You must have remembered the story from your childhood: an old man was worried about his sons because they always quarreled with each other. So one day he asked them to break a bundle(捆) of chopsticks tied together. Clearly, none of them could. But when the bundle was untied, they were able to break each chopstick easily. Why? This is because of the power of unity(团结).

    Dr. John Maxwell, in his book Success Journey says that every success is not something you can achieve alone. Think about it —if at the end of all the achievements, you find yourself alone, will you call it success in a real sense? It is known to all of us that success always belongs to unity. But we often seem to forget it when it comes to individual(个人的) success. Most of us consider our success as a personal thing.

    Your dream and your success do not belong to you alone. Even though you work hard towards your dream, there are people who are working behind you to make sure that you are able to give yourself a hundred percent energy.

    Do you think that it is possible without unity? Don't you feel that these people are doing their best so that you can be successful? And so, unity plays an important role, even if you are talking about your personal success. Just like those chopsticks, they can't be broken only when they are tied together.

    So, it is your responsibility to keep unity if you really want to be successful in your trip. Only if you always treat things and people seriously, you will succeed because all the things and people around you have connections in some way.

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.

My English name is Wendy. I am an actress (演员), but I am also a middle school student in Beijing. We have a school show on October 10th every year. There are some clubs in our school, like the music club, the art club and the sports club. The students from the clubs usually show their talents (才艺) at the show. 

Today, it's October 8th, the first school day after a long vacation (假期). Some students from Class Three are talking about the school show this year. Jim says, "I can play the drums. Jiang Meng, you can play the piano. And Sam, you can play the guitar. I want to sing with you two." 

 "OK," says Jiang Meng. "And Lin Han can do kungfu. We can ask him to show with us. "All of them say, "Great!"

 "And I can sing, too, says Sam. "So I want to sing when playing the guitar. I also want to ask my English teacher Ms. Green to dance when I sing. What about you, Liu Yang?" 

 "Music isn't my favorite," says Liu Yang. "But I like drawing. I want to draw to your music, OK?" 

 "Sure," says Sam. 

They all think the school show will be very interesting. 

Have you seen any scarecrows (稻草人)? In the countryside of our country, some villagers like to set up some scarecrows in the fields in order to prevent birds from harming their crops. They think that this can play a role in driving away birds. In fact, not only farmers love to use scarecrows, but also some airports have installed scarecrows in such a developed technology today, which plays a very good role in driving away birds. Some people will say that birds are not fools, and they will come back to eat after a long time. So do the birds really feel scared? Can scarecrows really play a role in driving away birds? Not very — unless you're willing to put some extra(额外)effort into them.

While traditional scarecrows who couldn't move do work against "pest birds" (eg. crows and blackbirds), the effect is almost always temporary (暂时的). Over time, the birds get used to scarecrows who couldn't move and reuse their destructive (破坏性的)habits.

However, a few tricks can up your scarecrow's game. Researchers have learned that those with realistic facial features(特征)and brightly colored clothes are better at driving away birds. Also, moving a scarecrow around every few days often helps. According to several studies, flailing(大幅波动) scarecrows get the very best results.

If you want to go shopping, think about how much money you can spend for new clothes.Think about the kind of clothes you really need.Then look for those clothes on sale.

There are labels (标签) inside all new clothes.The labels tell you how to take care of your clothes.The label for a shirt may tell you to wash it in warm water. A sweater label may tell you to wash it in cold water.The label on a coat may say "dry clean only". Washing with water may ruin (损坏) this coat. If you do as the directions on the label, you can keep your clothes looking their best.Many clothes today must be dry cleaned.Dry cleaning is expensive. When buying new clothes, check to see if they need to be dry cleaned.You will save money if you buy clothes that can be washed with water.

You can save money if you buy clothes that are well made.Well-made clothes last longer.They look good even after they have been washed many times. However, clothes that cost more money are not always better made.They do not always fit better.Sometimes less expensive clothes look and fit better than more expensive clothes.

It's Sunday afternoon and the weather is sunny and hot, My friends and I are in a large and beautiful park. We' re having a good time. 

Jack and Tom are swinging. Steve, Alice, John and Tim are playing hide-and-seek (捉迷藏). Rose, Mary and Lisa are skipping (跳绳). They re good at skipping. Susan is reading a book. Tina and Kate are chasing after my pet dog. They 're running around happily. 

We can see a lot of people in the park. Some are running and some are walking slowly. Look!

A boy and a girl are drawing pictures. Their parents are sitting next to them. They' re talking about something. 

Everyone is having a good time in the park. The park is a great place to have fun.