Years ago, if a teenager had some problems in his or her daily life, he or she might write them in the diary. However, now a teenager with the same problems might go online and write them in a blog. In many ways, a diary and a blog are almost the same. They both tell what happened to the writer that day. So what makes a blog different from a diary?

The biggest difference is that a blog is for much more people to read than a diary. When I was my sister’s age, I wrote about the same things in my diary. And I would put my diary in a safe place because I was afraid that others might read it.

Now people choose to write in blogs because they know their friends will read what they write. If my sister writes in her blog “Nobody cares about me”, her best friends will quickly read and tell her how much they like her.

If people are caring about what they write, blogs are a very good way to write about the everyday life. However, I still like my old diary better.

2 . A middle school organized a “No TV Week” programme. All the teachers, parents and students worked together for this programme and most of them found it to be a very good one. The headmaster said, “The idea was not to stop watching TV completely but for the students just to find how much time they watch TV and try to use this time for other things.”

What did the students say about this “No TV Week”? One boy said, “I can’t believe I haven’t watched TV for a week, but it’s been fun doing it.” A girl said, “I’m going to give up all TV programmes except for ‘Our Animal World’ and other language-teaching programme. I’m really pleased that I have more time to do things like walking and thinking. I enjoy this ‘No TV Week’ very much.” But not all the students thought it was good. Here one student said something different. “I don’t like ‘No TV Week’ because I like watching TV. I have lots of favourite programmes and I don’t want to miss them. But we have to do it.”

6 . The small talk is a good way to kill time and make friends. But do you know what to say to start a small talk with foreign people?

In Britain, the best topic is the weather. Because the British weather changes quite often. It's a safe topic. So you can start a small talk simply by saying "It's a lovely day today, isn't it?" Besides the weather, it's good to talk about gardens. For example, you could say, "Those roses look really beautiful, don't they?" In addition（此外）, British people love their pets very much. So it's also nice to start with "What a lovely dog! What is its name?"

In America, people like to talk about sports, such as American football. They also talk about clothes by saying "It's a nice shirt! Where did you get it?" And the weather is a safe topic there, too.

Of course, there are also a lot of topics to avoid（避免）during small talks in western countries. For example, don't ask people "How old are you?", especially（特别）women. And never ask "How much money do you make?" It makes people unhappy and it's also impolite.

In fact，happiness is always around you. When you are in trouble at school，your classmates will     1    you；when you study hard at your lessons，your parents will take good care of your life     2    ；when you are successful，your friends and family members will be proud of you；when you do something     3    ，the people around you will give you a hand to correct it. All of these things will bring you happiness.

Happiness is not     4     money. It is a feeling in your heart. When you are poor，you can say you are very happy because you have something else that can't be bought with money. When you meet with difficulties，you can say     5     you are very happy because they can make you stronger. As the saying goes，‘Life is like a revolving（旋转的）door；whenever it closes，it also opens. ’If you take every chance you get，you can become a happy and lucky person.

10 . Do you want to live a happier, less stressful(有压力的) life? Try laughing for no reason at all. That’s how millions of people start their day at Laughter(笑声) Clubs around the world and many doctors now think that having a good laugh might be one of the best ways to stay healthy.

The first Laughter Club was started in Mumbai, India, in 1995 by Dr. Madan Kataria.“Young children laugh about 300 times a day. Adults laugh between 7 and 15 times a day,” says Dr. Kataria. “Everyone is naturally good at laughing — it’s the common language. We want people to feel happy with their lives.” There are now more than 500 Laughter Clubs in India and over 1,300 in the world.

Many doctors are also interested in the effects(效果) of laughter on our health. According to a 5-year study at the UCLA School of Medicine in California, with laughing there is less stress in the body. Laughter improves our health against illness by about 40%.

So what happens at a Laughter Club? I went along to my nearest club in South London to find out. I was quite nervous at the beginning of the class, to be honest, I wasn’t interested in laughing with a group of strangers, and I was worried about looking silly. Our laughter teacher told us to clap our hands and say “ho ho ho, ha ha ha” while looking at each other. However, our bodies can’t tell the difference between real laughter and unreal laughter, so they still produce the same healthy effects.

Surprisingly, it works! After ten minutes everybody in the room was laughing for real and some people just couldn’t stop! At the end of the class I was surprised by how relaxed and comfortable I felt. So if you’re under stress, then start laughing. You might be very pleased with the results.