1. You want to know about my staying in America, right? Well, to tell you the truth, it is really an eye-opening experience study here.In China, I had English classes five times a week since fifth grade. However, I didn’t know how different textbook English could be from everyday English until I came to Hotchkiss School, Connecticut. When I first studied English, I was told to say, “I am fine.” when people say “How are you?”But in the US,I found that people say, “I am good.” or “I’m tired.”One day, someone greeted me with “What’s up?”It made me confused. I thought for a moment and then smiled because I didn’t know what to say.Since then, I have discovered more and more differences between Chinese and US cultures.To my surprise, US girls spend a lot of time in the burning sun to get a tan. However, in China ,girls try every possible way to get their skin paler, or “whiter.”I also surprised by how hard-working .US students are. In China, schoolwork is almost everything, so we study hard and that’ it. But here, a “good” student gets good grades, does a lot for the public and plays sports or music.The kids here are so talented, I am starting to be sorry that I gave up playing the piano at an early age and that I have never thought about sports. According to the writer, textbook English is _________everyday English.

4. Christmas Day, the birthday of Jesus Christ, is the most important festival in Britain and some other countries. On Christmas Eve, people usually tell their children to put their stockings at the end of their beds before they go to sleep. Children believe Santa Claus, with the other name of Father Christmas, will come during the night and fill their stockings with Christmas presents.　　Actually, Father Christmas is children＇s father. He dresses up in a red coat and waits until children fall asleep. Then he goes into children＇s bedrooms, and puts small presents in their stockings. When children are no longer young, they know who Father Christmas really is.Not only children but also their parents enjoy Christmas stockings. They also have stockings. Early on the morning of Christmas Day, children wake their parents up and say “Merry Christmas”. Then they help their parents open their stockings. Everybody likes presents. But it is better to give than to receive. From the story we know that on Christmas Day children feel very happy because they can receive________.

3. Christmas Day, the birthday of Jesus Christ, is the most important festival in Britain and some other countries. On Christmas Eve, people usually tell their children to put their stockings at the end of their beds before they go to sleep. Children believe Santa Claus, with the other name of Father Christmas, will come during the night and fill their stockings with Christmas presents.　　Actually, Father Christmas is children＇s father. He dresses up in a red coat and waits until children fall asleep. Then he goes into children＇s bedrooms, and puts small presents in their stockings. When children are no longer young, they know who Father Christmas really is.Not only children but also their parents enjoy Christmas stockings. They also have stockings. Early on the morning of Christmas Day, children wake their parents up and say “Merry Christmas”. Then they help their parents open their stockings. Everybody likes presents. But it is better to give than to receive. “Santa Claus” is another way of saying_______.

2. Christmas Day, the birthday of Jesus Christ, is the most important festival in Britain and some other countries. On Christmas Eve, people usually tell their children to put their stockings at the end of their beds before they go to sleep. Children believe Santa Claus, with the other name of Father Christmas, will come during the night and fill their stockings with Christmas presents.　　Actually, Father Christmas is children＇s father. He dresses up in a red coat and waits until children fall asleep. Then he goes into children＇s bedrooms, and puts small presents in their stockings. When children are no longer young, they know who Father Christmas really is.Not only children but also their parents enjoy Christmas stockings. They also have stockings. Early on the morning of Christmas Day, children wake their parents up and say “Merry Christmas”. Then they help their parents open their stockings. Everybody likes presents. But it is better to give than to receive. What do all the British children do on Christmas Eve in the story?

1. Christmas Day, the birthday of Jesus Christ, is the most important festival in Britain and some other countries. On Christmas Eve, people usually tell their children to put their stockings at the end of their beds before they go to sleep. Children believe Santa Claus, with the other name of Father Christmas, will come during the night and fill their stockings with Christmas presents.　　Actually, Father Christmas is children＇s father. He dresses up in a red coat and waits until children fall asleep. Then he goes into children＇s bedrooms, and puts small presents in their stockings. When children are no longer young, they know who Father Christmas really is.Not only children but also their parents enjoy Christmas stockings. They also have stockings. Early on the morning of Christmas Day, children wake their parents up and say “Merry Christmas”. Then they help their parents open their stockings. Everybody likes presents. But it is better to give than to receive. Christmas Day is______.

