Hi, Louis!
I’m writing to tell you something about the customs(风俗) and festivals.
Everyone loves holidays since one doesn’t need to go to school or work. Although all holidays mean no school and work, but not all of them are the same. On some of them you go out with friends; on others you stay home to eat, talk, and have fun with your family. For example in the USA, everyone thinks New Year’s Eve and New Year are both for playing with friends. Christmas is the time to stay home and exchange gifts with family members. The opposite (相反) is true in Japan though. For example, in Japan, New Year is for spending time with the family to eat, talk, have fun, and go to the temples. But Christmas is for boy and girl friends to go out and exchange gifts. Originally Christmas should be to celebrate(庆祝) the birth of Christ.
I have been interested in foreign customs since I was little. If you learn these different holiday customs, you will learn about different histories and cultures. This is much more interesting than learning them at the library from morning to evening.
Loves,
Judge the following sentence true(T) or (F)
【小题1】Usually, nobody goes to school or works during holidays.
【小题2】Christmas is the time to stay home to eat, talk and have fun with the family.
【小题3】All the countries have the same way to celebrate the holidays.
【小题4】Being interested in foreign customs means being interested in different histories and cultures.
【小题5】This passage is about the customs and holidays in Japan.

Hi, Louis!

I’m writing to tell you something about the customs(风俗) and festivals.

Everyone loves holidays since one doesn’t need to go to school or work. Although all holidays mean no school and work, but not all of them are the same. On some of them you go out with friends; on others you stay home to eat, talk, and have fun with your family. For example in the USA, everyone thinks New Year’s Eve and New Year are both for playing with friends. Christmas is the time to stay home and exchange gifts with family members. The opposite (相反) is true in Japan though. For example, in Japan, New Year is for spending time with the family to eat, talk, have fun, and go to the temples. But Christmas is for boy and girl friends to go out and exchange gifts. Originally Christmas should be to celebrate(庆祝) the birth of Christ.

I have been interested in foreign customs since I was little. If you learn these different holiday customs, you will learn about different histories and cultures. This is much more interesting than learning them at the library from morning to evening.

Loves,

Judge the following sentence true(T) or (F)

1.Usually, nobody goes to school or works during holidays.

2.Christmas is the time to stay home to eat, talk and have fun with the family.

3.All the countries have the same way to celebrate the holidays.

4.Being interested in foreign customs means being interested in different histories and cultures.

5.This passage is about the customs and holidays in Japan.

“Homestay is a form of study abroad program. It allows the visitor to rent a room from a local family to better understand the local lifestyle. It also helps to improve the visitor’s language ability,” said a teacher during a school meeting last term, “Students who wish to learn more about foreign cultures or to get foreign experience should join this kind of holiday. I am sure you won’t be disappointed(失望的).”
After this special meeting, I always thought about this kind of holiday. Last month, I had a chance at last to go on such a holiday with some of my schoolmates and we went to London, a place where I had wanted to go since years ago.
As we were still young, we had a group leader who planned things for us and looked after us. After we got to London, we went  to stay with different families. I was lucky that my host family(寄宿家庭) was a white couple who had a daughter about my age. They treated me as a daughter of their family during my stay there. They were interested in me and I learnt a lot of things from them, too.

The holiday was filled with activities every day. After breakfast, a local teacher would come to take us in his car. Then we would have classes or go on a sight-seeing trip to different places of interest like the Big Ben, the London Bridge, and the Buckingham Palace. We would go back to our own homes after the activities.
The holiday was a valuable experience for me. I enjoyed every minute of it. Yet, time really flew fast. Three weeks later, we had to leave “home” for Hong Kong.
【小题1】In the “homestay” program, a visitor can              .