We often send gifts on one’s birthday, at Christmas or on some special days. We get presents on these days, too.

Different gifts have different meanings. Do you know the meanings of different gifts? Here are some gifts and their meanings. Let’s take a look.

When you are reading something in English, you may often come across a new word. What’s the best way to know it?

You need an English-Chinese dictionary（字典）. It will tell you a lot about the word, for example（例如）, how to read this word, what it means in Chinese and how to use this word. But there are so many English words in the dictionary and how can you know where the word is? There is a way to look for it.

In the dictionary you can first see the words beginning with the letter A, then B, C, D, E…. That means, if there are two words, “desk” and “hour”, “desk” will be before “hour”, “story” before “Sunday” , “tomato” before “tomorrow” etc. The English-Chinese dictionary will be your good friend. I hope you will often use it in your English learning.

There is a boy in London. His name is Jimmy. He starts painting when he is three years old, and when he is five years old, he is already very good at it. He paints many beautiful and interesting pictures, and a lot of people buy his pictures. They say, “This boy is going to be famous (出名的) when he’s a little older, and then we’re going to sell these pictures for a lot of money.”

Jimmy’s pictures are different from others’ because he never paints on the whole of the paper. He only paints on half of it, and the other half is always empty.

“That’s very clever,” people say. “No other painters have ever done that!”

One day someone asks Jimmy, “Please tell me, Jimmy, why do you only paint on the bottom (底) half of the paper, but not on the top half?”

“Because I’m small,” Jimmy says, “and my brushes can’t reach very high.”

Clothes are important and necessary(必要的)to us, but do you know how to buy clothes in a right way? Here are some ideas for you.

When you go shopping and want to buy some clothes, you should think about which kind of clothes you really need and how much money you can spend on them. Then look at the labels that are inside the new clothes. They can tell you how to take care of the clothes. The labels for a shirt may tell you to wash it in warm water. A sweater label may tell you to wash it in cold water. The label on a coat may say “dry clean(干洗)only” . If you do as the directions(说明)say on the label, you can keep your clothes well for a long time.

Many clothes today must be dry-cleaned. Dry cleaning is a little expensive. When buying new clothes, you should check if they need to be dry-cleaned. You can save money if you buy clothes that can be washed in water or that are well made. Well-made clothes will look good even after you wash them for many times.

Clothes that cost more money don’t always mean they are better made. They may not fit you, either. On the other hand, less expensive clothes may sometimes look better and fit you well.

Today is Saturday. It’s also the Teachers’ Day, Lily and Tom’s mother’s festival. They get up early in the morning and want to help their mother do the housework. They first clean the room and then wash the clothes. And then they make breakfast for their mother Lisa.

It takes Lily and Tom a long time to make the breakfast. They make a chicken hamburger and some salad. These are Lisa’s favourite food. They also prepare (准备) a glass of milk. They think it’s healthy for their mother. Then they go to their parents’ room with the food and drink.

Dad sits on the sofa and reads a newspaper to Lisa. There is much interesting news (新闻) in it. Lisa also thinks it is fun. They seem very happy. “Good morning, Mum and Dad,” say Lily and Tom. Then they walk to their mother and say, “Mum, Happy Teachers’ Day!”

Mum looks at the children and the breakfast. “Thank you so much!” Lisa feels very warm now.

The chicken and the duck are friends. They live on a _______. They often walk around together and talk about many things. One morning. they play and _______ near the pool together. The chicken and the duck _______ talk about the cat. They think the cat is not _______ because he always looks at them with eyes wide open. “The cat is dangerous. so we must always keep our eyes _______ when he is around.”

Then they talk about the _______. The dog is very friendly. The dog has lots of _______. It barks（狗吠）a lot and always runs _______. What’s more, the dog never runs after them. They both _______ the dog.

At last, they ________ the farmer, a fifty-year-old old man. If they don’t have the farmer, they have ________ to eat. He also feeds the cow, the pig, the sheep and many other ________ on the farm. They like the farmer because he takes good care of everyone. “He is a ________ man and it’s lucky of us to have such a farmer,” the chicken says to the duck ________. “We need the farmer and look forward to living with him forever ________ he can take good care of us all.” says the duck. “I hope so.” answers the chicken.

Allan is a doctor. He is taking notes about the lifestyles of two children, Angela and Andy. Angela: The girl looks healthy. She knows how to keep fit. She gets up early even (即使) on Sundays. And enough exercise makes her fit. She doesn’t eat fast food very often.

But sometimes she eats snacks between breakfast and lunch or between lunch and supper. Are most girls greedy (嘴馋的)? She should eat fewer snacks. They are not good for her. She can eat more fruit.

Andy: Andy likes sports. He is good at swimming and football. He does sports for over (超过) two hours every day. That makes him fit and strong.

But Andy is a picky eater (吃饭挑剔之人). He doesn’t eat enough meat for meals. So he is not tall. And he has another problem—sleeping in (睡过头, 迟起床). He gets up too late on Saturdays and Sundays.

To get enough energy, Andy should get up early and eat more meat.

Angela’s and Andy’s     69    

Tom is a middle school student. He is studying in Grade 7 now. He usually gets up     79     7 o’clock in the morning. But today he gets up at 6:30 and goes     80     (buy) a big cake. After that, he helps his grandparents     81     (clean) their room, because it is his     82     (grandpa) birthday. His grandpa is going to be 78 years old.

Tom buys two CDs about Beijing Opera (京剧)     83     his grandpa. He is sure his grandpa likes     84     (they) very much, because his grandpa likes listening to Beijing Opera.

Tom gets home at noon. Look! His mother with grandma     85     (make) noodles. They are laughing and talking     86     something happily. His grandpa is drinking tea and     87     (listen) to Beijing Opera.

Tom says, “    88     birthday to you, grandpa.” Then he cuts the big cake and gives grandpa a big piece. Grandpa is very happy and     89     (eat) it.

In the evening, Tom     90     (watch) TV with his grandparents together. He is a little tired     91     very happy, because he can     92     his grandparents happy.

98. 愉快的寒假就要到了，同学们有一些什么计划呢？假如你是王华，你给自己拟定了一个寒假计划，并写信告诉你的好朋友Peter，请根据提供的要点写完这封信。

I am so excited to tell you about my plan for the winter holiday.

Yours,

Wang Hua