I am writing to you from Live TV. I am happy to let you know that you have won our “Meet the Stars” Competition. 20,000 people took part in the competition and you are the winner.

So this Saturday you will be a guest at our show. You will meet the famous band(乐队) the Snowstorms and sing with them. We will send a taxi to pick you and your parents up at 2:00 p.m. and get you to the studio(录播室) at 3:30 p.m.. Before the show we will show you around the TV station. We will record the show at 5:30 p.m. and it takes an hour. You can watch the show on TV at 7:00 p.m. the following day.

After the recording we will take you out to dinner at the Glitz hotel. You and your parents will spend the night in the hotel. A taxi will take you all home the next morning.

Just call my assistant (助理) Tricia to know more about your trip. Look forward to seeing you soon.

Jane Thompson

“Meet the Stars” Producer(制作人)

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When you need help with homework, go to the library. You may find magazines, newspapers, and big dictionaries there. They can always help you.

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For families with children, an important problem is to get the children away from TV and let them do their homework.

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Even if you could buy the world, you couldn’t buy a happy family, good friends, or knowledge.

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The Lost World is an exciting American film. People, especially school students, may like it.

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People will grow plants and vegetables in the sea in about 50 years.

【推荐2】You are visiting the Eiffel Tower in France, but the next second you are in Thailand. Then, suddenly you may have dinner with Barack Obama in America. But you are not dreaming. This is what might happen in the near future. With the help of virtual reality (VR，虚拟现实) technology, a lot of changes are taking place in our life.

VR is a computer technology that makes an environment and allows users to see and even interact (互动) with it. Just wear a pair of VR glasses, joined to your computer and you can experience a lot of things without stepping out of your room.

“The most interesting part of VR is that it offers an immersive (身临其境的) experience,” said Wang Bing, leader of the Chinese entertainment company Funshow. “That’s why VR movies are popular among users. You become a part of the story.” According to the Report on Chinese VR Users’ Behavior last month, over 960,000 people in China have bought VR products and 83.2 percent of them have watched VR movies.

VR can also be used in some other ways. It can help to train workers before they have to work in highly dangerous environments. VR also helps patients with acrophobia (恐高症) by making them think they are standing on the top of a tall building.

However, VR technology still has a long way to go. Users report feeling sick while wearing VR glasses. Maybe it could take a period of time for VR to be widely used around the world.

【推荐1】At the beginning of 2021, the Chinese government said it will provide free COVID-19 vaccines (疫苗) to all Chinese citizens. Since then, tens of millions of people, mainly key groups such as medical workers, customs officers and delivery workers, have gotten the vaccine. How does the vaccine work? Are you allowed to get it? What do you need to know before getting it? Let’s take a look.

Q: How does the vaccine work?

A: The vaccines China is now using are called “inactivated vaccines” (灭活疫苗). There are “dead” viruses (病毒) in these vaccines. They cannot cause the disease, but can show your body what the virus looks like and make you immune (免疫) to it.

Studies show that China’s vaccines are 79.34 percent effective (有效的). This means that for every 100 people who get vaccinated, about 79 people will become immune to the virus. If 79 percent of the whole population becomes immune, the possibility of COVID-19 spreading will be very low.

Q: How is the vaccine given?

A: The vaccine is given by injection (注射). It’s suggested to get two doses. You should wait about two weeks after the first dose to get the second one.

Q: Can people of all ages get vaccinated?

A: The vaccines have been tested among three different age groups: 3 to 17, 18 to 59, and 60 and above. The 18-to-59 age group has the most data (数据)—the vaccines have been proven to be safe to this group. The other two groups are expected to be included soon.

Q: Is there anyone who shouldn’t get vaccinated?

A: Experts say the vaccines are safe for most people. But people who have serious diseases such as cancer (癌症) or diabetes (糖尿病), or people who are allergic (过敏的) to any of the vaccines ingredients (原料), should not get it. People who want to get the vaccine should not get any other vaccines during the same period.

Q: Do I still need to wear a mask in public places after I’ve been vaccinated?

A: Yes. It takes a few weeks for the body to build immunity after vaccination. This means it’s possible for a person to get infected (传染的) just after vaccination. There’s also a small chance that your body won’t build immunity. So before the population becomes immune to the virus, it’s highly encouraged to keep wearing masks, practicing social distancing (社交隔离) and washing your hands after getting vaccinated.

【推荐2】What season is it in October? If you ask people from the UK, they will tell you it’s “autumn”. But if you go to the USA, you will find that people use both “autumn” and “fall”. Why does this season have two names in English?

According to a Dictionary. com, both words have been around for a long time, but neither of them was the first to describe this season. During this season, crops (庄稼) would become ripe (成熟) and farmers would have a big harvest (丰收). So in old English, this season was simply called “harvest”.

Then, in 1600s, more people left their farms and moved to cities. With fewer people farming, the word “harvest” became less useful. English speakers needed a different name for the season. They knew leaves fell from trees during the season, so people started calling it “the fall of the leaf”, or “fall” for short.

But at the end of 1600s, autumn, from the French word “autompne” and the Latin “autumnus”, came to England. It gradually replaced “fall” as the word for this season.

At the same time, British people were making their first trips to North America. They brought both the words “fall” and “autumn” with them. That’s why today’s Americans have two names for one season.

【推荐3】Do you often ask questions? Children are known for wanting answers to many questions because curiosity (好奇心) is part of human nature. Books and TV shows often depend on curiosity. People keep reading or watching because they want to find out what happens.

As we all know, curiosity provides many advantages. Many of history’s greatest discoveries were made by curious people. People wondered how things worked and how work could be done more quickly. Thanks to their curiosity, people now know far more about the world and have useful technology to help them. Even if you don’t plan to be an inventor or researcher, curiosity can still help you in the classroom. If you develop the curiosity of learning, classes will become more interesting. You will be good at them because you enjoy the process of learning. Even if you’re no longer a student, curiosity will make you an able worker.

What will you do if you’re not already curious? Luckily, curiosity is a skill that can be improved. Often, the more you learn about a topic, the more interesting it becomes. To improve your curiosity, get information from as many sources (来源) as possible when you learn about a topic. At the same time, read all kinds of books, watch or listen to speeches and ask questions. Don’t always get information in the same way. Instead, learn to understand the facts that different people know.

Don’t assume you already know everything. Instead, search for other possibilities and opinions. Remember, everyone knows something that you don’t know. Find out what it is, and ask about it. This lets you learn something and makes the other people happy by sharing their knowledge. Let’s try to become people who are full of curiosity.