①Welcome to our talk show, Mr. Brown. You are an actor and busy every day. But you try to find much time to exercise. Could you tell us what you usually do in your free time? {#blank#}1{#/blank#} 

②I know you like skateboarding, little John. When did you start it? How often do you go skateboarding? {#blank#}2{#/blank#} 

③I know you don't need to go to work on weekends, sir. How do you usually spend your weekends? {#blank#}3{#/blank#} 

④Fruit, vegetables and milk are good for us. They are healthy. Do you often have them, Miss Yang? {#blank#}4{#/blank#} 

⑤As a waiter, you work at night and sleep in the day. How many hours do you sleep every day, Mr. Green?  {#blank#}5{#/blank#} 

A. I'm busy and tired on weekdays. So I want to relax myself at home on weekends. I like surfing the Internet.

B. I cook at home from Monday to Friday. On weekends, I usually go out to have dinner with my husband and son.

C. Skateboarding is fun. I started to learn to skateboard when I was five years old. Now I go skateboarding four or five times a week.

D. They are really good for us. I eat lots of fruit and vegetables every day. But I hardly drink milk. I think only kids can drink lots of milk.

E. I'm really busy. I have lots of movies and TV plays to make. But I want to keep in good health. So I do some running in my free time.

F. Most of us work and have meals in the day and sleep at night. A night job is different from a day job. I usually sleep for six or seven hours in the day.

    British people pride themselves on their polite manners towards one another in public. They often use the word 'sorry'—even when they don't really mean it! Usually, if they want to ask a stranger for the time, they would start by saying 'Sorry to bother you. Do you know what time it is?' If they're five minutes late for an appointment (约会), they would generally greet the person by saying 'Sorry I'm late!'

    They use the word 'sorry' in so many different situations that the meaning of the word has changed a little over time. The two main dictionary definitions (释义) of 'sorry' are: 1) feeling sad for someone else because of their problems or bad luck; 2) feeling regret because you've done something wrong. Now, think about this. Normally, when they want to ask a stranger a question, they start with 'Sorry to bother you'. In this situation, they aren't saying sorry because they feel sad for that person or because they feel regret.

    So what does 'sorry' really mean? And why do British people use it so much? Well, in the British culture, saying 'sorry' is a way to be polite, especially to people who they don't know very well. It's also a very clever way to get what they want. In a recent experiment, an actor went up to a different strangers on a rainy day to ask if he could use their mobile phones in order to make a call. When he went up to one group of strangers and asked them without saying 'sorry' first, he was only 9 per cent successful in borrowing their phones. However, when he said 'sorry' to another group of strangers about the bad weather before asking if he could use their mobile phones, he was 47 per cent successful. So maybe saying 'sorry' is not just being polite, but it is also a good method to get what they want too!

    Have you ever seen a robin(知更鸟)? Robins have dark heads and red chests.

    A good place to see robins is in your own backyard. Robins don't mind being around people. You may also see robins on lawns(草坪) or in parks. They are looking for worms and bugs to eat.

    Early in spring, robins build their nests(巢). They build them in trees. Robins hide the nests in trees so that they will be safe.

    The nests are made of grass, sticks, and mud. The mud makes everything together. The mother robin lays(产蛋) one egg a day for three or four days. She sits on them to keep them warm. The eggs are blue. After the babies come out, both the mother and father feed the babies. The young birds have spots on their chests.

    Sally was a student. It was going to be her mother's birthday. She wanted to buy her a present that would be nice and useful but not expensive.

    A week before her mother's birthday, she went shopping after a quick and simple lunch. When she had been looking for half an hour, she found a shop that was selling cheap umbrellas, and decided to take a black one, since her mother had lost hers the month before.

    She thought, "You could carry that when you are wearing clothes of any color." So she decided to buy a lovely black umbrella and took it back to the school with her until her classes were over.

    On her way back home in the train that evening she felt hungry because she had such a small lunch that she went along to the dining car for another sandwich and a cup of coffee. She had left the black umbrella above her seat in the compartment(车厢), but when she got back, it had gone! When she had left the compartment, there had been no other passengers (乘客) in it, but now there were three.

    Sally began to cry when she saw that the umbrella was no longer there. The other passengers felt very sorry for her and asked what the matter was. She told them that the black umbrella she had bought for her mother was gone, and that she had to get out at the next station. After the three other passengers heard it, they asked her for her mother's address so that they could send the umbrella to her if someone had taken it by mistake, and brought it back after Sally had got out of the train.

    The next week, Sally heard from her mother. It said, "Thank you very much for your lovely presents, but why did you send me three black umbrellas?"

    What do you think of when talking about India? The Taj Mahal(泰姬陵)? Song and dance? The list goes on and on. India is an interesting and mysterious country with a long history. It is one of the four oldest civilizations(文明) in the world.

    Home to more than 1.2 billion people, India is the country with the second largest population in the world. The country is also the birthplace of many famous people. Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) is a great poet. His poems use fresh and beautiful language to describe nature and his love for India. Many Chinese children learn his works at school.

    Besides, fast economic development is making India a rising power. India is strong in the information technology (IT) industry. By the end of 2012, 2.5 million Indian people were working at its IT companies. One third of them worked in Bangalore. The city is called the Silicon Valley(硅谷) of India. It is the centre of the IT industry in India. IT products from India are common in people's lives. If you buy a computer, some of the software may have been made in India.

    Many young people love Bollywood films. Most of these films tell stories with a happy ending. They have exciting music and dance. Some of the best ones are Slum-dog Millionaire (2008) and 3 idiots (2009). Yoga comes from ancient India. It helps people deal with their stress. It is said that curry was made in India more than 5,000 years ago. Traditional Indian curry is spicy. Indian people usually have curry with rice. Curry soup is also one of their favourites.