Some people make you feel comfortable when they are around. You spend an hour with them and feel you are already close friends. They are always good talkers. Here are several skills that good talkers have in common. If you follow the skills, they'll help you put people at their ease, and make friends with them quickly. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    First of all, good talkers ask questions. Almost anyone, no matter how shy he is, will answer a question. One well-known businesswoman says，“At business lunches, I always ask people what they did that morning. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}” From there you can move on to other matters—sometimes to really personal questions. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Second, once good talkers have asked questions, they listen to the answers. Your questions should have a point and help to tell what sort of person you are talking to. And to find out, you really have to listen carefully. Real listening at least means some things. If someone sticks to one topic, you can take it as a fact that he's really interested in it. Real listening also means not just listening to words, but to tones of voice. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Finally, good talkers know well how to “say goodbye”. If you're saying goodbye, you may give him a firm handshake and say, “I've really enjoyed meeting you.” {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Let people know what you feel, and they may walk away, happy and satisfied.

A. It's polite to listen to others with a smile.

B. You'd better change the subject if the voice sounds dull.

C. Don't be afraid to say so if you want to see that person again.

D. Common as the question is, it will get things going.

E. You can become a popular person.

F. And how he answers will let you know how far you can go.

G. These people have something in common.

    The traditional Chinese lunar calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} It lifts the curtain of spring. After that everything turns green and full of energy and people clearly see that the daytime is becoming longer and the weather is becoming warmer.

    ⒈Flying a kite.

    Spring is the best season for kite-flying. As a traditional folk activity, it has a history of more than 2, 000 years.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} It also has the effect of promoting blood circulation and speeding up metabolism(新陈代谢).

    ⒉Wearing fabric swallows.

    Wearing fabric swallows is a custom in some regions in Shaanxi. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} The custom originated during the Tang Dynasty (618—907). The swallow is a harbinger(预兆) of spring and a symbol of prosperity and happiness.

    ⒊Making a Spring Ox.

    Skilled artists build the frame of an ox out of bamboo strips and the legs with wood. Then they paste(粘贴) some paper and paint onto it.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} It is said that if more red and yellow paper is used, then there will be a good harvest that year.

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    People in China began holding a special ceremony on the first day of the Start of Spring about 3, 000 years ago. They made sacrifices to Gou Mang, the God of Spring, who is in charge of agriculture. By the Qing Dynasty (1644—1911), welcoming spring had become an important folk activity.

A. Welcoming spring.

B. The image of an ox is complete.

C. At that time, there were eight solar terms.

D. The Start of Spring is the first solar term of the year.

E. Flying a kite can help build one's health and prevent diseases.

F. It is said that the egg can be set upright on the first day of the Start of Spring.

G. People like to wear a swallow made of colorful silk on their chests on Start of Spring.

    Ebola is a dangerous virus that can cause people to get very sick and even die. The virus is causing the biggest problems in western Africa, where it has spread quickly.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}But it can get worse and cause life-threatening symptoms (症状), such as bleeding and trouble breathing.

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    Ebola does not spread like colds or the flu because it does not float through the air. Ebola also doesn't spread through food or water, like some other viruses. Instead, Ebola spreads when someone touches the body fluids(液体) of a sick person.

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    An outbreak is when many people are getting sick with the same illness around the same time. You may have heard of a flu outbreak, which is when lots of people get sick from the same types of flu virus. When an outbreak happens because of a virus, more people could get sick because there is a lot of that virus around.

    Where did Ebola come from?

Scientists aren't sure how the first person gets Ebola at the start. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Tropical animals in Africa believed to carry the virus include great apes, chimpanzees, gorillas, monkeys, fruit bats, porcupines, and forest antelopes.

    What do kids need to do about Ebola?

    Ebola is making many people sick in Africa, but no matter where you live, it's always a good idea to wash your hands well and often. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. What is an outbreak?

B. How do people catch Ebola?

C. Why do I need to wash my hands?

D. It's very important that infected people get treatment right away.

E. Ebola symptoms can start with fever and headache, kind of like the flu.

F. But they think that people may pick up the virus by touching or eating infected animals.

G. Keeping hands clean can help protect you from common illnesses like colds and the flu.

How to Choose a Good Book

    You love reading, and you're dying to get your hands on a book. But you've read all your books several times, and you're getting tired of reading the same ones. You're planning to go to the library, but don't know what kind of books to get. With the right knowledge, it's easy for you to choose a good book.

    Make a list answering these questions:

    What kind of books do you like? {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Is there a type of book that you would like to try? What are your interests? By doing this you will find books that you might like.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Very often good books are quietly collecting dust in your own house. Maybe you forget about one, or someone who is living with you has a couple of good books. Also by searching your house, you can find books that you can read, and they won't even cost you any money.

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    Read best-seller lists published in most newspapers or weekly magazines. Find out which new books are making headlines, and why.

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    If it does, then use its search engine to find a certain book or books by a certain author. You can also do this at home.

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    If you would rather have Book 1 over Book2，put Book2 back. If you would prefer Book 3 to Book 1, put Book 1 back.

A. Search your house.

B. What books have you read?

C. Ask someone to recommend a good book.

D. See if the library or bookstore has computers.

E. Read book reviews in newspapers and magazines.

F. Narrow down your choices.

G. What authors do you like?

    Last summer over 12,000 fans were at Wembley Arena in London, shouting and cheering. Thousands more were watching online. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} It was esports, or competitive computer gaming.

    Millions of people in the UK play computer games for fun. Some of them have become professional gamers, playing games as their full-time job. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} They practice for ten or more hours a day, five or six days a week. They do exercises like typing something and trying to type it faster and faster. They also study videos of other players and plan ways to beat them.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Are players athletes? Some say no. Esports players don't need to run, jump, throw or do big physical actions. At the moment, the UK government classifies esports as kinds of games, not as sports.

    But others say yes: esports are sports. Players do need some physical skills, especially hand-eye coordination, reflexes, accuracy and timing. If darts, snooker and shooting are classified as sports, then perhaps esports should be too.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} And they will be an official medal sport in the Asian Games starting from 2022. Next step: the Olympics?

    For many esports fans and players, though, the most important thing is that esports are growing in popularity and importance. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    You might dream of fluency in this or that language, and maybe you have already achieved fluency in a foreign language. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Fluency, like all abstract terms, has no universal meaning. Each individual must determine what the term means. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Perfect fluency means knowing each word you encounter, speaking quickly, clearly and easily and having no accent. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} You aren't familiar with every word of your native language, and sometimes you have to search for the right word, even in your mother tongue.

    Quick fluency is the type of fluency you see in advertisements, because "Master a Language in 2 Months!" sounds very catchier than "Fluency in 20 Years!" {#blank#}4{#/blank#} It is possible to achieve quick fluency, but the fluency achieved after such a short time frame will be a very thin, superficial fluency.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Native-like fluency means that you generally know all the same words that a native knows and can speak at the same pace with the same amount of ease as a native speaker. You will likely have an accent, but as long as your conversation partner can understand you, it doesn't matter.

    Literary fluency is like graduating from native-like to educated-native-like fluency. It focuses on the more intellectual side of a language: including in literature, attending university, composing song lyrics, etc.

    There are a ton of other things that fluency could potentially be, but that's up to you to figure out.