| Dear Mr Smith, I was so pleased to hear from you and am writing to tell you something about my school. You are right. Quite a few changes have taken place. On one side of the road there is a new classroom building. On the other side, where the playground used to be now stands another new building-our library. In it there are all kinds of books, newspapers and magazines. The playground is now in front of the school. We have also planted a lot of trees in and around the school. I hope you come and see for yourself some Best wishes, ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The other day my brother and I went to the cinema by bicycle. My brother was riding with me sitting on the seat behind. As we came to the crossroads a young man and a girl came up and stopped us. ¡®We¡®ve found you at long last,¡¯ they said. But we didn¡¯t know them. Pointing to a policeman not far away, the young man explained, ¡®He stopped us about half an hour ago and made us catch the next offender. So come on, stand here. Hope you don¡®t have to wait as long as we did . Good luck.¡¯ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- My name is Li Hua. I was born in Dalian, Liaoning province in February 1977. I started school in 1984 when I was seven. I studied in Guangming Primary School from 1984 to 1990. After that I went to No.62 Middle School of Dalian and graduated this summer. The main subjects I studied at school included Chinese, maths, English, physics, chemistry and computer. I like English and computer best and I am very good at them. Last year I won first prize in the school computer competition. In my spare time I enjoy listening to popular music and collecting stamps. My favorite sports are swimming in summer and skating in winter. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- June lst,1995 Dear Peter, We¡¯re so gald you¡®re coming to join us on Sunday. Here is how you can find us. We¡¯ll have our picnic in the People¡®s Park. You know where that is, don¡¯t you? After you enter the park by the main gate, walk straight on till you come to a stream. Cross the stream and turn right. After walking for a while you¡®ll come to a hill. Walk around to the other side of the hill. There you¡¯ll see a lake. We¡®ll have our picnic there in the small woods by the lake. I¡¯m sure you¡®ll have no trouble finding us. Do come! Li Hua ------------------------------------------------------------------------- May I have your attention, please? I have an announcement to make. The Student Union is going to hold a party on Saturday evening, August 15, to welcome our friends from the United States. The party will be held in the roof garden of the Main Building . It will begin at 7:30 P.m. There will be music, dancing ,singing, games and exchange of gifts. Will everybody please bring along a small gift for this purpose. Remember to wrap it up ,sign your name and write a few words of good wishes.Don¡®t forget: 7:30, Saturday evening, roof garden, Main Building. There¡¯s sure to be a lot of fun. Everybody is welcome. My parents live in the country. They keep a dog called Ah Fu. One day my parents went to work in the fields taking my little sister and Ah Fu along. While they were working, my sister walked to a river nearby. Ah Fu followed her there. She was trying to pick a flower when she fell into the river. Ah Fu barked and jumped into the water immediately. When my parents heard Ah Fu barking they ran to the river They saw Ah Fu swimming towards the bank carrying my little sister. My parents praised Ah Fu warmly. It was our brave Ah Fu who had saved my little sister. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was Grandma¡®s birthday . Father , Mother and I went to visit her. She lives with my uncle in a village not too far away. Early in the morning we bought some presents and took the bus to get there. Grandma and Uncle were so glad to see us.We gave the presents to Grandma and she was very happy. Then we sat down to talk, while Uncle went to prepare lunch . The meal was so nice that we all enjoyed it very much. At 4 o¡¯clock, we said goodbye and set off for home. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sun Shuwei, a world champion in diving, is a boy of 14 from Guangdong. He loved swimming when he was a small boy and at eight he became a member of the diving team in Guangdong Province. He studied hard at school and trained hard for five years before he came to the national team. A year later in 1990, he won a gold medal at the 11th Asian Games and became a world champion at the 6th World Swimming Championships early this year. -------------------------------------------------------------------------Zhang Ge Zhuang Primary School Until 1988 Zhang Ge Zhuang had no school of its own. It was pretty hard for the children of the village who had to go to school in other villages which were all far away. Now Zhang Ge Zhuang Primary School has three teachers, teaching 48 pupils. The teachers had finished middle school education before they returned to teach here. The pupils are divided into five different classes, in which six subjects are taught. These are Chinese, Maths, Science, Music, Drawing and Physical Education. Education is free for all children in the village. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- On the way home, Mathilde found that the necklace was gone. She was frightened to death because it was too expensive for her. She and her husband hurriedly returned and looked wherever she had been that night, but couldn't find it at all. What would they do? They had to buy a diamond necklace exactly like the one she borrowed from Jeanne and returned it to her. It cost them 36,000 francs. In order to pay off the debts, they suffered hunger and cold day and night. Ten years of hard work made young Mathilde so old that Jeanne could hardly recognize her when they happened to meet one day in a park. It was then that Mathilde found out the truth: the necklace she had borrowed from Jeanne was not a real diamond necklace. It was made of glass and cost only 500 francs at most! ------------------------------------------------------------------------- I was walking along the street when a stranger stopped me and asked me the way to a new restaurant. I answered and told him the route and direction carefully. As soon as I finished, the stranger thanked me and started off. To my surprise, he went in wrong direction. Then I stopped him at once and told him what wrong he had made. Unexpectedly, he smiled and told me the truth that he didn't really want to ask the way, but, instead, he was just trying to know whether everyone knew exactly where the new restaurant was, for he was the new owner of the restaurant. Then I knew who he was and what he wanted to do. