"How are you?" is a nice question. It's a friendly greeting that people in the United States use. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} It's a question that often doesn't need an answer. The person who asks, "How are you?" expects to hear the answer "Fine," even if the person isn't fine. The reason is that "How are you?" isn't really a question and "Fine" isn't really an answer. They are common ways of saying "hello" or "hi".

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} For example, when someone asks "Do you agree?", the other person may be thinking, "No, I don't. I think you're wrong." It isn't polite to disagree very strongly, so he might say, "I am not so sure." {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

People also don't say exactly what they are thinking when they finish talking to other people. For example, many conversations over the phone end when one person says, "I've got to go now," or the person who wants to hang up gives an excuse such as "Someone is at the door," or, "Something is burning on the stove." {#blank#}4{#/blank#} The person who wants to hang up simply doesn't want to talk any more, but it isn't polite to say so. An excuse is polite, and it doesn't hurt the other person's feelings.

    Whether they are greeting each other, talking about an opinion, or ending a conversation, people often don't say exactly what they are thinking. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. This is a nicer way to say that you don't agree with someone.

B. You'd better not to tell the truth to your family.

C. However, "How are you?" is also an unusual question.

D. The excuse may be real, or not.

E. Sometimes, people don't say exactly what they mean.

F. If you disagree with others, they will hate you.

G. This is one way of being nice to people, and it's a part of the game of language.

    There are long rivers, and there are famous rivers. The Nile(尼罗河)is the world's longest and most famous river. It runs 6,650 kilometers. Crocodiles and hippos(河马)live in its waters. Pyramids built by ancient Egyptians rise along its banks.

    The main branch of the Nile, the White Nile, starts just above Lake Victoria, the world's second largest fresh—water lake, in east central Africa. Then it flows to the north. At Sudan's capital, another great river called the Blue Nile joins the White Nile. Together, they form one very powerful river. Then it goes through Egypt's famous Nile Valley before reaching the Mediterranean Sea.

    Ancient Egypt, the first great African civilization(文明), started along the banks of the Nile more than 5, 000 years ago. Ancient Egypt ruled the Nile Valley for thousands of years. Great pyramids and temples were built on the banks and we can still visit them today.

    Without the rich farmland along the banks of the Nile, there might be no ancient Egypt civilization. Every year, the Nile flooded its banks. The floodwaters covered the banks with a rich soil. The Nile's banks were easy to farm and produce crops.

    The Nile also made a perfect highway for boats. The river runs north, but the wind on the river blows south. To go south, boaters put up sails to catch the wind. To go north, they took the sails down. Ancient people traded along the river for hundreds of miles.

    If the dream is big enough. A school was across from my home and I often saw a girl student playing basketball. She practiced over and over again, sometimes until it got dark. I asked her why she practiced so hard. She said, "I like basketball. I'm going to play for a top basketball team. I want to be the best."

    One day, I saw the girl sitting there, looking upset. I asked what was wrong. "Oh, nothing," she answered. "I'm just too short. "The coach told her that she was too short to play for a top team, so she should stop dreaming about it. But later she told me that her father said the coach was wrong. He just did not understand the power(力量)of a dream. Her dad told her that nothing could stop her if her dream was big enough.

    The next year, as the girl and her team went to the Northern California Championship game, she was seen by a college recruiter(招生人员). She won the scholarship(奖学金)to study in a college and she could play for a famous women's basketball team! Her dream came true!

    "How are you?" is a nice question. It's a friendly way people in the United States greet each other. But "How are you?" is also a very unusual question that often doesn't have an answer.

    When a person meets a friend on the street and asks "How are you?", he only expects to hear the answer "Fine." even if the other person isn't! The reason is that "How are you?" isn't really a question and "Fine." isn't really an answer. They are simple ways of greeting people and saying "Hello".

    Sometimes, people also don't say directly what they mean. For example, when someone asks "Do you agree?", the other person might be thinking "No, I disagree." But it isn't very polite to answer so directly, so the other person might say. "I'm not so sure." It's a nicer way to say that you don't agree with someone.

    People also don't say directly what they are thinking when they finish conversations with others. For example, many conversations over the phone end when one person says, "I've got to go now." Often, the person who wants to hang u gives an excuse: "Someone's at the door." "Something is burning on the stove!" The excuse might be real, or it might not be. Perhaps the person who wants to hang up simply doesn't want to talk any more, but it isn't very polite to say that. The excuse is more polite, and it doesn't hurt the other person's feelings.

    Whether they are greeting each other, talking about an opinion， or ending a conversation, people often don't say directly what they are thinking. It's an important way that people try to be nice to each other, and it's all part of the game of language!

    Mr Brown was at the theatre. He had got his ticket at the moment, so he had not been able to choose tis seat. He now found that he was in the middle of a group of American ladies, some of them middle-aged and some of them quite old. They clearly all knew each other well, as before the curtain went up on the play they bad come to see, they all talked and joked a lot together.

    The lady sitting on Mr Brown's left, who was about sixty years old, seemed to be the happiest and the most amusing of the American group, and after the first act(幕)of the play, she apologized to him for the noisiness of her friends. He answered that he was very glad to see American ladies so obviously enjoying their visit to England, and so they had a friendly talk. Mr Brown's neighbour explained what they were doing there.

    "You know, I have known these ladies all my life, "she said. " We all grew up together back in our hometown in the United States. They have all lost their husbands, and call themselves the Merry Widows(寡妇). It is a sort of club, you know. They go abroad every summer for a month or two and have a lot of fun. They always go everywhere together. I have wanted to join their club for a long time, but I didn't qualify(具备……的资格)for membership until the spring of this year. "