One morning, I was on the subway, going to work. A _________ came over the speaker. It said, “This stop is Shady Grove Park.” I heard a little voice _________ it and looked down. A young girl said it again: “This stop is…” Carefully and _________, she said it over and over again. It was like she was teaching a puppy.

Then I understood. She _________ teaching a puppy. She was teaching her mother!

I listened and heard the mother talk to _________ in basic English. She said that she was South _________ and learning English from her daughter-or with her daughter. The mother certainly could talk in English, _________ she still had a long way to go. Being Korean, she said that she had _________ with “th” and “r” sounds. _________ she finally got them right, the little girl ____________ and gave her mom a high five.

At the next stop, her mom said the name of the stop with ____________ pronunciation. “This stop is the Railroad Station.”

It was the cutest ____________ to my day. All day, I ____________ the girl’s smile and felt happier. She spoke three languages and her English was better than my own kid’s ____________! Most special, however, was the mother’s willingness to be taught ____________ her daughter.

We all use them every day. It would be hard to live without them. We are talking about toilets!

World Toilet Day was on November 19. Why do we celebrate it?

Toilets are a big thing in our lives. They take away our waste and keep our homes and communities healthy. Even today, 3.6 billion people in the world still do not have safe toilets, the United Nations said.

One gram of human waste may have 10 million viruses and 1 million bacteria. These make us sick or even kill us. That’s why we should care so much about toilets.

How many times do you use a toilet each day? Around seven times, said scientists. In total, you will spend about three years of your life on the toilet!

Many people use this time to do other things. Some like to read while in the bathroom and even put bookshelves in there. Some like to talk with friends or family on their phones. Others like to study or work. There were many famous “bathroom artists” in history. The great Song Dynasty writer Ouyang Xiu wrote many poems on the toilet.

There was once a company in the United States that said that it would offer a large amount of money to anyone who could find a white marigold（金盏花）. Most marigolds are either golden or brown. It is very hard to find a white one.

Twenty years later, the company received a letter from an old woman. She sent 100 white marigold seeds（种子）along with the letter.

The woman was a fan of flowers. When she first heard the company’s offer 20 years ago, she got very excited. She thought she could grow her own white marigolds. But her children doubted her. She knew nothing about seed genetics（遗传学）, after all. So her dream of growing white marigolds was just that—a dream.

Still, she didn’t give up and worked to make it happen. She planted some common marigold seeds and took good care of them. A year later, when the marigolds bloomed, she chose one of flowers and took its seeds. She planted these seeds and waited another year for them to bloom.

Day after day, year after year, through many seasons, her life changed. Her husband died, her children moved away, and many other things happened. But her desire to grow white marigolds remained strong in her heart.

Finally, after 20 years, she went out to her garden and found a marigold that was not just white—it was as white as the purest snow.

Julia and Paul are talking about three robots.

RoboPet	Price：＄ 390 It can say things like “Good morning”. It can tell you to do things such as your homework.
P-2000	Height：3 metres Weight：200 kilograms It can run and climb stairs. It helps make cars in factories.
KY-JO	Made in the UK It gets angry when you leave it alone. It can cook meals.

Culture shock

When we first visit another country, we may have a strange feeling. We call this feeling “culture shock”. People have culture shock for A. ___________ reasons. They may not know the language and local culture of the country. They may also miss their families and friends. To B. deal with culture shock, you can:

●C. 尝试结交新朋友.

●Try new things, like the local food.

●Keep a diary. Write about all your new experience.

●Call your parents and friends and tell them about these new things.

Eye contact

In Western countries, using eye contact in conversations is very important. If you do not use eye contact, Westerners may think that you are D.___________ listening. And if you look away, they may also think that you are lying.

Not using eye contact can cause E. problems, but using too much is not polite either. In many countries, F. watching other people, especially strangers, for a long time is impolite. This may make them feel nervous.

Only half of the class handed in their homework one day. The teacher got an A. ___________ while he was giving his students a lesson about weight. He walked around the classroom while holding a glass of water up in the air. He asked his students, “How B. ___________ is this glass of water?”①

② “The weight of this glass isn’t hard to find out,” the teacher said. “The problem is C. 我举它多久. If I hold it for two minutes, it doesn’t feel like much of a problem. If I hold it for an hour, it might feel heavier as my arm begins to tire. If I hold it for a day or a week, my arm will hurt. It’ll feel painful. D. I will be unable to think about anything but the pain that I’m in. In all of these situations, the actual weight of the glass will be the same. But the longer I hold onto it, the heavier it feels to me and the harder it is to hold it.”

③ “Your homework is like this glass of water,” the teacher said. The class then understood.