We all have ideas about what kinds of foods are good or bad to eat. As a result, people from one culture often think the foods that people from another culture eat are not accepted. Many people would find it terrible to eat mice, but there are forty-two different cultures whose people regard mice as proper food.

     Food likes and dislikes do not always seem related to nutrition. For example, broccoli is first on a list of the most nutritious common vegetables, but it is twenty-first on a list of vegetables that Americans like most to eat. Tomatoes are sixteenth on the list of most nutritious vegetables, but they are first on the list of vegetables that Americans like most to eat.

    But dislikes is not the only reason why some cultures will not eat a certain food. In some cultures, certain foods are taboo Taboo is a word from the language of the Fiji Islands that is used to describe something that is not allowed. We do not usually think about why certain things are taboo in our culture.

    One example is that Americans do not eat dogs, although people from some other cultures regard them as good food. In the United States, dogs are very important to people as pets. They are usually regarded as part of the family, almost like a child in some cases. What's more, dogs have value as protection against criminals. In fact, the dog's place in society as a company makes the dog taboo as food.Scientists believe that most food likes and dislikes are a result of the ways of life of different people. People will not eat pets such as dogs. Americans drink milk or eat a lot of beef because there is thousands of land for raising cows and their milk or meat can be shipped cheaply far away by train.

    When my son, Mark, was in the third grade, he saved all his pocket money for over three months to buy holiday presents for those he loved. The third Saturday in December Mark said that he had made his list and had twenty dollars in his pocket.

    I drove him to a nearby supermarket. Mark picked up a hand basket and went off on his own while I waited patiently reading a book in the car. It took Mark over 45 minutes to choose his presents. The clerk rang in his purchases( 所购物品) as I politely looked the other way. Mark kept within his budget(预算)and reached into his pocket for his money. It was not there! There was a hole in his pocket, but no money. Mark stood in the middle of the store holding his basket, tears rolling down his cheeks. His whole body was shaking with his sobs. Then an amazing thing happened. A customer in the store came up to Mark. She knelt down and took him in her arms.

     “You would do me the greatest favour if you let me replace(补还)your money,” said the woman. “It would be the most wonderful present you could ever give me. I only ask that one day you pass it on. One day, when you are grown-up, I would like you to find someone you can help. When you help this other person, I know you will feel as good about it as I do now.”

    Mark took the money, dried his tears and ran to the checkout counter as fast as he could. I think we all enjoyed our gifts that year almost as much as Mark enjoyed giving them to us.

    I would like to say “thank you” to that very kind woman. I would like to tell her that four years later Mark went house to house collecting blankets and clothes for the homeless people in the Oakland fire－and he thought of her. And I want to promise her that Mark will never forget to keep passing it on.

    Arthur sat at the desk in his room, pencil in hand. He had to write a story for his English class by Friday. “I don't know what to write about,” he complained to his dog Toby, who was asleep at his feet. Arthur was talkative when speaking to his friends. Yet he had trouble finding words when he had to write.

    By bedtime Arthur had drawn a picture of Toby smiling. He had drawn a tree with its branches blowing in the strong wind. He had also written a note asking his friend Lee to go to the movies on Saturday. But he had not written a single word of his story.

On Wednesday, Mrs. Solomon, Arthur's English teacher, asked the class to turn in their stories. Arthur's heart went down, he turned in the only work he had—the page with his name, the drawings and the note.

    Arthur wasn't surprised when Mrs. Solomon asked him to stay after class the next day. But he was surprised by what she said to him. “This is an attractive story, Arthur. The dog, the movie, the tree in the wind. I can't wait to find out how they all fit together.”

“That isn't my story, Mrs. Solomon,” Arthur said. “I haven't been able to think of one yet.”

“Oh, I think you have the seed of a story there,” Mrs. Solomon replied, “Look at your note and the pictures and see if a story comes to you.”

    That night Arthur sat at his desk, and this is what he wrote: “One Saturday Mike went downstairs to meet his friend Julio at the cinema. It looked as if it might rain, so Mike carried his umbrella. Suddenly a big storm blew in, bending the trees. The noise of the wind sounded like the barking of Mike's dog Toby. Toby really hated storms and barked whenever he wanted to be let inside. Then Mike realized that it wasn't the sound of the wind. It was Toby. The dog was running after him down the busy street, barking. The sound was filled with unhappiness. Mike felt sorry because he had left Toby outside. He turned and headed home with Toby running beside him. Mike let Toby in the door just as the rain started to pour down.”

    Arthur had a story in the end. The last thing he did was to write his name proudly at the top of the page.

     I was 15 when I walked into McCarley's bookstore in Ashland. As I was looking at all the books on the   1   , the shop owner asked if I'd like a job. I needed to start   2  money for college, so I said yes. I worked after school and during the summer for the lowest pay, and the job helped pay for my first year of college. I would do many other jobs and I   3   made maps for the US Forest Service. But selling books was one of the most satisfying.

    One day a woman asked me for books on cancer. She seemed   4  . I showed her almost everything we had at that time in the  5and found other books we could order. She left the store less  6 . I've always remembered the  7 I felt in having helped her.

    Years later, as a TV reporter in Los Angeles, I   8   a child who was born with his fingers connected(jointed together). His family could not   9   a corrective operation, and the boy lived in shame, hiding his hand in his pocket.

Luckily, I  10   persuading(说服) my boss to let me do the story. After my story was broadcast, a doctor and a nurse called,    11  to perform the operation for free.

    I visited the boy in the recovery room soon after the operation. The first thing he did was to hold up his repaired 12and say, “thank you.” I felt a sense of   13  .

    In the past, while I was at McCarley's bookstore, I always felt that I was working for the   14 , not the store. Today it's the same. NBC News pays me,   15  I feel as if I work for the TV viewers, helping them make sense of the world, not the TV station.

    Everyone seems (have) his or her own holiday. Dad has Father's Day. Mom has Mother's Day. Children have Children's Day. (love)have Valentine's Day. is there a special day for older people 

    Of course. The Chongyang Festival is the holiday when Chinese people show love for their elders. (celebrate)on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, the festival is also known as the Double Ninth Festival. Nine is (high)digit(数字)，so it (regard) that the two together mean a long life.

    The festival comes the golden time of autumn. The clear weather and the joy of harvest make for a happy atmosphere. On the day, people (traditional) climb a mountain and carry dogwood. People in ancient times believed the plant could drive away evil (spirit)and prevent people against cold in winter.

The following questions can help you :

①Are there any interesting activities at school? Please give me some examples.

②I like playing tennis very much.Is there any club or activity for that?

③Do we have parties on holidays?

 注意：①回信必须根据这份信内容，可适当发挥想象，增加内容；

       ②词数： 80个左右 

       ③ 信的开头和结尾已给出，但不计入总词数。

Dear Tony，

 I'm very glad to hear that an exchange student will come to our school. I know it is a little difficult for you to deal with the problem of English writing……