(Teresa Lopez, from Cali, Colombia)

    Where I'm from, we're pretty relaxed①_______time. We don't like to rush around. So we don't mind if people are a little late sometimes. If you tell a friend you're going to their house for dinner, it's OK if you arrive a bit late. We like to enjoy our time slowly. We value the time we spend with our family and friends in our everyday lives. We often just drop by our friend's homes if we have time. We don't usually have to make plans to meet our friends .When we see each other, it's polite for boys to slake hands and for girls to kiss each other on the side of the face. We often just walk around the town center, seeing as many of our friends as we can!

 (Marc LeBlanc, from Lausanne, Switzerland)

    In Switzerland, it's very important to be on time. We are the capital of clocks and watches, after all! If someone invites you to meet him or her at noon, then you're expected to be there at noon. If you're even 15 minutes late,③你的朋友可能会发疯，So I make an effort to be on time when I meet my friends. I always leave the house early to avoid heavy traffic because I think it's impolite to keep others②_________.Also, we never visit a friend's house without calling first. We almost always make plans to see friends. We usually plan to do some interesting things, or go somewhere together.

根据短文内容完成下列各题。

    A good book can help you learn more things than you can learn in class. If you want to get into a good reading habit, here are a few ways.

    Plan your time

    You should give yourself at least thirty minutes for reading every day. When time is set, nothing can change it.

    Always carry a book

    Wherever you go, take a book with you. When you leave the house, make sure that you always carry a good book as well as your school things.

    Find a quiet place

    Find a place in your home where you can read a book quietly and no one will trouble you. There should be no television, computer, music or even noisy family members around you.

    There are some skills for students to listen to teacher in class, which means you're going to have to practice it. Just as you would have to practice basketball to be a better player, you also have to practice listening. How to listen in school? {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    One of the things you need to do is to make sure that your mind doesn't wander(漫游). It's easy to start thinking about other things, especially when you're not interested in the subject. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Next, listen for the main ideas. If you want to catch every little piece of information, you'll feel tired and bored. You'll also need to look at the teacher. Not only does this show respect (尊重) to the teacher,  it also helps prevent your mind from wandering. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Or it could just be someone talking to their neighbors who shouldn't be, it can even be some birds outside the classroom window, or a group of kids who are talking loudly as they pass the door to your room.

    Finally, you need to take notes because you can not remember everything the teacher says. You'll have to take down the notes so that you can study it after class. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Listening isn't always easy, but if you follow these simple steps, you'll be much more successful in your classes.

    American schools begin in September after a long summer holiday. There are two terms in a school year; the first term is from September to January, and the second is from February to June. Most American children begin to go to school when they are five years old. Most children are seventeen or eighteen years old when they finish high school.

    High school students take only five or six subjects each term, they usually go to the same classes every day, and they have homework for every class. After class, they do a lot of interesting things.

    After high school, many students go to colleges. They usually have to pay a lot of money. So many college students work after class to get money for their studies.