Dear Grandma,

    How are you? I am very busy this month. (A)September 5th is my good friend Gina's birthday. I will go to her birthday party in the evening. On the eleventh, (B)我有一个英语测试. On September 17th, I have a baseball game. You know I love baseball. On the 24th, I have a school trip. On the 28th, I'll go to Mr. Cool's Clothes Store. The clothes there are on sale that day. I want to buy a pair of sports shoes and a T-shirt. The hats there are very nice. I will buy one ① ________ you. Oh, Grandma, I'm very sorry I can't go to see you ② ________ my parents this month. See you next month.

 Yours,

Eric

    Table manners are very different in every country. For example, when you are in England you must not lift your soup plate to your mouth. This is very impolite. But when you are in Japan this is completely normal. Lifting your plate to your mouth in Japan is a traditional way of drinking your soup. And also in Japan you don't have to worry about making a noise when you drink it. It just shows that you really like the food! But it is not the same in Britain, so you shouldn't make a noise when eating there.   

    In Britain, people don't put their hands or arms on the table during the meal. But in Mexico, guests keep their hands on the table all the time. In fact, you should watch what your hands do very carefully. In Arab countries, it is impolite when you eat with your left hand, so don't do it!

    In all the cultures it is impolite to speak when you are eating.

    In Ukraine you should not start eating first; you should wait for all the others to start eating with you. You also have to say "please" and "thank you" every time you ask for and get something. If you don't like some food, don't make faces and don't say: "Yuk! I hate that!"

    The best way to avoid making mistakes in other countries is to watch the host and try to do as he does.

{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Friends are important in our life, because no one wants to be lonely. However, some people have difficulty in making friends and they often feel lonely. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} According to a new study from Chicago University, the reason is that this kind of people have brains（脑）different from common people. And they often feel unsafe when facing strangers.

Does that mean they have no way to become happy again?  {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Scientists of this study have thought up ways to help these people deal with their loneliness. They provided four steps for getting out of loneliness.

    The first step is to accept social invitations even if you don't want to go." It's not enough for people just to get in touch with others online. That's because most people don't show their true selves there," said Dr. Cacioppo, one of this study's scientists. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} As" actions speak louder than words", people need to be active to communicate with others. They also need to meet people with the same interests. Also, they should try to expect the best from each activity.  {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Who knows what good things are waiting for us?

    More and more people are using the Internet to buy things. Many people like shopping on the Internet ①you can buy almost everything on the Internet. Shopping on the Internet is becoming more and more popular. You can shop at any time. The shops are always open. And online shopping can save a lot of time. When you want to shop on the Internet, you only need a computer and a mouse! But you also need a credit card (信用卡) when shopping on the Internet. You always have to be careful with your credit card number, because people sometimes steal (偷) ② it from online stories.

    Online shopping has several disadvantages, too. You can't see the product or try on the clothes. Paying over the Internet isn't always safe.

Have you ever counted the number of digits (数字) in your mobile phone number? Your number has 11 digits. You may sometimes find it hard to remember your number. That's because China has the longest mobile phone numbers in the world. Why is that?

    The 11 digits can be divided into three parts. Each part has a different meaning. The first three numbers tell you which mobile phone service company it is. For example, 135 is for China Mobile Communications Corporation and 188 is for China Unicom. The fourth to the seventh digits tell you where the number is registered (注册). And the last four digits are random (随机的).

    The main reason for using 11 digits is that we have the largest population in the world. We once had 10 numbers. But as our population grew, there were not enough numbers for us to use. So we began to use 11 digits starting from 1999. Eleven digits can be used to make tens of billions of mobile phone numbers. That's enough for each person to have seven or eight phone numbers to use in China.

    And mobile phone numbers can be recycled. Usually, the service company will reuse a canceled number after three to six months. If you call a number that you haven't contacted for a long time, you may find that its owner has changed.

    Besides China, Britain and Japan also use 11-digit mobile phone numbers. But their numbers always start with 0. So they cannot create as many numbers as we can. Countries like the United States, Australia and India use phone numbers with 10 digits. Canada's mobile phone numbers are perhaps the shortest in the world: they use seven digits.

Canadian: In my country, the mobile phone numbers use seven digits. Why does this mobile phone have 11 digits—13958583739?

Salesman: We have the largest population. Besides China, {#blank#}1{#/blank#} also use 11-digit numbers.

Canadian: What do the numbers mean?

Salesman: The number {#blank#}2{#/blank#} tells you which mobile phone service company it is.

    The {#blank#}3{#/blank#} to the seventh numbers tell you the {#blank#}4{#/blank#} of its registration. The number 3739 is random.

Canadian: Can you {#blank#}5{#/blank#} the phone numbers?

Salesman: Yes, after three to six months.

    The bar chart shows the amount of money spent on two types of electronic items in country X.

    Study the information in the chart by choosing and reporting the main features.