Like two different worlds

    I come from London, a very big city! Over 81people live there, and it's always busy with tourists. So moving to a little town2only 15, 000 people is a big change for me! I am living in a little town in the countryside in Germany now.

    In the countryside, the towns are 3so everyone knows each other. At home in London, I don't even know my neighbours! Another nice thing about the countryside is that it's very green and there's lots of fresh air. I like nature, and it's nice to see4the seasons change the trees. My favourite thing about living in the countryside is that I can see thousands of 5 at night. At home I can hardly see any! That's because there's 6light in the city, but here everything is dark and the stars twinkle in the sky.

    One thing I do like about living in a city is that it's7to travel. We have the subways, buses and trains, and we even have buses that run all night. Here, the last train is before 9 pm, and there's only one an hour!  Another good thing about cities is that there are lots of 8, so you can usually find what you need. In my town here there aren't many shops, 9I have to go to the nearest city!

    I always thought I was a city girl, but now I like the countryside too. They are like two different worlds, but10feel like home!

    There are many different traditional festivals in China. The Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated 1 the fifth day of the fifth lunar month by 2zongzi and having dragon boat races.

    The festival began in the Warring States Period(战国时期), and has a3 of more than 2,000 years. The date of the festival is said to be the date 4 Qu Yuan died. He was a wise and upright(正直的) man, and was loved 5 people. He wanted the emperor of Chu6against the State of Qin by cooperating with the State of Qi,_7 he was refused and sent to the border area. During his stay there, he wrote8 poems to express his strong9 for Chu. On the day when Chu was defeated by Qin, Qu Yuan10into the Miluo River to express his strong love for his native land.

    After the11 of Qu Yuan, people of Chu went to the Miluo River to mourn(哀悼) for the  great12 they loved so much. Some threw rice wrapped in leaves into the river to feed the fish13 keep them away from Qu Yuan's body. Some doctors poured realgar (雄黄) wine14 the river to drive away snakes and other animals that might try to eat Qu Yuan.

    Now the Dragon Boat Festival has become a(n) 15 festival for Chinese people.

    Do you often celebrate Mother's Day? In the US, Mother's Day is a holiday on the second Sunday in1. It is a day when children give

Their 2 cards, presents and flowers.

    One of the best3 to celebrate Mother's Day is to give your mother the day off. Let her have a good rest 4 other members of the family do the 5.

    Many families begin Mother's Day with6in bed. Usually Dad and the children will let Mum7late as they go into the kitchen and get ready 8her favourite meal. A Mother's Day breakfast can make anything your mum likes.

    After the food is cooked, keep everything9 on a plate. Don't forget to put the bottle10only one flower. It's spring here, the children can pick the nicest11from the garden outside. When everything is ready, carefully carry the plate and Mum's favourite books and newspapers up to her bedroom. Cards and small presents from the children can be put on the plate12it is given to Mum in bed.

    Many families take Mum out to her favourite 13for a meal, Itisagoodday1oletyour mum14and let her see what a wonderful 15 she has.

    November 21 is World Hello Day. At school, we learned that "How do you do?" and "How are you?" are standard ways to say hello when 1 others. But do you know how to respond (回答) them? Do native (本土的) speakers still use them today? As we learned, "How do you do?" is for greeting someone we meet for the 2 time. And it can be responded with the same " 3 ". "How are you?" is often used to greet someone we are 4 with. It usually follows with a response of "I'm fine, and you?" or "I'm well, and you?".

    But English is a casual (随意的) language. The formal "How do you do?" is seldom said by native speakers. It is 5 old-fashioned. Yet they greet each other in many other 6.

    You may hear a 7 between British people: "You all right?" "Yeah, you?" "I'm good. Any plans for the weekend?" or "How's it going?" "Yeah, fine, and you?" These ways of greeting are 8 for young people to say hello to friends.

    Americans like saying "What's up?" or "What's good?" to friends. Don't be confused (混乱的). It doesn't mean "What's wrong?". It is just one way of saying 9 And people usually respond "Not much." 10"Nothing.". "Hey, man." is also popular. But it is only used among males. What do females say? You guess it. They often say "Hey, 11.".

    If you 12 an Australian, you may hear "G'day, mate." It means " 13 " You can respond with the same "G'day."

    However, there is no 14 to say hello to each other. If you can't remember all of the above, just choose "How are you?". This is the15 common and standard way for people of all ages. You can reply with "Pretty good." "Same as usual." or "I'm hanging in there."

    I'm Victor, from the United States. This is my first time in 1 .One day some new colleagues(同事) invited me to 2 . At first, I was quite happy and learned to use chopsticks, but later 3 started.

    That day, I had a 4. I felt uncomfortable with my nose, 5 I turned away from the table and blew my nose(擤鼻涕). My colleagues looked at me 6 . They explained to me that in Japan, people don't blow their noses in 7—especially at table.