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- An Instructive Day Today is March 12, our national Tree Planting Day. Our Class observed the day by planting trees. In high spirits we talked and smiled all the way. As soon as we got to a piece of wasteland far from the school, we began to work. Some were engaged in digging holes; some were busying themselves in covering the roots of the young trees with earth and watering the trees one by one. We worked so hard that soon each of us was wet in sweat. On the way home we kept on singing up, because we've done a good thing to make our homeland green. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- One day three men got a bottle of wine. But the wine was not enough for the three and each of them wanted to drink the wine alone. Then they all agreed that they each would draw a snake on the ground and the one who first finished drawing would be given the wine. So they began to draw on the ground with sticks. It was not long before one of the three finished drawing his snake. He took up the bottle of wine with pride. He was about to drink when he found the other two were still busy with their drawings. ¡°How slow you are!¡± said he, ¡°I can even add feet to my snake before you finish yours.¡± He put down the bottle and began to add feet to his snake. But before he inished, another man took hold of the bettle and said,¡°I've finished. Snakes have no feet, so yours is not a snake.¡±With these words he drank up the wine. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ladies and gentlemen, I want to say something about trees. As we know now trees are very important to human beings. First of all, they benefit our health. They send out oxygen for us to breathe. We can't live without trees.Secondly, trees can beautify our environment. As trees are so important, we must do our best to protect them. We must enforce the tree protection laws. We must plant as many trees as possible.Only in this way can we live happily in the beautiful world. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Respecting Parents Programme Showing respect to parents is one of the Chinese traditional moral values.As most of the students today are ¡°the only child¡± in their family, they often regard themselves as the¡°centre¡±of the family, without caring much about their parents. Our school started a programme when the new year came.It is ¡°Respecting parents programme¡±. Ten¡°Do's¡±have been worked out for the students to follow clearly and easily, including: ¡°Remember your parents' birthdays and express your best wishes to them; say¡±hello¡°to your parents when you see them returning home; and tell your parents where you go when you leave home.¡± The programme has been successful, and has won praises from parents and other sides of the society. People say this is what we should have done earlier! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- How to Protect Your Eyesight It is important for everyone to keep good eyesight. But do you know how to protect your eyesight? First, don't keep your eyes working for a long time. You'd better have a rest by looking in the long distance after you have studied an hour or so. Second, pay attention to the following: Don't read in the sun or in a poor light; don't read in bed or in a moving bus. And when you read you should keep the book away from your eyes for about a foot. And third, do eye-exercises every day. It will also help you keep good eyesight. If you obey the rules above, I think, you may prevent your eyesight from becoming short-sighted. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Anna, How glad I am to hear from you and to know that you are getting on well with your Chinese study at Beijing University. To learn a foreign language, one should not only study the language itself, but also study the everyday life of the native speakers of the language.You've been in China for only half a year. I don't think you have known much about our life at home. Why not come to my place and spend the Spring Festival with my family? My parents and I are looking forward to seeing you. We'll surely meet you at the station. Best wishes! Yours, Li Hong -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Time is important to everyone. Lost time will never come back. We must keep this in mind in our daily life and make the best use of our time. Only in this way can we succeed in life. How can we make full use of our time? First of all, we'd better make a plan. We should arrange our study, work and rest. We can know what we should do next so that we can save as much time as possible when we study or work, we should put our hearts into it. We should spend every minute on it.After a period of time's study and work we can take a good rest. I think that all of us should emphasize using our time effectively. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- June 5,Sunday Fine I went out to see a film after supper. On my way to the cinema, I met an Englishman named John, who had lost his way. I gave up the chance to see the film and took him to his hotel. While going there, I told him the great changes that had taken place here in the past few years and John told me something about his country. Though I had missed the film, I felt very happy, for I had not only helped John get out of trouble, but also practised my spoken English. If I had not worked hard at English, I would not have been able to help John. