We often dine out with others, but do you know some basic etiquette (礼节)? If you behave well at the table, it will make your partners happy. But if you don't know how to behave yourself, you will feel embarrassed. Here are some tips for the table etiquette.

    When helping a woman pull her chair to the table, hold it and guide it. Don t shove(碰撞)it against the back of her legs.
     If you're seated at a table with eight or fewer guests, wait for everyone to be served and for the hostess(女主人) to begin eating before you dig in. At a long banquet table, it's OK to start when several people are seated and served.

    If you prefer not to have wine while dining out, don't turn your glass upside down, and don t make a big deal of saying you don't drink. Simply place your fingertips on the rim(边缘) of the glass and say" Not today, thanks."

    When you excuse yourself to go to the restroom, just say" Please excuse me."

    When out with friends or family—even at a fancy restaurant –it's OK to ask for your leftovers(吃剩的饭菜) to be wrapped. But don't do it at a business lunch or dinner.

Information Card

    Some people are afraid of answering the telephone call. Here are some tips to help you when you are answering the call.

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    Listening to someone speaking in a second language over the telephone can be very challenging because you cannot see the person you are trying to hear. You may not realize that your pronunciation isn't clear. So pay special attention to your pronunciation and speak as slowly as possible.

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    Don't pretend to understand everything you hear over the telephone. Don't be afraid to remind the person to slow down more than once.

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    Ask another student to practice talking on the phone with you. Try to talk for at least fifteen minutes. The most important thing about practicing telephone English is that you are not able to see others' mouths.

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    There are many ways to get free telephone English practice. After business hours, you can call and listen to recorded messages. Write down what you hear the first time, and then call back and check if your notes are right.

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    Many speakers make the mistake of being too direct on the telephone. Sometimes just one word such as could or may is necessary in order to sound polite. Take the time to learn how to answer the phone in a polite manner.

    Four Simple Ways to Better Your Writing

    Keep It Simple

    My first tip for improving your writing is: keep it simple.

    Now, I know it's better to keep things simple and do it well, rather than over-complicate(使过分复杂) everything and do it badly.

    So, in English writing exams, you want to show off your English, but you want to show off your right English, not all this English that you don't know or haven't learnt yet.

    Have a Collection of Set Phrases(固定搭配)

    In order not to make mistakes, it's a really, really good idea to have a collection of set phrases and key words that you can use in the exam. Make sure that you have different ways to …

    Compare：in the same way, at the same time

    Give your opinion：from my point of view, in my view

    Add information : in addition, besides

……

    So, that's just a very brief list showing you exactly what you need to study to be fully prepared for any English writing exam.

    Reduce Your Word Number

    Use as few words as possible to reduce your word number.

Avoid pointless words like very, a lot. Replace them, instead, with a strong word. By using strong words, you can reduce your word number by a fair bit.

    Another way is avoiding there is and there are. We want everything to be as clear as possible. Thus, you can increase the quality of your writing.

    Check Your Work

    Tip number four. Students will make some stupid mistakes when they're writing. After being asked to correct the mistakes, they will say, "We already know this. So easy!" and it's because they don't check their work.

    I personally think it's much better if you write less and check more. Fewer words, high accuracy(准确率). Then you will make your writing better.

    Four Simple Ways to Better Your Writing

    "Dreams may be more important than sleep. We all need dreams." some scientists say. Dreams take up about one quarter of our sleeping time. People have several dreams each night. Dreams are short films. They come to us over and over again. That may be because the dreamer is worrying about something. Dreaming may be a way of trying to find an answer. Sometimes we wake up with a good feeling from a dream. But often we can't remember the dream. Dream can disappear quickly from memory. Some people dream too much to sleep well.

    Sally and Susan are sisters. They are the same in some ways, but different in other ways.

    Both Sally and Susan have long dark hair. They are both outgoing and popular, too. Sally is older and smarter than Susan. She's more serious. She reads more books and likes to talk about the things she reads. Sally isn't athletic.

    Susan is much more athletic than Sally. She plays basketball and volleyball, and she enjoys watching sports on TV. Sally likes to watch sports, too, but she doesn't play them. Both sisters like school and get good grades. But Sally is more serious about her homework. Both of them also like shopping and playing computer games on weekends.