One day, I heard an American boy said to a Chinese girl student, "You speak very good English. " But the girl answered, " No, no. My English is very poor. " The foreigner was quite surprised at the answer. Thinking he had not made himself understood or the girl had not heard him clearly, he said, " Yes, indeed, you speak very well. " But the girl still kept saying, "No. " In the end, the American boy could not understand and didn't know what to say.

    What's wrong with the girl's answer? She didn't accept a compliment(夸奖) in the same way as the American people do. She should answer, "Thank you" instead of “No". She really understood what the American boy had said, but she thought she should be modest. In the west, people will feel proud and confident when they are praised. So if someone says the dishes you have cooked are very delicious, you should say, "Thank you.”

    Inour country, we think being modest is a virtue（美德）and being proud is a bad thing, but in my opinion, being confident does not mean being proud, so sometimes you should be confident instead of being modest.

    If you are modest and say, "No, I'm afraid I can't do it well", while working in a western country, the others may think that you really cannot do it. If you often say, “No”, you will certainly be looked down upon by others. When asking for a job, if one says something like‘'Yes,I can certainly do it”instead of “let me have a try”，he or she will expect to get it. So in the west, you should be brave to show your self-confidence。

B

    In Singapore, many school students spend a lot of time on their studies. People always think that good schooling(学业) is the key to success. So, many of these students try their best to get good grades in their tests. They have a lot of homework every day and tests are usually a big problem to them. Sometimes, a few students even have to go to evening classes after school because of the pressure(压力) of the tests.

    Students have many after-school activities to do at school, such as sports games, dance groups, swimming and rock-climbing. On weekends, they have enough time to do what they like. Most students like to listen to pop music. Hollywood films, Hong Kong and Singapore films are very popular, too. Some of them also spend free time surfing the Internet, e-mailing their friends, playing computer games. They sometimes go to cafes, fast food restaurants, shopping centers and big bookstores. They also join in community service(社区服务).

    So life for students in Singapore is not easy but rich and colorful.

    In some foreign countries, some people don't like the number 13. They don't think 13 is a lucky number, for example, they don't like to live on the thirteenth floor.

    One day, my friend Jack asked some friends to dinner. When all of his friends arrived, he asked them to sit at the table. He began to count the people in his mind while they were having the delicious food. Soon, he cried out, "Oh, there are thirteen people here!"

    Everyone's face turned white except Mr. Brown. He said slowly with a smile on his face, "Don't worry, my friends. We have fourteen people here. My wife Mrs Brown will have a baby in a few weeks. She is in the family now. "

    All of them became happy again, "Congratulations!" they said. They all had a good time that evening.