【正文】 de the hut sitting round the fire. I loved listening to the family softly talking to each other in their language, even though I could not participate in the conversation. Luckily, Tombe could be our interpreter.Later, I noticed a tin can standing upside down on the grill over the fire. After a short time Tombe threw it out of the doorway. I was puzzled. Tombe told me that the can was heated to dry out the leftover food. They believe that any leftovers attract evil spirits in the night, so the food is dried up in the can and the can is then thrown out of the hut. Otherwise they don’t waste anything.We left the village the next morning after many goodbyes and firm handshakes. My muscles were aching and my knees shaking as we climbed down the mountain towards home. That evening I fell happily into bed. It was such a privilege to have spent a day with Tombe’s family.It’s getting late and I have to prepare tomorrow’s lessons and do some paperwork. Please write soon.Love,Jo THE WORLD’S MOST USEFUL GIFT CATALOGUEWould you like to donate an unusual gift? Then this is the catalogue for you. The gift you give is not something your loved one keeps but a voluntary contribution towards the lives of people who really need it.Choose from this catalogue a really useful gift for some of the world’s poorest and bring hope for a better future to a munity in need.When you purchase an item, we will send you an attractive card for you to send to your special person. You can use the cards for any special occasion weddings, births, birthdays, Christmas or anniversaries, etc.Unit 5 KEEP IT UP, XIE LEI Chinese student fitting in wellSix months ago Xie Lei said goodbye to her family and friends in China and boarded a plane for London. It was the first time she had ever left her motherland. “After getting my visa I was very excited because I had dreamed of this day for so long. But I was also very nervous as I didn’t know what to expect,” Xie Lei told me when I saw her waiting in a queue at the student cafeteria between lectures.Xie Lei, who is 21 years old, has e to our university to study for a business qualification. She is halfway through the preparation year, which most foreign students plete before applying for a degree course. Xie Lei highly remends it. “The preparation course is most beneficial,” she said. “Studying here is quite different from studying in China, so you need some preparation first.”“It’s not just study that’s difficult. You have to get used to a whole new way of life, which can take up all your concentration in the beginning,” explained Xie Lei, who had lived all her life in the same city in China. She told me that she had had to learn almost everything again. “Sometimes I felt like a child,” she said. “I had to learn how to use the phone, how to pay bus fare, and how to ask a shopkeeper for things I didn’t know the English for. When I got lost and had to ask a passerby for directions, I didn’t always understand. They don’t talk like they do on our listening tapes,” she said, laughing.Xie Lei lives with a host family who give her lots of good advice. Although some foreign students live in student acmodation or apartments, some choose to board with English families. Living with host family, in which there many be other college students, gives her the chance to learn more about the new culture. “When I hear an idiom that I don’t understand, I can ask my host family for help,” explains Xie Lei. “Also, when I miss my family, it’s a great fort to have a substitute family to be with.”Xie Lei’s preparation course is helping her to get used to the academic requirements of a Western university. “I remember the first essay I did for my tutor,” She told me. “I found an article on the Internet that seemed to have exactly the information I needed. So I made a summary of the article, revised my draft and handed the essay in. I thought I would get a really good mark but I got an E. I was numb with shock! So I went to my tutor to ask the reason for his revision. First of all, he told me, I couldn’t write what other people had said without acknowledging them. Besides, as far as he was concerned, what other people thought was not the most important thing. He wanted to know what I thought, which confused me because I thought that the author of the article knew far more than I did. My tutor explained that I should read lots of different texts that contain different opinions and analyze what I read. Then, in my essay, I should give my own opinion and explain it by referring to other authors. Finally he even encouraged me to contradict the authors I’d read! At first I lacked confidence, but now I’m beginning to get the idea and my marks have improved. More importantly, I am now a more autonomous learner.”Xie Lei told me that she feels much more at home in England now, and what had seemed very strange before now appears quite normal. “I’ve just got one more thing to achieve. I have been so occupied with work that I haven’t had time for social activities. I think it’s important to have a balance between study and a social life, so I’m going to join a few clubs. Hopefully I’ll make some new friends.”We will follow Xie Lei’s progress in later editions of this newspaper but for now, we wish Xie Lei all the best in her new enterprise. She deserves to succeed. PeruPeru is a country on the Pacific coast of South America. It has three main geographical areas: a narrow coastal belt。 the Andes Mountains running parallel to the coast。 and high, flat plains in the southeast. In the high plans area is Lake Titicaca, the highest lake in the world, on which boats can travel. Peru has abundant plants from desert grasses to vast areas of jungle.Once the centre of the powerful and extremely wealthy Inca Empire, much of South