2 . When I lived in Spain, some Spanish friends of mine decided to visit England by car. Before they left, they asked me for advice about how to find accommodation (住所). I suggested that they should stay at “bed and breakfast” houses, because this kind of accommodation gives a foreign visitor a good chance to speak English with the family. My friends listened to my advice, but they came back with some funny stories.

“We didn’t stay at ‘bed and breakfast houses’,” they said, “because we found that most families were away on holiday.”

 I thought this was strange. Finally I understood what had happened. My friends spoke little English, and they thought “VACANCIES” meant “holidays”, because the Spanish word for “holidays” is “vacaciones”. So they did not go to the house where the sign outside said “VACANCIES”, which in English means there are free rooms. Then my friends went to the house where the sign said “NO VACANCIES”, because they thought this meant the people who owned the house were not away on holiday. But they found that these houses were all full. As a result, they stayed at hotels!

We laughed about this and about mistakes my friends made in reading other signs. In Spanish, the word” DIVERSION” means fun. In English, it means that workmen are repairing the road, and that you must take a different road. When my friends saw the word “DIVERSION” on a road sign, the thought they were going to have fun. Instead, the road ended in a large hole.

English people have problems too when they learn foreign languages. Once in Paris, when someone offered me some more coffee, I said “Thank you” in French. I meant that I would like some more. However, to my surprise the coffee pot was taken away! Later I found out that ‘Thank you’ in French means “No, thank you.”

3 . English is full of funny expressions that don’t always make sense. Idioms are phrases and sentences that do not mean exactly what they say. Even if you know the meaning of each word, you may not understand the idiom because you don’t understand the culture behind it. Here are some English idioms based on animals.

When children jump around and act silly, their parents may tell them to stop “monkeying around”.To “monkey around” means to do things that are not useful or serious, or to simply waste time.

Many American families have and love pet dogs. But for some unknown reason, Americans use “dog” in a phrase that means to feel unwell. If you are “as sick as a dog”, you’re really, really sick.

Sometimes you may also hear cats mentioned in conversations, “I told you to keep that secret, but you have just ‘let the cat out of the bag’!” You probably guessed it — that idiom means to reveal a secret or tell facts that were previously unknown.

Dogs and cats don’t always get along, but they appear side by side in a commonly used idiom. When it rains heavily, people might say it’s “raining cats and dogs”．

Heavy rain often ruins people’s plans for outdoor activities. But on a lovely day, you can have a picnic. If a swarm (一群) of tiny bugs love your food and start to hover (盘旋) around you, it would be really annoying. That experience perfectly explains why people often tell someone who keeps bothering them to “stop bugging me”．

Idioms are very common in both spoken and written English. If you want to have a better understanding of English, you have to learn idioms.

Nowadays, have sports is becoming more and more popular.As we know, a person who keeps on taking exercise regular will keep fit and live happy life.

My favourite sport is playing basketball.After school I usually spent half an hour on it, that not only builds up my body but also makes me refreshed.Playing basketball help me relax after a period of tired study and improves my study efficiency.Because playing basketball needs cooperation, so I have learnt the spirit of teamwork.It is also a good way for me to make new friend.In a word, playing basketball enriches my life and makes me more confidence.

Come on!Let's do sports together and enjoy a healthy life

8 . The day I heard that Rainbow Bookstore was closing after 50 years of business, I was heartbroken.The bookstore, which was a landmark in the neighbourhood, was a place where anyone could drop in and read books.

When I hurried to the store, I saw that the books were already packed into boxes.I had a long chat with Casey, the store's elderly owner. Sighing deeply, he told me how it was becoming difficult to run his bookstore.Most young people preferred reading e-books on tablets and more customers were attracted by low-priced books of online stores.I tried to think of some words to comfort him, but I knew Rainbow Bookstore couldn’t stay in business much longer.

A few months later,I was back in the neighbourhood during my spring break and was surprised to see that the bookstore was still there and opened for business.Its old brick walls hadn't been decorated, but inside it was like a different world.

I was told that the community had decided to work together on a programme to save Rainbow Bookstore.The programme was led by Jennifer Oakley,a saleswoman who had grown up in the neighbourhood and who had now taken over the bookstore from Casey.Under Jennifer's leadership, the bookstore was being turned into a place for literature-loving members of the community to get together.It had a cafe selling food and there were now more community events such as book readings, poetry recitings and even jazz concerts and movie nights, where people could gather to share an experience that couldn't be downloaded online.

l also met Casey, who was looking up at readers' comments that kept popping up on the screen.“I remember readers' comments used to appear on a big board here.”I pointed at the corner.Casey smiled,“Well, as you can see, business knowledge combined with creativity has brought my old bookstore into the 21st century!I’m so pleased to see that everything I wanted to offer to the community is still here.”

How are you doing these days? Know that you’re interested in the picture I post online the day before yesterday, I’m very delighted. It is about serving chopsticks, as you can see it. They’re used to move food from a serving plate to the person’s bowl when people have dinner with others, whether friends and families. Chinese people often share their dishes to show kind. Now we advise that each diner on the table uses serving chopsticks. In this way, viruses and bacteria are stopped spreading. As far as I’m concerned, I’m strong for the idea of serving chopsticks, what can benefit us all.