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There is a new market near my house. My mother often goes there and buys what we need for our meals. But I had never been there before. Yesterday I went to the market with my mother. There were so many people that we could hardly make our way out of the crowds. There were all kinds of vegetables, fish and fruit everywhere. People were talking about the goods and the prices. The sellers shouts could be heard every now and then.I remembered that the day before I had asked Mother to buy some fresh fish.Most of the fish there was frozen, but we had not much trouble in finding some fresh fish at the other part of the market. My mother bought something else as well. It was my first time to go to the market, and I was deeply impressed by what I saw in the market. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mr David came to China, for the second time, this spring. During his stay in China, he visited several cities. In Beijing he visited the Great Well, and the next day he left for Nanjing by train, where he visited the Nanjing Changjiang River Bridge. After that he travelled to Hangzhou by air and went sight-seeing on the West Lake. Then he got to Guangzhou by train and gave a report on American English. Later he went to Shanghai by sea, and bought over ten books in Chinese. After two weeks, Mr David returned to Beijing by plane. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A new English teaching programme will be broadcast by CCTV.It is called Life in America. It will help middle school students to know more about America and improve their English at the same time. This programme will begin on May 1 this year. You can watch it from 5:00 to 5:30 PM each day and enjoy it again from 9:30 AM the next day on Channel Two. Welcome to the programme and enjoy yourselves. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- One day Mrs. Black wrote a letter to her friend, who was a doctor,inviting him to have dinner with her family. A few days later, the doctor wrote back, but she was not able to read his writing, because the letter was written carelessly. Anyway, her husband got an idea. He told her that a chemist maybe could read the doctor's writing. So Mrs. Black went to the chemist's shop. The chemist in the shop read the letter and then gave her a large bottle of medicine. Finally Mrs. Black still had no idea whether her friend would come to have dinner or not. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Wang Fang, Thank you so much for your kind invitation to spend the summer holidays with you. It was very good of you to invite me, but I'm sorry to say that I shall not be able to go. I will tell you why. First of all, my mother is seriously ill. And my father is always busy with his work. I shall have to look after my mother and do some housework. Thank you again for your invitation. Yours sincerely Xiao Hong -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There is a village called Bosia with moutains around it. Many years ago great trees covered the mountains for miles around. Unfortunately in 1992, a forest fire broke out. Firemen had been fighting the forest fire for nearly three weeks before it was put out. After the fire there were few trees left. The whole area almost became a desert. When it rained heavily, the rain not only washed away the soil but caused serious floods as well. The villagers there know how important the forest can be. Shortly after the fire the villagers there began to plant trees. In many places young trees have been plante D£®New forest begins to appear again. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- News A basketball match between the teachers' team and the students' team was held in the school stadium at 3 o'clock, on Friday, May 5,1997. The match was wonderful and both teams played excellently. It ended at half past four. The score was 64:60 in favour of the teachers'team. The match promotes the mutual understanding and friendship between the teachers and the students. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- September 20,2000, Wednesday Fine Caught Fire At about 2 o'clock this afternoon, my neighbour's house caught fire.With the help of the firemen, the fire was prevented from spreading and was put down at 2:40. No one was killed in the fire. But all the furniture was burnt and the house was completely destroyed. It has to be rebuilt. It has been found out that a burning cigarette had caused the fire. What a lesson! Smoking not only does harm to health, but also causes accidents. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It can be used to help teachers to make their teaching plans and help the students to remember English words. If it is used in a ticket office, it will be much easier for passengers to buy their tickets. If you put the information about different illnesses into the computer, it will tell you what's wrong with you and what medicine you should take. Although the computer is a bit expensive, it will save you a lot of time and give you more pleasure. So it is not a waste of money to buy it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yesterday afternoon at the railway station, a stranger asked me the way to the First Middle School. I told him it was very easy to find his way to the school. ¡°When you come out of the station,¡±I said to him, ¡°turn left and walk until you reach the traffic lights. Turn left again. You will be on Hong Qi street. Keep walking until you come to the cinemA£®Just after the cinema, there is a narrow street on the left. This is Jian Fang Street. The school is about 200 metres down this street on the right. There is a hospital oppositely.