When people travel abroad(国外), they sometimes stay in the homes of the local people. This is a homestay.

    I am living with an old English couple, in the west of London. They have a clean four-bedroom house. This is a new house. It has two bathrooms and a garden with many beautiful flowers. I have a bedroom of my own.

   There are some shopping centres and a restaurant near the house, and the house is close to an underground station. It takes about 30 minutes to take an underground to the centre of London.

    I think a homestay may be a good choice for you if it is your first time to visit abroad. The local people are friendly and helpful. If you want to celebrate the holidays with them, you will get to know more about their culture and customs.

    Why do people cry? Scientists say the body produces(产生)tears because it needs them. One kind of tears(眼泪)is for the eye， the other is for the heart. They both work as cleaners. If something else like dust(灰尘)gets into your eye， tears also come into the eye to clean it out. If you are hurt by something，your strong feelings produce some poisonous chemicals(毒素)in your body， and at the same time， tears come out with them. If tears don't help clean out these poisonous chemicals， they will do harm to(伤害)the heart.

    In the United States men have heart problems more often than women do. Doctors say heart problems have something to do with the pressures(压力)of living and working now. Perhaps men have more of these illnesses because they do not cry enough. They need to cry more.

    In fact，you can find many ways of reducing(减少)the pressures to keep fit. Crying is a natural(自然)and physical(生理)one.

    One afternoon, in Paris, Kate visited an art museum. She enjoyed seeing some great paintings in a quiet place like that. But a young man and his wife talked all the time. Kate watched them because of the noise and decided to go away.

    Kate met them many times when she walked through the museum. Every time Kate heard their noise, she left quickly.

    Kate was buying cards at the gate of the museum when those two people got there, too.

    “He's a brave man,” said the shopkeeper. “Most of us would give up if we were blind (失明), but he and his wife come when there's a new art show anytime.” “But how does the man enjoy the paintings?” Kate felt very sorry and asked.

    “His wife tells him about every painting.”

    At that moment Kate knew what patience (耐心) and bravery are. Kate saw patience from the wife and bravery from the man. He would not let blindness change his love on art.

    Once, a student complained to his teacher about his unhappy life. The teacher decided to teach him a lesson.

    One day, he asked the student to get some salt and a glass of water.

The student returned with a glass of clean water and a handful of salt. The teacher asked the young man to put the salt into the glass and drink it.

    "How does it taste?" the teacher asked.

    "It tastes bitter (味苦的)," the student replied.

    The teacher didn't say anything else, but asked the young man to get the same amount (数量) of salt and follow the teacher to a nearby lake.

    "Put the salt into the lake," the teacher said. The young man did what the teacher said.

    "Now, taste the water from the lake," the teacher said.

    As the water dropped down the young man's chin, the teacher asked, "How does it taste?"

    "Fresh and a bit sweet," the student said.

    "Do you taste the salt?" the teacher asked.

    "No," the young man shook his head.

    The teacher sat beside the young man and said, "The pain of life is like salt — no more, no less. However, the amount of bitterness you taste depends on the container (容器) you put the pain in." The amount of pain in life stays exactly the same. So when you are in pain, the only thing to do is to open up the mind. Stop being a glass, become a lake.