When I was about 6, I really wanted a new bike! I told my parents my birthday wish but I knew there was little hope, for my family could hardly afford one.

    On my birthday my parents told me they had my gift outside in the backyard. Immediately I rushed out to the yard. There was my bike, but it wasn't the bike that I thought it would be. This one was pink, old and worn with age. I was so disappointed. I thought I hurt my parents because I could see the disappointment on their faces when they noticed my expression. I got on the old bike and rode it, feeling bad because I had made my parents feel that way. So I put on a smile, rode as fast as I could and didn't look back.

    My parents gave me much more than just a rusty (生锈的) old bike. They gave me a life lesson about love. When you give something out of love, it doesn't matter what it actually is. What matters is the love in it. I like to remember this story because giving a gift is not about money or something else. It's about how much love you can feel from it. Do remember, a gift that costs $2 isn't necessarily any less valuable than one that costs $100 or even more.

    Suppose you are a visitor in the land of Mongolia, some friends ask you to eat with them. What kind of manners do they want you to have? They want you to give a loud burp after you finish eating. Burping would show that you like your food. In some countries, if you give a big burp, you are told to say “Excuse me, please”.

    In many places people like to eat together. But in some parts of Polynesia it is bad manners to be seen eating at all. People show their good manners by turning their backs on others while they eat.

    What are manners like in an East African town? The people try not to see you. They are being polite. You may see a friend. He may not see you at all. If you are polite, you will sit down beside him. You will wait until he finishes what he is doing. Then he will talk to you. Manners are different all over the world. But it is good to know that all manners begin in the same way. People need ways to show that they want to be friends.

    One of the United States' social problems is the breakdown of the two-parent family. Today, millions of American children grow up without fathers. Too often, these children lack the love and help they badly need and which they would ordinarily receive from not one but two parents. In the old days, American parents placed the needs of their children above their own. At present, however, nearly one half of all new marriages end in divorce(离婚), with often troubling results for their children. Worse, every year, thousands of teenage, unmarried Americans become mothers outside marriage. However, Chinese continue to value whole marriages. This is not to say that Chinese marriages are all perfect - they certainly are not, there are increasing more divorces in China - but the willingness of Chinese to set aside their own needs and stay together for the sake of the children is highly respected and worthy of study.

    Families are important to Americans. If one was to ask a group of Americans what is the dearest to them, the majority would say “family”. And yet, so many Americans spend much more time at work- that is, beyond the formal forty-hour work week - than they do with their own families. It seems to me that Chinese generally find a better balance between work and family needs than many Americans do. Average Chinese usually head home right after work，have meals together, and spend time with their family members. What's more, Chinese try to make more time for grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins than many Americans; in many cases, multigenerational families live together. Of course, like many facts of Chinese society, this is all changing; increasing numbers of “New Chinese” are working longer hours and spending less time with their families than ever before. Still, while Americans do value their loved ones, I think we have something to learn from the Chinese about finding the proper balance between work and family.

    Shaking hands, American style

    People often shake hands in the United States. American men shake hands with other men. American women often shake hands with men, and sometimes they shake hands with other women. Adults shake hands with children. And some people even teach their dogs to shake hands! How do they shake hands just long enough? Just hard enough? Here are four little rules to remember.

    ⒈Use your right hand.

    ⒉Use good eye contact(眼神交流). Look at the person in the eye while you are shaking hands.

    ⒊Don't shake too long. Then let go and pull your hand back toward you.

    ⒋ When a handshake is weak, Americans think the person may not be a hard worker or a good leader. When a handshake is too strong, Americans think the person is too rough(粗鲁) or has bad manners.

    They shake hands when they meet for the first time. They shake hands to say congratulations. They shake hands when they meet after not seeing each other for a while. And they often shake hands when they say good-bye. In business, shaking hands shows agreement and honesty.

    Handshakes are good everywhere. So make sure to shake plenty of hands.

A. Offer you hand first.

B. Shake for no more than three seconds.

C. How do people shake hands correctly?

D. Don't shake too strongly or too weakly.

E. It is not polite to refuse a person's hand.

F. When do people in the United States shake hands?

G. Make sure your hands aren't sweaty when you do this.

    If you do not use your arms or your legs for some time, they become weak. When you start using them again, they will slowly become strong again. 1 knows this, and nobody would even2 this fact.

    Yet there are many people who do not 3 to know that memory works in the same way. When someone says that 4 has a good memory, he 5means that he keeps his memory in practice 6 exercising it very 7. When someone says that his memory is 8, he means that he does not give it enough 9 to become strong. The same is true of 10 people, one of11exercises his arms and legs by playing ball, while the other12in a chair or a car all day. If a friend of yours says that his arms are weak, we know that it is his own13. But if he tells us that he has a poor memory,14of us think that he is just 15, and few of us realize that it is just as it was his arms or legs that were weak. Not all of us can become very strong in body or very clever in mind, 16all of us can improve our strength and our memory in the 17 ways that work.

    Have you ever 18 that people who cannot read or write usually have 19memories than those who can? Why is this? Of course, because they cannot write down something in a little notebook or something else. They have to remember names, places, songs and stories; so their memory is always being exercised.

    In a word, if you want to have a good memory, practice20things.

    She is widely seen as example that good looks can last forever. At nearly 500 years of age, time is catching up with the Mona Lisa. The health of the famous picture,  (paint) by Leonardo Da Vinci in 1505, is getting  (bad) by the year, according to the Louvre Museum where it is housed.

    Nearly 6 million people go to see the Mona Lisa every year, many attracted by the mystery of her smile. , the actual history of the Mona Lisa is just as secret as the smile. Da Vinci  (him) loved it so much that he always carried it with him, until it was  (final) sold to France's King Francis I in 1519.

    In 1911, the painting was stolen from the Louvre by a former employee,  took it out of the museum placed under his coat. He said he planned to return it to Italy.  painting was sent back to France two years later.

    During World War II, French  (hide) the painting in small towns to keep it out of the hands of German forces.

    Like many old  (lady), the Mona Lisa has some interesting stories  (tell).

增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。

删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。

修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。

注意：1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词。

2．只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。

    Life is not easy for any of us. We will unavoidably suffered bitterness and sadness from failure. Thus, there is very important for us to have a good mood in our daily life. If you have a good mood, you will be happy with everything in the world. Most important, you will have an optimistic effect at the people around you. We all will live harmonious and happy life. It is good for our health as well.

    However, sometimes when you meet some difficulties, when you quarrel with others, but when you fail in doing nothing, you may have a bad mood. If so, you should get rid of it as soon as possibly. As we all know, every coin has two sides. So you should think more about its bright side. We are sure that everything will be better with time passed by.

Remember: only you can make himself happy.

1）尽力用英语交流，不要怕犯错误。

2）坚持每天早晚朗读英语。

3）多读英文报纸，看英文电影。

注意：1）词数100左右；2）可以适当增加细节，使行文连贯；3）开头和结尾已给出，但不计入总词数。

Dear Xiao Dong,

……

Yours,

Li Hua

    The train was and the was great. We great meals by experts! For the few hundred kilometres of the , the was very colourful. There were and the soil was dark red. After , it was desert. The sun , there was no and there were no clouds in the sky.

    , it looked a place from another time. We abandoned farms were built more than a hundred years ago.