When you go to an American's house for dinner, there are some table manners(餐桌礼仪)you should know.

    ⒈Don't talk too loudly at the table.

    ⒉Never talk on the phone at table.

    ⒊Eat soup quietly and with the side of the spoon(勺子).

    ⒋Break your bread; don't cut it.

    ⒌Don't eat food with your fingers unless(除非)it is finger food like bread, pizza and so on.

    ⒍Don't play with food or table utensils(用具).

    ⒎Don't put your elbows(肘)on the table.

    ⒏Keep the napkin(餐巾)on the lap(膝盖).

    ⒐Never ask a doggy bag(打包袋)when having a formal(正式的)dinner.

    ⒑It's OK not to finish all the food on your plate.

    Follow the rules and you will have a great time enjoying your dinner.

    On Saturdays, most people are busy ______ for their homes. Some of them go to the stores, some go to the supermarkets. But in America, most shoppers enjoy shopping in the shopping malls.

    A mall is a group of many shops. There you can buy clothes, furniture, and everything you need. Shopping malls provide parking for your cars. Usually, the mall is under one roof so the shoppers do not get cold or wet from rain, wind, or snow.

    After shopping, you may get tired. You can walk into the sitting-rooms for a short rest. If you can go into the dining rooms in the malls, then you can have a good meal. Now more and more Americans like to go shopping there.

    The British government has started a ￡ 10 million Mandarin Excellence (普通话优秀) Program. The program will have helped over 5,000 British students to be fluent (流利的) in Mandarin Chinese by 2020.

    The program is led by local schools and supported (支持) by University College London. So far, 14 schools have taken part in the program. Hundreds of secondary school students in England have taken lessons in Mandarin Chinese. Over the next three years, they will spend eight hours studying Mandarin Chinese every week.

    Ned Miller is an officer of the British government. He said a high level of fluency in Mandarin Chinese would become more and more important. "Language skills are important for jobs and life. Mandarin Chinese is spoken by the largest number of people in the world. It is also one of the languages that matters the most to our country's future. If the United Kingdom wants to remain competitive in the world, we do need far more of our young people leaving school with a good command of Mandarin Chinese," Miller added. "We hope that our young people could be given the chance to study the language. We want them to be fluent in both spoken and written Mandarin. The Mandarin Excellence Program will help us do this. It will not only open the students' eyes, but also give them a great advantage when they enter the world of work."

    British kids, in fact, are not alone. In America, about 200,000 students are studying Mandarin Chinese. It is believed that 800,000 more will join them over the next couple of years.

    Today, with the development of society, people all over the world almost have the same hobbies That is to say, we are not very different in some way. However, cultures are still quite different. In the East and in the West, social rules are not the same.

    In the East, it takes a long time to become someone's friend. People are very close to their friends. When people from the West meet you, they will call you a friend right away. That doesn't mean they are close to you.

    When people from the East meet you, they want to know about your age, your salary (薪水) and whether you are married or not. For people from the West, these are not polite questions. They think such kind of questions violates their privacy (隐私).

    Family is important for everyone. However, in the East, kids live with their parents for a long time. They still listen to them after they grow up.

    In the West, independence is very important. After their kids grow up, they leave home. They don't have to listen to their parents.

    In the East and in the West, people think differently, too. People in the West think less and act more. In the East, people notice relationships between things, and they often keep their opinions quiet.