Everyone needs friends. They are very important because friends bring us happiness and hope in our lives. But the ability to make friends changes from person to person. To some people, making friends is not hard, and to others it's very difficult. Making friends is a skill, and the first thing is to know how to get on with others. If you have trouble in making friends, maybe I can tell you how to do it.

    a)Realize your own good points. You have skills and talents(才能) that others will like.

    b)Believe that you are a good person and have something nice to share with others.

    c)Be humorous. Learn to laugh at yourself and your weakness. Remember to smile at others.

    d)Respect(尊敬) the others. Everyone has his own idea. Learn how to listen to others' ideas without trying to make them accept yours.

    e)Be kind. If you are kind to others, they will usually be kind to you. There are hundreds of little things you can do to show your kindness. Open the door for someone. Wave to a friend and so on.

    f)Don't complain. Learn to accept what you can't change, and work hard to change what you can. No one is willing to hear your complaints all the time.

    g)Never give up. Even if you are faced with some closed-minded people, never give up. And try to find someone who will understand you.

阅读短文，根据短文内容回答问题。

Chinese Culture

    While China is almost the same size as the US in area, it is home to about 1.3 billion people. It has a special culture with a very long history.

    Chinese Food

    Food plays an important role for Chinese families. Different foods have special meanings. The most obvious(明显的) difference is that Chinese people eat their meals with chopsticks. One of the main foods in Chinese culture is rice. Tea is a favorite drink and it is popular in the market.

    Chinese New Year

    The Chinese calendar(日历) is called a lunar(阴历的) calendar. It is not the same as the one used in the US. New Year's Day is in late winter. It is also called the Spring Festival. It has a big celebration of letting go of the old and bringing in the new. It has special foods and traditions. For example, sweeping the floor before New Year's Day sweeps away all the old year's bad luck.

Chinese Zodiac(生肖)

    The Chinese zodiac, known as Sheng Xiao, follows a twelve-year cycle(循环). Each year is named for an animal. These animal signs are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. For example, the year that begins in 2016 is the Year of the Monkey.

    Chinese Language

    Chinese is a complex(复杂的) language. Chinese writing developed almost 4,000 years ago and may even be older. Chinese writing has thousands of characters. A character represents(代表) a word and also a meaning. Unlike English, there are no spaces in Chinese writing. Besides Standard Chinese, or Putonghua, Chinese people speak six other forms of the language, and there are many kinds of dialects(方言).

Julie: Look! The elephants are eating grass. They are so big.

Susan: They are big and friendly to people.

Julie: There are giraffes over there.

Susan: What are they doing?

Julie: They are playing with the elephants.

Susan: Do you like giraffes?

Julie: Yes, I do. They are very cute.

Susan: Are the koalas there sleeping?

Julie: Yes, they are. They usually sleep during the day.

Susan: Is the lion eating there?

Julie: No, it isn't. It's relaxing. It relaxes for 20 hours every day.

    It may be difficult to start high school. Thinking about making new friends might make you feel nervous. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} You are going to school with a group of students of your age. Here are several suggestions for you to follow.

    Forget your fear and just talk to someone.

    It's easier said than done. But try to take a deep breath and find your voice. Don't be afraid to approach (接近) people. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Sit in the middle of the classroom with as many new friends around you as possible.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Take part in after-class activities that interest you. Try to make friends in the clubs. If you don't join anything, you will be just going to class and then going home. Being in a club makes you more social.

    Stay clean.

    No one likes a bad smell that could knock someone over. Shower everyday, brush your teeth and wash your hair. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Be respectful (尊重的) of people's differences.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} And everyone believes in different things. It is a good thing to have different friends with different opinions because you can each share your own.

From the Other Side

Lara and Tara are twins. They look like each other, but they are very different in everything else. For example, hot food is Lara's favorite, and Tara has a sweet choice.

However, this isn't the problem with the twin girls. They always argues that the opposite one was wrong. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}, while Tara thought mornings were fresh and it was difficult to stay up till midnight.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#} To put an end to their fights, their parents decided to create a small drama. They wanted the girls to understand that they were both correct from their own point of view. Their parents covered the girl's eyes with black ribbons (带、条), and brought them to the dining room. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Lara was asked to stand on one side of the board and Tara on the other. They couldn't see the other side of it. When the ribbons were taken away, they were surprised to see a huge board between them.

Now, their father asked Lara, "What's the color of the board?" She replied, "It's black!" {#blank#}4{#/blank#} She replied, "It's white!" The two girls began to argue again. While Lara was confident it was black, Tara was sure it was white. Then, they were asked to exchange (交换) their places. They couldn't believe their eyes. Tara, who insisted (坚持) it was a white board, saw a black one. Similarly, Lara, who argued the board was black, was surprised to see a white one. They understood that each of them was right in her own view. Most of us are like Lara and Tara. We are right most times, but insist that others are wrong!

Leonardo da Vinci was a famous artist who was born in Italy. He was also a great inventor. Many of his inventions have become important in modern life. Although Leonardo hated war. he invented many different machines used for war. His most special invention was the machine gun, which was produced and used in war. Besides, Leonardo spent days thinking about how to save time. He developed ideas for something like cutting machines.

Leonardo was a strange man. He never ate meat. That was very unusual in those times. He never published(发表) discoveries about science. He usually used mirror writing, which looks like usual writing in a mirror, starting from the right side of the page and moving to the left side。

Only a few of his paintings are left today. Many paintings were not finished because he thought they were not perfect.

Leonardo was talented and creative. He was regarded as one of the most intelligent men in the world.