I left my hometown in London last year and now I have enjoyed working in this small city in China. Learning a foreign language opens you up to the culture and history of a country. So in order to know more about China. I started to learn Chinese.

    But at times, I found myself in funny situations. When I greeted strangers in China, they began to talk a lot and very fast. They asked me questions about everything. But all I could do was to look at them with a blank face. I had no idea what they were talking about. Were they just being kind, funny or impolite? Many people want to make friends with me. But I am a bit upset when I find out the reason why they need a foreign friend. They say they want to practice their English. I don't need friends like this. I like friends to share nay feelings and ideas with.

    However, the more Chinese I learn, the more similarities I find it has with English. In English, thick—skinned is to describe a person who doesn't care for criticism(批评). I was surprised to find that houlianpi in Chinese means the same. And both languages share some common idioms(习语). For example, "look on with folded arms" means xiushoupangguan, and ''burn the boats" is similar to pofuchenzhou.

    I'm still on my journey to learn Chinese. I believe that sometimes you have the most fun on a journey.

    The children were having their class. Miss Wang was telling them what water was like. After that she asked her students, "What is water?" No one answered. Miss Wang asked them again, "Why don't you answer my question?" "Didn't I tell you what water was like?"

    Just then a boy put up his hand and said, "Miss Wang, you told us that water has no color and no smell. But where shall we find this kind of water? The water in the river behind my house is always black. And it has a terrible smell." Most of the students agreed with him.

    "I'm sorry, children," Miss Wang said. "Our water is becoming dirtier and dirtier. That is quite an important problem for us to solve."

Tina is a thirteen-year-old middle school student. Last year, she went to {#blank#}1{#/blank#} summer school in France and stayed with a local family, the Truffauts. 

At first, things didn't go well {#blank#}2{#/blank#} she couldn't speak French. Simple things like finding the right bus stop became big problems. The Truffauts helped her a lot and treated her like part of the family. They played{#blank#}3{#/blank#} (game) and shared traditional food with her. Tina was helpful as well. She did some housework with the family every day. On the weekend, she {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (join) a community club and did volunteer work. For most of the time, she used body language to communicate. People showed {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (they) thanks with smiles and she would always smile back. Language was not a problem {#blank#}6{#/blank#} her any more. As a new member of the club, Tina {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (invite) to have parties with the other members. Day by day, she made more friends. Tina began {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (love) her new life. "A smile is a second language we were born to speak. It is also the best gift I have got,"she often said{#blank#}9{#/blank#} (proud) .

Smiles and a helping hand can always make people {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (close) than a language can. 

Amy's favourite writer released (发布) a new book last week. Amy was very excited because she had enough money to 1 it this weekend. She talked about the book with her online chat group (聊天群). A lot of the other children wanted to buy the book too.

Stephanie, one child from the group, sent Amy a(n) 2 . It said that Stephanie wanted to meet Amy at the bookstore to buy the new book together. Amy 3 her mum about it. Her mum asked, "Do you know Stephanie from school?"

"No," Amy answered. "We only talked online."

"Listen," Amy's mum said, "I want you to have 4 , but sometimes, people online aren't who they say they are. So I don't think it's a 5 idea for you to meet this person (人)."

"But, Mum," Amy said, " 6 Stephanie just wants to buy a book with me."

Amy's mum said, "Let's do this. Dad and I will go with you. If Stephanie is just a child and wants to make friends with you, that's great. 7 she is not, you'll be safe."

Amy didn't like that idea. It made her feel like a baby. But she knew her mum was 8 , so she said yes. Then she told Stephanie that she would go to the bookstore with her parents at 9:30 am.

The next day, Amy got to the bookstore on time. But she didn't 9 Stephanie. Amy then knew that her mum was right. She felt 10 that her parents were there to look after her and keep (保持) her safe.

Li Shuyou is eighty years old. He has a big love for music. He is good at folk music(民间音乐). 

Now Mr Li is a music teacher in Jiantouzhou Village, Hunan. He is busy every day. Many students learn how to play the pipa, the erhu, the liugin and the sanxian from him. These students are not of the same age. Some are about 5 years old. Some are about 18 years old. Mr Li's lessons are welcome. Many parents take their children to study there. And they have fun there. Ding Jiewen is one of them. "Mr Li's lessons are not boring. He always tells us some interesting stories. We have a good time there. And I think folk music is useful. I love it very much, " she says. 

Mr Li is happy to be a music teacher there. Some people say to Mr Li, "You are old and you should enjoy(享受)life at home. " But Mr Lt doesn't think so. He loves folk music so much. He wants more students to learn it and live it. And he also wants to help students in Jantouzhou have a good life.