¡± -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Summary Li Ming has learned English for six years. His English, both spoken and written, is good. He does well in all other subjects besides English. Li Ming is honest and is always ready to help others. In a word, he is a very good student. The Broadcasting Station of Our School There is a broadcasting station in our school. All kinds of programmes are broadcast here. For example, brief news, moral education, voice of the class,sports entertainment, music appreciation are broadcast on the air all over the school. It broadcasts both self-made programmes and relays. They are all good, in my opinion. If we want to improve our English, we'd better pick up the English programme every day. It isn't difficult to understand. We can also listen to English programmes on the radio. As a result, the more we listen to the programmes, the more we know. We can also write to the station to give advice or to ask for what we want. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I was born on March 18. My family is neither very rich nor very poor.My parents are peasants. They work hard to support the family. They encourage me to study well. My childhood was happy. I like learning. I like music and sports, too. I can run very fast and am the fastest runner in my class. I am good at English, Physics and Maths. I want to be a scientist. Scientists have made recorders, TV sets, and so on. They have also invented the computer. All these make our life rich,interesting and easy. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jack, Mike and Brown stayed at a hotel in New York. Their room number is 501 on the 50th floor. Yesterday evening, the lift wasn't working, so they had to walk upstairs back to their room. To make things easier, they decided to tell some stories in turn. Jack told a long story. When he finished telling it, they had reached the 15th floor. Mike told a much longer story. He didn't finish it until they had climbed up the 40th floor. Now it was Brown's turn to tell his story. He told a very short story which was made up of only one sentence, that is, ¡°We have left the key of our room on the desk downstairs.¡± -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- October 15th, 1997 Wednesday Fine Wang Ming has a habit of telling lies. Some students often laugh at him.He is very worried so he came to ask me for advice. I had a talk with him, and encouraged him to overcome his shortcoming.I told him that I would try my best to help him and make friends with him.He was glad. I am sure that he will make good progress and will get along (on) well with other classmates. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In many countnes in the world, women are looked down upon. It is more difficult for them to get some work than men. In order to get a job, they sometimes have to tell a lie. That's unfair. In fact, women can work no worse than men. There's nothing that women can't do. Perhaps, they are better at their work than men. For example, in making telephones and computers, many companies would rather employ women, for men can't pick up the small pieces with their fingers. Like men,they can also become excellent engineers, doctors and teachers. So I am sure the day will come soon when women can really get equal rights. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Something About Mr.Black Mr Black is from England. He got here to our city yesterday. He has come to China as a visiting scholar. He is going to pay a visit to some middle schools in our city to collect some information as he is going to write a book,which will probably be entitled Middle School Education in ChinA£®This time he won't stay long, just for a couple of days, as he has an important international meeting to attend next month. He promises to come to China again in near future, perhaps as soon as the meeting is over. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Great Motherland Our great motherland is one of the largest countries in the world. It has a population of over twelve hundred million. Beijing is its capital. We Chinese people are brave and hardworking. We have a glorious revolutionary tradition. We drove out all the enemies. In 1949 the People's Republic of China was founded. Since then great changes have taken place in our motherland. Now our country is getting stronger and stronger. We Chinese people are working hard to make our motherland into a powerful country. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Is Watching TV a Good Thing? Television has changed people's life much since it was invented. Now it has become one important part of modern life. People enjoy themselves after hard work by watching TV. They can see some plays, some stories, some sports matches without going out of home, and without spending much money in buying tickets. TV programmes make people's life more interesting. People learn much from TV, students can study by watching some educational programmes. People can see news, weather reports, programmes about science and computers. People all over the world can learn from each other and get knowledge when they are watching TV. But not all the programmes are good enough. Today, there are too much programmes about love and crime. Some people become bad because they learn from the bad people in those programmes. And watching TV usually takes too much time. It's not good for people's work and study. It's not good for their eyes, either. People all over the world are watching TV. Is watching TV a good thing or a bad one? I think it depends on people themselves. If one can choose good programmes and he doesn't spend too much time on TV, it can be a good thing for him. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Sport I like Best Of all the sports, I like table-tennis best. I think it is not only a sport but also an art, because it is a game that needs strength and skill. Some people think that playing table-tennis needs little strength, but I don't think so. In playing table-tennis, we should judge the direction of the ball, and hit it back with great strength so that we can win the game. At the same time we need to pick up the ball which falls to the ground. So after one game you will be very tired if you have tried your best. But, as a sport, I think it more like an art. In the game, you can often find the ball moving quickly, and each of the players'movements is very beautiful. So I like the sport very much. Though I can't play it very well, I still show great interest in it. I think playing table-tennis can build our bodies,keep us healthy and train our brains. So I like it very much. