The warm weather outside may look perfect for outdoor exercise. But for those 【小题1】 are not that sporty， what would be 【小题2】（nice） than having relaxing afternoon tea with a few good friends and taking 【小题3】 break?

But are you familiar with the culture of afternoon tea its origins， what 【小题4】（include）， and the proper etiquette（礼仪）? We sum up a few things you need to know about this traditional English custom so that you can enjoy it more.

While the tradition of 【小题5】（drink） tea dates back to about 3000 BC in China， it was not until the mid-17th century that the concept of “afternoon tea”first 【小题6】（appear） in the UK.

In 1840， Anna Maria Russell， the seventh Duchess of Bedford， started to ask for a tea tray with butter， bread and cakes at 4 pm every day，【小题7】 she found she was hungry at that time every day and the evening meal in her house was served late at 8 pm. She found this new habit difficult 【小题8】（break） and soon invited other ladies to join her.

This pause for tea quickly became a fashionable social event. 【小题9】 the 1880s， the upper class would put on gowns，【小题10】（glove） and hats for their afternoon tea.

The summer solstice (夏至) has been widely recognized as a festival throughout the world.

The word solstice originates (起源) from the Latin sol and sistere, 【小题1】 (mean) “sun-standing”. 【小题2】 the days lengthen, the sun rises higher and higher until it seems to stand still in the sky. It is one of the great turning points of the year, when the sun is at its 【小题3】 (high) point in the sky during a year.

Today, the day is celebrated around the world. In England thousands gather to welcome the sunrise on the summer solstice. Throughout Europe groups light a fire and stay up all night to welcome the dawn. In Paris, the day 【小题4】 (mark) with free concerts during the every year’s Fête de la Musique. When it comes 【小题5】 the U. S., the city of Santa Barbara in California holds the county’s biggest 【小题6】 (celebrate) that lasts a full three-day time. On the East Coast, New York City 【小题7】 (tradition) welcomes the summer solstice with a music concert at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine.

In the southern part of China, eating lychees (荔枝) during the summer solstice 【小题8】 (be) a long tradition because eating lychees will cause less “heat” to the body. There is a saying in Shandong province 【小题9】 goes, “eating dumplings on the winter solstice day and eating 【小题10】 (noodle) on the summer solstice day.”

   A generation of parents raised according to the permissive principles of postwar childcare experts is rediscovering the importance of saying "No" to their children. They are beginning to reclaim the house as their own. Even spanking (打屁股) is back.

While today's parents do not want to return to the Victorian era (时代) — when children were seen, spanked, but not heard — there is a growing acknowledgement that the laissez-faire approach produced a generation of children running rings around puzzled parents struggling to restore order.

Janthea Brigden, a trainer with Parent Network, says: “The problem is that parents don't want all that controlling things. What they want is to be able to discipline (管教) their children through teaching and encouraging."

According to Steve Biddulph, the author of More Secrets of Happy Children, the permissive era was often just an excuse to ignore children. He believes discipline involves firm but friendly teaching and does not need to involve punishment. He teaches a method called "stand and think”, where a child is helped to figure out what is wrong and how to get it right. Mr. Biddulph understands parents using spanking, but lie is against it. "The happiest children are those who know Mum and Dad are in charge. As children grow into their teens, more negotiation can take place, such as: Prove you can be home safely by 1l pm, and we might let you stay out till midnight."

“There is no good evidence that an occasional, properly administered spanking is harmful in any way.”says John Rosemond, an American who has won a huge following by calling for "parent power". It is pure nonsense to believe that restricting children to their room as a punishment could make them have negative feelings about the room and cause sleep problems.

Mr. Rosemond tracks the overturning of traditional family values to the end of the Second World War. He blames the change of the American family into a child-centered, self-respect-oriented (以……为导向) unit on psychologists and social workers, who for 30 years have weakened traditional approaches. Previous generations of American parents raised children not by the book, but by self-evident truth, he says. Children should be seen and not heard. If you make your bed, you'll have to lie in it. He says that those phrases contain time-honored understanding and principles that helped children to develop what we refer to as the "three Rs" of parenting: respect, responsibility and resourcefulness.

   If anyone knows what makes a great children's book，it must be Sussex author and illustrator（插图画家）Jane Hissey. Her "Old Bear" books have achieved classic status in a variety of formats.

I met Jane at her home in the East Sussex countryside and asked her what she thought the secret of a classic children's book was. "That's a difficult one, I suppose it has got to be related to children's stage of development-for young children, pictures on a page that are familiar; for older children, an experience. The book should be familiar, but hold some surprises too to keep the interest. It must inspire and delight them, but there are the things that happen every day."

After the birth of her first child, she gave up teaching and worked on her own artwork, drawing pictures of teddy bears. An editor from a publishing company saw her work and invited Jane to do a children's book. Over the years, from the first "Old Bear" book in 1986, her children have made a huge contribution-especially in terms of plots. She said, "I used to give my children the toys to play with-and they had tea parties and so on. One of my bear characters,' Little Bear', is the same age as Ralph, my youngest, who's seven now. All the children have joined in my work and, in years to come, they will realize how much."

"I hope I'll know when people are getting tired of the characters. If ever they did, I think I'd go on drawing them for fun," Jane continued. "My own children have been very useful to me in my work, but as they are older now, I' ll just have to hope that other people's children can inspire me."