I call my story the story of a bad boy, partly to distinguish myself from those faultless young gentlemen, and partly because I really was not an angel. I may truthfully say I was a friendly, impulsive(易冲动的)teenager. I didn't want to be an angel. In short, I was a real human boy, such as you may meet anywhere in New England.

Whenever a new scholar came to our school, I used to ask him "My name's Tom Bailey; what's your name?" If the name struck me favorably, I shook hands with the new pupil cordially, but if it didn't, I would turn and walk away, for I was particular on this point.

I was born in Rivermouth almost fifty years ago, but, before I became very well acquainted with that pretty New England town, my parents moved to New Orleans. I was only eighteen months old at the time of the move, and it didn't make much difference to me where I was, because several years later, when my father proposed to take me North to be educated, I had my own view on the subject. I instantly kicked over the little boy, Sam, who happened to be standing by me at the moment, and declared that I would not be taken away to live among a lot of Yankees! You see I was what is called "a Northern man with Southern principles," I had no recollection of New England: my earliest memories were connected with the South. I knew I was born in the North, but hoped nobody would find it out. I never told my schoolmates I was a Yankee, because they talked about Yankees in a scornful way which made me feel that it was quite a shame not to be born in the South.

And this impression was strengthened by Aunt Chloe, who said, "There wasn't no gentlemen in the North no way."

    With this picture of Northern civilization in my eye, the readers will easily understand my terror at the bare thought of being transported to Rivermouth to school, and possibly will forgive me for kicking over little Sam, when my father announced this to me. As for kicking little Sam, I always did that, more or less gently, when anything went wrong with me.

    My father was greatly troubled by this violent behavior. As little Sam picked himself up, my father took my hand in his and led me thoughtfully to the library. He appeared strangely puzzled on learning the nature of my objections to going North.

"Who on earth, Tom, has filled your brain with those silly stories?" asked my father calmly.

"Aunt Chloe, sir, she told me."

My father devoted that evening and several evenings to giving me a clear account of New England: its early struggles, its progress, and its present condition. I was no longer unwilling to go North; on the contrary, the proposed journey to a new world full of wonders kept me awake nights. Long before the moving day arrived I was eager to be off. My impatience was increased by the fact that my father had purchased for me a fine little Mustang pony, and shipped it to Rivermouth two weeks before the date set for our own journey. The pony completely resigned me to the situation. The pony's name was Gitana, which is the Spanish for "gypsy", so I always called her Gypsy.

    Finally the time came to leave the vine-covered mansion among the orange-trees, to say goodbye to little Sam(I am convinced he was heartily glad to get rid of me), and to part with Aunt Chloe. I imagine them standing by the open garden gate; the tears are rolling down Aunt Chloe's cheeks; they and the old home fade away. I am never to see them again!

    This may be music to your ears.

    Researchers P. Jason Rentfrow and Samuel Gosling gave 3,500 people a personality quiz. “We found that the musical styles people like are closely linked to their personalities,” Gosling says.

    RAP/HIP-HOP

    Known for their quick speech, some rappers can say more than 700 syllables（音节）a minute!

    If you like rap/hip-hop, you are energetic（精力充沛的）and have a way with words. You put a fresh spin on things, whether it's new moves on the dance floor or your hip style.

    CLASSICAL

    In the 18th century, classical musicians were like rock stars. Beethoven and Mozart, for example, played in crowded concert halls.

If you like classical, you are open to new ideas and like debating with friends. Creative and imaginative, you can easily spend many hours scrapbooking, writing or painting.

    COUNTRY

    Country music came from the folk songs of English, Scottish, and Irish settlers of the southeastern United States.

    If you like country, you express your opinions well, which makes you the ideal class president or team captain. Traditional and loyal, you enjoy spending time with your family.

    POP

    Pop music is designed to attract almost everyone, and it does. Each year, the industry brings in about 30 billion dollars!

    If you like pop, you are attractive to your friends. You can make big things happen, like planning for a huge party or inspiring your team to victory.

ROCK/ALTERNATIVE

    In the 1950s, rock music created a brand-new culture. Teenagers, for the first time, had an identity separate from adults and children.

    If you like rock/alternative, you are a risk-taker who never accepts no for an answer. You rise to any challenge, like doing very well in a big exam or landing the lead in the school play.

    If these personality profiles（人格剖析）don't match you, that's OK. These are just for fun.

    Culture shock is the psychological（心理的）shock of having to adapt to new environment and new cultures which may be completely different from your own. To understand culture shock helps to understand what culture is.

    Culture shock is caused by the feelings that result from losing all familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse（交往）. Those signs include the ways with which we are familiar in daily life: When to shake hands and what to say when we meet people? When and how to give tips? How to go shopping? When to accept and when to refuse invitations? These signs, which may be words, gestures, facial expressions, customs or normals are gained by all of us in the course of growing up and are as much a part of our culture as the language we speak.

