Table manners are very different in every country. For example, when you are in England you must not lift your soup plate to your mouth. This is very impolite. But when you are in Japan this is completely normal. Lifting your plate to your mouth in Japan is a traditional way of drinking your soup. And also in Japan you don't have to worry about making a noise when you drink it. It just shows that you really like the food! But it is not the same in Britain, so you shouldn't make a noise when eating there.   

    In Britain, people don't put their hands or arms on the table during the meal. But in Mexico, guests keep their hands on the table all the time. In fact, you should watch what your hands do very carefully. In Arab countries, it is impolite when you eat with your left hand, so don't do it!

    In all the cultures it is impolite to speak when you are eating.

    In Ukraine you should not start eating first; you should wait for all the others to start eating with you. You also have to say "please" and "thank you" every time you ask for and get something. If you don't like some food, don't make faces and don't say: "Yuk! I hate that!"

    The best way to avoid making mistakes in other countries is to watch the host and try to do as he does.

Dear Wendy

    Thanks for your letter. Now I'll tell you about myself.

    My name is Kitty. I am 12. My birthday is on October 12^th. I am from America. I'm in Class 3, Grade 7. We learn Chinese at our school. Our Chinese teacher's name is Wang Hao.

    Here are some of my friends. Jimmy is tall and he has black hair. He is good at playing basketball. He is in the Basketball Club. May is short and she wears glasses and a yellow dress. She likes English very much and is good at speaking English. Sally is a black girl. She has short hair. She likes swimming. She swims best in the swimming team.

    I like music. I'm a boy with glasses. Write to me soon and tell me about your friend.

Yours

Kitty

    Making money isn't just for adults. Kids can do it, too. Making money gives you more than money. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}By working to make your own money, you'll learn how to succeed in the world. This includes dealing with money, understanding and getting along with other people. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} 

    Collect soft drink bottles. You can sell the collected bottles and use the money to buy a new basketball. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} 

    Make greeting cards. If you are good at drawing, try making special cards. You can sell your cards to make money.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}You may have some books that you have read but you don't want to keep. Then you can sell them to make money.

    Win a scholarship(奖学金). If you get good grades at school, you can get some money as prize. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} 

    Is there a connection between music and language? According to recent studies, the answer is yes: {#blank#}1{#/blank#}Here, we look at two examples

    A recent study by researcher Kraus shows that playing a musical instrument can improve a person's hearing ability.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}The people in the first group were musicians, while those in the second group had no musical training. The musicians were able to hear the talking person more clearly.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Think about violinists in an orchestra (管弦乐团). When the violinists play with the group, they hear their own instrument and many others, too. But the violinists must listen closely to what they are playing, and pay no attention to the other sounds. In this way, musicians are able to focus on certain sounds, even in a room with lots of noise.

    Schlaug, a doctor at Harvard Medical School, works with stroke (中风) patients. Because of their illness, these people cannot say their names, addresses, or other information normally. However, they can still sing.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}Why does this work? Schlaug isn't sure. Music seems to make different parts of the brain work, including the damaged (损坏的) parts. This might help patients to use that part of the brain again.

    Music improves concentration (注意力), memory, listening skills, and our overall language abilities.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Playing an instrument or singing can help us do better in school and keep our brain sharp (敏锐的) as we get older. Music is not only enjoyable, it's also good for us in many other ways.

    People drink tea. There are many kinds of tea, such as black tea, green tea, white tea and yellow tea. People drink a lot of tea in China. Some people drink it because they think it makes them healthy. Many people drink it because it tastes(尝起来) very good. It is delicious.

    People drink a lot of tea in Japan. People drink a lot of tea in South Korea too. In Vietnam, people like to drink coffee first. Then they drink tea. In England, people like to drink tea with milk.

    Many people drink black tea in the US. In the South, people like to drink sweet tea. Sweet tea is cold black tea with sugar in it.

    Most tea comes from China. Some tea comes from India or Sri Lanka.  Kenya, Japan and Indonesia also grow tea.

    Drinking tea around the world

    What can we do to help protect the environment? It seems useless to just pick up a piece of trash(垃圾) ,but what will happen if you keep doing it every day? Tommy Kleyn, an ordinary man from the Netherlands, may give you the answer. Tommy Kieyn walked past a polluted river on his way to work every day. It used to be a beautiful view, but the trash on the bank made it dirty and smelly. So Tommy decided to pick up the trash along the river a little bit at a time after work. "It took me about 30 minutes to fill one garbage(垃圾) bag with trash, but one garbage bag didn't seem helpful in a place as polluted as this. I decided to fill one bag of trash each day as I passed by," Tommy said. Every day, Tommy took pictures of the river and shared them on his Facebook page. To his surprise, in just six days, he had made great progress with his cleanup effort(努力) . He felt happy and kept doing it. Gradually, more and more people knew about Tommy's story. Other people in the community began following in his footsteps and cleaning up trash on their way home, too. "The idea is to encourage people to fill one garbage bag with litter each day. It only takes 30 minutes, but it really makes a difference and you will be amazed at how good you feel afterwards, "he said. People from all over the world have been moved and inspired(激励)by Tommy's story. No effort is useless if we keep doing it every day. Ordinary people like you and me can also make a difference to the world we live in if we take actions right now.