think about it too much and sat down for a rest on a bench in the park. Then he noticed the snake he had just seen climbing up the bench. Robert was too afraid to move away from the bench. Right at this moment, a woman behind him shouted, "Come here, Robert. You can't stay on the bench like that. People will be scared by you."

    In surprise, Robert turned around and said to the woman." Excuse me, but that's not a very nice thing to say, and in fact some people say I'm handsome."

    "I'm not talking to you, "said the woman." I'm telling Robert, my pet snake, to get down from the bench, not you."

    You must be told many times about the four historical stories. However, have you learned anything different about them in history classes?

    George Washington lost his first adult tooth at the age of 22. When he became the first American president, he only had one real tooth left. All his other teeth were made of wood.

    Everyone knows that in 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed from Spain to prove (证明) that the Earth was round. However, the truth was that Columbus didn't think the world was round at first.

    Many of us believe that Isaac Newton was hit on the head by an apple and he had the idea about gravity (引力). In fact, he was never hit on the head by an apple. The story by Voltaire didn't appear until the year Newton died. Newton's story is interesting, but it isn't true.

    Besides being one of the greatest people in history, Napoleon Bonaparte is remembered as a tiny man. And thanks to a famous painting by Louis David, people think he always had his hands hidden in his coat. But in fact, his height was about l.7 meters. It is very normal even at present.

    Of course, sometimes it's difficult to tell whether some historical stories are true or not. However, most of them can bring us much fun and teach us a lot.

    An English traveller found himself in Norway with only enough money to buy the ticket for his journey back home. As he knew that it would take him only two days to get to England, he decided that he could easily spend the time without food. So he bought a ticket and got on the ship. The man closed his ears to the sound of the lunch bell. When dinner time came, he didn't go to the dining room, saying that he was not feeling very well.

    The next morning, he still didn't have breakfast and at lunch time he again stayed in his room. But at dinner time he was so hungry that he went to the dining room and ate everything the waiter put in front of him. He got ready for the quarrel(争吵).

     “Bring me the bill,” he said. “The bill, sir?” said the waiter in surprise. “There isn't any bill. On our ship meals are included(包括)in the money for the ticket,'' said the waiter.

    My grandfather was a teacher. He was the head teacher of a school for boys between the ages of thirteen and eighteen. I know that he was a kind and gentle(温柔的)man at heart, because when I was young, he gave me presents, and sat me on his knees(膝盖), and told me stories. But I believe the boys at his school were afraid of him.

    At school, when he walked into a room full of noisy (少闹的)boys, there was silence(安静)at once. When he looked at a boy with a certain look in his eyes, that boy went red in the face, and looked down at his shoes. If a boy brought him poor, careless work, the work that was not the best that boy could do, my grandfather picked up the boy's work and threw it across the room, shouting,” Do it all again, and bring it back first thing in the morning!” If the boy was late, or if he forgot to bring the work, he had to do it again, and again, and yet again. My grandfather never forgot. He was a very different man at school, from the man I saw day by day in his own home.

    Jessie felt her life so boring one summer day. She was tired of watching TV. She read all her books, and her friends were on vacation. She wanted something different to do, Suddenly, she saw the lawn mower(草机)sitting in the yard.

“Mom,” she shouted, ”I think I will mow the lawn.” Her mom ran into the yard and said,” Oh no, you don't. You're too young to mow the lawn.

“I'm fourteen years old and know how to do it,” Jessie said. ”Besides, it would help Dad out, and he won't have to worry about it over the weekend.

    Mom thought for a while and then decided to let Jessie give it a try. After all, she was home and would keep an eye on her. Jessie already knew how to start the lawn mower from watching her dad. Jessie checked the gas(汽油)to make sure it was full, and put on her gardening gloves to protect her hands. Mom watched from the kitchen window. Jessie really did know how to mow the lawn. She was very careful around the flowers and trees. When she finished, she felt so good, but she was so hot. Mom brought her some ice tea and said, “You sure did a great job. Dad will be very surprised. ”

    Later that day, Dad came home and said to Jessie's mom,” You didn't have to mow the lawn. I was going to do it on Saturday, It looks great. Thanks. ”

    “I didn't mow it. Jessie did, ''

    “Wow, our little girl is growing up!” Dad told Jessie what a great job she had done.

