Dear Laura,
Thanks for your message. Yes, I'm having a great time on my student exchange(交流)programme in France. I was a bit 1before I arrived here, but there was no need to be. My host family is really nice.
They try to make me 2 at home. The grandmother knows that I miss Chinese food a lot. So she actually learned how to 3Chinese food！She also has a teenage granddaughter about my age who is really 4. She always talks to me in French to help me practise. You wouldn't 5 how quickly my French has improved. 6I still make lots of mistakes, it doesn't worry me as it used to.
My biggest 7is learning how to act at the dinner table. As you can imagine, things are very different from the way they are at home. For example, you shouldn't put your elbows(胳膊肘)on the table. 8, I thought that was pretty strange, but now I'm used to(习惯于)it. Another example is that you shouldn't eat anything with your 9except bread, not even fruit. You have to cut it up and eat it with a fork. Another thing is that it's impolite to say you're full. If you don't want any more 10, you should just say, "That was delicious. "I have to say that I find it difficult to 11 everything, but I'm gradually(逐渐地)getting used to it. I don't find French customs so 12any more.
I'll write again soon and tell you more about my life in France. |Hope you're having a good school year.
Yours,
Lin Yue
Have you seen some machines that eat used plastic bottles and give some coins to the users?
Recently, such machines have appeared at universities in Chongqing. They can turn rubbish into treasure and encourage the public to recycle rubbish. The machine is as large as a fridge. Users put an empty bottle in the machine, and it is identified (识别) by a small camera. Then it is put into a bin. The users can get some coins.
When the machine is filled with bottles, it will tell the company head office. Nearby stations will send workers to have bottles collected, packed and sent to the company.
The bottle recycling machines could greatly encourage the public to recycle rubbish and save natural resources (资源). Now the machine only eats plastic bottles. At sometime in the future it will also cover others such as glass bottles. It will be able to turn more rubbish into treasure and save more natural resources.
People can also see similar machines in Shanghai. In the future, more machines will appear at some large stations, bus stops, neighborhoods and schools.
①It is identified by a small camera.
②Users can get some coins.
③Users put an empty bottle in the machine.
④It is put into a bin.
