Traveling to all corners of the world gets easier and easier. We live in a global village, but this doesn't mean that we all behave in the same way.

    How should you behave when you meet someone for the first time? An American shakes your hand firmly while looking you straight in the eye. In Thailand, people greet each other by pressing both hands together at the chest.

    Many countries have rules about what you should and shouldn't wear. In Muslim countries, women should wear long blouses and skirts. In Korea, you should take off your shoes when entering a house. Remember to place them neatly together where you come in.

    In Spain, many people eat a light breakfast and a late dinner. In Mexico, lunch is the time to relax, and many people prefer not to discuss business as they eat. In Britain, it's not unusual to have a business meeting over breakfast.

Good Manners

    Stephen Hawking was born in Oxford, England on 8th January, 1942. He went to school in St Allbans, a small city near London. ⑴尽管他做得很好，但是拿不到第一名。

    After leaving school, Hawking went first to Oxford University where he studied physics and then went to Cambridge University where he studied cosmology(宇宙学). As he himself admits, he didn't work hard. He was a very lazy student, and did very little work. However, he still got high marks.

   ⑵ 在他20岁的时候，他的身体出毛病了。 He started to knock into things. When he visited his family at Christmas time, his mother was so worried that she made him see a doctor. Hawking was sent to hospital for tests. Finally, the result came back. Hawking had motor neuron disease（运动神经元病）. ⑶The illness would make him unable to speak, breathe or move without the help of a machine. Doctors said they had no way to help him. He would die before 23.

    At first, Hawking became very sad. After a while, though, he began to see his life in a different way. As he later wrote, “Before my illness was diagnosed(诊断), I had been very bored with life. There had not seemed to be anything worth doing. But shortly after I came out of hospital, ⑷I suddenly realized that there were a lot of valuable things I could do.” Then Hawking got married and found a job at Cambridge University as a professor. ⑸He strongly believes that his story shows that nobody should lose hope, no matter how bad their situation is. “Life is not fair.” He once said. “You just have to do the best you can in your own situation.”

⑴{#blank#}1{#/blank#}⑵{#blank#}2{#/blank#}⑶{#blank#}3{#/blank#}⑷{#blank#}4{#/blank#}⑸{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Say the words “reality TV” and the show that comes into most people's minds is Big Brother{#blank#}1{#/blank#} There have been varieties in more than seventy countries. The basic form is simple: put a group of strangers into a house, record everything they do and watch how they live together.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}A similar show, the Real World, was broadcast in 1992 on MTV. But the form really became popular with the success of Big Brother, and it was copied again and again{#blank#}3{#/blank#} For examples, in wife Swap, a mother went to live with a family of strangers and tried to run their home.

    So what makes these shows so attractive? As we all know, living with people you don't know is full of pressures and personality problems are common{#blank#}4{#/blank#} A TV presenter thought it was all about relationships and real people and if you were not interested in reality TV, you were not interested in people.

    But is it healthy to be this interested in other people's private life?{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Not everyone prefers such shows, including the first winner of Big Brother, Bart Spring. He said he wasn't a fan of the programme or of people becoming famous for being stupid.

A. In similar shows, competitors were sent to different places, being with strangers.

B. And what kind of people want to appear in front of TV cameras twenty-four hours a day?

C. Competitors often have to share tasks and this also brings disagreement.

D. Love it or not, the programme is worldwide popular.

E. Actually the idea wasn't original.

    Sport is very popular in England. In other words lots of English people like the idea of sport A lot watch sport on TV. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} On the whole English people prefer to be fat rather than thin.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Football is played on Saturday afternoon in most towns and the supporters (支持者) of a certain team will travel from one end of the country to the other to see their teams play. There are four divisions(级别)of the football league. Not surprisingly the best teams are in the first division. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} You have to be a good supporter to watch the fourth division football!

    Many other sports are also played in England, such as golf, in which you try to knock a ball into a hole; basketball, in which you try to get a ball through a net; tennis, in which you try to hit a ball so that your opponent(对手) can not hit it. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} 

    Actually(其实), that is not quite true. Athletics(田径) isn't played with a ball; nor horseracing ( 赛马 ). {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

Until the beginning of July, there has been no rain in northern Italy for over 100 days. Add to that the high temperatures, and the locals get very dry conditions. This is the most serious dry spell（干旱期）for that area in the past 70 years. Because of this situation, the country's longest river, the Po, is drying up!

This is bad news for several different reasons. The fresh water of the Po provides drinking water for northern Italy. Besides, farmers in this area need the water of the Po to keep their crops growing. What's more, the flowing river water is used to create about half of the hydroelectric power（水力发电）for Italy. Its drying up means that more natural gas（天然气） will be used, which is bad for the environment.

There have been some interesting discoveries from this lack of rain, however. Between Florence and Milan, a long ship sunk （沉没）in 1943 appeared because of the low water levels of the river. Now many tourists and locals come to see this ship. A German tank has also appeared out of water near Mantua. At other places along the river, people can even walk on the sandy river bed. Although this may be interesting, people in Italy and around the world are hoping for the return of rain to refill the Po!