A: You must be really {#blank#}1{#/blank#} about leaving for America tomorrow, Li Ping!

B: Yeah. But I'm a bit nervous.

A: Nervous about what?

B: I don't know many of the {#blank#}2{#/blank#} and manners in the US. Could you give me a hand?

A: Sure.

B: What {#blank#}3{#/blank#} do they have in America?

A: Well, it's important to be on time when you're invited for dinner. It's {#blank#}4{#/blank#} to arrive late. Americans expect their guests to be on time.

B: Then how long may I stay there?

A: After the meal, don't leave at once. Or you seem to have come only for the meal. When your friends seem to be getting tired and running out of things, it's time to leave. The next day, call or write a thank-you note to say how much you {#blank#}5{#/blank#} the evening.

    My birthday was a few days ago. Now I'm 24 years old and I'm 46 {#blank#}1{#/blank#} with teaching. I didn't remember my birthday until the morning of the 20th. It was just like a normal day, no gifts, no party, no cake... and 1 prefer it that way. When I was younger, I always felt sad that almost 47 {#blank#}2{#/blank#} remembered my birthday, not even my family. But now I don't care anymore, from 23 to 24, not much difference. This month I have several foreign students {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Chinese with me. I give lessons privately, so I {#blank#}4{#/blank#} to do quite a lot of work before each lesson. So far I'm getting more {#blank#}5{#/blank#} in teaching foreigners Chinese, and I think it's a very cool job. When I was at {#blank#}6{#/blank#}, I wanted to follow these native English speakers. They can {#blank#}7{#/blank#} to foreign countries and get teaching jobs easily almost anywhere even {#blank#}8{#/blank#} they're not real teachers. I complained Chinese people didn't have as many chances as people from the West. But now things are {#blank#}9{#/blank#}. As China is becoming stronger, Chinese is becoming more and more {#blank#}10{#/blank#}, and maybe, in the future I can get teaching jobs in foreign countries. I'll study more and get ready.