Dear Mike，

      I'm so glad you're coming to China! Your mother，our foreign English teacher，told me you're worried about what you should and shouldn't do as a guest in China．Here's some advice．You will probably be invited to a big meal. You may find it earlier than you expect because Chinese people eat dinner much earlier than people in the West．There will be a lot of different dishes，not just three courses．You may find it difficult to use chopsticks if you haven't tried before．It's a good idea to get some practice．When the food is served，you should take time to look at it. The preparation takes a long time and everything will look beautiful．The plates will be placed in the middle of the table，for everyone to share．Take a little of everything and then have some more of the things you like．Chinese people like to talk about food，so it's a good topic of conversation．At the end of the meal，you will usually be served with fruit．Eat your fruit，thank your friends， and go．

      I hope this is helpful．E-mail me if you have any other questions． 

                                                                                                                              Yours，

                                                                                                                                   David Zhang

    Though chopsticks are used in many Asian countries, they have their beginning in China. Chinese history says that the Chinese had chopsticks as far as the Xia Dynasty(朝代)(about 4, 00 years ago). In the Spring and Autumn Period(时期) copper and iron chopsticks appeared. With the Han Dynasty lacquered(上漆) chopsticks came, followed by gold and silver chopsticks still later. Today we have chopsticks made of plastics. The most expensive are made of part of tusks of elephants and hard green stone.

    Chopsticks tell Chinese tradition in their way. In ancient (古代的) times the rich used hard green stone or gold chop-sticks to show their wealth(富有). In history many kings used silver chopsticks to take their food to see if it was poisonous(有毒的). It was said that if it was, the silver chopsticks would turn colour. Chopsticks are traditionally given to a daughter when she marries to show that they should have a son very soon, for “Chopsticks” in Chinese is pronounced like “quick a son”!

    Tianzhu chopsticks from Hangzhou, wooden chopsticks from Shanyang of Shanxi Province, and Beijing's chopsticks are well-known.

    Many westerners, businessmen, tourists put aside(一边) their knives and forks in favour(爱好) of chopsticks in China. Chopsticks appeared in the old Chinese story: an old man teaches his sons a lesson by showing how he could easily break a single chopstick but not a number of them. In China, chopsticks are connected with good luck. So on the country's New Year's Eve many families will lay out new chopsticks at dinners as a way of making requests for luck.

    “No man is an island” is a well-known line from John Donne's Devotion， written more than three hundred years ago. Even now people still agree with him. No one can live a completely isolated life. Without other people， life became empty and sad. We all need friends.

    For some of us， though making friends is not difficult， feeling shy， we may not want to make the first move. It is also difficult at times to keep the friends we already have.

    There are many books about friendship， but Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence (影响) People， written in 1936， is the most famous. This “how to” book about getting along with other people became a best-seller. It was later put into 28 languages.

    Dale Carnegie's advice (劝告) seems to be simple， but can his advice help you? Do you need to change the way you act? Here is the list of advice from his book.

1)Be friendly and polite.

    Always greet with a smile. Begin with “excuse me” or “would you please”， when you want to ask somebody. Remember to say “thank you” and try to be as helpful as you can.

2)Go out of your way to be nice.

Find some time to do special things for other people. Making some soup for a sick neighbour may seem like a little thing to you， but it will make your neighbour feel a lot better.

3)Remember names.

    They say that the sweetest music to a person's ears is the sound of his or her own name.

4)Be open-minded.

    Try to understand other people's ways and ideas and learn something from them.

5)Listen patiently.

    When someone is talking to you， look at him or her， listen carefully and say something when necessary.

    In November 1979, pupils in England were able to watch a new TV program called Monkey. Most of them were hearing this story for the first time. However, this story is not new to Chinese children. The Monkey King or Sun Wu Kong is the main character in the traditional Chinese book Journey to the West.

    The Monkey King is not just any normal monkey. In fact, he sometimes does not even look like a monkey! This is because he can make 72 changes to his shape and size, turning himself into different animals and objects. But unless he can hide his tail, he cannot turn himself into a man （汉译英）.To fight bad people, the Monkey King uses a magic sticks. Sometimes he can make the stick so small that he can keep it in his ear. at other times, he is able to make it big and long.

    The Monkey King has excited the children of China for many years. And as soon as the TV program came out more than 30 years ago, western children became interested in reading this story because the clever Monkey King keeps fighting to help the weak and never gives up.

A

    Come to Austria!

    Soll is a village in the mountains in western Austria.The Post Hotel, opened by a local family, is clean and not expensive.From the hotel you can see the whole village, the forests and the mountains.The temperature in summer is usually between 20℃ and 25℃ in the daytime, but much cooler at night.

    Enjoy Thailand!

    When you visit Bangkok(曼谷) in Thailand, do not miss the early morning riverboat trip to the Floating(漂浮的) Market just outside the city.There you will find many kinds of fruits and vegetables.And you can pay for them when you sit in your boat.Don't forget your hat and sunglasses: the sun can be strong and it may be as hot as 40℃ at noon!

    Visit Hawaii!

    Maybe the most beautiful place in Hawaii is Kauai.You can visit its long, sandy beaches in the south and west of the island, and mountains and forests in the north, but be  careful: there are many mosquitoes(蚊子), and don't be surprised if it rains in the center of the island.The daytime temperature there is usually between 24℃ and 26℃ by the sea，and it is only a little cooler in the late evening.

    Almost every child likes sweet things, such as candies, chocolate, ice cream and desserts. But do you know there is a holiday called Sweetest Day in the USA? Does it mean people can eat lots of sweet on that day?

    Sweetest Day is a popular holiday for Americans. People celebrate it on the third Saturday in October. On that day, people show their love to the elderly, children, their good friends or anyone else they want to help. Orphans(孤儿) and patients can also enjoy people's greetings. In fact, anyone may get a gift on that day. It's just a day that offers people a chance to show their love and care to others.

    How did the holiday originate? Here is a story. In 1922, a very kind man in Cleverland, a city in Ohio of America, thought that many poor people in the city needed care from others. He wanted them to be happy and he hoped they would find people always remembered them and cared about them. So he gave them boxes of sweets or small gifts to show his love. He also asked his friends and neighbors to help him do these things. Many people thought it was a great idea. After that, more and more people in Cleverland began to do things like him every year. Gradually(逐渐地) it became a popular holiday for lots of Americans.