Different countries have different ideas about how to be polite. In Britain, table manners are important. But how do you show good table manners in Britain? Here is some advice:

    How to sit: You should sit up straight in your chair. When you eat, don't pick up the bowl. This is called very bad manners.

    Noises at the table: It is never a good idea to make a noise at the table. 

Using your fingers: Usually we don't pick food up with our fingers when we are eating main dishes. But there are some foods such as pizza, sandwiches, chips and fruit we can eat with fingers.

Passing things: If someone asks you to pass something like the salt, only get it if you are the closest person to it. Never lean (倾斜, 倾倒) across someone else's food. It's more polite not to use it yourself first — pass it directly to the person who asked, and then use it later. It's best to taste your food before you put salt in it.

    Your mouth: It is not polite to talk with your mouth full of food, nor to eat with your mouth open.

    How much to eat: It is polite to eat up the food that you have been offered, so a clear plate is a good plate. It shows that you enjoy the food. If you can't finish everything and you can leave a little, that is okay. You could say something like “That was very nice, thank you.”

    In a school, some students didn't follow the school rules. They always caused trouble.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}They never meant to forgive (原谅) each other.

    One day a new teacher came to this school.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}He told each of his students to bring a bag of potatoes to school. For every person they didn't want to forgive, they chose a potato, wrote the person's name on it, and put it in the bag.

    Some of their bags were very heavy.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}They would put them beside their beds at night, on the seats when they sit in a car or on a bus, and next to their desks at school. They had to take care of them all the time so that they didn't forget them.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Days of carrying the bags along with them made students get to know what a weight (重量) they were carrying in their minds. After that, the students learned to forgive.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} 

    Too often we think of forgiveness as a gift to other people, and it clearly is for ourselves!

In 1971, a poor young man was traveling across the country, trying to make a new start for himself. On the way, he had run out of his{#blank#}1{#/blank#}so he had no food to eat and had to live in his car.

One morning, after a week of sleeping in his car, he walked into a restaurant and ordered a big breakfast. After eating his first good meal in weeks, he found he had to{#blank#}2{#/blank#}to the waiter, telling him he had lost his wallet. He was so embarrassed(尴尬的) that his face turned red. The waiter, also the owner, walked behind the young man's seat. He bent down(弯腰), and stood up{#blank#}3{#/blank#}a $20 bill in his hand. It seemed as if it had fallen on the floor. "Son, you must have dropped this." the owner said. The young man was so{#blank#}4{#/blank#}that he couldn't believe his eyes! He quickly{#blank#}5{#/blank#}for the breakfast and went out.

On the way out of town, he realized, "{#blank#}6{#/blank#}nobody dropped the money at all. Maybe the owner of the restaurant just knew I was in trouble and he helped me in a way that didn't embarrass me. What a kind person he is! {#blank#}7{#/blank#}I have the chance in the future; I will do the same to help others."

Now older, the man lives near Kansas City. Each year he gives away thousands of dollars to poor people. He is regarded{#blank#}8{#/blank#}the "Secret Father Christmas", because at Christmas time each year, he personally hands money out to those homeless people on the streets. Last year, he gave more than $50,000 away in Kansas City.

It's 2: 30 in the afternoon. The house is quiet(安静的). " Tom?" Mom says. No one answers(没有人回答).

Mom comes to Tom's room. He is not on the bed, but his model plane is on the desk." He is not in his room, and he is not in the yard," Mom thinks. Then Mom comes to his grandparents' room. Tom likes to play with his grandpa's tape player, but he is not there. Mom looks for Tom everywhere. Where is Tom? Mom is worried. She wants to call Dad. She comes to the living room to get the phone." What's that?" Mom sees something black under the sofa. Oh, it's Eric, Tom's dog. It loves sleeping(睡觉) there. What is next to Eric? It's Tom!

It's reported that India is facing one of the worst water shortage in its history. 26-year-old Ramveer Tanwar knew a thing or two about it years ago. The young man comes from a small village in Greater Noida in India. A trip back to his hometown has totally changed his life.

During the trip, Ramveer noticed that many lakes where he used to swim and play with his friends dried up because of pollution. What's worse, many water bodies were disappearing fast. Instead of waiting for the government to take action, the young man decided to take matters into his own hands as soon as possible.

In the beginning, Ramveer went from door to door or held meetings to educate local villagers on the importance of water protection. He believed by teaching people the situation could get better. But later he found that was not enough. So besides talking to villagers, he teamed up with them and began to bring lifeless lakes back to life in the area. "We tried making a lake live again by removing all its waste. Many of the villagers came to help. Some of them worked with us while others offered us tools (工具) and equipment," Ramveer said. They even succeeded in getting support from the forest department, which provided them with plants to be planted around the lakes. ,

Since 2014, with the help of the volunteers, Ramveer has brought about twelve dead lakes back to life. Of course, he doesn5t plan to stop there. Today he is using his power and influence to call on more people to join him.

 One day, my science teacher, Mr Pearson asked me to have a"quick talk" after class. Although I had always done quite well in science and maths, I had 1 a bit with schoolwork by Grade 8. I didn' t really find the 2 in trying. I just thought I'd leave school as soon as I could.

 So that afternoon, when all the rest of the class had 3 , Mr Pearson sat down next to me. He asked me what I wanted to do in the future. I could answer that question 4 , because I'd been thinking about it — I wanted to work in a garage(汽车修理厂).

"So you'd like to fix cars?" he said. "Why not 5 them?" I said"Making them?" Mr Pearson said. "Being a(n) 6 designs the best cars in the world possibly". It was something I'd never thought. Mr Pearson said, "You are good enough at science and maths to do that, I know. But you don't really 7 ." I said shyly, "In Grade 8,I just... find everything a bit boring". Mr Pearson continued, "It's sometimes boring, but it's like 8 a mountain. You can't enjoy the exciting point 9 you work up from the bottom. The way is steep(陡峭的), and there's no 10 on the way."

 Mr Pearson was there for me after that, to explain things that I couldn't understand, or to help me with 11 in my life. And every month or two, he asked me, "How are things on that mountain?" I always said, "No view but I'm still going 12 ."

 Mr Pearson was right. At the end of Grade 8,I really started to 13 science and maths. He wasn't right about me becoming an engineer though. I got a bit 14 of cars as I got older, and decided that I wanted to study medicine when I left school. I now work in medical research, and I really feel like I'm on top of that15 at last!