When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Here are some British etiquette (礼仪) and customs international students ought to know.
Visiting
In most houses in Britain, the doors are usually kept closed. It is customary to visit people at a pre-arranged time and day. Usually, people are not comfortable if you just drop in. Nevertheless, if someone says to drop in at any time, feel free to do so as long as it is not in the middle of the night. When you go into someone's house, do take your hat off (men only). It is impolite for men to wear hats indoors especially in churches.
Greeting
In Britain, the handshake is a common form of greeting. When you meet people for the first time, it is normal to shake hands. A firm handshake is the norm (标准); there are no issues over gender in Britain. The usual formal greeting is ''How do you do? '' and a firm hand shake, but with a lighter touch between men and women. In Britain, unlike some other European countries, it is unusual to embrace or kiss the other person (unless they are family or a very close friend).
Gifts
During birthday and Christmas celebrations, it is common for the British to exchange gifts between family members and close friends. The gift doesn't need to be expensive, but it should usually show an attempt to find something that is related to the recipient's (接受者) interests. When invited to someone's home, it is normal to take along a box of good chocolates, a bottle of good wine or a bunch of beautiful flowers. Note that gifts are opened when received.
Punctuality
The British are generally punctual (守时的), especially the scots. The British consider it impolite if you turn up late for an appointment. In most cases, the people you are meeting will be on time, call even if you will be 5 minutes later than you've promised. If you have been late or fail to keep your appointment, make an effort to contact the person to let them know. It is a good idea to telephone and offer your apologies.
When it comes to giving help to developing countries, we often think about donating money so that these countries can build schools and hospitals, buy food and medicine, or find clean water supplies. These seem to be the most important basic needs of the people we are trying to help. However, the traditional way is far from enough. We need better ideas to help them.
Recently, I read about a plan to make cheap laptop computers for children in developing countries. A man called Nicholas Negroponte invented a cheap laptop computer, which can run without electricity. He decided to invent this computer after he visited a school in Cambodia.
The laptop which Mr. Negroponte has designed is a little different from the normal laptop computers you can buy in the shops. Covered in rubber, this computer is very strong and won't be damaged easily. As an electricity supply can be a problem in developing countries, the computer also has a special handle (把手) so that children can wind (摇) the computer up to give it extra power when needed.
These special laptop computers will cost less than 100 US dollars and Mr. Negroponte wants to build as many as 15 million machines in the first year of production. The idea is that these computers will help the children's education as they will be able to access the Internet.
These computers might not help the people in developing countries immediately, but by improving children's education they should help people to find their own solutions to their problems in the long term.
Another idea to help children in developing countries is to recycle old mobile phones so that they can be used again. In the UK, and probably in many other countries too, millions of mobile phones are thrown away every year. The waste created by throwing away these old phones is very bad for the environment, so it seems to be an excellent idea to recycle them. In this way we will be able to achieve two important goals at the same time. We will reduce the waste we produce and help others. In other words, we will be able to "kill two birds with one stone", and that is always a good thing.
One of the problems damaging our planet is the number of things we throw away. Rubbish of all kinds is piling up in landfill and polluting our rivers and oceans. A more recent addition to the list of things we throw away is e-waste—electronic items that are broken and not recycled. Now solutions are being found to give this stuff a new life.
Many millions of tons of televisions, phones, and other electronic equipment are discarded each year, partly because it's cheaper to replace them than fix them, but also because we lack the skills to repair them. A UN report claims the 50 million tons of e-waste produced every year will more than double to 110 million tons by 2050, making it the fastest growing waste stream in the world.
However, there's a growing trend for repair events and clubs which could be part of a solution to the growing amount of electrical and electronic junk. The BBC visited a Restart Project in London, which is one of many found around the world. One of its volunteers, Francesco Calo, said that "this project allows you to reduce waste, make the life of objects longer, and it helps people who cannot afford to get rid of items that have developed a fault. ''
As many electrical items contain valuable metals, another idea is e-waste mining. An experiment at the University of New South Wales involves extracting (提取) these materials from electrical items. It's thought that doing this could be more profitable than traditional mining. With phones typically containing as many as 60 elements, this could be part of the solution to our appetite for new technology.
These projects make total sense — collection of e-waste for recycling are ''stagnating'' (停滞不前的) or even ''decreasing'' according to Ruediger Kuehr of the United Nations University. And in countries where there is no legislation (立法), much of it is just thrown away. However, the European Union, for example, is trying to deal with the problem by insisting that manufacturers have to make appliances longer-lasting and will have to supply spare parts for machines for up to 10 years.
