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.

    If you're away from home, feeling a bit blue or searching for some comfort, the Danes have a solution. It's called “hygge”. Coming from Danish culture, but popularized by the British in 2016, hygge is much more than just a word, it's becoming a feeling around the world.

    The hygge refers to the sense of happiness you get when your family is gathered together at new year or Christmas. It is all about the pleasant feelings of home: the smell of your mother's cooking, your partner's arm around your shoulder and so on.

    Hygge is an antidote(良药) to stress. You know when you've got it, a gentle warmth starts spreading through your body. Another important part of hygge is that it has nothing to do with modern technology. It's a period time to relax your tired mind and eyes. So, put down that smartphone and turn off the computer.

    You should also know that hygge is not about healthy eating or more exercise. In fact, it's just the opposite. You're supposed to be lost in what you like: enjoy sweet snacks and calorie-laden cakes freely.

    Let yourself be carried on a wave of nostalgia(怀旧) back to your birthplace, and remember  the childhood songs of your distant youth with a smile. If it helps, wrap yourself in a warm blanket and sleep with one of your favorite books (not a pill or e-reader).

    If Denmark seems too far, then think of old Beijing with its hutong and courtyard houses. Picture yourself sit around a traditional stove with your loved ones, eating dumplings and chatting about the old days. Let yourself drift back in time to a period where everything is relaxing, and there is no need to reply to any e-mails or text messages. They did not exist(存在) back then.

    Now you've really understood hygge without even having to set foot in Copenhagen.

    Donna Reid had just finished her training as a children's doctor. A famous research hospital in New York had offered her a job with good pay. And her boyfriend, Tony, had a clinic in their hometown and hoped she could work with him. At the same time, a small hospital, Backwoods Hospital, in a very poor area had also offered Donna a position. Now it was time for her to decide where to work.

    Dad: Donna, that research hospital in New York has a good reputation for children's medicine. Some of the best children's doctors in the country work there and you can learn a lot from them.

Mom: Yes, I agree it's a good hospital and the pay is good, too. But, that's not the point.

    Dad: Then what's the point?

Mom: It's in New York, too far away!  Let me tell you what, dear Donna. Tony's clinic is just several blocks away. You don't need to travel far if you work there. Tony is a nice young man and I guess you'll get married soon.

    Dad: Ha! It's hard enough to live with a husband or wife. Working with them, too? That's a choice for trouble. Well, Donna, what do you think?

    Donna: I'm thinking about accepting the offer from Backwoods Hospital.

    Dad: But Donna, look at their offer! You'll be on call six days a week, 24 hours a day. That's really a hard job.

    Mom: Oh, Donna, the pay is another problem.

    Donna: It isn't a dead-end job, Mom and Dad. But anyway, I didn't __.

    Dad: No? Then why did you become a doctor?

    Donna: I want to help people. You know that. And Backwoods serves a very poor and needy population. Backwoods, here I come!

Human's Greatest Achievements

    The Earth is 4.5 billion years old, but the human race has lived on it for just 200,000 years. In that short time, we have achieved some amazing things.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} The list is almost endless. The invention of the airplane has changed our lives. The discovery of antibiotics(抗生素) has saved the lives of millions of people. Can you imagine living without electricity? What about the printing press? Without the printing press, you wouldn't be reading this. In the last 50 years, there have been great achievements in communication, such as radio, TV, computers, the Internet, and smartphones{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    What about arts? The arts have brought pleasure to many people, but are the Beatles and Bach more important than antibiotics?{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

Finally, we must not forget humans' early achievements{#blank#}4{#/blank#}We can't imagine modern life without cooked food and cars.

    What are humans' greatest achievements? To answer the question, we need to decide what we mean by “great”{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Or is it just something that makes us say “Wow,” like the Great Wall? What do you think? 

A. We could probably live without them, but life wouldn't be as interesting.

B. Is it something that makes us rich or happy or save lives?

C. And is Mickey Mouse as important an achievement as going to space?

D. They used fire for cooking and heating and invented the wheel.

E. Many of humans' great achievements are in science and technology.

     "Tome Stay is a form of study abroad program. It allows the visitor to stay with a local family to better understand the local lifestyle. It also helps to improve the visitor's language ability. If you wish to learn more about foreign cultures or to get foreign experience，you should join this kind of holiday. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} ," said a teacher during a school meeting last term.

    After this meeting,  {#blank#}2{#/blank#} . At last, I had such a chance to go on such a holiday with some of my schoolmates last month. We went to London, a place where I had wanted to go since years ago.

    After we got to London, we went to stay with different families. I was lucky that my host family（寄宿家庭）was a white couple who had a daughter about my age. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} . They were interested in me and I learnt a lot of things from then on.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} . After breakfast, a local teacher would come to take us in his car. Then we would have classes or go on a sight-seeing trip to different places of interest like Big Ben, London Bridge, and Buckingham Palace. We would go back to our own homes after the activities.

    The holiday was a valuable experience for me. I enjoyed every minute of it. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} . Three weeks later, we had to leave "home" for Hong Kong.