If you have seen the short play “I've got much money(不差钱)”, you must have been impressed by the way Xiao Shenyang dressed 1 . The dress he wore is called the kilt（苏格兰方格呢短裙）. There is a famous 2 in Scotland. It says, “ A man in s kilt is a man and a half.” This saying shows how 3 the kilt is for Scottish people. The kilt is a special dress. Most Scottish men 4 it. Why do Scottish men wear 5 and what's the history of this special dress?

 It's said that in the 16th century, the Scottish highlands were  6 , so the roads were always full of mud（泥）. The mud made it very difficult for soldiers to  7  around. Slowly people found that the soldiers in kilts could move more  8  than those in trousers because kilts were much more flexible（灵活的）. What's more, soldiers could use the kilts on cold nights  9  a blanket.

 In modern times, the kilt  10Scottish pride. People wear kilts for  11 events, weddings and traditional sporting events, for example. But that's not all. The colors of a kilt also show a person's  12  history. Each Scottish family has a different pattern. So a Scotsman is wearing not only the national dress of his country,  13 the pride of his family.

 Today, fashion designers are trying to make the kilt 14  more modern and fashionable to catch more eyes. Besides cloth, the designers are trying some  15  materials such as paper and leather（皮革）.

The Water City of Venice

    In 1980s, I went to Italy for business. One day, I sat with my friend in a well-known coffee shop in a neighboring town of Venice(威尼斯), Italy, the city of lights and 1.

    As we enjoyed our coffee, a young man2 glasses entered and sat at an empty table beside us. He called the waiter and placed his order saying, “Two cups of coffee, one of them there 3 the wall.”

    We heard this order with interest and found that he 4 with one cup of coffee but he paid for two.

    When he left, the waiter 5 a piece of paper on the wall saying “A Cup of Coffee”.

    While we were still there, 6 middle-aged men entered and ordered three cups of coffee, two on the table and one on the wall. They had two cups of coffee but 7 three and left. This time also, the waiter did the same. He put a piece of paper on the wall saying, “A Cup of Coffee”.

    It was 8 and perplexing(困惑)for us. We finished our coffee, paid the bill and left.

    After a few days, we had a chance  9 this coffee shop again. While we were enjoying our coffee, a man 10 dressed entered. As he seated himself, he 11 the wall and said, “One cup of coffee from the wall.”

    The waiter served coffee to this man with the customary(惯常的)respect. The man had his coffee and left  12 paying.

    We were amazed to watch all this, as the waiter 13 a piece of paper from the wall and threw it into the rubbish bin.

    Now it was no 14 for us-the matter was very clear. The great respect for the needy shown by the inhabitants(居民)of this town 15 our eyes well up in tears.

    Many years later, when I went to Venice for business again, I did the same thing as my appreciation to this beautiful world.

    In our country we think being modest(谦虚的) is a virtue(美德) and being proud is a bad thing. One day, I heard an American boy say to a Chinese student, “you speak very good English.” But the girl answered, “No, no. My English is very poor.” The foreigner was quite 1at the answer. Thinking he had not made himself understood or the girl had not heard him 2 He said, “Yes, indeed, you speak very well.”3 the girl still kept saying. “No.” In the end the American boy could not understand and didn't know 4 to say.

    What's wrong with the girl's answer? She didn't 5a compliment(恭维) in the same way as the American people do. She should answer “Thank you” instead of “No.” She 6 understood what the American boy had said, but she thought she should be modest. In the 7 people will feel 8 and confident when they are praised. So if someone says the 9 you have cooked are very delicious, you should say, “Thank you”.

    If you are modest and say. “No, I'm 10 I can't do it well”, while working in a western country, people may think that you really can not do it. If you often say, “No”, you'll certainly be looked down upon by 11 When asking 12 a job, if one says something like, “Yes, I can certainly do it” instead of “ Let me have a try”, he or she will13 get it. So in the west, you should be brave to show your self-confidence. In my opinion, being confident doesn't 14 being proud, so sometimes you should be confident15 being modest.