During summer days, warmer temperatures bring pests like mosquitoes. Mosquitoes can cause lots of trouble for people.. They even can spread many serious diseases.
An easy way to protect yourself against mosquitoes is using repellents (驱虫剂). Joseph Conlon, an advisor of the American Mosquito Control Association, recommends using repellents that are registered with the Environmental Protection Agency, which ensures that they actually do no harm to humans. . But some repellents can provide 4-6 hours of protection if the quality of them is excellent.
Mosquitoes are also very weak. A slight wind from a fan can help keep them away from you. It turns out that many mosquitoes are not very good fliers..
Another way is to clear all the standing water (积水) every five days. Conlon explains that mosquitoes can produce young in water collected in areas as small as bottle caps. But they have a limited flight range, which means they can't travel far. "The best way to avoid them is to not have them around in the first place." he says. If you've got them in your backyard, it's because you're raising them in your backyard.. "If you can't avoid the standing water around your house, I suggest raising fish that will eat mosquito larvae (幼虫)."
. They've experimented with male mosquitoes containing some materials that stop females from producing larvae. "There are not a lot of companies producing new chemicals or treatments that we can use," a researcher of the experiment adds. "We need new technologies and products to get rid of mosquitoes."
A. They usually provide two hours of protection.
B. Do remember to keep children away from them.
C. So try to make sure your house doesn't have standing water.
D. You can wear protective clothing and keep your windows closed.
E. You can set up a fan in your house so that mosquitoes can't bite you.
F. Many people hardly sleep well at night with mosquitoes flying around.
G. The researchers also try to find high-tech solutions to mosquito population.
A modern phone can put the world at the user's fingers. But sometimes, these1are of little practical use. Leku's 63-year-old mother2in the Yi language (彝语). She can't read Chinese or speak Mandarin and is3 to read numbers. Therefore, a4function of any modern phone can prove to be difficult for her. Whenever she wants to5her son, she has to ask someone to help her to dial his6.
Leku, 25, a university student of the Yi ethnic group,7, wanted to help. So he8 an app (应用程序) that responds to his mother's9to ''call any son'' in the Yi language. Once this is said, the10will automatically (自动地) dial his number. The app is called Yayou. It11 to be a wonderful aid for his mother and has also12 many other Yi people in China.
''With the app, I wanted to help my13, as well as other Yi people,'' says Luku. ''Besides my mother's problem, I've also14some villagers, who left to make a living as migrant workers in cities, 15 misunderstanding or losses of money due to the16 in communication.''
The dream is becoming17 -after more than two years'18, Leku and his partner Mise Achang are ready to release an updated version of their app in July. The 2.0 version of Yayou will have several new functions,19news and entertainment content, as well as online shopping20, in both the Yi and Chinese languages.
Chinese delivery driver, Gao Zhixiao, was featured on the cover of the magazine Time in March because of his devotion to serving customers during the novel corona-virus outbreak (新冠肺炎疫情爆发). Along with five others, he(pick) by the magazine as one of the heroes. Ever since COVID-19 broke out, many restaurants shut down or switched to takeout-only services. (million) of people had to stay home to avoid getting infected. People chose to order food online or buy fruit and vegetables to cook at home. As result, delivery orders increased(great), placing a huge burden on delivery drivers.
Gao was (bear) into a poor family, and started to make a living in Beijing the age of 16. After the novel corona-virus broke out, Gao hesitated for a while to continue working, but then picked up orders because he (think) customers might be in need. Due to the danger of person-to-person transmission (传染), Gao must take measures to avoid spreading viruses during his route around Beijing, (include) taking a regular health test every morning. Besides delivering goods, Gao even cooked for an elderly lady who was living all by (she). We will never forget the great efforts of those ordinary people like Gao have made the greatest contributions in the fight against COVLD-19.
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增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：
1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2．只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Environmental pollution does great harm to us. Tens of thousands of people die of disease caused by pollution. The area of desert in the world is growing and the weather is getting worst because the forest damage. The waste gas and liquid from factories have polluted air or rivers. Everyone is eager to get fresh air, pleasant weather and safe drunk water.
Luckily more and more people have realized what serious the problem is and they were trying their best to take measures to protect the environment. Therefore, we still need to encourage more and more people to join us in protecting their environment. Let's keep in the mind that protecting the environment is saving ourselves!
注意：
1）词数100左右；
2）可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
