Gong Zizhen was a famous poet and thinker in the Qing Dynasty. He was born in Zhejiang in 1792. When he was young, he worked very hard and was crazy about reading. In 1839, Gong Zizhen wrote over 300 poems. Most of them were about ________ problems. One of them was Miscellanies of the Year 1839 (V)(《己亥来诗》) and it clearly ________ his strong feelings of saving poor people and doing something for the country.

At first, Gong wrote about what was happening at that time. As an official(官员) of the Qing Dynasty, Gong ________ Lin Zexu’s idea to stop the opium(鸦片) business. However, they ________ and Gong had to go back to his hometown.

Then, Gong wrote about the falling sun. In Chinese poetry, to write about the falling sun is to write about the passing of ________ and the loss of hope. It was clear that the poet was ________ to leave Beijing because he had many friends there. He was also sad that he ________ the chance to work for the country.

Gong’s sadness was true, but it didn’t go on too long. At the end of the poem, Gong used “fallen blossom(落花)” to stand for ________.   He didn’t say much about his sadness any more. ________, he told readers to believe fallen blossoms would nurture(滋养) flowers’ growth next spring. As a patriot(爱国主义 者), he still ________ the country and would do something for the country in other ways.

I’m a student in No. 1 Middle School. Now I’m telling you something about our exchange students’ trip to Paris last month.

The host families(寄宿家庭)were very friendly. They made our students feel warm in their homes But some host families were far away from the school, and our students had to leave very early in the morning to get to school on rime.

The French school teachers helped our students learn a lot from the visit. They asked the tour guides(导游)to speak French slowly for our students. They showed our students around the city and some places of interest. The students could learn some of the history of France. But the local students in France had to stay at school during these activities. So our exchange students didn’t have much time with them.

Most of our students had lots of chances to speak French with their host families and local students. But some local students didn’t want to speak French with our exchange students, because sometimes our students couldn’t understand them, and they bad to talk with them in English. They felt the talking between them was very boring.

All in all, both the local students in France and our Chinese students found the trip a great one.

Mashed (捣碎) potatoes is always the most popular side dish. It is perfect for any time of the year! So how can we make this dish? Before making mashed potatoes, we need to prepare some ingredients (原料).

2 kg of potatoes       50 g of unsalted (无盐的) butter

100 ml of milk        Salt and pepper

Steps:

1. Peel the potatoes. Cut any larger ones so they’re all of a similar (相似的) size.

2. Cook the potatoes in a large pan (平底锅) of boiling salted water over a medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes.

3. When the potatoes are soft, put them in a colander (滤盆). Shake off water and let them steam dry (用蒸汽烘干) for a couple of minutes. After this, put the potatoes back into the pan and mash well.

4. When the potatoes are almost smooth, add half the butter, milk, and a little salt and pepper.

5. Mash again to make the potatoes more smooth. Then add more milk if needed. Add more seasoning (佐料) if needed.

6. Finally, put the potatoes all into a big bowl. You can also put some butter over the top.

After reading the steps carefully, do you think it’s easy to make mashed potatoes? With these steps, we’re sure that you will make really good mashed potatoes.

Sue looked out of the window. All she saw was an old yellow and green ivy (常春藤) plant. The half-dead plant had few leaves on it because of the autumn winds.

“There are only five now,” said Joanna.

“Five what, dear? What are you counting?”

“The ivy leaves.”   answered Joanna. “When the last one goes, I’ll die. I’ve known that for two days. Didn’t the doctor tell you about it?”

“Joanna, don’t say that.”

“I don’t want any soup,” said Joanna, looking out of the window. “Now there are only four.”

“Joanna dear, try to sleep. I must ask Mr. Berman to come up. I want to draw a picture of him.”

Mr. Berman, who was over 60 years old, lived downstairs. He was a painter, too, but he never sold anything, and he drank a lot. Sue told him all about what Joanna was saying.

“She can’t really think that this will happen! The poor woman!” he cried.

Finally there was only one last leaf on the ivy plant. After a few windy days, the leaf was still there.

“Sue,” said Joanna, “I’ve been a bad girl. That last leaf is telling me that it was very wrong of me to want to die. Bring me some soup, dear.”

The next day, the doctor said, “She’s out of danger. But poor Mr. Berman downstairs is dying.”

That afternoon Sue went into Joanna’s bedroom.

“Joanna dear, Mr. Berman died today. And do you know why? One terrible, cold wet night he took a ladder (梯子) and some green and yellow paint and he climbed up, and — oh, look at the last ivy leaf on the wall! Why didn’t it ever move in the wind? Can’t you see? It was Mr. Berman’s last great picture!”

Going on a vacation is fun, helping you gel relaxed (放松的) from hard study or work.     31    

Here are some tips.

Decide where you’d like to go.

A few days or weeks before the vacation, think of the places you want to visit. Then talk about each place with your friends or parents and find out your favorite one.

    32    

It depends on (取决) how far away your place is and how much money you want to spend. And you must get enough money for your vacation. If not, you may get into trouble.

Find a good hotel.

    33     So you should look for a good place to sleep and rest. You can go online and try to find a good hotel on the Internet.

Plan your activities.

Think about everyone who is going with you. And plan activities that all of you may like to do. And it also depends on how long you want to stay there.

Write down the things you need to take.

    34     Think about the things you need every day when you are away, such as umbrellas, cameras and clothes.

I’m writing this from London. We     40     (arrive) here on Tuesday after staying in Paris. London is one of the most interesting cities in Europe(欧 洲), but     41     (luck), it’s also one of the most expensive places to stay in. The people in Paris were very     42     (humour) but it was more difficult to communicate (交流) with them     43     I didn’t know their language. Of course, I     44     (eat) much delicious food there.

My aunt, who’s English, says that British food is better than French food, but she’s wrong     45     that!

This evening, my aunt and uncle will take me to a musical(音乐剧) show, called The Phantom of the Opera. They say it’s one of the most wonderful     46     (show) in London. I think it would be more     47     (excite) to see a pop singer show, but that would be the     48     (bad) thing in the world for my uncle and aunt.

We will fly home to Sydney in five days. I can’t wait     49     (see) you!

Yours,

Daniel

I’m glad to tell you that we will have two new selective courses (选修课) this term. One is the Travelling Course and the other is the DIY Course. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Best wishes.

Amy