American children like to c【小题1】 their birthdays with a party. They ask their friends to their parties. Many children like two kinds of parties. One is at home. Parents decorate (装饰) the house and make a 【小题2】 birthday dinner. The children play games and eat d【小题3】 food together. The other is a【小题4】 from home. Some are at a restaurant. The waiters also sing and s【小题5】 happy birthday to the children. Some are at a park, at a cinema, o【小题6】 in some other places. The children eat cakes and ice cream. Many people don’t have birthday parties when they are g【小题7】 old. Because they don’t want to r【小题8】 how old they are .

For me, I love reading the birthday cards. I like all the beautiful words on the cards. I think they are good birthday p【小题9】. Every year I a【小题10】 have a great time on my birthday party!

Many people think pizza comes from America, but some people think pizza is 【小题1】 (tradition) Italian food. In fact, pizza has a long history. The ancient Greeks first had the idea of putting vegetables on 【小题2】 (piece) of bread. Then people found “pizza ovens” in Roman cities.

Raffaele Esposito, a baker from Naples, didn’t begin to serve the first modern pizza until the 19th century. It was one day in the autumn in 1889. This baker went to Italy as a 【小题3】 (travel).

The Italian King and Queen asked him 【小题4】 (make) pizza. That was when the first pizza Margherita was made. It was named after the Queen. Pizza became a favorite dish in Italy. People often saw it on people’s 【小题5】 (plate). Parents often 【小题6】 (full) their children’s lunch boxes with pizza. But 【小题7】 (final) pizza really became an international dish after the Second World War.

English and Chinese are totally different language. However, some proverbs (谚语) in English seem to have a “twin” in Chinese. Here are three of them.

Double-edged sword (双刃剑). / Water can carry a boat, and it can also overturn it.

The Chinese proverb was 【小题1】(one) used by Confucius. He reminded a ruler that his power was 【小题2】 (base) on people who supported him. If the people were dissatisfied, they could easily fight 【小题3】 the ruler. Similarly, double-edged sword reminds us that what brings us power can bring us harm, too.

These days, both expressions are used to point out how our tools can 【小题4】 help or harm us. It all depends on how we use these tools.

Think before you act. / Think three times, and act after.

Both cultures are 【小题5】 /waɪz/ enough to include this proverb. It is a good phrase to use when any friend is going to make a big 【小题6】(decide).

Stands head and shoulders above the rest. / A crane standing among a group of chickens.

A crane is a large 【小题7】/bɜː(r)d/ with long legs and a long neck. Just imagine such an animal 【小题8】(stand) among many chickens. The crane will naturally stand out, won’t it?

So these two expressions now 【小题9】/rɪˈfɜː(r)/ to someone who stands out from the rest. You may use them to describe 【小题10】 talented artist, an excellent job candidate, and so on.