In England three foreign gentlemen came to a bus stop. They studied the information on the post sign and decided which bus to take. About five minutes later the bus they wanted came along. They prepared to get on. Suddenly people rushed onto the bus and tried to push them out of the way. Someone shouted insulting remarks about the foreigners. The bus conductor   came rushing down the stairs to see what all the trouble was about. The three foreign gentlemen looked puzzled and ashamed. No one had told them about the British custom of lining up for a bus so that the first person who arrived at a bus-stop is the first person to get on the bus.
Learning the language of a country isn’t enough. If you want to ensure a pleasant visit, find out as much as possible about the manners and customs of your hosts. You will probably be surprised just how different they can be from your own. A visitor to India would do well to remember that people there consider it impolite to use the left hand for passing food at table. The left hand is supposed to be used for washing yourself. Also in India, you might see a man apparently（显然地）shaking his head at another and assume (认为) that he is disagreeing. But in many parts of India a rotating (旋转) movement of the head is a gesture that express agreement or acceptance. Nodding your head when offered a drink in Bulgaria is likely to leave you thirsty. In that country you shake your head to express “yes” — a nod means “no”.
In Europe it is quite usual to cross your legs when sitting talking to someone, even at an important meeting. Doing this when meeting an important person in Thailand, however, could cause offence (冒犯). It is considered too informal an attitude for such an occasion. Also when in Thailand avoid touching the head of an adult — it’s just not done.
Attitudes to women vary considerably（相当地）around the world. In Japan, for example, it is quite usual for men to plan evening entertainments for themselves and leave their wives at home.
Knowing about customs and attitudes is useful when you are travelling, but you also need to know the language used to express different degrees of formality (礼节).
【小题1】The three foreign gentlemen looked puzzled and ashamed because __________________.

Everyone has got two personalities (性格) —the one that is shown to the world and the other that is secret and real. You don’t show your secret personality when you’re awake because you can control yourself, but when you’re asleep, your sleeping position shows the real you. In a normal night, of course, you often change your sleeping positions. The important position that best shows your secret personality is the one that you go to sleep.
If you go to sleep on your back, you’re a very open person. You normally trust people and you are easily influenced by new ideas. You don’t like to make people unhappy, so you never express your real feelings. You’re quite shy and you aren’t very confident.
If you sleep on your stomach, you are a person who likes to keep secrets. You worry a lot and you’re always easily becoming sad. You never want to change your ideas, but you are satisfied with your life the way it is. You usually live for today not for tomorrow.
If you sleep on curled up (蜷缩), you are probably a very nervous person. You have a low opinion of yourself and often protect yourself from being hurt, so you are very defensive. You’re shy and you don’t usually like meeting people. You like to be on your own.
If you sleep on your side, you have usually got a well-balanced (平衡的) personality. You know your strengths and weaknesses. You’re usually careful. You have a confident personality. You sometimes feel worried, but you don’t often get unhappy. You always say what you think, even if it makes people angry.
【小题1】You may find the passage in_____.

People often use gestures to express our feelings, but the problem is that the gestures can be understood in different ways.
It is true that a smile means the same thing in any language.  So does laughter or crying.  Fear is another emotion(情感) that is shown in much the same way all over the world.  In Chinese and in English literature, a phrase like “he went pale and began to tremble” suggests that the man is either very afraid or he has just got a very big shock. 
However, “he opened his eyes wide” is used to suggest anger in Chinese whereas in English it means surprise. In Chinese, surprise can be described in a phrase like “they stretched out their tongues!” “Stretching out your tongue” in English is an insulting(侮辱的, 无礼的)gesture or expresses strong dislike.
Even in the same culture, people differ in their ability to understand and express feelings.  Experiments in America have shown that women are usually better than men at recognizing fear,  anger,  love and happiness on people’s faces. Other studies show that older people usually find it easier to understand body language than younger people do.
【小题1】Which of the following is TRUE according to the text? 

Fill in the blanks with the CORRECT form of the word.
【小题1】 Benjamin Franklin discovered that l_________ is actually electrcity by his kite experiment.
【小题2】Kunming is the capital of Yunnan Proveince in s_________ China.
【小题3】We decided to make a v_________ down the Yellow River to the sea.
【小题4】It is because his v_________ is not big enough that he can’t express himself well in English.
【小题5】www.expo2010.cn is the o_________ website of the 2010 Expo in Shanghai China.
【小题6】Now the weather is becoming colder _________. (逐渐的)
【小题7】 He practises speaking English every day so he speaks _________ (流利的) English.
【小题8】 When you are facing an earthquake, the first thing you have to do is to stay _________. (镇定的)
【小题9】 It rains _________ (经常性的) these days, which makes him very upset.
【小题10】 From his strong _________ (口音) we can easily tell he is from London.

The practice of students endlessly copying letters and sentences from a blackboard is a thing of the past. With the coming of new technologies like computers and smartphone, writing by hand has become something of nostalgic (怀旧的)skill. However, while today’s educators are using more and more technology in their teaching, many believe basic handwriting skills are still necessary for students to be successful---both in school and in life.
Virginia Berninger, professor of educational psychology at the University of Washington, says it’s important to continue teaching handwriting and help children acquire the skill of writing by hand.
Berninger and her colleagues conducted a study that looked at the ability of students to complete various writing tasks---both on a computer and by hand. The study, published in 2009, found that when writing with a pen and paper, participants wrote longer essays and more complete sentences and had a faster word production rate.
In a more recent study, Berninger looked at what role spelling plays in a student’s writing skills and found that how well children spell is tied to know well they can write. “Spelling makes some of the thinking parts of the brain active which helps us access our vocabulary, word meaning and concepts. It is allowing our written language to connect with ideas.” Berninger said.
Spelling helps students translate ideas into words in their mind first and then to transcribe(转换) “those words in the mind written symbols on paper or keyboard and screen,” the study said. Seeing the words in the “mind’s eye” helps children not only to turn their ideas into words, says Berninger, but also to spot(发现) spelling mistakes when they write the words down and to correct then over time.
“In our computer age, some people believe that we don’t have to teach spelling because we have spell checks,” she said. “But until a child has a functional spelling ability of about a fifth grade level, they won’t have the knowledge to choose the correct spelling among the options given by the computer.”
【小题1】What makes writing by hand a thing of the past?