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Examinations I don't remember how many examinations I've taken since I began my schooling. Truth to tell, I don't like examinations at all. I dare say that, in fact, no student likes examinations. We often hear people say ¡°Examinations are teachers' magic weapon¡±, so most of us may think it is our teachers who give us students so many examinations. But I don't think so. Almost all of them have once been students before they became teachers. We don't like examinations, and neither do our teachers, which may be reasonably concluded. What's more,the more examinations we take, the more time will be taken from our teachers and the more troubles our teachers have to take. It is the system in our country, I think, that gives us students so many examinations. If there were no entrance examinations, and all the students could go up to the higher grades without competition, there would not be so many examinations in primary and middle schools. So it is important and necessary to reform the entrance system. Only in this way can examinations be greatly reduced, and then all the students will be happier. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Someone asks me what on earth happiness means? I can't give you the exact definition of it, but I'm sure if you love and help others, you'll get it. I'll never forget an old lady. She lives in a small house alone. It's said that her husband and her son died in a traffic accident. How bitter her life is!But the old lady often helps others with a smile. Whenever it snows, she is always the first to clean the paths. She looks after several children living nearby. I am one of them. I often remember the stories she told us and her kind smile. Perhaps she is unlucky, but I think she is a happy person. Her life is full of laughter and love. But I'm sad to see some people getting their happiness in bad ways.They speak loudly in cinemas and meeting rooms; they destroy trees to enjoy themselves and they laugh at others' shortcomings. Perhaps they feel happy at that time, but they will never get true happiness because they have lost their personality. Now I know what happiness is. It means kindness, love and unselfishness. Above all, only bringing happiness to others can make you yourself get it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On Perseverance ¡°Try and try until you succeed.¡± This saying shows the importance of perseverance, I have found in my experience that only through hard work can we succeed. Many people have failed in their work or studies, precisely because they had no perseverance Life, in general, as in many things we do has never been easy. No one promised us what it would be. So, if we want to succeed in life, we must be brave to win. The standard that differentiates people who succeed in life and those who don't is perseverance. The Value of Reading Books People often say that gold and silver are the most valuable things in the world. But I don't think so. In my opinion, to read books is more valuable than anything else. The old saying¡°To open a book is always helpful¡±clearly shows us how good it is to read a book. Books are our friends. They introduce us different kinds of knowledge.They lead us down the road to success. Books are our teachers. They teach us truth, science, literature, and philosophy of life, besides they increase our knowledge, enlarge our experience, strengthen our character and do many other things which we can not do without them. We have to learn as long as we live. But our life is limited, and the knowledge is boundless. There are many things which are very necessary to learn and there are also many which should be avoided. Books tell us what is good and what is evil. And only books can tell the good from the bad. Therefore to read more books is the best policy for our young students. Getting up Early Is a Good Habit Getting up early is a good habit. It is of great importance to us all. First it helps to keep us healthy. If we can get up early, we can breathe fresh air,and do morning exercise, which builds our bodies. Second, it helps us to memorize what we have learned in class by reading aloud in the morning.Third, it can help us to find enough time to prepare our work of the day. In one word, if we stick to getting up early every day, it will do us a lot of good. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My home is in a town. It lies in the east of Zhejiang near the East SeA£®It has a population of fifty thousand. Our town is in the south of our county.The Ease Sea is to the east of the town. To the south is flat land. Mountains are on the west. And a river runs from north to south in the west of my town. The weather here is good. It is not so cold in winter or so hot in summer. So the sea near my town is full of all sorts of fish. The fishermen of my home town are all living a happy lif -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to the Great Wall. The Great Wall of China is one of the wonders of the world. It is one of the few man-made objects on earth that can be seen on the moon. It dates from about 770 BC. It is more than 6000 kilometres long, 6-7 metres high and 4-5 metres wide. All the work was done by hand. Many people were forced to work on the wall. Now the Great Wall has become a place of interest. We all know the famous Chinese saying: ¡°He who does not reach the Great Wall is not a true man.¡± Now let me show you around the Great Wall. This way, Please. