When people travel abroad(国外), they sometimes stay in the homes of the local people. This is a homestay.

    I am living with an old English couple, in the west of London. They have a clean four-bedroom house. This is a new house. It has two bathrooms and a garden with many beautiful flowers. I have a bedroom of my own.

    There are some shopping centres and a restaurant next to the house, and the house is close to an underground station. It takes about 30 minutes to take an underground to the centre of London.

    I think a homestay may be a good choice for you if it is your first time to visit abroad. The local people are friendly and ready to help. If you want to celebrate the holidays with them, you will get to know more about their culture and customs.

    I'm David．Not long after I started my college course(课程)，I began to look for some work experience．It was a busy course，but I had a free day each week．I wanted to do all I could to make myself employable(具备受雇条件的)．Like many students，I was worried about leaving college with no job to go to．And this encouraged me to go out and look for placements(实习职位)．

    I had several different placements．I decided I wouldn't let any opportunities(机会)go．I quickly realized that me way to impress possible employers

is to show them，that you are ready to work hard．Employers don't want someone who just does what they are asked and makes tea．What's more．I took every placement I was offered even if it didn't have to do with my course．

Among the things I did was to work at a radio station and at a newspaper．I think it's been more useful than just reading books．You do need to study，of course，but college doesn't teach you everything．I have much more confidence(信心)now．I'm ready to deal with anything．While I was working at the radio station，I met a lot of interesting people and they helped me a lot．Some of them may help me find work in the future．I certainly advise getting some work experience while you're in school．

    On her way home from school the other day, Yang Xi found people looking at her with strange expressions.The 15-year-old Shandong girl felt embarrassed, but she knew they were looking at her school uniform.

    There were some pictures and words on the back, such as“Dear Yang Xi, I will miss you after graduation.”Her friends did it in class.And Yang wrote something on her friends' uniforms too after class.

    Like Yang, many students now use the school uniform as if it were a piece of white paper and draw on it.They draw pictures of their favorite singers,athletes and cartoon characters and so on.“I think  (1)   (wear) a school uniform with graffiti is a kind of campus fashion,”said Yang.

    ①As a matter of fact, most schools have strict rules that require students not to draw on uniforms. Otherwise, they will be punished (惩罚).They may be told to clean their uniform or more seriously, to buy a new one.

    ②However,it seems that some students are not afraid of the rules and punishment.“I think there are at least 100 students with  (2)   (paint) uniforms in my school.They walk around the campus ‘proudly'.I wonder if they care whether they will be punished at all,”said Li Fei,13 of Fujian.

    Li Yong,14 of Heilongjiang, had his own view.“I have seen cartoon figures such as Naruto(火影忍者) and Doraemon(哆啦 A梦) that students draw on their uniforms.They are really beautiful and creative.I think graffiti can make students become creative,”said Li.“But it's better not to draw on uniforms.”

    Although he doesn't think his school uniform looks good, Li would never draw on it.It's a strict school rule there, after all.I have to follow the rules.”

    John is eight years old, and he is a very funny boy. He works hard, so he is good at his subjects. And his teachers and parents like him very much. But he has a very big head.

    Last year, he spent ten days in his uncle's home on summer vacation. His uncle lives in a mountain village and it's about four hundred miles away from his city. He took a train to a small town. There his uncle waited for him and took him to his house by bike.

    John made some friends soon. They played games and swam in the river happily. But one afternoon he cried to his aunt, "All the children make fun of me. They say I have a big head."

    "Don't listen to them," his aunt said. "You have a beautiful head. Now stop crying and go to the store to buy fifty potatoes."

    "Where is the shopping bag?"

    "Oh, dear. I haven't got one. Use your hat."

Information Card

    ①Jenny lives in New York. Her father has a shop there and her mother is a doctor. Jenny is ②seven years old and begins to go to school this autumn. ③It is a little far from the school and her father drives a car to take her to school every day. So she is ④never late for class and her teachers like her. It is Monday today. Miss Smith is ⑤teaching the students to count(数)from one to ten. Jenny is studying hard, and soon she can count them. Miss Smith is happy and asks, "How many people are there in your family, Jenny?" Jenny stands up and says, "Four, Miss Smith." "Who are they?" "My grandparents, my mother and my father." "Oh?" Miss Smith is surprised(惊讶的) and says, "There are five people in your family." "But now I am not at home. I'm at school." Jenny says.