In Britain, when people meet each other for the first time, they talk about things like family, work, school,or sports. They ask question like “Do you have any brothers or sisters?”“Where do you work?”“What school do you go to?"and "Do you like sports?”They also ask questions like “Where do you come from?”and “Where do you live?”These are polite questions. They are not personal or private. But some things are personal or private, and questions about them are not polite. People don't ask questions about a person's salary(薪水). They don't ask how much or someone is paid for something. It is not OK to ask people questions about politics, party(政党) or religion(宗教) unless you know them very well. People don 't ask unmarried people “Why are you single?”and they don't ask a married couple with no children “Why don't you have any children?”

   It's the end of class. When the bell rings, students of Luohu ForeignLanguages School in Shenzhen quickly take out their cell phones.
They want to log on to their micro blogs to check the interesting things that have happened in the last hour.
   Since last year, the trend (潮流) of micro blogging has swept the country. Recent surveys shows that most students in middle schools have a micro blog and some even update their blogs over five times per day.
   "We learn many fresh and interesting things on micro blogs and they have become popular topics in class," said Andy Liang, 14. "If you do not know about them, you are out of the loop."
   It is also a great place for students to let out stress. "My parents always ask me to study hard, and encourage me before exams, but it really adds pressure," said Simon Zhang, 15. "When I share these feelings on my micro blog, I get many replies from friends in the same situation, which makes me feel better."
   But parents are worried that micro blogging could be a waste of time. Some misleading messages may even cause danger to kids, they said.
   Mr. Shen, a professor at the China Education Association, suggests parents not worry too much as long as kids are not crazy about micro blogging. Maybe it can become a window for parents to understand their children.
   "If parents can read their children's micro blogs, they'll know their thoughts, thus leading to better communication and solutions to problems," he said. He also gives some tips for kids.
   -Don't micro blog for more than one hour a day.
   -Never micro blog in class.
   -Try to talk face to face with people from time to time.
   -Be critical(批判性的). Don't trust all the messages on a micro blog.

   Many students know what they want to be in the future* . We think boys are different from girls. Here is a survey in Green High School. Let's look at the diagram* .

    Almost all cultures celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of another in some ways. Different cultures celebrate the beginning of a new year in different ways, and at different times on the calendar.

    In Western countries, people usually celebrate New Year from midnight on December 31st to January 1st, People may go to parties, sometimes dressed in formal(正式的)clothes, and they may drink champagne(香槟) at midnight. During the first minute of the new year, people cheer and wish each other happiness for the year ahead, But some cultures prefer to celebrate the new year by waking up early to watch the sunrise. They welcome the new year with the first light of the sunrise.

    Many cultures also do special things to get rid of(摆脱)bad luck at the beginning of a new year. For example, in Ecuador, families make a big doll from old clothes, The doll is filled with old newspapers and firecrackers. At midnight, these dolls are burned to show the bad things from the past year are gone and the new year can start afresh(重新). Other common traditions to keep away bad luck in a new year include throwing things into rivers or the ocean, or saying special things on the first day of the new year.

    Other New Year traditions are followed to bring good luck in the new year. One widespread Spanish tradition for good luck is to eat grapes on New Year's Day. The more grapes a person eats, the more good luck he will have in the new year. In France, people eat pancakes for good luck on New Year's Day. In the United States, some people eat black-eyed peas for good luck-but to get good luck for a whole year, you have to eat 365 of them!

    Americans are very direct people. When they want something they say "yes" and when they don't they say "no". If they want something different from what is given, they ask for it. Here's an example. I arrive at someone's house and he gives me wine, I don't want wine. Maybe I don't like it or maybe I just don't want it. I will say "No, thanks." If everyone around me is drinking something, I would ask for something else, "No, thanks. But I'll take a bit of tea if you have some." If I really want wine, I just say, "Yes, thank you." Unless they happen to know the Chinese customs, westerners will not ask you again and again after you have said you don't want it.