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- May 12,Sunday Today I went to the country to see my uncle. Seeing the green cabbages and the fine wheat, I couldn't help asking how he could grow them so well.Uncle said that science of farming was important. It included: choosing the best seeds; keeping the condition of soil good and ploughing deeply; sowing the seed and growing young plants at the correct time; changing the crops in the fields; and giving plenty of water, light and fertilizer. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Middle school students have some idea about their future jobs. The most striking contrast is in teaching: 30 percent of girls would like to become teachers while only 5 percent of boys want to do this job. 20 percent of boys want to do business and another 20 percent want to become lawyers while girls take up 15 percent in these two fields. What boys like to do most is to become managers (30£¥) and the second largest group would like to be scientists (25£¥). Besides teaching, the second choice for girls is to be scientists (20£¥) and managers (20£¥).The number is not small. Girls also expect to show their ability in these two fields. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This morning we heard the talk given by our headmaster about Lel Feng.We were deeply moved by Lel Feng's deeds. We have made up our minds to do as Let Feng did. As there were no classes this afternoon, we decided to do some good deeds for people. Some of us went to the Station Square to repair bikes for people passing by, some went to a home for orphans nearby to help carry coal and wash their clothes, and others remained at school to clean the teachers' office. We all worked very hard. It was not until six o'clock that I returned home. Tired as I was, I was filled with joy and pride. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear classmates, Here we warmly welcome Miss Wilkinson. We feel very much honoured that we'll be taught by her. Miss Wilkinson is a middle school teacher of the United states. Five years ago she graduated from a university of Illinois,where she was born. Then she began to work as a teacher. Now she is already an excellent teacher with rich teaching experience. This year, she is invited to our school to teach us English for a year. We'll make good use of this chance and learn English even harder. We are sure that we'll make great progress in English especially in spoken English. Wish Miss Wilkinson a happy life here! Now let's invite Miss Wilkinson to give us a speech. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Taiwan Taiwan is part of our country. It is the largest island in China. It has an area of about 36,000 square kilometers and a population of over 20 million. It is separated from the mainland by the Taiwan Strait. On the island the climate is mild and the resources are very rich. Many, many centuries ago there were the Chinese who lived and worked in Taiwan. In the 17th ccntury the Dutch invaded Taiwan. In 1661 an army under Zheng Chenggong drove out the Dutch. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It's snowing very hard, The sky is dark and gloomy. The ground is covered with white snow. A cold wind is blowing from the north. How cold it is! Mr Jenkins is walking in the snow. He is wearing a very thick coat. His two hands are both in the pockets. But he isn't wearing a hat on his hea D£®He feels a little cold walking in the snow. Now, he is missing his warm house. It was Sunday afternoon. Li Ming and I were walking to the park.Suddenly we saw a boy fall off his bike. We both hurried to him. Since one of his legs was hurt badly, the boy couldn't stand up. He began to cry and we tried to comfort him. We put him on the bike and took him to hospital. The boy got treated at once. I telephoned his parents and told them about the whole story. They thanked us again and again. It was dark then and we said goodbye to them. We felt happy though we couldn't get to the park. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Looking for Mum One day Li Ming caught a little bird. He tied it with a piece of thread and played with it happily. At that time, he saw a little girl crying by the roadside. A policeman saw her, came over and asked her why she was crying and where her house is. When he learned that girl had got lost and she was then looking for her mother, he decided to lead the girl to be back home.Seeing this Li Ming thought the little bird also had its mother and he should set the little bird free so that it could be with its mother again. Then Li Ming untied the thread and returned the little bird to the blue sky. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Where Did the Bird Fly? The thin line shows you where the bird flew. It flew in front of the first tree. Then it flew between the first and second trees and behind the second tree. Then it flew over the third tree and under the bridge. After that it flew behind the first house and then it flew between the houses. Then it flew in front of the second house and over the two houses. After that it flew under the bridge and behind the third tree. Then it flew over the other trees. The other day, Tom was riding along the street. Suddenly, a car was running towards him fast. He was so frightened that he quickly turned to the left side. But it was too late. The car hit his bike and he fell off it. When the driver realized that he had caused an accident, he got such a fright that he took flight with his car. He was soon out of sight leaving Tom helpless on the spot. Fortunately a passer-by happened to see what had happened and remembered the number of the car. He reported this to the police. Now the driver has been caught and will be punished for his wrong doing. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Energy As we all know we need energy in our daily life. There are many kinds of energy. We can get our energy from food. The energy in food comes from sunlight which helps plants grow. Plants store up energy from the sun, much of our food comes from plants. Some of our food comes from animals, but animals depend on plants for food too. |