1 . Important Things to Know When Dining Out

Cultural dining etiquette (礼节) might surprise you with some of its important rules.     1    . Knowing some tips will help ensure that you have an enjoyable meal with friends or family — no matter where you are in the world.

The way you handle chopsticks is important to avoid annoying your companions. When you put them down between bites, always put them down together so they are parallel with the edge of the table in front of you.     2    .

In India and the Middle East, it’s considered very rude to eat with your left hand. People in France expect you to eat with a utensil in each hand.     3    , instead preferring to use their hands. In Chile, you may never touch any food with your fingers. People in Thailand generally use their forks only to push food onto their spoons.

    4    . In Portugal, this would be a serious mistake, because it shows the chef that you don’t like their seasoning skills. Similarly, in Italy, never ask for extra cheese to add to your food.

Some of these cultural dining etiquette rules may seem random and strange, but they are important in various countries.     5    , the more comfortable you’ll begin to feel with its foreign cultural practices.

3 . Secret codes (密码) keep messages private. Banks, companies, and government agencies use secret codes in doing business, especially when information is sent by computer.

People have used secret codes for thousands of years.     1    Code breaking never lags (落后) far behind code making. The science of creating and reading coded messages is called cryptography.

There are three main types of cryptography.     2    For example, the first letters of “My elephant eats too many eels” spell out the hidden message “Meet me.”

    3    You might represent each letter with a number, for example. Let’s number the letters of the alphabet, in order, from 1 to 26. If we substitute a number for each letter, the message “Meet me” would read “13 5 5 20 13 5.”

A code uses symbols to replace words, phrases, or sentences. To read the message of a real code, you must have a code book.     4    For example, “bridge” might stand for “meet” and “out” might stand for “me.” The message “Bridge out” would actually mean “Meet me.”     5    However, it is also hard to keep a code book secret for long. So codes must be changed frequently.

6 . A Welcome Gift

Dario and his mother loved their new apartment. The living room was large enough for their piano. That night, the two of them _______ side by side at the piano. They played jazz music to celebrate their new home. The loud _______ filled the room and made them feel very happy.

The next morning, _______, their happiness disappeared. Someone had left a _______ under their door during the night. One of their neighbors had written to complain about the sound of the piano. Dario’s mother asked the building superintendent(管理员) if he knew anything about it. But he said that they were all _______ people and he couldn’t imagine any of them had done that. Later that morning, Dario suggested that they write a letter to their _______ and apologize for their playing.

“Maybe we could go and _______ everyone in person.” his mother said.

“What if we invited them to come here for a _______ instead?” Dario asked.

They both loved the _______. Over the next few days, they sent out invitations and prepared desserts __________ their guests. They decorated the apartment with streamers(彩带) and party lights.

Finally, the day of the party __________. Some guests brought presents. Others brought flowers. Some even brought desserts to __________. One woman, Mrs. Gilbert, __________ Dario’s mother with a book of piano music by Chopin.

“I heard you playing the other night,” she said. “The sounds woke me out of bed. I __________ that you might play like this every night. So I wrote a short note. I hope you don’t think I disliked the playing.”

Dario’s mother smiled at Mrs. Gilbert. “I think maybe we __________ you an apology.” she said. “I didn’t __________ how late it was when we were playing. Maybe we should play some quieter music at night.”

“You play, you play!” Mrs. Gilbert said. “I like what you play! Just not so loud at night.” She pointed to the book she had given them. “These songs are not such __________ music.”

“These songs are beautiful music.” Dario’s mother said. “We will be __________ to play them in the evening.”

“And we won’t play so loud or late!” Dario said. He was already looking forward to __________ the new music. More than that, however, he was happy to see the big smile on his mother’s face. It gave him a feeling of __________ and made him feel that they were home at last.

7 . A Heroic Driver

Larry works with Transport Drivers,   Inc.   One morning in 2009, Larry was ______along 165 north after delivering to one of his _______. Suddenly, he saw a car with its bright lights on. _______ he got closer, he found ____ vehicle upside down on the road. One more look and he noticed _______ shooting out from under the _______ vehicle. Larry pulled over, set the brake and _______the fire extinguisher (灭火器). Two good bursts from the extinguisher and the fire was put out.

The man who had his bright lights on _______ and told Larry he had _______ an emergency call. They ________ heard a woman’s voice coming from the wrecked (毁坏的) vehicle. ________the vehicle, they saw that a woman was trying to get out of the broken window. They told her to stay ________ until the emergency personnel arrived, ________ she thought the car was going to ________. Larry told her that he had already put out the fire and she should not move ________ she injured her neck.

Once fire and emergency people arrived, Larry and the other man ________ and let them go to work. Then, Larry asked the ________ if he was needed or ________ to go. They let him and the other man go.

One thing is ________—Larry went above and beyond the call of duty by getting so close to the burning vehicle! His ________ most likely saved the woman’s life.

9 . “Ding... ding...,” the bell rang. The English teacher came into the classroom with test papers in his hand. All the students shouted. The teacher_________with a smile on his face, “I know there are too many tests for you these days, but the test today is very_________.” After hearing the teacher’s words, all the students sat up straight and _________for the test to begin. The teacher started to_________the test papers to each student._________he finished handing out the test papers, he asked them to begin.

There was not a question but only a small black “X” in the middle of the paper. The students were very_________to see that. The teacher _________ the students’ surprise. Then he said, “I would like you to_________about what you see there. You must finish it all by_________ .”

All the students thought about it hard and then wrote down their answers quietly. At the end of the class, the teacher collected their papers and read the answers. __________ of them described the black “X”. The next day, the teacher said, “Everybody only paid attention to the black ‘X’, but __________ wrote about the white paper.” The whole class listened __________ , because they worried that they might fail the exam.

Then the teacher said, “Don’t worry about the __________ of this test. I just want you to think about your life.” Everyone smiles. The teacher added, “The white paper is like our whole life and the black ‘X’ in the middle of the paper is just __________ problems in our daily life. Do you have some more thoughts?”

Then the students discussed and expressed __________ opinions actively. Finally they understood the teacher and this special test.

Our life is a __________ given to us by God, with love and care.________, we just care about the problems like illness and hunger, and never see that these problems are much__________ than everything else we have in our life.

We should try to take our eye off problems and __________ each moment life gives us. Only then can we start a nice   __________   and find true happiness in our lives.

10 . International tourism is becoming interestingly popular, and large numbers of people from all over the world come to visit famous places such as the Great Wall of China and the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican.     1     They've thrown rubbish everywhere, brought more traffic and even done serious damage to ancient relics.

As for the damage, there are many different causes. For example, the paintings in the Sistine Chapel are being damaged by people breathing onto them when they visit.     2     That may raise the humidity (湿气) of the air and damage the paintings. Damage in other places such as the Great Wall is because of tourists climbing on delicate (脆弱的) areas. Besides, roads have also been built to help visitors climb the Wall easily. These activities can cause a lot of damage to the area.

    3     Firstly, we have to cut down tourist numbers, because fewer visitors will result in less damage. Secondly, we should make strict rules about which areas people can visit and what they can do when they get there.     4     People will not be allowed to walk off the paths. Visitors to indoor places can be asked to wear masks to protect the paintings.

In short, it is necessary to control tourism at famous places.     5     And people who live hundreds of years later will have no chance to see these great places.