    When I was trying to stick my 8 in my bowl of rice, one of my colleagues said, "Don't do that. Just leave them on the table." Later, I found that leaving your chopsticks in your rice 9 death in Japanese culture!

    The next time I 10 to blow my nose, I left the table and went to the toilet. 11 I returned, it was nearly time to leave. I noticed there were some small bowls 12 water in them on the table. It smelt good and I started 13 it before it got cold. Then I saw some of my colleagues cover their mouths. They were trying not to 14. "What's the matter?" I asked the colleague next to me. "It's for washing 15 fingers," he said. For a moment, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

    Today most people know about computers and the Internet. If I ask you "what is the most 1 thing in your life?", maybe you will say"Computers and the Internet." People made the first computer 2 1946. It was 3, but it worked slowly (慢). Today computers are becoming smaller and smaller, 4 they work faster and faster. Computers can do 5 kinds of work and they are in almost (几乎) every office. A writer said, "People can't live without computers 6".

    The Internet is an international computer network. It 7 the computers all over the world together. People can get different kinds of 8 from it. There are millions of websites on the Internet. There is a lot of useful information on the websites. You can 9 search engines (引擎) to find the information you need. Search engines 10 us to find information quickly and easily. Put in a keyword (关键词) and the search engine will give you a list of websites for you to look at.

    In China and abroad, people sometimes communicate speaking. How do they do this? They use language. Body language is not the same in all cultures.

    In and some other countries, friends shake hands to greet each other.

    In India, when people nod their head, they mean "". When people shake their heads, they mean "". A thumps-up means "" or " " in most cultures. When Italians wave goodbye, it may look like " " to Americans.

One body language is the same all around the world: a .

    Ask your foreign friends or teachers whether they experienced" culture shock" upon moving to China. 1 are, they did.

    According to a survey, eighty-five percent of international students have had culture shock. Culture shock is a broad term for the series of personal difficulties that people go through in new places, for the surrounding environment is so different from that where they grow up. It's usually most extreme for those who can't speak the language of the place to which they have 2 or for those who aren't familiar with the social rules, such as what you should do if you meet people for the first time. Both of these things happened to me in China when I moved there in 2011.

    So as you can imagine, naturally, I went through the four well-known3 of culture shock: honeymoon, distress, re-integration and autonomy.

    When I arrived at first, I was 4 and. optimistic, I thought I was well-prepared for this new life in the new country, and I was eager to find out what I was going to experience later. But quickly I became upset by the cultural differences I encountered, missing how things5 back home.

    By the end of my first year, I had totally lost my self-confidence; I was a bitter, clumsy and sensitive person, and I blamed China for making me that way.

    Then, in my second year, I started to6 some language skills, and I found fun activities to do in my spare time, I made great foreign and Chinese friends, and with their help, I tried hard to learn to appreciate the beauty of Chinese history and culture, which was the thing I always wanted to achieve. To my delight, I succeeded in 7 an interest in them. And afterwards, I learned to consider myself a confident and happy laowai.

    Today I'm back in the US, where I'm pursuing a PhD at a university in my hometown. It's been a little 8to readjust to life in my home country, I suffered at first from "reverse" culture shock, experiencing the four stages in the opposite order.

    I started out feeling independent and self-confident, before slowly realizing that I knew my country much less well than I used to. I'd complain loudly about little things, like how I could no longer shout "fuwuyuan!" to get waiters'9 to let them know that I was ready to order in a restaurant.

    But eventually, I came to realize that what I had thought was my "home" had become an entirely new place while I'd been away. That, by itself, was exciting.

    What must you 1when you receive a present for your birthday? You should sit down and write a thank-you letter. The sentence "Thank you." is very important. We use it often. We2when someone gives us a drink, helps us pick up things, hands us a letter, lends us a book, or gives us a present.

    3important word is "please". Many people always forget 4it. It is not polite to ask someone to do something5 saying "please". We use it when we 6 something too. It may be a book or a pencil, more rice or more tea. It may be used in the classroom, at home, at the bus stop or in a shop. We have to say "please" to make each other 7.

    We have to 8to say "sorry" too. When we hurt someone, we have to say we are9. When we tell a lie and feel sorry, we use10 word "sorry". When we forget something or break something, we use the word "sorry" too. "Sorry" is a word that can make people forgive mistakes.

    Different people have different ideas about time. People in the US think that it is1to know the time. In cities in America, there are2in stations, factories and other buildings. Most Americans also have watches with them3they go. They want to do certain(一定的) things4certain times. They don't like to be

5.

    But time is not so important to6in the world. When you visit a country in South America, you will find that people there don't like to be in a hurry. If you have an appointment(约会) with somebody, he could7be late, because he may not want to arrive8.

    In South America, 9the radio programs may not begin on time. The men on the radio may not think it is important to tell the exact time. People in South America think that clocks or watches are just machines. They think that you10a clock or a watch control(控制) your life if you do everything on time.