For British and American people, birthdays are very special days, especially for children. Parents and family members send cards and give presents. Often, children have birthday parties. They invite their friends, who bring presents to the party. There are games, and prizes, and a birthday “tea” with sandwiches, biscuits, ice cream and a birthday cake. There are small candles on the cake. If the child is four years old, he has four candles. If he is five, he has five candles, and so on. When the little guests leave, they each get a small present and a balloon. Birthdays are special days for older people too. Family members and friends give presents, and send birthday cards. When people meet someone on their birthday, sometimes even at work, they say “Happy birthday!” or “Many happy returns of the day!”(this means “I hope you will live to have many more birthdays.” The most important birthday is the eighteenth. When you are eighteen, you are grown up. You can vote, you can get married, and you can even go to prison! People often have a big party on their eighteenth birthday, and receive a lot of presents. Until a few years ago, the most important birthday was the twenty-first, and some people still wait for their big party until they are twenty –one. Fortieth and seventieth birthdays are also rather special, and in Britain , if you live to be a hundred, the Queen sends you her congratulations.