5. People today are still talking about the generation gap(代沟). Some parents complain that their children do not show them proper respect, while children complain that their parents do not understand them at all.What has gone wrong? Why has the generation gap appeared?One important cause is that young people want to choose their own life-style. In more traditional societies, when children grow up, they are expected to live in the same area as their parents, to marry people that their parents like, and often to continue the family occupation.Parents often expect their children to do better than they do. Often, however, the high wishes that parents place on their children are another cause of the generation gap.Finally, the high speed of social changes deepens the gap. In a traditional culture, people are valued for their wisdom, but in our society today the knowledge of a lifetime may be out of use overnight. A proper title for this passage would be ________.

4. People today are still talking about the generation gap(代沟). Some parents complain that their children do not show them proper respect, while children complain that their parents do not understand them at all.What has gone wrong? Why has the generation gap appeared?One important cause is that young people want to choose their own life-style. In more traditional societies, when children grow up, they are expected to live in the same area as their parents, to marry people that their parents like, and often to continue the family occupation.Parents often expect their children to do better than they do. Often, however, the high wishes that parents place on their children are another cause of the generation gap.Finally, the high speed of social changes deepens the gap. In a traditional culture, people are valued for their wisdom, but in our society today the knowledge of a lifetime may be out of use overnight. In today’s society, the knowledge of a lifetime ________.

3. People today are still talking about the generation gap(代沟). Some parents complain that their children do not show them proper respect, while children complain that their parents do not understand them at all.What has gone wrong? Why has the generation gap appeared?One important cause is that young people want to choose their own life-style. In more traditional societies, when children grow up, they are expected to live in the same area as their parents, to marry people that their parents like, and often to continue the family occupation.Parents often expect their children to do better than they do. Often, however, the high wishes that parents place on their children are another cause of the generation gap.Finally, the high speed of social changes deepens the gap. In a traditional culture, people are valued for their wisdom, but in our society today the knowledge of a lifetime may be out of use overnight. The generation gap has become wider than before because of ________.

2. People today are still talking about the generation gap(代沟). Some parents complain that their children do not show them proper respect, while children complain that their parents do not understand them at all.What has gone wrong? Why has the generation gap appeared?One important cause is that young people want to choose their own life-style. In more traditional societies, when children grow up, they are expected to live in the same area as their parents, to marry people that their parents like, and often to continue the family occupation.Parents often expect their children to do better than they do. Often, however, the high wishes that parents place on their children are another cause of the generation gap.Finally, the high speed of social changes deepens the gap. In a traditional culture, people are valued for their wisdom, but in our society today the knowledge of a lifetime may be out of use overnight.Parents often hope that their children will ________.

1. People today are still talking about the generation gap(代沟). Some parents complain that their children do not show them proper respect, while children complain that their parents do not understand them at all.What has gone wrong? Why has the generation gap appeared?One important cause is that young people want to choose their own life-style. In more traditional societies, when children grow up, they are expected to live in the same area as their parents, to marry people that their parents like, and often to continue the family occupation.Parents often expect their children to do better than they do. Often, however, the high wishes that parents place on their children are another cause of the generation gap.Finally, the high speed of social changes deepens the gap. In a traditional culture, people are valued for their wisdom, but in our society today the knowledge of a lifetime may be out of use overnight. According to the passage, children today expect their parents to ________.

5. Linda Evans was my best friend—like the sister I never had. We did everything together: piano lessons, movies, swimming, and horseback riding. When I was 13, my family moved away. Linda and I kept in touch through letters, and we saw each other on special time—like my wedding (婚礼) and Linda’s. Soon we were busy with children and moving to new homes, and we wrote less often. One day a card that I sent came back, stamped “Address (地址) Unknown. ” I had no idea how to find Linda. Over the years, I missed Linda very much. I wanted to share (分享) happiness of my children and then grandchildren. And I needed to share my sadness when my brother and then mother died. There was an empty place in my heart that only a friend like Linda could fill. One day I was reading a newspaper when I noticed a photo of a young woman who looked very much like Linda and whose last name was Wagman — Linda’s married name. “There must be thousands of Wagmans,” I thought, but J still wrote to her. She called as soon as she got my letter. “Mrs. Tobin!” she said excitedly, “Linda Evans Wagman is my mother. ”Minutes later I heard a voice that I knew very much, even after 40 years, laughed and cried and caught up on each other’s lives. Now the empty place in my heart is filled. And there’s one thing that Linda and I know for sure: We won’t lose each other again! They haven’t kept in touch _______.