In daily life, we need to go and buy food. Before we go shopping, making a list is a good idea. Some people don’t like to make a shopping list because it takes time. However, there are many reasons why we should make one.

________ When we write the list, we should put the things in different groups. For example, we could write down all the fruit and vegetables in one column (栏). In the next column, we could write down all the meat. Do the same for other food. Keeping our list organized will help us shop faster.

A shopping list helps us not to forget anything. We wouldn’t want to get home from the store and find we forget to buy something we need. A shopping list helps us to remember everything we want to buy.

A shopping list can also help us to save money. We might buy much milk as we think we don’t have any. But when we get home, we would see we already have a full bottle of milk. Then the extra milk might go to waste. If we make a list, we’ll not buy the things we don’t need.

Although it’ll take us a few minutes to make a shopping list, it’s worth our time.

You speak，write a letter，and make a telephone call. Your words carry a message. People communicate(交流)with words. Do you think you can communicate without words? A smile on your face shows you are happy or friendly. Tears in your eyes tell others that you are sad. When you raise your hand in class，the teacher knows you want to say something or ask questions. You shake your head，and people know you are saying “No”. You nod and people know you are saying “Yes”. Other things can also carry messages. For example，a sign(招牌,标志)at the bus stop helps you to know which bus to take. A sign on the wall of your school helps you to find the library. Signs on doors tell you where to go in or out. Have you ever noticed that there are a lot of signs around you and that you get messages from them all the time?

People can communicate in many other ways. An artist can use his drawings to tell about beautiful mountains，about the blue sea and many other things. Books are written to tell you about all the wonderful things in the world and also about people and their ideas. Books，newspapers, TVs, radios and films all help us to communicate with each other. They all help us to know what is going on in the world and what other people are thinking about.

As we all know, giving gifts is a great way to show our love and care to the birthday person. However, sometimes it can be difficult to choose the right gift. Here is some advice that can help you choose a good gift.

To pick (挑选) the best gift, you should know the birthday person very well. Start by making a list (清单) of all his or her likes. For example, if the person loves traveling, you can buy a map or a backpack (背包). Then try to find something the person needs. If you don’t know what the person needs, you can ask others for help.

Gifts are all about making people feel special. So it’s important that the gift should be very special. It doesn’t have to be expensive, but it should be meaningful to the person.

No matter (无论) what gift you choose, always add your little touch to it. You can write a card or a note to show your heart. This will bring a smile (微笑) on the birthday person’s face.

Besides (除……之外) preparing gifts, you can also organize surprise parties. A successful one always makes people excited and surprised. So you can have a try. There are many kinds of surprise parties.