On Mother's Day, after my children arrived home from school, the doorbell 1 . I went to answer it, and there stood two clean-faced, tall, smiling2 . They held two of the most beautiful flowers I had ever seen. They said to me, “Do you 3 us? You often fed us cookies! They were so 4 . We wanted to come back and thank you and say “Happy Mother's Day” because you were like a mom to us!” I couldn't help crying, and thanked them.

    I remembered the old days. At that time I did not have a lot of money or a big house and l was a single mom with three young  5 of my own. The two boys were a bit older than my children. They always visited my yard, but they 6 cared about the fact that their faces were dirty. Every day they enjoyed themselves with my 7 girls and one small boy.

    I spent a lot of time 8 healthy cookies. The two boys played happily in my yard, and they were quite happy to share food, books, games and then, for a time, they didn't  9 us. I wanted to know what happened in their lives, and hoped for the best.

    But now they came back and thanked me. This is the 10 gift I have ever received from two young boys.

    Sam is my new classmate. He is 1 American boy. He is from New York. He is thirteen.

    Sam often gets up at about 6: 30 on2. And he often 3 a cup of tea, an egg and some bread for his breakfast. Then he goes to school at 7: 30 a.m. and gets there 4 8: 00 a.m. . They have four classes in the morning and two in the 5. At 3: 50 p.m. they play games. He studies hard and studies 6. He likes English and is good at it. He teaches us 7 and we teach him Chinese. He can speak a little Chinese now, but not 8 . Mike is his good friend. They go home together(一起). He does 9 homework at home, but sometimes at school. On Saturday and Sunday, he likes 10 football games on TV. He often goes to bed at about nine.

    John and Tina come from different countries. They are interested in Chinese food. They usually eat Chinese food in restaurants and often talk about it.

It's Saturday today and it's sunny. John asks Tina to have dinner at Ms. Brown's House. It's the first time that Tina goes there for dinner.

    "Hi, John. Are there different kinds of food at Ms. Brown's House?" Tina asks.

"Of course. There're all kinds of noodles  such as chicken and cabbage noodles, mutton and potato noodles, tomato and egg noodles and beef and carrot noodles," John says.

    "Sounds great! I like tomato and egg noodles very much," said Tina.

"Me, too. There are also delicious dumplings and specials. After dinner, we can have ice- cream and fruit. They are on sale."

    "Ice-cream? I know a new kind of ice-cream. It is delicious. And you can keep it for an hour."

    "Great! But there isn't any at Ms. Brown's House."

    "I know where to buy it. Let's go after dinner."

    "OK."

    China covers large areas and has a great population. Different living habits have always been an interesting topic in the country. Recently, another difference between southern Chinese and northern Chinese became a hot one: the way people shop at markets.

    People from southern China say that they always buy what they need for just one or two meals. It is normal for them to buy half of a Chinese cabbage, two potatoes and 0.25 kilogram of beef at a time.

    However, one may be laughed at if he does this in the north. Instead, buying vegetables and meat enough for a week is usual. Also, you can buy a small amount (数量) of fruit, such as a single apple or pear, each time in the south. Shop owners even help you peel and cut them. But shop owners in the north hardly offer such service. And many fruits are sold in baskets and boxes.

    The difference could be due to the different weather.

    Food can be kept for a long time in the north, as it is usually cold and dry there. Many northern Chinese have the habit of storing food, especially for the long winter. But the hot and wet weather in the south makes southern Chinese buy just enough food for one meal or one day, or else the food may go bad.