【正文】 and hi gh, fl at pl ai ns i n the southeast. In the hi gh pl ans area i s Lake Ti ti caca, the hi ghest l ake i n the worl d, on whi ch boats can t ravel . Peru has abundant pl ants from desert grasses to vast areas of jungl e. O nce the centre of the powerful and extrem el y weal thy Inca Em pi re, m uch of South a bush school the cl asroom s are m ade of bam boo and the roofs of grass. It takes m e onl y a few m inutes to wal k to school down a m uddy track. When I reach the school grounds there are l ots of “good m orni ngs” for m e from the boys. Many of them have walked a l ong way, sometim es up to two hours, to get to school . There’s no el ectri ci ty or water and even no textbooks either! I’m sti l tryi ng to adapt to these conditi ons. However, one thi ng i s for sure, I’ve be e m ore i magi nati ve i n m y teachi ng. Sci ence i s m y m ost chal l engi ng subject as m y students have no concept of doi ng experim ents. In fact there i s no equipm ent, and i f I need water I have to carry i t from m y house i n a bucket! The other day I was showi ng the boys the weekl y chem i stry experim ent when, before I knew i t, the mi xture was bubbli ng over everywhere! The boys who had never e across。 i t sm el led del i ci ous. We ate i nsi de the hut si tti ng round the fi re. I l oved li steni ng to the fami l y softl y tal ki ng to each other i n thei r l anguage, even though I coul d not parti ci pate i n the conversati on. Lucki l y, Tom be coul d be our i nterpreter. Later, I noti ced a ti n can standi ng upsi de down on the gri l over the fi re. After a short tim e Tom be threw i t out of the doorway. I was puzzled. Tom be tol d m e that the can was heated to dry out the leftover food. They bel i eve that any l eftovers attract evil spi ri ts i n the ni ght, so the food i s dri ed up i n the can and the can i s then thrown out of the hut. O therwi se they don’t waste anythi ng. We left the vil l age the next morning after m any goodbyes and fi rm handshakes. My m uscl es were achi ng and m y knees shaki ng as we clim bed down the mountai n towards hom e. That evening I fel l happi l y i nto bed. It was such a pri vil ege to have spent a day with Tom be’s fami ly. It’s getti ng l ate and I have to prepare tomorrow’s l essons and do som e paperwork. Pl ease wri te soon. Love, Jo TH E WO RLD’S MO ST USEFUL GIFT CATALO GUE Woul d you l i ke to donate an unusual gift? Then thi s i s the catal ogue for you. The gi ft you gi ve i s not som ethi ng your l oved one keeps but a vol untary contri buti on towards the li ves of peopl e who real y need i t. Choose from this catal ogue a real y useful gi ft for som e of the worl d’s poorest and bri ng hope for a better future to a muni ty i n ned. When you purchase an i tem , we wil send you an attracti ve card for you to send to your speci al person. You can use the cards for any speci al occasi on weddi ngs, bi rths, birthdays, Chri stm as or anni versaries, etc. Unit 5 KEEP IT UP, XIE LEI Chi nese student fi ti ng i n wel l Si x m onths ago Xie Lei sai d goodbye to her fam il y and fri ends i n Chi na and boarded a pl ane for London. It was the fi rst tim e she had ever l eft her motherl and. “After getti ng m y visa I was very excited because I had dream ed of this day for so l ong. But I was al so very nervous as I di dn’t know what to expect,” Xi e Lei tol d m e when I saw her wai ti ng i n a queue at the student cafeteri a between l ectures. Xi e Lei , who i s 21 years ol d, has e to our uni versi ty to study for a busi ness quali fi cati on. She i s halfway through the preparati on year, whi ch m ost forei gn students pl ete before apl yi ng for a degree course. Xi e Lei hi ghl y re m ends i t. “The preparati on course is m ost benefi cial, ” she sai d. “Studying here i s qui te different from studyi ng i n China, so you need som e preparati on fi rst.” “It’s not just study that’s di fi cul t. You have to get used to a whol e new way of l ife, whi ch can take up al your concentrati on i n the begi nni ng, ” expl ai ned Xi e Lei, who had li ved al her l i fe in the sam e ci ty i n Chi na. She tol d m e that she had had to l earn alm ost everythi ng agai n. “Som etim es I fel t li ke a chi l d, ” she sai d. “I had to l earn how to use the phone, how to pay bus fare, and how to ask a shopkeeper for thi ngs I di dn’t know the Engli sh for. When I got l ost and had to ask a passerby for di recti ons, I di dn’t al ways understand. They don’t tal k li ke they do on our l i steni ng tapes,” she sai d, l aughing. Xi e Lei li ves with a host fam il y who gi ve her l ots of good advi ce. Al though some forei gn students li ve i n student am odati on or apartm ents, som e choose to board wi th Engl i sh fam il i es. Livi ng wi th host fami l y, i n whi ch there m any be other col ege students, gi ves her the chance to l earn m ore about the new cul ture. “When I hear an i diom that I don’t understand, I can ask m y host famil y for hel p, ” expl ai ns Xi e Lei. “Al so, when I mi ss my fami l y, i t’s a great fort to have a substitute fam il y to be wi th. ” Xi e Lei’s preparati on course i s hel pi ng her to get used to the academi c requi rem ents of a Western uni versi ty. “I rem em ber the fi rst essay I di d for m y tutor,” She tol d m e. “I found an arti cl e on the Inter that seem ed to have exactl y the i nform ation I needed. So I m ade a sum m ary of the arti cl e, revi sed my draft and handed the essay i n. I thought I woul d get a real y good m ark but I got an E. I was num b with shock! So I went to m y tutor to ask the reason for hi s revi sion. Fi rst of al l, he tol d m e, I coul dn’t wri te what other peopl e had sai d wi thout acknowl edgi ng them . Besi des, as far as he was concerned, what other peopl e thought was not the m ost im portant thi ng. H e wanted to know what I thought, whi ch conf