Americais a mobile society. Friendship between Americans can be close and real, yet disappearssoon if situations change. Neither side feels hurt by this. Both may exchange Christmasgreetings for a year or two, perhaps a few letters for a while, then no more,If the same two people meet again by chance, even years later, they pick up thefriendship.

   Thiscan be quite difficult for us Chinese to understand, because friendship betweenus flows more slowly but then may become lifelong feelings, extending(延伸) sometimesdeeply into both families.

   Americansare ready to receive us foreigners at their homes, share their holidays and theirhome life. They will enjoy welcoming us and be pleased if we accept theirhospitality (好客) easily.

   Anotherdifficult point for us Chinese to understand Americans is that although they includeus warmly in their personal everyday lives, they don't show their politeness tous if it requires a great deal of time.This is usually the opposite of thepractice in our country where we may be generous with our time. Sometimes,we, as hosts, will appear at airports even in the middle of the night to meet afriend. We may take days off to act as guides to our foreign friends.Americans, however, express their welcome at home. But they truly cannot managethe time to do a great deal with a visitor outside their daily routine. They willprobably expect us to get ourselves from the airport to our own hotel by bus. Andthey expect that we will phone them from there. Once we arrive at their homes,the welcome will be full, warm and real. We will find ourselves to be treatedhospitably.

   ForAmericans, it is often considered more friendly to invite a friend to theirhomes than to go to restaurants, except for purely business matters. So accepttheir hospitality at home!

Everyone knows that exercise is important. We all need to exercise. There are many ways to exercise. You can walk, run, swim, skate, or play ball games, but you should remember to exercise in the right ways.

{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Before you do any exercise, make sure to warm up for at least five minutes. During warming up, you should extend all parts of your body.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#} It's best to exercise twice each week. Thirty minutes each time is enough. Try all kinds of things until you find one, two or even three sports that feel right for yourself.

{#blank#}3{#/blank#} There is a lot of equipment(设备) at fitness centres. The equipment will help exercise your arms, legs and other parts of your body to make you fit. Some people buy equipment for their homes. But it is very expensive.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#} If you get hurt when you are doing exercise, don't play again until you are well.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#} After exercise, it's important to drink something to help you remove your tiredness.

When I moved to America in the 7th grade, I did not speak any English. I had no choice but to keep working hard. Although I made 1 when I reached the 9th grade, people still found it difficult to understand me because of my accent (口音).

One day, at a party, I was invited to play a guessing game. When it was my turn, I tried to 2 the object that I had in mind. Suddenly someone said with a laugh, "What did she say?" I felt 3 . Out of kindness, a girl gently advised me to repeat it, but I got stuck on the word "purple"—I couldn't 4 it. This time, everyone laughed while I was trying hard to get the word out of me. This 5 had its own influence on me. When opportunities were opened up for the summer program I had been looking forward to, I 6 to attend (参加) the interview. Luckily, I got tons of encouragement from people around me. So I decided to 7 .

At the interview, the other students in my group spoke very 8 but I didn't speak that much. I knew that I could hardly be understood because of my accent. Besides when I was nervous, it would be even more 9 for me to pronounce words clearly. After the interview, I stayed, said "10 " and explained to the teachers. I didn't want them to think I wasn't interested or I was being unfriendly. But they appreciated (欣赏) that I expressed 11 . "It's OK. You don't have to say sorry. Your accent does not make you less than others," said one of the teachers.

Surprisingly, I was accepted into the 12 . Imagine how I felt!

Up to now, I still feel 13 that I took that step. It is a sign that I have changed. I did not let my accent 14 me. I'm sure I will continue to feel nervous about speaking English with strangers. 15 that's OK. It will not stop me from trying to be better.

Chinatown is the name given to an area in the middle of London. It is a large Chinese community with a lot of Chinese restaurants, Chinese supermarkets and shops.

{#blank#}1{#/blank#} At the same time, the world rice market changed. And thousands of farm workers in Hong Kong lost their jobs. They began arriving in London to look for work. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

These restaurant workers often worked 17 hours a day and had no time to learn English. As more Chinese arrived, more shops and businesses grew. Wives came and joined their husbands and children came and joined their fathers. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

In the 1970s and 1980s, British-born Chinese started to have a better education. And this brought economic（经济的） success to the area. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} And there was more space for businesses. Chinatown soon became a popular place for tourists.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#} During the Chinese New Year, the streets are filled with flags and thousands of Chinese go into the streets. For most of the year, though, Londoners and tourists go there mainly for the food in the Chinese restaurants. The best restaurants are the ones where the Chinese eat.

A. Many families moved out of Chinatown.

B. Chinatown can be seen in different countries.

C. They found jobs in the restaurants in this area.

D. The community grew, and Chinatown was born.

E. Now everyone knows about London's Chinatown.

F. These young people don't like Chinese restaurants anymore.

G. In the 1950s, it was a poor area and everything was very cheap.

Confidence is very important in daily life. It is helpful to develop a healthy attitude (态度）. A study shows that the people who are more confident are much happier. And they can have more chances to be successful. Here are some suggestions to be more confident.

Birthday is an important day to us in a year. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} all like to have a nice birthday every year. Do you know that families in different (不同的) countries (国家) do different {#blank#}2{#/blank#} on their children's birthdays?

In China, many people {#blank#}3{#/blank#}noodles. They think they can have a{#blank#}4{#/blank#} life. If it is the child's {#blank#}5{#/blank#}birthday, they will have a big party with family and friends. In the USA, parents have a birthday party {#blank#}6{#/blank#} their children at home. All the children{#blank#}7{#/blank#} games all night in the birthday child's home.

In many countries, people eat cakes (蛋糕) on their birthdays. Children's favorite cakes are the ones with {#blank#}8{#/blank#} like strawberries. They make a wish (许个愿) and {#blank#}9{#/blank#} blow out the candles (吹灭蜡烛) on the cakes. They hope their wishes can come true.

Families do different things on their children's birthdays, {#blank#}10{#/blank#} what they say on that day is the same: "Happy birthday!" It brings best wishes (带来最美好的祝愿) to them.