    “It was fun, and I will do it again next week,” said Jessie.

    The neighbour next door came by and asked Jessie if she wanted to mow his lawn and make some money. “Sure!” said Jessie. Jessie began mowing his lawn. Two other neighbours asked so, then another three. Jessie was now mowing lawns for them all and making some money. She was no longer bored! “I won't have time to spend my money,” she laughed to herself.

    Four years ago, Chinese skater Wu Dajing introduced himself to the skating world by winning a silver medal (银牌) at the Sochi Olympic Winter Games. At this year's Pyeong Chang Olympics, Wu not only returned, but also made history.

    On Feb 22th, 2018, Wu won the gold medal in the men's short-track 500-meter race. He set a new world record with a time of 39.584 seconds. He also became the first Chinese man to take home an Olympic short-track gold medal. BBC said Wu's win was "flawless" because he was much faster than all of the other skaters.

    "I didn't give them a chance and I kept my speed from the start," he told the reporter after the match.

    But China's short-track teams didn't do well in general (总体上) at the Games. Chinese skaters in the women's 500 meters, 3000-meter relay and men's 1500 meters all failed to take home the gold. Wu was China's biggest hope, which put a lot of pressure on him. But he proved (证明) himself with his great performance.

    Wu is now known as a highly talented skater. But things were not always that way. When Wu joined the national team in 2010, he was seen as almost "nothing" compared to talented skaters like Zhou Yang and Fan Kexin, as his coaches (教练) said at the time Their words made him quite upset. But Wu didn't want to give up and worked as hard as he could. He practiced skating all year round. He even didn't return to his hometown for the holidays for 10 years. "I believe in myself," he told the reporter after his match at the Olympics.

    Bruce and his other two friends, Bruno and Dick lived in the same city in England. They were free in their summer vacation. So they came to a village by a big lake(湖). They liked fishing very much. Then the next day after they got there, they got to a boat and went fishing in the lake. They boated farther and farther. They came to an out-of-way place. They were very happy because there were a lot of fish. When it was time for them to go home, Bruce said to his friends: "We'd better make a mark(作记号) here so that we will easily find the place tomorrow."

    "You're right." Bruno said happily ."Let me do that."

    "How foolish," said Bruce. "If it rains tonight, the rain water will wash the line off, and how can we find the mark tomorrow. You must cut a line with your knife."

    Dick came up to them and said angrily. " Neither of you is clever. How can we find the place if we have another boat tomorrow? We should not go back tonight."

    Bath, 97 miles west of London, is the largest city in Somerset, England.  It became a World Heritage Site in 1987.

    The city got its name from the Roman Baths, which was a place for public bathing in Roman Britain. The water there is naturally heated under the ground. Today visitors are no longer allowed to enter the water. However, the exhibitions there will tell you the history of the Roman Baths. You can see many ancient Roman objects, including the coins that were thrown into the water to show respect to the goddess.

    Looking over the city, you will see many old buildings in the colour of honey. Among them, the Royal Crescent and the Circus are the most famous. The Royal Crescent is a row of 30 houses in the shape of crescent. The Circus is about 200 metres to the east of the Royal Crescent. It is a huge circle formed with large townhouses. It is divided into three parts of the same length by three entrances with a lawn in the centre. When visiting Bath, you can't miss these two sites.

    The museums in the city are also popular. You can go and appreciate western paintings. If you are interested in the English writer Jane Austen, you can go to Jane Austen Centre to know more about her life with her father in Bath, if you come in October, you can even take part in the bath film Festival.