I’m Paul, a 12-year-old American boy. I am in Beijing with my     1    and grandparents now. We    2     all here for two years. I    3     bread, eggs and vegetables for breakfast.     4    I have Chinese lunch at school.     5    the evening, my grandma cooks    6    for us.     7     have dinner    8    six fifteen p.m. My     9    eat balanced food so we are all       10    .My family have a good living habit.

Rick is a fat man. He gets up late (晚)     1     the morning. He has a     2     breakfast every morning. He has some meat, three     3     four eggs and some pieces of bread (面包). He drinks two     4     of milk, some apple juice, a cup of coffee and some fruit.His wife (妻子)     5     a cup of tea, a piece of bread and a banana for breakfast. Rick     6     any ball games. He thinks they are too hard for him, but he likes listening to the music and     7     TV and he doesn’t     8     any housework (家务). Vicky     9     sports every day. In fact, she is in a swimming club. So she is very     10    .

Jack was a hard working businessman. He worked as a     1     in a big company. He managed the sales department. He was so     2     and he always took work home to do.

One day, Jack     3     to prepare for a meeting. So he took some work home to finish. While he was     4    , his 5-year-old son, Tim, came to talk him every     5     minutes. He had to stop working and talked with his son. Then Jack got an idea. He found that there was a     6     of the world in the evening paper. He showed the map to Tim. Then he cut it     7     pieces and told Tim to put the map together again. He thought this would keep Tim busy for a long time, and he could finish his work.     8    , after 4 minutes, Tim happily told Jack that he finished the map. Jack was surprised and asked the boy, “Why did you do it so     9    ?” Tim said, “There was a picture of a man on the other side of the newspaper. So I just turn it over (翻转) and put the man together.     10     I got the man right, the world was right.” What a smart boy!

American people like to say “Thank you” when others help them or say something kind to them. People of many other countries do so, too. It is a very good     1    .

You should say “Thank you” when someone     2     you the salt on the table, when someone walking before you keeps the door     3     for you, when someone says you have done your work well, or you have bought a nice thing, or your city is very     4    .

“Thank you” is used not only between friends, but also between parents and     5    , brothers and sisters, husbands and wives.

“Excuse me” is     6     short sentence they use. When you hear someone say so behind you, you know that somebody wants to walk     7     you.

It is not polite to break others while they are talking. If you want to     8     to one of     9    , say “Excuse me” first, and then begin talking. You should also do     10     when you want to cough or make any unpleasant     11     before others.

Let’s all learn to say “Thank you” and “Excuse me”.

Non-natives better at English?

You might     1     native English speakers to be the best at speaking the English language.

But some experts believe that when it comes to     2     communicating in English, non-native speakers are actually easier to understand.

“Often you have a room full of people from different countries communicating in English and all understanding each other. And then     3     the American or British person walks into the room and nobody can understand them,” Chia Suan Chong, a UK-based communications culture expert, told the BBC.

Chong said this happens     4     non-native speakers communicate more carefully.

“English speakers, on the other     5    , often talk too fast, use jokes, slang (俚语) and make references to their country that others might not understand,” Chong said.

    6     an Australian living in China, this is something that I keep in mind when talking to my Chinese coworkers. I’m     7     to speak slowly and use words I know they will understand. Sometimes, we confuse each other though. Once, I told my coworker, “no dramas”, which is slang for “no problem”. However, she thought I was calling her a drama queen (大惊小怪的人) and got upset.

But don’t worry. Experts say that it’s the native speaker’s     8     if they can’t understand you, not yours. “English speakers with no other language often lack awareness (意识) of how to speak English internationally,” English language teacher Dale Coulter told the BBC.

The best way to     9     any trouble might be to ask for some patience. If you find it difficult to understand an English speaker, don’t be afraid to ask them to     10     down and speak clearly.

“Thank you” is     1     used in the modern society. You should say “Thank you”     2     others help you or say something kind to you. For example, when someone     3     the door for you, when someone says you have done your work well, when someone says your city     4     very beautiful, you should say “Thank you”. “Thank you” is used not only between friends,     5     also between parents and children, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives.

“Excuse me” is     6     short polite expression. We use it the same as “Thank you”. When you hear someone say so behind you, you’ll get to know that somebody wants to walk past you     7     touching you. It is not polite to interrupt(打断) others while they are     8    . If you want to have a word with one of them, please say “Excuse me”     9    , and then begin to talk. You should     10     do so when you want to cough or make any unpleasant noise before others.

Let’s say “Thank you” and “Excuse me” on the right occasion.

My mother is a cook in a restaurant. She likes    1    very much.

