1. Mourning to the EarthquakeThe Chinese State Council declared a three-day period of national mourning for the earthquake victims starting from May 19, 2008. The Chinese National Flag and Regional Flags of Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR were raised at half mast. At 14: 28 on ay 19, 2008, a week after the earthquake, the Chinese public observed silence to express mourning; vehicles, vessels, trains, and air-defense alarms sounded, followed by a 3-minute silence. The Ningbo Organizing Committee of Beijing Olympic torch relay announced that the relay will be suspended for these three days. All websites and newspapers printed in black and white on May 19. During three days of national mourning ordered by the government, public entertainment was cancelled. Across the country, sirens and horns wailed; people fell silent. China Central Television darkened its screen. In the headquarters of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games, more than 200 employees gathered in front of their office building, facing southwest, towards Sichuan, in a silent tribute.2. Social InsectSocial insects live in integrated communities which in some ways are similar to human communites. In both types of community there is a division of labour. In insect societies certain insects are responsible for reproduction; the workers collect food while the soldiers defend the colony. In the same way human groups such as farmers and shopkeepers have specialized functions in producing goods and providing services to the community.Insect and human societies are also alike in that individual members of the commmunity work together. Ants coordinate their efforts to build nests. Similarly, in human societies engineers, architects, town planners and construction workers unite to build cities.The nests of social insects are as complex as a man-made city. In some insect nests special accommodation is provided for the young and for food storage. Many nests also have devices for regulating the temperature. So insect nests are as functional as human houses.3. Buckingham HouseBuckingham House was built for the Duke of Buckingham in the 18th century. However, it became a royal residence in 1775 when George III bought it. His son, George IV, began the reconstruction of the house, which was not finished until the time of Queen Victoria who was the first queen to live there. Today, the Queens home is officially called Buckingham Palace, although many Londones still call it Buck House. When the Queen is in residence, a flag called the Royal Standard flies at the top of a pole. The palace is guarded by sentries of the Guards Division. The guards are changed in the morning in the forecourt behind the railings. The ceremony is always very popular with tourists, who take many photographs, mainly because it is so colorful. The new guard marches behind a band and the ceremony usually lasts half an hour.4. DolphinsDolphins are social animals. Many of them even enjoy being around humans. In addition to being playful, they are helpful to men. For example, as early as 400 BC, the Greek poet Aron was saved from drowning by a dolphon. Even since then, dolphins have been helping swimmers who are in trouble. Swimmers, however, are not the only humans they help. In some parts of the world, they help men catch fish.Dolphins are very clever. A dolphins brain is even larger than a human brain. Therefore, some people think a dolphin must be smarter than a man. But of course, brain size is not the only measure of cleverness. Besides, measuring dolphins cleverness in other ways is not possible since men cannot talk with them. But we can almost be sure that dolphins can talk with each other. They make different sounds which seem to be at least a form of language.5. AdvertisingAdvertising has become a very specialized activity in modern times. In the business world of today, supply is usually greater than demand. There is great competition between different manufacuturers 厂商of the same kind of product to persuade customers to buy their particular brands. They always have to remind the customers of the names and qualities of their products. They do this by advertising. The manufacturer advertisers in the newspaper and on posters. He employs attractive sales-girls to distribute分配 samples of their products. Most important of all, in countries that have televisions, he puts advertisements into programmes that will be easy to accept. Manufacturers often spend sums of money on advertisements. We buy a particular product because we think that it is the best. We usually think so because of the advertisements that say so. People never pause to ask themselves if the advertisements are telling the truth.6. Basketball, Baseball and Football in the USBasketball is well-known around the world. The American National Basketball Association tournament has become one of the most popular sports events around the world. Professional basketball games in the Unite