Several months ago, Tom moved to a town in a foreign country. He liked the local people and the life there. But he had trouble understanding the sayings that local people used.

One day, they invited Tom to a party. Tom heard someone say, “Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched (孵化).” Not understanding the words, Tom laughed and said, “Who will count chickens? They’re everywhere!” The room was silent for a moment. Then people started laughing loudly.

That made Tom sorry, but he didn’t stop trying. At the end of the party, an old man looked out of the window and said, “It’s raining cats and dogs outside. We need to stay here a little longer.” Tom began to worry about the animals. He advised, “Shall we go out and save them?” People laughed again.

Tom felt silly and decided to learn more sayings from the locals. He spent the next few weeks learning them. “These sayings are more than just words; they’re a part of their culture and life,” Tom thought.

At the next party, Tom wanted to try one more time. When people were discussing the plan for their yearly festival, he said, “Let’s not put all our eggs in one basket.” This time, he used the saying correctly. The local people agreed with him. Tom felt a sense of achievement.

Today’s story is about Zhu Hui, a student from Shenzhen. He’s now studying in the US. He’s living with an American family in New York. Today is the Dragon Boat Festival. It’s 9:00 a.m. and Zhu Hui’s family are at home. His mom is making zongzi. His dad is watching the boat races on TV.

Is Zhu Hui also watching the races and eating zongzi? Well, it’s 9:00 p.m. in New York, and it’s the night before the festival. But there isn’t a Dragon Boat Festival in the US, so, as usual, in his host family (寄宿家庭), the mother is reading a story to her children and the father is watching a football game on TV. What about Zhu Hui? He’s talking to his younger sister on the Internet. Zhu Hui misses his family and wishes to have his mom’s delicious zongzi. Zhu Hui likes New York and his host family a lot, but there’s still “no place like home”.

Vera is thirteen years old. She was born（出生）on July 27th. Mrs. Smith is her mother. Today is Vera's birthday. 【小题1】Lots of her friends come to her birthday party.

【小题2】There are some bananas，oranges，strawberries and apples on the table，too. But Vera doesn't like them.【小题3】Can you guess？Just then Vera sees a red card in her mother's hand. It says: Happy birthday to you，dear Vera. 【小题4】Open the box on your dresser，you can find it. Vera runs to her dresser and opens the box.【小题5】 How glad she is！