Hotel Clerk: Hi, can I help you?

Man : Yes. I'd like a room the night, please. The sign outside says you have vacancies(空房)

Hotel Clerk: Yes, only a couple. I guess nobody wants to drive in such (storm) weather.

Man : I surely don't. How much are the rooms?

Hotel Clerk:  They are ﹩50 a .

Man : That's fine.

Hotel Clerk: I can give you Room 14. It is right beside the coffee shop. I just need you (sign) the register.

Man : There you go. I am (awful)hungry, Is the coffee shop still open?

Hotel Clerk: Yes, it is until nine o'clock. If you want anything after that, there are a couple of machines (sell) soft drinks, chocolate bars, and so on.

Man : Thank you. By way, is there a television in the room?

Hotel Clerk:Yes, we've got cable(光缆) TV.

Man : Oh, that's great.

Hotel Clerk:Well, here is your key. you need anything else, please call me.

Man : Ok. Thanks again.

       Although I started learning English during my college years, when I entered the States, I only understood two English words “Yes” and “No”. We learned many grammar rules but we could not make the language connections to the real English world. Language frustration worries almost all first generation immigrants. For example, I got a letter from a Chinese-American who has lived in the States for a long time and has a good IT job saying “My 11-year-old girl writes quite well, but as her parents, we could not even read her article.”In addition, my Chinese-American professor friend has difficulty reading a novel. Improving our English skills has become a long journey for all of us. Honestly, if I have a chance, I really want to reach out to everyone in the world who has had a similar experience: learning a second language in adulthood. I wish I could encourage them to speak out about the culture shock, frustration they felt about the differences between West and East.

     I have mainly focused on my English writing since 2008 after I found “Literacy Volunteers”, an organization that specially focuses on helping immigrants improve their English. I decided to challenge myself, writing a story like an American. I saw many wonderful Americans there. As soon as I met my teacher Alice, I asked her to be my private language tutor and have taken Tims English class. Every week Alice and I have worked on my English essays sentence by sentence.

     To observe the culture differences between West and East, occasionally, I posted a few of my English essays online. I mentioned previously about American culture; when people read the same article or even face the same situation, American and Chinese act very differently. In my viewpoint, these differences make America the strongest country in the world. I know you have the right to express your own opinions, but accusing others without proof is not acceptable.

注意： 1．陈述所有要点，可适当发挥，不要简单翻译。2．词数120—150（开头已写好，不计入总词数）。3．参考词汇：熄灯制度—blackout rule

    With the college entrance examination approaching day by day, some senior three students are moving out from their dorms and living in a rented apartment near their schools.

注意：1. 可适当增加细节，使行文连贯；2. 词数：120左右，文章开头已给出，不计入总词数。

    Recently, our class have held a heated discussion about whether evening classes should be cancelled.

    People in the United States have many ways to get news, some of which are available 24 hours a day. In a recent survey（调查）, about 15 percent of American interviewees said that they spend less than one-half to two hours per day watching, listening to, or reading the news. News comes from every source, not only from printed ways, but from TV, radio, and the Internet as well.

    With the increased availability of news, serious questions have been raised about the role of the news media in society. Should the media report every detail about every story, even when the information does not seem timely or valuable? Some researchers are concerned that by focusing on everything at once, the media increasingly ignore the more important social, political and economic problems that we face. We cannot concentrate on what's important by reading about what is not. One extreme example of this is the type of information covered by the tabloid（小报）media, which focus on negative stories of violence and crime.

    How can people deal with all the news that is available to them? Some become “news resisters” and choose to turn their backs on news, resisting their desire to turn on the TV and read the paper every day. They argue that although daily news reports may provide us with many facts, they do not include the background or some information that we need to understand news events. They suggest that, instead of daily reports, we look for information that has more in-depth analysis of the news, such as monthly magazines.

    If it really is what's on the inside that counts, then a lot of thin people might be in trouble.

    Some doctors now think that the internal(内部的) fat surrounding important organs like the heart or liver could be as dangerous as the external fat which can be noticed more easily.

    “Being thin doesn't surely mean you are not fat,” said Dr Jimmy Bell at Imperial College. Since 1994, Bell and his team have scanned nearly 800 people with MRI machines to create “fat maps” showing where people store fat.

    According to the result, people who keep their weight through diet rather than exercise are likely to have major deposits of internal fat, even if they are slim.

    Even people with normal Body Mass Index scores can have surprising levels of fat deposits inside. Of the women, as many as 45 percent of those with normal BMI scores (20 to 25) actually had too high levels of internal fat. Among men, the percentage was nearly 60 percent.

    According to Bell, people who are fat on the inside are actually on the edge of being fat. They eat too many fatty and sugary foods, but they are not eating enough to be fat. Scientists believe we naturally store fat around the belly first, but at some point, the body may start storing it elsewhere.

    Doctors are unsure about the exact dangers of internal fat, but some think it has something to do with heart disease and diabetes(糖尿病). They want to prove that internal fat damages the body's communication systems.

    The good news is that internal fat can be easily burned off through exercise or even by improving your diet. “If you want to be healthy, there is no shortcut. Exercise has to be an important part of your lifestyle.” Bell said.