1 . It’s hard when a best friend isn’t around—maybe because you move to a different school or a different class. You may feel lonely at break (课间) or lunchtime. You want to have new friends, but how do you make them?

Start by looking around your classroom. Think about whom you’d like to play with at break. Say hi to them, smile, and be friendly. Ask them to enjoy something or talk with them about something they may interested in. Invite someone to play with you or ask “Do you want to sit here?” in the lunch room. When you’re at break, walk to kids you want to play with, and say “Hi, can I play, too?” or just join in.

If you are feeling shy, ask your teacher to help you make new friends. Teachers are usually good at matching up friends. The best way to make friends is to be a friend. Be kind, be friendly, say nice things and help others, soon you’ll have one, or two, or even more new friends.

2 . In Britain you may often hear “Drop in any time” or “Come to see me soon”, but you can’t really do that. People just say those things to make you feel welcome. It is better to telephone before visiting someone at home. If you receive a written invitation to an event that says “RSVP”, you should reply to let the person who sent the invitation know whether or not you plan to go.

You should never accept an invitation unless you really plan to go. You may refuse by saying,“Thank you for inviting me, but I will not be able to come.” If, after accepting, you are unable to go, be sure to tell those who are expecting you as soon as possible that you will not be there.

Though it is not necessarily expected that you give a gift to your host, it is considered polite to do so, especially if you have been invited for a meal. Flowers, chocolate, and a small gift are all appropriate (合适的). A thank-you note or telephone call after the visit is also considered polite and is an appropriate way to express your appreciation for the invitation.

3 . It’s the lunchtime break at Shanghai Xianxia Middle School. No mobile phones can be heard ringing anywhere. The common sight of crowds of children chatting on their phones or sending short messages has disappeared (消失).

A grade-2 student said, “I couldn’t concentrate during classes if the phone was with me. I couldn’t help checking if there were messages or missed phone calls. I even played games on the phone sometimes.”

The school leaders say they feel the ban (禁令) is necessary to keep order in class. They even gave out an open letter to remind parents not to let their children bring mobile phones to school. More than 96 percent of parents say they welcome the school decision. The school is also being flexible (灵活的) in implementing the ban.

Those students who live far from school are allowed to bring mobile phones to contact their parents. But they still have to switch them off in classrooms.

Medical experts (医学专家) have also welcomed the school decision. They say too much dependence on mobile phones can cause many psychological problems in teenage students.

4 . Spain is famous for its tomato festival, called La Tomatina. It happens in a small town Bunol on the last Wednesday of August every yyear. During the festival there are all kinds of activities, but the most exciting part is the tomato fight. It takes place at the end of these activities. You are encouraged to throw tomatoes in the fight. There are many stories about how the festival began. One of the stories goes that during the 1940s, some friends started a tomato fight, while another story is about a local （当地的）band. Anyway, everyone in Bunol seems to have a different story about the festival.

Before the tomato fight, there are parades（游行）, musical bands, street parties and so on. On the day of the fight, shopkeepers cover their windows and doors in order to keep away from the tomato fight. At the same time, thousands of tourists and local people come to the town square together. Then large trucks（卡车）full of tomatoes arrive. From the back of the large trucks, a great town band start to throw tomatoes at others. Then the crowds fight back, throwing the tomatoes at anything and anyone. Soon the streets are in the sea of red tomato juice.

Everyone must obey a small number of rules: You must squash （压烂） the tomato before throwing it and you are allowed to throw nothing but tomatoes.

It is usually over in less than half an hour. Everyone then sets off to the river to clear up. Sounds like fun!

5 . Around the world, people have different traditional foods to celebrate different festivals. Traditional foods also show a new year of good luck and good health.

An English Christmas dinner has a meal of turkey, and it also includes pies and plum puddings（李子布丁）. In Germany, Christmas is celebrated with bread, cookies and cakes, which are made like Christmas trees. In France, Christmas dessert is a cake filled with butter cream.

In southern parts of India, there is a three-day festival in mid-January called Pongal. It includes rice and a dish of rice cooked with sugar that is shared with families, relatives and friends.

Japan celebrates the New Year with a seven-day festival. It begins from January 1st. People prepare food before the festival so they don’t need to cook during the festival. On New Year’s Day, different dishes called Osechi Ryori（御节料理）are served—each dish is a wish for the New Year.

In most Asian countries, the New Year begins with the first full moon of the first Chinese lunar（阴历的）month. Each place has its special food to welcome the coming year. People in China prepare their food before the festival to avoid（避免）using a knife during the New Year’s time. Foods with lucky names are popular, such as fish, which sounds like “surplus（剩余）”.

6 . Reading is the key to school success and, like any skill, it takes practice. A child learns to walk by practicing until he no longer has to think about how to put one foot in front of the other. An excellent sportsman practices until he can play quickly, correctly and without thinking. Educators call it “automaticity (自动性)”.

A child learns to read by sounding out the letters and finding the meaning of the words. With automaticity, he doesn’t have to think about the meaning of the words, so he can give all his attention to the meaning of the text.

It can begin as early as the first grade. In a recent study of children in Illinois schools, Alan Rossman of Northwestern University found that automatic readers in the first grade not only read almost three times as fast as the others, but also got better results in exams.

According to Rossman, the key to automaticity is the amount (数量) of time a child spends on reading, not his IQ. Any child who spends at least 3.5 to 4 hours a week reading books, magazines or newspapers will probably reach automaticity. It can not happen if a child turns off TV just one night for reading at home.

You can test yourself by reading something new that is suitable (适合) for your level. If you read aloud with expression, with a sense of the meaning of the sentences, you are probably an automatic reader. If you read brokenly, one word at a time, without expression or meaning, you need more practice.

7 . It’s important for us to be healthy. Everybody wants to be healthy. But how can we keep healthy? Here is some useful advice. First, you should eat fruit and vegetables three or four times a week. There are some kinds of vitamins our bodies need. We should not eat too much meat. Then eat some tofu every day because it’s good for people, both the young and the old. Milk is also necessary(必要的), especially for women. So you should have milk twice a day. It can help you to be strong. Next, doing more exercise is better. You can do morning exercises or evening exercises. After supper you should take a walk.

9 . The secret to losing weight isn’t just about what you eat. It has something to do with what you drink. For example, some popular soft drinks might sabotage your weight­loss plan. They may even make you put on some weight. Here are four kinds of drinks for you if you don’t want to put on weight.

Water

It’s important to remember that water is the best choice for weight loss. Water is not tasty. Lots of people don’t like to drink water. If you are one of those people, try adding fresh lemon slices, cucumber, or a slice of tomato. These things may make your water tasty.

Vegetable juice

Vegetable juice is an excellent choice to get nutrients (营养) your body needs. Vegetable juice is good for your body, and it can also help you lose weight.

Black coffee

A morning cup of black coffee or an afternoon iced black coffee can help you lose weight. It can hold back your feeling of hunger. Just be careful about what you add to your coffee. If necessary, skim milk (脱脂牛奶) or a little sugar is enough.

Skim milk

Milk is good for our health. But you’d better not drink milk with too much fat. You can choose skim milk. Skim milk is not tasty, is it? If you think so, you can choose to drink low­fat milk.