Some British and American people like to invite friends for a meal at home. You should not be upset if your English friends don't invite you home. It doesn't mean they don't like you.

    Dinner parties usually start between 7 and 8 p.m. and end at about 11 p.m. Ask you hosts(主办人) what time you should arrive. It's polite to bring flowers, chocolates or a bottle of wine(酒) as a gift.

    Usually the evening starts with drinks and snacks. If you want to be very polite, say how much you like the room, or the pictures on the wall. But remember—It's not polite to ask how much things cost.

    In many families, the husband sits at one end of the table and the wife sits at the other end. They eat with their guests(客人).

    You'll probably start the meal with soup or something small, then you'll have meat or fish with vegetables, and then dessert followed by coffee. It's polite to finish everything on your plate and to take more if you want it.

    Did you enjoy the evening? Call your hosts the next day, or write them a short “thank you” letter. British and American people like to say “thank you, thank you, thank you” all the time!

    There was once a man called Mr. Flowers, and flowers were his only joy in life. He spent all his free time in one of his four glass-houses and grew flowers of every color, with long and difficult names, for competitions（比赛）. He tried to grow a rose of a new color to win the silver cup（银杯）for the Rose of the Year.

    Mr. Flowers' glass-houses were very near to a middle school. Boys of around thirteen of age were often tempted（引诱）to throw a stone or two at one of Mr. Flowers' glass-houses. So Mr. Flowers did his best to be in or near his glass-houses at the beginning and end of the school day.

    But it was not always possible to be on watch at those times. Mr. Flowers had tried in many ways to protect his glass, but nothing that he had done had been useful. He had been to school to report to the headmaster; but this had not done any good. He had tried to drive away the boys that threw stones into his garden; but the boys could run faster than he could, and they laughed at him from far away. He had even picked up all the stones that he could find around his garden, so that the boys would have nothing to throw; but they soon found others.

    At last Mr. Flowers had a good idea. He put up a large notice（布告）made of good, strong wood, some meters away from the glass-houses. On it he had written the words: DO NOT THROW STONES AT THIS NOTICE. After this, Mr. Flowers had no further trouble; the boys were much more tempted to throw stones at the notice than at the glass-houses.

    Fans of basketball all know who LeBron James is. His fans like to call him King James. The 33-year-old basketball star was again the best player in the last season of the NBA. The most popular American sports magazine Sports Illustrated also named him the best player for the fourth season in a row (连续).

    King James was born on December 30 in Ohio, the USA. He is 203cm tall and weighs 113kg. He is the perfect combination (结合)of strength, size and speed. Some people see him as the best physical specimen (体格范本)in sport.

    James beat Golden State Warriors' player Stephen Curry, 29, to the number one place, even though Curry had a great season. Last season (2015-2016), the two top players led their teams to the highest rank of the NBA. So people had different ideas about who might be the best player. James finally won the award because he helped his team Cleveland Cavaliers beat Curry's team in the NBA Finals.

    To his fans all over the world, James is the king. He is also a hero to many sports fans in the United Sates, especially in his hometown Cleveland. At a celebration in the city after he won the NBA Finals, James made a short speech and thanked everybody in his team. He said that he could not have won the award without them. He even bought each of them a gold headphone as a gift!

    James also started The LeBron James Family Foundation. It raises money and helps people in need. By now, the foundation has spent $41 million sending poor children to universities in his hometown. Maybe that is another reason why his fans love him so much.

    Hello, my name is Han Meimei. I1new here. I2reading. I often read books in3evening. I like dancing4I can dance very well.5you like dancing? I like singing too.6favourite singer is Zhang Jie. I like running. It is my favourite7. I can swim and8football, but I can't play basketball. I often put my football9the bed. I can10English, but I can't speak Chinese. That's all, thank you.

Every kid in my neighbourhood knew about the Christmas Witch (女巫). She was an old woman who left her Christmas decorations(装饰) up all year long: a twinkling tree in the living room, a plastic wreath on the front door, and…

I was told the decorations were meant to get kids closer to the house so the Christmas Witch could take them, and I promised myself I would never go near that place. But when I turned fourteen, I got a newspaper road map and found I'd have to deliver(投递) papers to the Christmas Witch. 

My first day of delivery was a dark, cold March morning. The sky was just turning pink as I got close to the last house on my road map— that of the Christmas Witch. I walked up the stairs quietly and placed the newspaper by the door. Then I quickly turned around. Just then I fell down the stairs. I hurt my ankle(踝关节), unable to walk. 

The light was on. The door opened. Someone came out. It was the Christmas Witch. 

"Dear me, " said she. "Are you all right?" Speechless, I pointed at my ankle. "Come in; make sure you're okay, " she smiled, not a wicked- witch smile, but a nice smile. I had no choice. Holding her hand, I got into her house and was placed in a chair. "Relax. " She hurried into the kitchen and returned a moment later, handing me a cup of hot tea. "I call your parents, " she said. 

I told her my mother's number. She got through, told my mother everything and turned, "Your mother will be here shortly. ""Thank you, Mrs Wright. ""You're welcome. " She sat down across from me, smiling. "You don't have to call me Mrs Wright; you can call me Christmas Witch. "

I was a bit embarrassed (尴尬的). "It's alright. I hear what people say, " she smiled. "You do have lots of decorations, "I said. "I think it's pretty, " she replied. "But people think it's… strange, "I said. "They don't understand why I leave up my decorations, " answered she. 

Like most teenagers, I just asked the next question, "Why?"

"It was because of my son, Anthony, " said Mrs Wright. "Anthony planned to come home before Christmas. He called me on New Year's Eve, telling me to leave up the Christmas decorations. But three days later, Anthony died because there was something wrong with the plane. My boy never made it back home. Even though I know it doesn't change anything, I won't take down those decorations, even after all these years. " Mrs Wright wasn't a witch. She was a sad, lonely mother fighting with a terrible sadness. 

The doorbell rang and my mother arrived. Held by my mother, I went home. My hurt ankle healed (康 复 ) quickly. Since then, whenever I delivered newspapers to Mrs Wright, she smiled, saying how much she enjoyed my visit. I didn't think of her as the Christmas Witch any more. 

Hello, boys and girls. My name is David. I'm from Canada. But I live 1 the USA. I like the 2 here and I often eat a lot.

I have breakfast at home. 3 breakfast, I often eat an egg and some bread.   But I don't like milk 4 . I have no time to go home for lunch. 5 I have to have lunch at school. We can have many kinds of food for lunch, 6 chicken, fish, rice and vegetables. My favorite food is fish. And I often have an apple after lunch. I have 7 at home with my family. My mother 8 dinner for us.

 Now I'm very glad to be here. 9 do you think of my life(生活)? Would you please 10 me yours next time?