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!

A big test makes students feel fear and anxiety(焦虑的). But taking tests is something faced by all students at all levels of schools. How do you prepare for the tests as well as reducing fear? {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Maybe they will be of use to you. 

Calm down. Don't panic. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} You will be focusing on the fear, and not the coming test. Many times, fear can even prevent you doing well. If you panic, take deep breaths, and think that you can do this. 

{#blank#}3{#/blank#}People who make a detailed study plan often have an easier time of their studies. When making a study plan, calculate(计算)the amount of time you have left before the exam date. Is the exam in a month? Did the teacher spring the test on you suddenly? Is it a mid-year exam that has been waiting since the start of the year? Depending on the time, make your study plan long or short. 

Take notes and ask questions. If you come across what you can't understand, write it down. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}And don't worry—you aren't stupid if you ask questions. Questions mean that you're actively learning. Besides, a question ahead of time could mean a better grade on the exam. 

Good study skills help to achieve better results with less effort. So use the ones that work for you. 

What else can you do to prepare for a test? (请用10词左右的句子回答问题){#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A Chinese song contest (比赛) for overseas Chinese was held in London on Sunday. It was organized by the London Chinatown Chinese Association. 

Twenty competitors were divided into three age groups: adults (18-40), juniors (12-17) and children (5-11). The contest awarded one gold, one silver and one bronze prize for each group. The winners will attend the final contest in Beijing this summer. 

In a welcome speech, Jiang Lei, consul general of the Chinese Embassy (中国大使馆总领事) in the UK, said the contest is a great platform to show the talents of overseas Chinese and promote (弘扬) traditional Chinese culture. "2024 marks the Year of the Dragon. It's especially meaningful for overseas Chinese to get together and sing Chinese songs. I believe that these young competitors will move from today's small stage to larger ones in the future," she said. 

Jacky Zhao, a 15-year-old boy, got a silver prize. "It was my first stage performance here, which I think can help me get used to the life in the UK," he said. Li Siyu, in a traditional Chinese horse-face skirt, performed the song Qingming Shanghe Tu. By mixing classical Chinese dance and Peking opera into her performance, Li successfully showed the beauty of the traditional Chinese culture to the world. 

The contest has been held for 14 years since 2011. More than 45,000 competitors from around the world attended it. It has become one of the most popular cultural events for overseas Chinese.

The teenager life(青少年生活) is nice. You can enjoy it. You can do many things in your teenager years.

Study hard at school

School life sometimes is difficult, but it is really important in your teenager years. So always do your homework after school first.

Make good friends

You don't need to know everyone at school, but it's important for you to make some good friends. Your friends can make you happy and help you. You don't need many friends. But the quality(质量) of your friends is really important.

Have your hobbies

Seek some interesting things. You can read books, sing songs and play football. Don't be afraid to do new things.

Do volunteer(志愿者) work

This kind of work can make you be good. And it can help you with your study and get good work. It is very good.

Have you ever tried to hide your emotions from someone during a conversation? {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Scientists from the Ohio State University have found that people are able to tell other people' s emotions according to the changes in the color of their faces. 

Scientists studied pictures of people' s facial expressions. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} For example, happiness makes our faces red around the checks and a little blue around the chin. Disgust(厌恶) creates not only a blue-yellow color around the lips, but also a red-green color around the nose and forehead. " We believe these color patterns are the result of small changes in blood flow triggered(触发) by the central nervous(神经) system." Lead researcher Alex Nartime said. 

{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Does the color alone or also facial expressions help people tell others' emotions? To figure this out, scientists added color patterns to pictures of faces that showed no facial expressions. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} They were able to tell the emotions 75 percent of the time without any difficulty.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#} For example, when two people are heatedly arguing over something, we say they are red in the face. When a person is very angry, we say he or she is blue in the face.