When people travel abroad(国外), they sometimes stay in the homes of the local people. This is a homestay.

    I am living with an old English couple, in the west of London. They have a clean four-bedroom house. This is a new house. It has two bathrooms and a garden with many beautiful flowers. I have a bedroom of my own.

    There are some shopping centres and a restaurant next to the house, and the house is close to an underground station. It takes about 30 minutes to take an underground to the centre of London.

    I think a homestay may be a good choice for you if it is your first time to visit abroad. The local people are friendly and ready to help. If you want to celebrate the holidays with them, you will get to know more about their culture and customs.

C

    Waste can be seen everywhere in the school. Some students ask for more food than they can eat and others often forget to turn off the lights when they leave the classroom. They say they can afford these things. But I don't agree with them.

    Waste can bring a lot of problems. Although China is rich in some resources, we are short of others, for example, fresh water. It is reported that we will have no coal or oil to use in 100 years. So if we go on wasting our resources, what can we use in the future and where can we move? Think about it. I think we should say no to the students who waste things every day. Everybody should stop wasting as soon as possible.

    In our everyday life, we can do many things to prevent waste from happening, for example, turn off the water taps when we finish washing, turn off the lights when we leave the classroom, try not to order more food than we need, and so on. Little by little, everything will be changed. Waste can be stopped one day, if we do our best.

    Giving a speech in front of your class can be challenging. However, you can do something to make it success. First of all, you need to do something about your topic. For example, choose a topic about something you like, such as something that interests you or someone who is close to you. Once you've chosen your topic, try to find useful information about it online or from the library. As you do this, write down the information that supports your ideas in a valuable way.

    Rehearsing(排练) your speech is also important. For this, you'd better write the script (讲稿) just like talking to your friends. Keep your script simple. Use interesting examples or stories to show your ideas. Once you finish your script, read it out loud to yourself and remember it. After that, write down 2 to 3 points that you may forget on a note card. Finally, you have to practice your speech in front of something or someone until you don't have to look at your note card.

    In the end, it's time to give the speech. At this time, stand straight and hold your head high. This will show that you're confident. Show your listeners that you're excited by smiling before you begin and throughout the speech. Pause(停顿) after finishing a sentence, or after saying an important point. It will allow you time to collect your thoughts.

    If you're out of breath while speaking or if your words start running together, you're most probably speaking too fast. If this happens, take a breath and slow down. While talking, look at your listeners, like friends. What's more, if you don't remember the next word or line, pause for one or two seconds to look at your note card. Before you begin speaking, take a deep breath, smile at your listeners, and then go on.

With more and more rain falling, it's time for snakes to be active. Living in the city, it never crosses your mind that we might meet them face to face.

Most people are afraid of snakes. They may think snakes are dangerous and ugly. There are more than 2,000 kinds of snakes. Most of them live in mountains or forests, and in cities sometimes we can find them in grass or other dark places. Snakes can't walk or run because they have no legs or feet, but these long and thin animals can move very fast on their stomachs. Snakes usually have green, yellow or black skins, which make it difficult for their enemies to find them. In winter they hibernate in holes. They look for a hole to stay inside, in the ground, or in a rock or a tree. They do not wake up again until spring comes. Snakes feed on mice, frogs, bird eggs and so on.

Snakes play an important part in nature. We can make useful medicine with them. Without their help, the rodents (啮齿动物) will be out of control. But many of them are in danger of disappearing. Houses and buildings take up the land where snakes live. Many snakes lose their lives in traffic, and people often kill snakes for their skins or meat.

You will get different answers if you ask people from different countries, " Could you tell me the way to the post office?"

In Japan, people use landmarks(地标). For example, the Japanese will say to {#blank#}1{#/blank#} visitor, " Go straight down to the corner, turn left at the big hotel {#blank#}2{#/blank#} go past a fruit market. The post office is across from the bus stop. "

In America, the Midwestern land is wide with few towns or buildings. So instead {#blank#}3{#/blank#} landmarks, people tell you directions and distance. In Kansas, for example, people will say, "Go north two {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (mile), turn east and then go another mile. "

People in Greece sometimes do not even try to give directions {#blank#}5{#/blank#} few visitors understand their language. A Greek will often say, "Follow me. " Then he or she will lead you to go across the streets {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(get) to the post office. 

Sometimes if a person doesn't know the answer to {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(you) question, he or she, like a New Yorker, might say, "Sorry, I have no idea. " But in Yucatán, Mexico, no one {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(answer), "I don't know. " People in Yucatán think "I don't know" is not polite. They {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(usual) give an answer, but often a wrong one. Therefore, it is much {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (easy) for visitors to get lost in Yucatán. 

There are many different kinds of sports in the world. For example, running, swimming, football, basketball, tennis and so on. Sports can make people strong and healthy. People also enjoy watching sports games. 

In different countries, people like different sports. In China, table tennis is very popular. Many people like to play it. In the USA, basketball is a very popular sport. American people like to play and watch basketball games. In Brazil, football is the most popular sport. People there are crazy about football. They play football everywhere.