Birthdays are strange things. The more you have, the more you try and pretend they don't matter, and the more {#blank#}1{#/blank#} . I'm not really sure why they think so. It's true that you are getting older, but as {#blank#}2{#/blank#} , “Who isn't getting older every day?” The problem may be that a birthday reminds people of all the things {#blank#}3{#/blank#} , but have not. I certainly understand that feeling, though I think {#blank#}4{#/blank#} that I most want to do — a kind of personal re-ordering (重新排序) of the to-do list. What makes you depressed(郁闷) on your birthday is that you realize your re-ordered to-do list is exactly the same as it was last year. That makes you feel{#blank#}5{#/blank#} , and not been anywhere. I have not had that experience this year. I look back at where I was last year and find things have changed since then.

    Mr. and Mrs. Smith have just opened a small restaurant. In order to attract customers, they put a notice in front of the restaurant, which said “Meals on the House for Three Days.”

{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

A.  He walked towards the restaurant and saw the notice. “American people are really strange. They even eat dinners on the house! But how can I get up to the top of the house? ” he said to himself.

B. “Doesn't your notice say ‘Meals on the House for Three Days'? Is it just a joke?” the foreign student answered.

C.  When they heard this, both Mr. Smith and the policeman laughed. “Don't you know what ON THE HOUSE means? Look it up in the dictionary.” the policeman said.

D. A foreign student who didn't know much English happened to pass by the restaurant on the second day. It was lunch time and he felt very hungry. “Well, here is a restaurant. I am going to have something to eat.”

E.  He looked around and found a ladder against a tree nearby. He was very glad. But as he reached the top he heard someone shouting at him, “Hey, what are you doing up there?” Mr. Smith was looking at him angrily and beside him was a policeman.

    The Lily Pad Inn is just a short 5-minute walk away from the center of town. The inn is in a large private(私人的) home with a nice garden. The rooms are clean and prepared for rent by the month, week or day. Great scenery can be enjoyed from our rooftop (屋顶): Erhai Lake and Cang Mountain.

◆Stay connected with excellent Internet access(接入), printing service included.

◆Enjoy hot water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

◆Ticket service, laundry service and rental(供出租的) bicycles are offered.

◆Enjoy an interesting garden party and make friends with people from different countries.

Prices for Quiet and Clean Accommodations(住处)

(Short/ Long Term Stay)

Lovely Erin, the English-speaking Chinese owner and hostess, will help make your stay in Dali pleasant.

Mobile phone number: +86 13988569807

Office number: +86 0872 2677807

Email: Chinaerin@yahoo.cn or Chinaerin@hotmail.com

Website: www.chinaerin.spaces.live.com

B

    Charles Lane loves playing all kinds of games．He has loved games all his life．He has always been interested in computers，too．Today, his love of games and his interest in computers come together in his work．Charles works for a company (公司)that makes video games．

    Charles never dreamed of working in a video game company．“It all started by accident(偶然)，”he said．“One of my friends worked for a video game company．He knew how much I loved games，and he told me about a job．It sounded like fun．”It was a job as a video game tester．

    When a video game company has a new game，they give it to testers．Testers play the game and look for bugs(程序错误)in it．The company wants to find and fix all the bugs before they sell the game．

    Video game testers need to have good computer skills．They need to understand how computers work．Charles did not have great computer skills when he went for the job interview(求职面试)，so he was nervous．However, the interviewers said，“That's OK．We can teach someone to use a computer, but we can't teach someone to love games．”

    Charles worked as a video game tester for three years．Now he is a video game producer (制作人) .This means that he works on every part of developing a new game．He really enjoys his work．He says，“It's really a great job．I'm sure it'll give me what I need to live a happy life and have a bright future．”

    Traveling can teach us a lot in our life. It gives us valuable lessons that schools may not teach. Experiences, skills or challenges we learn through journeys make us wiser and stronger. So let's see some lessons that traveling can bring to us.

    Throw ourselves into the surroundings （周围的事物).

    The world is a wide classroom of life and traveling teaches us how to throw ourselves in a situation and enjoy the surroundings fully. This lesson is especially good for those searching for freedom ( 自由) in heart.

    Don't allow unpleasant things to influence us.

    A journey is not always full of happy moments. Sometimes it is an unpleasant memory: Being a traveler has its own difficulties such as missing planes, losing money, getting sick, and so on. However, don't let these things make our days unhappy. Everything will be OK, so enjoy the journey no matter what happens.

    Just do it.

    We need to give some things that we may not experience a try. In other words, whether we have done it or not, just do it.

    Do you want to visit the North Pole(北极) this summer? {#blank#}1{#/blank#} So if you enjoy the sunshine very much, come to Sunshine Hotel in the North Pole this summer. It's very far from where you live, so you can only come here by plane. It is also very cold here. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} You can play with the snow in the evening because it is still bright (明亮的).

    In Sunshine Hotel, there are 20 floors (楼层) and 100 rooms. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} You have to pay S 100 for a room for one night. Every room has a big balcony(阳台). {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Sometimes you may see some interesting animals. There is a coffee bar (咖啡馆) on each floor. You can get hot coffee here for free. If you want other drinks, you have to pay for them.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Do you want to feel anything different? Welcome here!