Some years ago, Danny gave up his job as a doctor to become a freelance(特约的) model maker, but now he has money trouble. He says that he wishes he'd never 1 to set up his own business.

    "I am now in such a bad situation," says Danny. "I hope I'm 2 working as a doctor. You see, I was 3 with my job, and I didn't have any fun. I said to a few friends that I wanted to go into 4 and they said that they could give me work, so I left the hospital.

    At first, everything was 5: I had too much work to do. I got too many orders every day. And soon I 6a large number of money. I had a really great lifestyle, and when the work was finished, I used to take good 7 in places like the beautiful blue Aegean Sea, Maldives, Hawaii and so on, just to get relaxed.

    Like this, I was busy having fun all around the world, and charged (支付) everything to my credit (信用) cards, but then I began to 8 how much in debt (负债) I was. At last, I had to sell all my office equipment (设备). Now I could do almost 9 even if people asked me. I've had to 10 my business now and I don't know what I'm going to do for money. It just goes to show if you set up your own business, you shouldn't spend money you don't have."

Dave is my friend. His family is rich. His parents always give himlots of pocket money(零用钱). But Dave thinks his parents work very hard and it's not easy forthem to make money, so he always tries to save money. He has some good ways todo it.

Dave likes books. He tells me he often buys books online, because they'recheaper. And when he is free, he often goes to bookshops to do some reading. Davehas a bike. He usually goes to school by bike instead of(代替) taking a bus. Sometimes whenit rains or snows, he walks. These two ways help Dave keep healthy and savemoney.

Dave brings a bottle of water to school every day. When others drinkjuice, he enjoys water. He says water is the cheapest and the best drink.

Some students think Dave is mean(吝啬的). But I don't think so. I think he is right.

When I was fourteen, I made my first visit to the United States. It wasn't the first time I had been abroad. Like most English children, I learned French at school. And I had often been to France, so I was used to speaking a foreign language to people who didn't understand French. I believed that I wouldn't have any 1 problems when I went to America. So I was really looking forward to having a nice easy holiday there.

How2 I was! The misunderstanding (误解) began at the airport. I was looking for a public telephone to call my friend Danny who had been in America for two years and told her that I had arrived. A friendly old man saw me looking confused and asked if he could 3 me.

"Yes," I said, "I want to give my friend a ring."

"Well, that's nice," he said. "Are you getting married? But aren't you a bit too 4 ?"

"Who is talking about marriage?" I replied. "I just want to give my friend a ring to tell her I've arrived. Can you tell me 5 the phone box is?"

"Oh! I see. " he said, "There's a phone downstairs."

When Danny and I met up, she explained the misunderstanding to me. Then I knew "Give somebody a ring" could mean deciding to get engaged or marry someone else. I felt shamed for myself.

"Don't worry," she said to me. "I had so many difficulties at first. There are lots of words which the Americans use differently in meaning from the British. You'll soon 6 all the funny things they say. Most of the time British and American people understand each other!

Have you ever thought how lonely your pet dog will be when you leave home for school or work? Don't worry! A teenager has created a helpful robot for you. 

Cassidy Matwiyoff, a student in San Diego, California, created Bowwow. It is a robot and it helps to pet(抚摸) dogs when their owners are not at home. " The robot starts to work by dropping the food. The dog walks over to eat the food. During this process, Bowwow is petting the dog. " Natwiyoff says. 

The girl got the idea after watching ABC's Shark Tank. She spent four years creating a prototype (雏形) of Bowwow with the help of her mother. After that, she went to an Engineering and Computing Capstone Design program in Chico State. She was allowed to introduce her invention to a group of engineers and teachers in the hope of getting it produced. 

One of them disapproved of the idea. " My dog would rip(撕) this to pieces, " he said. This lit(点燃) a fire within Matwiyoff. She spent the next four months doing research and testing Bowwow for dogs of different sizes and ages. 

Matwiyoff hopes to catch an investor's(投资者的) eye soon and bring her invention to the market. " One day, investors will be interested in my product and want to invest it. " she said. 

Many studies about language learning ask the question: What makes a good language learner? Here is some of the most {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (use) advice from studies.

*Don't be afraid- of making mistakes. People often get things wrong. Good language learners don't worry about making mistakes. {#blank#}2{#/blank#},they learn from them.

* Do group activities. People use the language {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (communicate) with others. A good language learner always {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (look) for opportunities to talk with others.

* {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(take) notes every day.Write down just five to ten new words and phrases each day. Review {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (they) from time to time.

* Practice {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (speak) daily. Speak to real people, if possible. 'They can be your teachers or friends. But if you have nobody to speak to, you can watch films and repeat what the actors say.

* Spend some time {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (think) in the language you learn. A good first step is to think in words.Try to name each object around you.Then think in simple sentences. {#blank#}9{#/blank#}example, if you are sitting in a park, you can say, "It's such a beautiful day." Then you can move to think in conversations.Imagine yourself {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (talk) to someone else. You are asking the questions and thinking of replies(回答). The secret to developing a habit of thinking in the language is doing it every day, over and over again.