阅读短文，根据短文内容回答问题。

Black Friday

    Thanksgiving is always on a Thursday. The day after it has been known as Black Friday. It is the start of the holiday shopping season, and it has been the busiest shopping day of the year in the US since 2005.

Most stores offer big sales on Black Friday. They open their doors quite early in the morning. They try to attract shoppers with big discounts (打折). Some items (商品)like TVs and cloths are much cheaper than usual. Stores may even lose money on these items. They hope that shoppers will buy gifts for other people while they are in the store.

Black Friday is a great time to go shopping. However, there are problem. The biggest one is that there are not enough low-priced items. Each store may only have a few. These items are in great need, so people stand in long lines to get them. They may wait three to four hours before a store opens. They may be hoping to get a low price on a TV or computer, but not everybody can get one. Some people leave, disappointed.

    The situation makes people worried. Some Black Friday events have been crazy. There have been fights over toys among shoppers. Some workers have even been hurt by large crowds. But most Black Friday events are safe and fun. Still, if you plan to go, you will expect large crowds and a bit of pushing.

    So where does the name “Black Friday” come from? It was first used in Philadelphia in the 1950s. The police called this day Black Friday because of the heavy traffic it caused. In the 1960s, stores tried to rename the day “Big Friday”. It did not stick. The name “Black Friday” continued to spread across the country. It seems that it is here to stay.

   Now people all over the country take part in Black Friday events. It is even spreading to other parts of the world. Stores have held Black Friday events in the UK, Australia, and Brazil since 2012. In Mexico, stores offer a weekend of discounts every year. They call it “El Buen Fin”, which means “the good weekend” in Spanish. I guess people everywhere like to buy things on sale. 

    Welcome to England! The weather of England is very changeable. It can be rainy, sunny, windy, warm, foggy or cold at any time of year. If it's raining when you get up in the morning, it can be hot and dry by the afternoon. The west of England is wetter than the east, and the north is cooler than the south. Just be ready for any kind of weather.

    In England, shops are usually open from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm. On Sundays, some shops are open from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. But a lot of shops are closed. Banks, museums of other places are open from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. You can go to the parks at anytime.

All the cities have buses, trains and taxis. People wait in line for buses and they are unhappy if you push in at the front. Don't forget this—traffic goes on the left. Be careful!

Notice to the Tourists

★Just be ready for any kind of {#blank#}1{#/blank#}, it's changeable.

★Shops are usually open from {#blank#}2{#/blank#} to 5:30 pm. On Sundays most of them are closed.

★At any time you can go to the {#blank#}3{#/blank#}.

★Please wait in line for buses, or others will be {#blank#}4{#/blank#}.

★Make sure to drive on the {#blank#}5{#/blank#}, or it will be very dangerous.

    A little stream(小溪) ran down from a high mountain through many villages and forests. Then it reached a desert." I went through so many difficulties. I should have no problem crossing the desert," she thought. As she started, she found herself slowly vanishing(消失)into the sand. After many tries, she still failed." Maybe I can't reach the ocean," she said sadly to herself. At this time, a deep voice said," If wind can cross the desert, so can a river." It was the voice of the desert. But the little stream answered," That's because the wind can fly, but I can not."

   "That's because you can't give up what you are.  Let yourself evaporate(蒸发)into the wind and it can take you across me," said the desert." Give up what I am now? No! No!" The little stream could not accept this idea." The wind can carry the vapor(蒸汽)across the desert and let it leave as rain. The rain will form a river again," said the desert. "And whether you're a river or vapor, your nature never changes." After hearing this, the little stream went into the open arms of the wind. It carried her to the next stage of her life.

    The course of our lives is like the experience of the little stream. If you want to go through difficulties in your life to head for success, you should also change the way you are.

    As the proverb says, "Your tongue has the power of life and death." This means that your words have power to finally cause things to happen, even life or death.

    We may all experience the power of words in our life, even when we were very young.

    A child is blamed (责备) by teachers or parents, and after that, he might probably think of himself as a bad child. Most kids have that experience. They say it is important to praise children four times for each negative (负面的) word. Blaming will make things worse, while positive words are helpful especially when being in trouble or in need. When we fail the exam, encouraging words from our teachers or parents make us work harder at our lessons.

    Encouraging words can go quite a long way. They lift people up. For example, encouraging words to someone who is sad can help them make it through the day. Words can have a powerful effect on your brain. And it will in turn (相应地) have a great influence on your action.

Everything you do depends on what you choose to do. It's not your parents, your past relationships or your job, but you and only you that are responsible for every goal you set. If you have dreams in life, write them down and speak them out. Your words are likely to bring you out something amazing.

In the eyes of many foreigners, Chinese are the best hosts and the worst guests in the world. They're not really bad guests but because the guest-host relationship in China is much different than in some Western countries it appears they are not nice guests. And Western guests sometimes look rude in the eyes of Chinese guests.  

　　In China guests are almost like gods. Whenever I enter a Chinese person's home there is always fruit on the table for me and someone is quick to bring me a cup of tea or water. In the West generally the guest is not a god. Acting according to the host's way of doing things is usual behaviour for a guest. 

　　My wife's mother is a very kind elderly Chinese lady who doesn't smoke. When I see some of her guests smoking in her house, as a non-smoker I feel unhappy. Usually I want to stop them directly but I must realize that she must not do that. In most North America homes if you are a guest and the hosts are not smokers, you should not smoke in their house. At the very least you could ask "Is it OK if I smoke?" But don't be surprised if they say "No, you can't smoke." In our culture if you smoke in their home you are a bad guest, but if they don't allow you to smoke in their house they are not a rude guest.

　　Guests in China also have special habits. Some Western people may not adapt to these habits very soon. Thankfully my wife is Chinese so whenever we visit a Chinese family she tells me to buy them a gift. However giving a gift to a host is not always necessary in my country. So if you invite international guests to your home don't be too surprised if they don't bring you a gift. 

　　In China you probably won't need to change the guest-host relationship very much because you will probably only be the host and Chinese are naturally very good hosts. If Western hosts invite you to their house, try not to be too surprised if their style of treating you is not what you have expected.

Nowadays, we have kinds of technologies to protect us from different disasters（灾难）. We even know where and when some disasters, like the typhoon, come. While most of the new technologies are far away from us, some around us can help people in disasters.

The drone（无人机）is one of them. It can be used to send food, water and other important things when a natural disaster happens. Very often the buildings are too dangerous for rescue teams to get in. They can make the drone fly into the buildings to search for those who are still alive first.

Social media is also a useful tool when it comes to natural disasters. With its help, people can know about the natural disasters before they hit. And some social media platforms allow people to mark themselves as safe after disasters so others can know their status.

 Social media is also a place for up-to-the-minute news, so people can learn what is going on in the disaster areas. Besides, many social media platforms allow people to donate money to help people in disaster areas. The money will help them get back to their normal life as soon as possible. For example, livestreaming（直播）helped raise a lot of money for Henan after the flood in 2021.

Although these technologies can help when there is a natural disaster, we still need to prepare necessary tools and learn important skills to protect ourselves.