    During the first few weeks when a person enters a strange culture, most people are attracted by the new. But this “cooks tour” type of mentality（心态）does not normally last if the foreign visitor remain abroad and has to seriously deal with real conditions of life. He may feel anxious and frustrated（受挫的） People react to the frustration in the same way. During the first period, they reject the environment which causes the discomfort. “The ways of the host country are bad because they make us feel bad,” they complain about the host country and its people. The following period is homesickness. The home environment suddenly becomes so important that all difficulties and problems are forgotten and only the good things back home are remembered.

    Experiencing culture shock can be very difficult. There is a risk of sickness or emotional problems. However, culture shock can be part of a positive learning experience. Be patient! It is a process of adaptation to new situations. If you do like this, you will be a much stronger person, and you will be a citizen of the world.

    Charlie is a teacher and his wife, Maria is an artist. The night before last, just before the longest day of the year, Charlie was sitting in a deckchair enjoying the warm summer air when Maria touched his shoulder and he could tell immediately she was a little worried about something. He asked her what the matter was and she replied that there was a strange thing on the jacket that was hanging in the bedroom. They had both lived in the West Indies (西印度群岛) and had seen a lot of strange creatures in their house before. But now they were living in England and so Charlie just laughed and said he would have a look at the “thing”.

    He walked to the bedroom. He saw a jacket hanging in the bedroom and went up to it to have a closer look at the “thing”. The moment he touched it, the thing sprang into life. Now Charlie experiences fear like the rest of us but when this creature opened its wings, he jumped out of his skin and ran screaming from the room like a small child doing about 100 miles an hour.

    For a moment the next-door neighbours thought that Charlie was murdering his wife because of the noise they could hear. In fact, it was a bat that frightened Charlie.

Eventually Charlie managed to trap the bat in a box and took it to the garden to let the bat fly. Maria, who had been playing the guitar while Charlie was upstairs, asked Charlie if he had found out what the thing was. “Oh, nothing to worry about”, he said casually hoping that the terror could not be seen in his eyes, “it was just a bat.”

    Hot spots of drones (无人机) in Australia are getting sensors to automatically identify the aircraft and their pilots. Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) said it would fix the equipment at the nation's airports starting next month. The monitors have been planned for some time, but come in the wake of 72 hours of drone-related disorder at the UK's Gatwick airport last week.

    In 2019, Australia will also start a scheme to register drone owners. The UK is also due to introduce a scheme in November that will require recreational drones weighing 250g (0.55lb) or more to be registered.

    Almost 140,000 air travellers were delayed last week after reports of drone sightings caused huge delays at Gatwick Airport. UK police are still searching for the criminals, although they have also raised the possibility that witness reports of the aircraft were mistaken. The incident “highlights” the need for a drone-spotting capability (能力), CASA spokesman Peter Gibson told the news agency Agence France-Presse. The supervision system would be able to spot the types of drone being flown, read their serial numbers and work out where the pilot was located, he said. Efforts to identify pilots would be aided by the introduction of the registration scheme for commercial and casual drone owners, he added. “2019 will witness severe action towards drone safety,” said Mr. Gibson. As well as airports and other sensitive locations, the drone-spotting systems will be fixed in other places known to be popular with drone owners such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

    Authorities in Australia have expressed worries about the number of drones being flown in controlled areas in recent months. Anyone breaking rules could face fines of up to 10,000 Australian dollars ($7,058; £5,600) as well as checks on the safety of their craft. “In 2019 it could be very expensive doing the wrong thing with your drone,” said Mr. Gibson. Events at Gatwick were discussed by ministers in a Christmas Eve phone conference. It is understood that the Cabinet Office “pushed” the Ministry of Defence and the Home Office to update their relevant regulations. They also discussed defence systems across the UK's airports.

    It's really true what people say about English politeness: it's everywhere. When squeezing past someone in a narrow aisle, people say "sorry". When getting off a bus, English passengers say "thank you" rather than the driver. In Germany, people would never dream of doing these things. After all, squeezing past others is sometimes inevitable, and the bus driver is merely doing his job. I used to think the same way, without questioning it, until I started travelling to the British Isles and came to appreciate some more polite ways of interacting with people.

    People thank each other everywhere in England, all the time. When people buy something in a shop, customer and shop assistant in most cases thank each other twice or more. In Germany, it would be unusual to hear more than one thank you in such a conversation. British students thank their lecturers when leaving the room. English employers thank their employees for doing their jobs, as opposed to Germans.

    Another thing I observed during my stay was that English people rarely criticize others. Even when I was working and mistakes were pointed out to me, my employers emphasized several times but none of their explanations were intended as criticism. It has been my impression that by avoiding criticism, English people are making an effort to make others feel comfortable. This also is showed in other ways. British men still open doors for women, and British men are more likely to treat women to a meal than German men.