In Britain, when people meet each other for the first time, they talk about things like family, work, school,or sports. They ask question like “Do you have any brothers or sisters?”“Where do you work?”“What school do you go to?"and "Do you like sports?”They also ask questions like “Where do you come from?”and “Where do you live?”These are polite questions. They are not personal or private. But some things are personal or private, and questions about them are not polite. People don't ask questions about a person's salary(薪水). They don't ask how much or someone is paid for something. It is not OK to ask people questions about politics, party(政党) or religion(宗教) unless you know them very well. People don 't ask unmarried people “Why are you single?”and they don't ask a married couple with no children “Why don't you have any children?”

    In many English homes people eat four meals a day: breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner. People have breakfast at any time from seven to nine in the morning. They eat porridge，eggs or bread. English people drink tea or coffee at breakfast. Lunch comes at one o'clock. Afternoon tea is from four to five in the afternoon and dinner is about half past seven. First they have soups, and then they have meat or fish with vegetables. After that they eat some other things, like bananas，apples or oranges. But not all English people eat like that. Some of them have their dinner in the middle of the day. Their meals are breakfast, dinner, tea and supper and all these meals are very necessary.

    Many children go to the zoo on October 4 to see elephants, monkeys and tigers because that day is World Animal Day.

    Now, more children like animals and want to make friends with them. In the zoo, they learn about animal life. They don't need to go out to show their love of animals. They have pets(宠物)at home.

    Mark is a middle school student. He has a black cat. He gives it milk to drink and meat to eat. The cat is his true friend. Jane is also a middle school student. She has two tortoises. They are as big as her hand. Every day, she changes(换)the water for them. She likes to watch them.

B

    In choosing a friend, one should be very careful. A good friend can help you study. You can have fun together and make each other happy. Sometimes you will meet fair-weather friends. They will be with you only if you have money or luck, but when you are down, they will run away. How do I know when I have found a good friend? I look for certain qualities of characteristic, especially understanding, honesty and reliability (可靠).

    Above all else, I look for understanding in a friend. A good friend tries to understand how another person is feeling. He is not quick to give his opinion. Instead, he tries to learn from others. He puts himself in the other person's place, and he tries to think of ways to be helpful. He is also a good listener.

    At the same time, however, a good friend is honest. He does not look for faults (过错) in others. He notices their good points. In short, a friend will try to understand me and accept me.

    Another quality of a friend is reliability. I can always depend on (信赖) a good friend. If he tells me he will meet me somewhere at a certain time, I can be sure that he will be there. If I need help, he will do his best to help me. If I am in trouble, he will not run away from me.

    There is a fourth quality that makes a friend special. A special friend is someone with whom we can have fun. We should enjoy our lives, and we would enjoy our friendship. That is why I especially like friends who are fun to be with. A good friend likes the same things I like. We share experience (经验) and learn from each other. A good friend has a good sense of humour, too. He likes to laugh with me. That is how we share in the joy of being friends. And I know that he is looking for the same quality in me.

    When I meet someone who is reliable, honest, and understanding, I know I've found a friend!

C

    Clothing is a language. It tells us about individual people: their personality, age, place in society and so on. If we want to know more about society, we can look at traditional clothing.

    The continent of Africa has a long history and a rich culture, and this is shown in traditional dress. You often find three colors— red, gold and green in the clothing. The first color stands for the blood of millions of people who suffered as slaves(奴隶), the second is for the rich resources of the African earth, and the third represents the grasslands of home.

    The patterns on the clothing also have a meaning. A common pattern is in the form of a cross “×”, which stands for “unity”. Another pattern is a rectangular（矩形） box, which represents “strength”.

    Because clothing has a strong social meaning, people are very careful in choosing what to wear. It would be a serious mistake to wear the wrong clothing, or to wear clothes in the wrong way. For instance, in Ghana, a woman should wear her waistband differently according to the importance of the social event. 

    Traditional dress also tells us about everyday life. African designs are famous for loose(宽松的) clothing. The climate, with the hot sun and wide temperature ranges(变化), requires that the clothes are comfortable for daily life. 

    Although many people wear western clothes, particularly in the big cities in Africa, traditional dress is very highly valued(评价). This is because it has deep cultural meanings.