【正文】 AA simple flower made headlines in the British press last week. How could that be?British Prime Minister David Cameron and his ministers were attending a reception hosted by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. They insisted on wearing poppies(罌粟花) in their buttonholes. What’s wrong with that?According to the Global Times, Chinese officials apparently had asked the UK delegation （代表團）not to wear poppies. The British said that poppies meant a great deal to them on that day and they would wear them all the same. So what’s the significance of the poppy? It’s a flower which has different cultural and symbolic meanings for British and Chinese people.From the Chinese point of view, the poppy is a symbol of China’s humiliation at the hands of European powers in the Opium Wars（鴉片戰(zhàn)爭） of the 19th century. Britain forced China to open the borders to trade – including in the opium – which was made from poppies grown in India.Yet from the British viewpoint the poppy is a reminder of the killing during World War I. Red poppies grew on the battlefields of Flanders in Belgium where many thousands of British soldiers died or were buried. Since then, Poppy Day (November 11) has bee a time in the UK to wear poppies and remember the sacrifices of British soldiers and civilians in times of war. So you can see that the poppy sets off strong feelings in the hearts of Chinese and British people for different reasons. And it makes sense for us to try to understand each other’s standpoint.Of course cultural differences can also be interesting and funny. And what one nation thinks is an acceptable gift may be viewed differently by their guests from overseas. US President Barack Obama gave a gift of an iPod to Britain’s Queen – a dull person with no interest in music. Obama also presented Gordon Brown with a fine selection of American movies. But they were in US format and impossible to play on British DVD players. Many countries have diplomats stationed overseas. Diplomats provide information and advice to their governments back home. However, sometimes it would seem that even diplomats can overlook the cultural significance of a small flower. 1. British Prime Minister David Cameron probably attended a reception in Beijing on __________.A. October 1 B. November 11 C. December 31 D. January 112. The poppy reminds the Chinese of __________.A. the shame caused by European countries in the 19th centuryB. the British soldiers who were killed and buried during World War IC. the Chinese soldiers killed during World War IID. the suffering caused by Britain during World War I3. The diplomatic problem in Beijing is mainly caused by __________.A. the translation mistake B. the language difference C. the cultural difference D. the different lifestyle4. We can infer that __________.A. Britain’s Queen is not interested in artB. Gordon Brown was fond of American movies US President Barack Obama sent himC. US President Barack Obama received a gift for musicD. Britain’s Queen may not like the iPod US President Obama presented her5. What is the main idea of the 9th paragraph?A. Cultural differences can also be interesting and funnyB. Cultural differences can cause a big problemC. US President Barack Obama likes to present gifts to other leadersD. US leaders and British leaders get along well with each otherBMany parents have learned the hard way that what sounds like open munication is often the very thing that closes a youngster’s ears and mouth. One mon mistake is the Lecture, the long monologue that often starts with “When I was your age….” Eighteenyearold Kelly calls lectures “l(fā)ong, oneside discussions in which I don’t say much.”Kids reflexively（條件反射地） shut down in the face of a lecture. Their eyes glaze over（呆滯）, and they don’t register any ining information. Listen to 13yearold Sarah describe her least favorite times with her mom and dad. “First, they scream. Then es the ‘We’re so disappointed’ speech. Then the ‘I never did that to my parents’ lecture begins. After that, even if they realize how ridiculous they sound, they never take it back.”Lines like “When you have children of your own, you’ll understand” have been seriously said by parents since time immemorial. But many of our expert parents, like Bobby, a registered nurse and mother of three, feel that by falling back on clich233。AHow often do you travel by plane?How much electricity do you use? These days everyone is worried about the size of their carbon footprint．In order to reduce global warming we need to make our carbon footprints smaller．But how much CO2 are we responsible for?A new book by Mike Berners Lee （a leading expert in carbon footprint） might be able to help．How bad are bananas? The Carbon Footprint of Everything looks at the different things we do and buy, and calculates the amount of CO2 all of the following created: the ingredients, the electricity used in the brewery, the equipment, the travel and muting of the beer, and the packaging．It’s amazing how many different things need to be included in each calculation．And it’s frightening how much carbon dioxide everything produces．But all of this can help us decide which beer to drink．From BernersLee’s calculations, it’s clear that a pint （568ml） of locallybrewed beer has a smaller carbon footprint than a bottle of imported beer．This is because the imported beer has been transported from far away, and it uses more packaging．The local beer only produces 300g of CO2, but the imported beer produces 900g! So, one pint of local beer is better for the environment than three cans of cheap foreign lager from the supermarket．BernersLee has even calculated the carbon footprint of cycling to work．Nothing is more environmentallyfriendly than riding a bike, surely? Well, it depends on what you’ve had to eat before．To ride a bike we need energy and for energy we need food．So if we e