A student is learning to speak British English. He wonders: Can I communicate with Americans? Can they understand me? Learners of English often ask: What are the differences between British and American English? How important are these differences?

    Certainly, there are some differences between British and American English. There are a few differences in grammar. For example, speakers of British English say "in hospital" and "Have you a pen?" Americans say "in the hospital" and 'Do you have a pen?' Pronunciation is sometimes different. Americans usually sound theirs in words like "bird" and "hurt". Speakers of British English do not sound theirs in these words. There are differences between British and American English in spelling and vocabulary. For example, "colour" and "honour" are British, "color" and "honor" are American.

    These differences in grammar, pronunciation, spelling and vocabulary are not important, however. For the most part, British and American English are the same language.

    People from Great Britain brought the English language to North America in the 16th and 17th centuries. And in the 1 300 years, there have been so many 2 in both places that now people can easily 3 an English person from an American in the 4 he or she talks.

    Many old words 5 in England but were kept in America. For example, 300 years ago people in Great Britain got their water from something they 6 either a "aucet", "spigot", or a "tap". All these words are 7 heard in different parts of America, but only "tap" is still 8 in England. Americans often make 9 new words or change old ones. "Corn" is one kind of plant in America and 10 in England.

    Also, over the last three centuries the English language has 11 thousands of new words for things that weren't 12 before. And often, American and English people used two 13 names for them. A tin can is called "tin" for short in English, but a "can"in America. The word "radio" is 14 all over the world, including America. But many English people call it a "wireless". And almost anything 15 something to do with cars, railroads, etc. has different 16 in British and American English.

    But now American and British English may be 17 closer together. One thing is that 18 people can hear a large amount of American speech daily in 19, on television, or from travelers. Because of this, Americans 20 to be influencing the British more and more. So some day, English may even be the same on both sides of the Atlantic.

    There is a popular saying in the English language: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Well, that is not true. Unkind words, name-calling or even the so-called “the silent treatment” can hurt children as much as being physically hit, sometimes even more so.

    A recent study of middle school children showed that verbal (言语的) abuse by other children can harm development in the brain. The study was a project of researchers at Harvard Medical School in Massachusetts. Researcher Martin Teicher and his team studied young adults, aged 18 to 25. These young men and women had not ever been treated in a cruel or violent way by their parents.  The researchers asked the young people to rate their childhood exposure to verbal abuse from both parents and other children. Then the researchers performed imaging tests on the brains of the subjects.

    The images showed that the people who reported suffering verbal abuse from peers in middle school had underdeveloped connections between the left and right side of the brain.  The two sides of the brain are connected by a large bundle of connecting fibers called the corpus callosum. This was the area that was underdeveloped.

    The middle school years are a time when these brain connections are developing. So, unkind, hurtful comments from children or adults during this period have the greatest effect. The researchers tested the mental and emotional condition of all the young people in the study.  The tests showed that this same group of people had higher levels of fear, depression, anger and drug abuse than others in the study.

    The researchers published their findings online on the AmericanJournalofPsychiatry's website.

    Parents cannot control what other people say to their children, but they can prepare their children.

    The tea culture of China is (amaze) and has a long history.  Tea drinking was widespread in China for about one thousand years appearing in Europe.  

    Tea drinking in China enjoys wide popularity.  Many people nowadays go to expensively decorated teahouses (talk) business.  However, tea drinking is very complex. Many factors contribute to enjoyable experience. It starts with the surroundings. In the past, tea drinking took place in a setting spring water runs on marble. At present, in order to create such atmosphere, teahouses (decorate) with traditional paintings and furniture.  Besides, there is always a (perform) of a traditional Chinese musical instrument, such as the guzheng, pipa and erhu. Water (use) for tea also matters. In the old days, the water that came from melted snow was regarded as the best. Today no one collects snow any longer because of pollution and what people use is bottled water. Red tea, together with green tea, oolong tea and pu'er tea (rank) the top four favorites. The first three types of tea are processed using similar methods but pu'er tea uses a (total) different method.  

    The US teenager Thomas Cheatham had planned to study Latin during his time at Hebron High School in Texas. But when he learned that the school district was going to offer a Mandarin class, he quickly changed his mind.

    “I thought Mandarin would be more beneficial than Latin,” said Cheatham, who is now in his second year of studying the language. He speaks Mandarin to order food at Chinese restaurants and can read social media posts from his Chinese-speaking friends.

    While it's a difficult language to master, the high school junior, who plans to study computer engineering, thinks it will be important for his career. “Chinese is a good language to know, especially with China becoming a growing power,” he said.

    Many experts agree that proficiency in a language spoken by a billion people worldwide will give American students an edge in the global economy. “People are looking at China as our next economic competitor, and interest in Mandarin is growing,” said Marty Abbott, executive director of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. “We're seeing it in all parts of the country. ”

    Abbott estimates that as many as 100, 000 students are now studying Mandarin throughout the US, in public and private schools. She said the US government has designated (指定) Mandarin as a “critical needs” language and provides professional development programs for teachers. “Our government wants to increase our language competency for national security and economic competitiveness,” Abbott said.

    At the same time, the Chinese government is spreading knowledge of the Chinese language and culture through Confucius Institutes established in many US states. For example, the Confucius Institute at the University of Texas in Dallas has been the home of a Confucius Institute for 10 years. It sponsors Confucius Classrooms at 21 local public and private schools, where tens of thousands of students are learning Mandarin.

    Jenna had graduated from her middle school and was lucky enough to be admitted to Westwood College. She was ready for new 1  at the college and filled with confidence. 2,  she didn't expect it that college life was quite3.  In the first week, Jenna went to tryouts for cheerleaders. She was competing against very talented girls, and she knew it would be 4 for her to be selected. Two hours later, the 5 read a list of the girls for a second tryout. Her heart 6 as the list ended without her name. Feeling 7, she walked back to her dormitory carrying her schoolbag full of homework.

    Arriving at the dormitory, she started with 8. She had always been a good math student, but now she was 9. She moved on to English and history, and was 10 to find that she didn't have any trouble with those subjects. Feeling better, she decided not to 11 math for the time being.

    The next day Jenna went to see Mrs Biden about being on the school 12.  Mrs Biden wasn't as enthusiastic as Jenna. “I'm sorry, 13 we have enough 14 for the newspaper already. Come back next year and we'll talk then. ” Jenna smiled 15 and left. “Why is college so different? ” she sighed.

    Later in math class, Jenna devoted herself to figuring out the problems that had given her so much 16. By the end of the class, she understood how to get them right. As she gathered her books, Jenna decided she'd 17 to try to fit in with her new school. She wasn't sure if she'd 18, but she knew she had to try. College was just as her mom had said, “You will feel like a small fish in a big pond 19 a big fish in a small pond. The challenge is to become the 20 fish you can be. ”