Welcome back to the hot topic of studying abroad！ Last time, we talked about the general "soft- ware" needed to havea{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(success)  studying experience overseas, {#blank#}2{#/blank#}refers to the ability to understand western culture,  and problem solving skills when {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(face)  critical situations, etc.

      Now,1 will dig deeper into the concept of software".Everyone is talking about culture shock nowa-days, but you may wonder what itactually {#blank#}4{#/blank#}_(mean). Simplyput:  culture shock is the diffi-cultypeople may experience when being exposed and adjusting to a {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (remarkable) different new culture. Usually, people often go._{#blank#}6{#/blank#} four distinct phases: the honeymoon phase, thene-gotiation phase, the adjustment phase and the mastery phase. Culture shock can happen immediately upon your {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(arrive) in the country.

For international students, perhaps the most direct impact of culture shock is the variety of accents, especially in multicultural countries {#blank#}8{#/blank#}the U.S. Canada or Australia.There are two main reasons: Firstly, these countries have highly diversifiedgroups of residents from different cultural{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(background). Secondly,  there are many international students fromall around the world every year studying in these countries, so you shouldn'tbe surprised {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(find) allkinds of unfamiliar accents around the university campus.

Few people would even think of beginning a new job at the age of 76, {#blank#}1{#/blank#} one of America's most famous artists did just that.Anna Mary Robertson, better known as “Grandma Moses”， turned to painting {#blank#}2{#/blank#} she was too old to work on her farm.

Grandma Moses was crazy about painting soon after she picked it up and worked hard at it.She painted {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (care) and her works were nice.She first painted only to please {#blank#}4{#/blank#}， and then began to sell her works {#blank#}5{#/blank#} a little money.In 1993, a collector, Louis Caldor happened to see several of Grandma Moses' works {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (hang) in a shop.He liked them, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (buy) them at once, and set out to look for {#blank#}8{#/blank#}．Caldor held {#blank#}9{#/blank#} show to introduce the works of Grandma Moses to other artists. Grandma Moses, {#blank#}10{#/blank#} was world­famous, died on December 13, 1961, at the age of 101.

    Keeping a diary in English is one of the most {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (effect) ways to improve our English writing ability. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (compare) with other forms of writing, it is shorter and takes {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(little) time. It can help us to develop the habit of thinking in English. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} we persist in this practice, gradually we'll learn how to express ourselves in English. In keeping a diary in English, we certainly run up against many {#blank#}5{#/blank#} （difficult）.In the first place, {#blank#}6{#/blank#} often happens that we have trouble finding appropriate words and phrases to give expression to our mind. Secondly, there are many idiomatic ways of saying things in Chinese. And it is extremely hard for us to put them into English properly. As far as I {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (concern), my {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (suggest) is that we should always have a notebook and a Chinese-English dictionary within easy reach. Whenever something beats us, we can first put it down in our notebook and then consult our dictionary. We can also turn to our English teacher for help, if necessary. In short, I believe that it is {#blank#}9{#/blank#}great use to keep a diary in English for {#blank#}10{#/blank#} development of our writing skills.

    Robot teachers are now very popular with pupils in some primary schools in South Korea. Compared with human teachers, the robot teachers are {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (patient). They never get angry and are always kind to the students. That's {#blank#}2{#/blank#} the children can always get on well with their robot teachers.

    English-teaching robots {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (send) to three primary schools for eight weeks last December. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (equip) with a microphone and video camera, the robots teach students as teachers. Researchers found that the English-teaching robots helped raise students' interests in the language and build up their {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (confident). More and more students came to like studying and they got better grades in exams. Meanwhile, other robot teachers, {#blank#}6{#/blank#} can teach math, science and art, have also been developed.

    Many people think these robot teachers should be used {#blank#}7{#/blank#} faraway village schools so that the children there can also receive a good education. {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (give) rural school children more learning chances, the South Korean government has expressed great interest in {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (develop) these robots. No doubt there will be more and more robot teachers working with students. Perhaps they will {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (complete) replace human teachers one day in the future. Who knows?