My name is Dave. I have three good friends, Jack, Tom and Jim. Jack, Tom, Jim and I like different(不同的) food for breakfast. Jack likes cakes, Tom likes fruit, Jim likes eggs and I like vegetables. We all(都) like hamburgers for lunch. We eat hamburgers for lunch every day. Jack, Tom and I also like French fries, but Jim doesn't like them. For dinner, I don't like chicken. But Jack, Tom and Jim do. They all think chicken is very delicious(美味的).

    Many Chinese people like hot pot and Li Yang is one of them.

    Three days ago, Li Yang arrived in England. There he had three days of hamburgers, sandwiches, and potatoes. Yesterday he was very excited when he heard that there was going to be a meal of hot pot to welcome the new students.

    He went into the room and sat next to an American girl. To his surprise, he saw potatoes and bread in front of him. Where was the hot pot?

    When she saw Li Yang was very surprised, the American girl told him that hotpot is NOT hot pot. China has hot pot in two words but English hotpot is written in one word.

    Hotpot is made from meat, potatoes and onions. People put it in the oven (烤箱) all day in a heavy pot and on a low heat. It is easy to cook.

    Hotpot tastes nice. But Li Yang still misses hot pot, two words!

    When people travel abroad(到国外旅游), they sometimes stay in the homes of the local people. This is a homestay(家庭寄宿).

    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 next to 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 ready to help. If you want to celebrate the holidays with them, you will get to know more about their culture and customs.

    You may think there is only sand in the desert of the world, but it is not true. In the desert, as we know, there is a little rain, but it is not enough for most plants. We can still see some plants live in the desert. There is water in some places in the desert. We call these places oases(绿洲).In the oases, there are villages and towns. People grow all kinds of crops in the fields there.

    People also live outside the oases. They have camels, sheep and other animals. These animals depend on the desert plants for their food and do not need much water.

    The animals are useful to the desert people in many ways. They eat the meat and drink the milk of the animals. They use the camels for carrying water, food, tents and something else.

    The people of the desert have to keep moving from place to place. They must always look for grass or desert plants for their animals. When there is no more food for their animals, they move to another place. The desert people are friendly. No man in the desert would ever refuse to help the people in trouble and give them food and water.

    Many people think there is {#blank#}1{#/blank#} but sand in the desert. In fact, there is water in some places in the desert. These places are {#blank#}2{#/blank#} oases. People live there and grow all kinds of crops in the fields there. People live outside the oases, too. They have different kinds of animals, such as camels and sheep. The animals are useful to the people {#blank#}3{#/blank#} in the desert. They offer people meat and milk and help people {#blank#}4{#/blank#}things. The desert people keep moving from one place to another. They are so friendly that they would {#blank#}5{#/blank#} refuse to help anyone in trouble.

    When I just moved to Los Angeles（洛杉矶）, I didn't have a car.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}, but I wanted to prove（证明）them wrong.

    I asked my neighbor, Mrs. White, to take me to the bus station in the center of the city, so I could try taking the bus home.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}. When I got there, I went inside and got a bus timetable（时刻表）. I looked at the map and worked out that I needed to take three buses to get home.

    I bought the tickets and went outside to wait at the bus stop for the Number 8 bus. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. I gave my ticket to the bus driver and took a seat. At the right stop I got off. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. I waited and waited. A man was also waiting for the same bus. He said that it wasn't unusual for the bus to be late. Half an hour later, it finally came. To make the matter worse, the third bus broke down halfway and the driver had to fix it. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. So when I finally got home, I was very tired. Maybe getting a car in Los Angeles wasn't such a bad idea!