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 should have a hobby, but some hobbies may cost much and not be the best ones for you. So you need to find some right hobbies that you have {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(兴趣) in. Here is something new for you.

Hiking(远足)

All you need is to find a great place for hiking, and it's important to get strong and {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(舒适的) hiking shoes. As a kind of good exercise, hiking is good for your body. And it {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(帮助) to learn a lot.

Blogging(写博客)

Blogging is a good way to {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(分享) your ideas or pictures on the website. Also, you can start your {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (自 己 的)website. And maybe it costs you about 10  {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(美元). By blogging, you can make new friends too.

Cooking

Some people enjoy {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(找到) new recipes(食谱) on free websites and trying to make new dishes. Cooking dishes {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (一定,肯定) bring you and your family something meaningful. For me, it's the {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(愉悦;快乐) and happiness.

As you can see, there are always so many great hobbies that you can take up to learn some new {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (技能) and fill your free time.

Do you know about koalas? The koala is 1 Australian animal. It 2 gray and brown fur(皮毛). And the fur on 3 belly(腹部) is white. Koalas eat and sleep in eucalyptus trees(桉树). 4 almost never get down the trees so somebody thinks they are 5 . They are active 6 night and sleep all day. People often think that koalas are friendly animals 7 they look very cute. But they may scratch(乱抓) people if they are not happy. They have sharp claws(利爪). So please 8 friendly to them. In the past, koalas were often hunted(被捕获) because of their beautiful soft fur. Now they are a protected species(被保护的物种) and it's not right 9 them. We need koalas and other animals, because they are our dear 10 ! 

Our nearest neighbor is the moon. In the sky, the moon and the sun seem to be of the same size because the moon is much nearer.

The moon makes the tides(潮汐)— the changes in the level of the sea. The moon and the sun together pull the sea. In some parts of the world, the difference between" high tide"( when the sea is very near the land) and" low tide"( when the sea is far away from the land) is very big. This is very important for ships.

The moon is very different from the earth. Gravity(重力) on the moon is six times weaker than that on the earth. There isn't any air. During the day, it is very very hot but at night it is very very cold. Nothing can live on the moon.

If the moon goes between the earth and the sun, we have an eclipse of the sun(日食). The moon stops the light from the sun and we have night in the day.

If the earth goes between the moon and the sun, we have an eclipse of the moon. The moon goes into the shadow(影子) of the earth and it disappears(消失) for a few minutes.

Helen's uncle has a big and beautiful farm. Ella, Emma, Peter and Helen are there. They find many great animals there.