As we all know, kites and kite-flying have a long history in China. A man named Gongshu Ban made the first kite more than 2,000 years ago. In Tang Dynasty, Chinese people started to celebrate the kite festival. But kites are also important in the US.

Kites were important tools in the US. American scientists have used kites for science experiments (实验). Benjamin Franklin, a famous scientist, used a kite to learn about electricity (电) in 1752. The Wright brothers used kites to test their ideas before they built the first airplane in 1903. When other scientists were trying to make a plane fly by itself, the Wright brothers thought people can “drive” a plane on the wind the way we fly a kite.

People in the US also like to fly kites for fun. Kite festivals have been popular at different times of the year. In California, people fly kites that can be bigger than a house. In New Jersey, illuminated kites are sent into the night sky so you can see them from far away even late at night. In the Louisiana Kite Night Flying, you can also see kites with LED lights on them.

The largest kite-flying festival in the US is the Washington State International Kite Festival. This week-long festival takes place each year during the third week of August at Long Beach, Washington. It invites famous kite flyers from around the world to show off their kites. They put on shows that are so fantastic that lots of kite lovers travel from around the world just to watch!

Hello, I’m Sha Yi. Do you like the TV program(节目) Amazing Dinner. It’s an interesting program. In it, my friend Yue Yunpeng and I go to someone’s home and have dinner with the family.

Where are we now? We’re in Charlie’s home. We meet Charlie and his parents here. They’re nice and their rooms are tidy. In the living room, we can see three tennis balls under the table. Charlie says those are his. He likes doing sports and he thinks it’s relaxing. What are those in the bookcase? They’re model planes. Charlie’s father Henry says he likes making models.

After a short talk, Charlie’s mother Annie asks us to dinner. The food looks great! On the table, we can see rice, chicken and some vegetables. After dinner, Annie asks us to eat some fruit. We eat well. Annie says they have these food every day. They want to be healthy.

One day, an American called Jason went to London to visit his friend, David.

David told him that his flat was on the first floor. When he arrived, Jason went straight to the first floor of the building. But he was told that there was no one called David on that floor. Do you know why?

In fact, the British call the first floor of a building the ground floor. The floor above the ground floor is the first floor. But Americans would call it the second floor. The story shows that there are some differences in culture between Britain and America, though both the British and Americans speak English.

The British usually hide their feelings. They seldom start a conversation with strangers. For example, on the train the British often spend their time reading newspapers or books. But Americans are quite different. They’re more active and easier to talk with.

The British and Americans may use different terms for many things. The British usually use “football, eraser and mail”. While Americans like to use “soccer, rubber and post”.

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