Imagine a perfect day: the weather is good and everything seems fine. When, suddenly, your mobile phone loses its signal, the television has no programmes, and you can’t get online with your computer.

What has happened? These are just the types of problems a solar storm (太阳风暴) might cause. You may not think of storms as putting our society in danger. But today, a solar storm is as serious as other bad events, such as earthquakes.

A solar storm is caused by solar flares (太阳耀斑): large explosions (爆炸) near the Sun that can give off lots of energy. The strong energy can stop the satellite systems (卫星系统) that control our computers, telecom networks and so on. These storms can even cause the power to go out for weeks or months.

Scientists have recorded some of the strongest sun flares in years. One happened around Valentine’s Day, 2011. It caused radio and satellite signals to go down in some northern cities in China.

“Solar flare activity is going to be much worse than what we’ve seen in the past. We’re not talking about a few cities losing power, it could be half of the country, may be more,” SolarStormWarning.com, a US website about space weather, warned.

Scientists say that little can be done to predict such a storm. Governments around the world are trying to work together before the next storm, although they are not sure when that may happen.

Dragons are not real animals, but look like a combination of many animals such as snakes, fish and deer. They have two horns (角) and a long moustache. With fantastic powers, they fly in the sky or swim in the sea. They can make rain, too. The Chinese dragon is a symbol of strength and good luck. The emperors of ancient China loved dragons. Their clothes were covered with pictures of dragons.

We are proud to call ourselves the “descendants of the dragon”. In Chinese, excellent people are often called dragons. A number of Chinese sayings talk about dragons, for example, “Hoping one’s child will become a dragon.”, which means hoping he or she will be successful.

It is said that people born in the Year of the Dragon have certain characteristics. They are creative, confident, brave and quick-tempered. There are also some traditional festivals about dragons in China, such as Dragon Head- Raising Day and Dragon Boat Festival. We have different kinds of activities to celebrate them. These two festivals come every year, but the Year of the Dragon comes every twelve years. The dragon is very important in Chinese culture. As the “descendants of the dragon”, it is necessary for us to know the opinions on dragons in our culture. It can help us understand why our parents always want us to be “dragons”.

①A culture’s two greatest gifts are foods and festivals. They often go hand in hand. In China, moon cakes are eaten for Mid-Autumn Festival. Different kinds of foods are cooked in every culture. When we think of a country, one of the first things we imagine is its food. Follow us around the world to learn more about delicious foods and eating habits.

Italy

②The Italians know how to eat. It is home to the three Ps: pizza, pasta and Parmesan cheese. Italian food writer Marcella Hazan once said Italy has two skills—“the art of cooking, and the art of eating”. So what makes Italian food famous?

③They love fresh food and choose their ingredients (食材) by season. So all year round new flavors (味道) can be seen in the Italian countryside.

Mexico (墨西哥)

④Mexico has a proud food history and has influenced many other countries, especially Spain (西班牙). Mexican dishes have three main ingredients: corn, beans and chili peppers (红胡椒粉).

⑤Corn is used to make tortillas (玉米粉圆饼) and nachos (烤干酪辣味玉米片), which always go with a main dish in Mexico. Dishes are usually very hot and spicy (辣的), as most of them are made with freshly chopped chili peppers. Beans are also an important part of Mexican food culture and are grown to make chocolate. In fact, people loved chocolate so much that it was used in many ancient rituals (古典仪式).

US

⑥The US is home of the hot dog and the place for hot apple pie. It is also the birthplace of fast food culture. The American dinner plate is a mixture of many flavors.

⑦Fast food made eating quick and easy for busy people. However, their big appetite (胃口) has caused big health problems. Eating fast food, along with other unhealthy foods, has caused the US to become one of the most obese (肥胖的) nations in the world.

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