1 . Social customs and ways of behaving change. Things which were considered impolite many years ago are now acceptable. Just a few years ago, it was considered impolite behavior for a man to smoke on the street. No man who thought of himself as being a gentleman would make a fool of himself by smoking when a lady was in a room.

Customs also differ from country to country. Does a man walk on the left or the right of a woman in your country? Or doesn’t it matter? What about table manners? Should you use both hands when you are eating? Should you leave one on your lap, or on the table?

The Americans and the British not only speak the same language but also share a large number of social customs. For example, in both America and England people shake hands when they meet each other for the first time. Also Englishmen will open a door for a woman or offer their seat to a woman, and so will most Americans. If a dinner invitation is for 7 o’clock, the dinner guest either arrives close to that time or calls up to explain his delay.

The important thing to remember about social customs is not to do anything that might make other people feel uncomfortable, especially if they are your guests. There is an old story about a man who gave a formal dinner party. When the food was served, one of the guests started to eat his peas (豆) with a knife. The other guests were amused or shocked, but the host calmly picked up his knife and began eating in the same way. It would have been bad manners to make his guest feel foolish or uncomfortable.

2 . It is one thing to visit a zoo as an ordinary member of the public but quite another to own a zoo and live in the middle of it; this at times can be a mixed thing. It certainly forces you to rush out at any time of the day or night to watch your charges (收费), but it also means that you are on duty 24 hours of the day and you can find that a fine little dinner party breaks up because some animal has broken its leg, or because the heaters in the snake house have failed. Winter, of course, is your least busy period and sometimes days pass without a single visitor.

But in the summer season the days are so full and the visitors so many that you can hardly seem to notice the passing of time and you forget how much you have in the bank.

3 . An American architect (建筑师) was visiting London. He wanted to see all the famous buildings there so he stopped a taxi and asked the driver to take him to all the old and famous buildings in London.

The driver drove him to the Tower of London. “This is the Tower of London. It was a prison (监狱) in the old days,” he said.

“It is so small. In America we could build this in a day.” said the American.

The taxi driver took the American to Westminster Abbey. He said, “This is a famous church. Kings and queens get married here.”

The American looked at the old building and said, “Huh… we could build this in two days.”

The driver decided to take the American to a bigger church so he drove him to St Paul’s Cathedral. He stopped outside the church and said, “This is the most famous church in England. The great architect Christopher Wren built this church.”

The American got out of the taxi and looked at the church. “Huh. We could build this church in three days,” he said.

Next the driver took the American to the House of Parliament. “This is where British politicians (政治家) meet.”

“Huh.” The American said, “We could build this in four days.”

The driver said nothing and drove past Buckingham Palace, the home of Queen Elizabeth. As the taxi passed the palace, the American said, “Hey! What is this building? I have never seen such a beautiful one.”

The taxi driver looked at the palace and said, “I don’t know. It wasn’t there this morning.”

4 . I want to_______my happiness with everyone. I once dreamt of traveling around the world. When I started ______, however, my income (收入) was not enough to afford this kind of travel, especially after I got married. What should I do? ______about it? No, never! Now the ______has given me two invisible (看不见的) wings so that I can fly freely in the world, whenever I want.

There is no need to book the ticket ahead of time. All that you need is a_____. Your screen is a door through which you can go anywhere you want. The mouse is a professional_______who takes you to the right places. The keyboard is a notebook on which you can______down what you have seen on your trip.

I always enjoy any_______I get to talk to native speakers of English. In the past, it was impossible to have such a chance. But with the help of the Internet it has become very easy. I can communicate with_______speakers and practice my English in chatting rooms. Now my English has improved greatly by_______online. What’s more, I get to know many people from all over the world. We find we have a lot in common when we exchange our______about different topics.

As a kid, I used to dream of being a bird flying in the sky. Now I am_______that I’m a caged bird, because my age is as big as the earth. I can not only enjoy scenery from all over the world,______also communicate with all kinds of people_______leaving my home. My life has become _______with the help of the Internet.