Once she wanted to give the family something different for breakfast. She learned to bake(烤) bread. But she was not     2    and the bread was burnt(烤焦). She put the bread in front of my father. To my     3    , my father took the bread, smiled at my mother and ate it.

After breakfast, my mother said     4    to my father for burning the bread. And I would never forget what he said, “I love burned bread, dear. It doesn’t     5    at all.

Later I asked my father    6    he really liked the bread. He said, “Your mother works very hard all day. She’s really    7    . And you see, a little burnt food never     8    me!”

Now I know life is not perfect. Nobody is perfect(完美的). What we really     9    is to understand each other, whether it is between Father and Mother, parent and child or between two    10    . So be kind to those around you and a happy life will be yours.

Hey, friends! Are you the     1    child in the family? Do you feel lonely sometimes? If so, it’s     2    to have the feeling. And because you’re the only child, you’re the most     3     person in the family. Of course, your parents care about you a lot, right?   When they’re free, they often     4     with you, don’t they? And they like    5    you with other children, right? Sometimes, they don’t     6     you to make phone calls to a boy or a girl, do they? These things may make you    7    . Maybe you think they put too much     8    on you. Do you often argue with them? Some of you may even decide    9     home. But if so, you will have more problems. I think you       10     show your parents that you’re growing up. Then they’ll no longer (不再) think of you as a small child. Then you’ll have a happy life and never think of leaving home.

When I was young, my parents were very strict with me in my     1     life. There were a lot of rules. I     2     to hate them and thought they always brought me trouble. For example, I was never allowed to put off things till the next day. I was supposed to be     3     when talking with old people. I should also be    4     when dealing with problems. I was taught to     5     on myself when facing any challenge.

However, as time went by, I     6     how rules helped me get good habits. To be    7     , few things could be achieved without them. Now I work for a big company and those rules still have a deep     8     on me. I believe keeping good habits will be very     9     in my development. Without doubt, it will be a    10     to my success.

Human are born with the     1     to communicate, but some people are better at it than others. Some people are very good at     2     and find it easy to express their ideas to other people. Other people find it difficult to express     3     well, especially in public. The good news is that communication skills can be     4    . Here are some pieces of advice.

Remember that talking to other people depends on body language and facial     5     besides words. If you look and sound confident, people will pay     6     to what you say, even if you don’t feel so confident. Look people in the eye when you speak to them. It     7     you seem more honest and friendly, and people will find it easier and more fun to talk to you.

Practice     8     to other people. The most important part of communication is listening. That’s why we have two ears and one mouth. When you listen to people, watching their face and body language will help you understand     9     they mean.

Think before you open your mouth. The best communicators express their ideas in short and     10     ways. If you are trying to convince (使信服) people of something, be clear and use as few words as possible.

One Saturday, Anna, a teenager, didn’t get out of bed. She     1     her phone and sent a message to her mom. Anna wanted eggs for breakfast. Soon, the 13-year-old heard her mom’s voice (声音). “Anna, if you want to talk to me, you come and see me like your dad! You must learn the idea of     2    . You are also a member of this family!”

Anna says she hates it because her mom likes to     3     her with her dad. “I send my mom messages all the time even we are in a house”. She continued to     4    , “I just like using QQ or WeChat to communicate without talking, and my mom loves phones too.”

Well, Anna is not     5    . These days, many young people like sending a message but not talking.

Some would argue that it’s not     6    . But many experts say successful communicators have the ability to do both, talking face to face and sending messages. These two     7     make people want to continue to talk. Experts say there is nothing wrong with quiet conversations (交谈). The problem is that the conversation isn’t meaningful (有意义). Like Anna and her closest friends, they often send each other videos of themselves, their dogs or something new in their bedrooms     8    .

So family rules like “never send messages to people under the same roof (屋顶)” should       9    . They advise parents to put down their own phones first, then there will be less     10     for their kids, as children learn from them.

Some children dream of becoming adults(成年人). So they won’t have to do homework or take exams. That is to say, they won’t have     1     from school any more. But are things really like what they think?

Wang Jun’s mother is a cleaner. Her job is to clean the park. Let’s see what she does every day. In order to     2     a clean environment for everyone, she has to get up at 5 a.m. to     3     the streets and collect rubbish in the park.     4     she finishes her work, she goes home to make breakfast. Then she does some     5     at home. After that, she goes to the park to work again, because someone is always     6     rubbish everywhere. She doesn’t come back home until 3 p.m.

It’s not easy for Wang Jun’s mother     7     money. His mother never wastes money.

Being an adult is not as     8     as you think. So enjoy your school life.