I am glad to learn that you have been chosen to study in China. Your dream has come true!

I can well remember that you ________ China for the first time when you were nine. Ever since you returned, you have been interested in Chinese culture and have put a lot of ________ into learning Chinese. When you first started to learn Chinese, I ________ it was nothing but a passing fad (一时的狂热). However, you didn't ________ halfway, but kept on learning and did a good job in the HSK (汉语水平考试). Now you finally got what you had ________ for a long time. You got the chance to ________ life in China for one year. You should have it, my son, for chances only come to those who are ________.

When you study there, you will have to face ________ in everyday life that you have never experienced before, but after a year abroad, you will return with a new ________ at life—and at yourself.

Your mum and I are both ________ you. Keep it up, my son!

Love,

Dad

Do you know a saying about the swan feather (天鹅羽毛)?

This saying comes from a historic book called Lu Shi. According to the story, a Tang Dynasty official (唐朝官员) in Yunnan wanted to show his respect to the emperor. He sent a man named Mian Bogao to bring some gifts to the emperor. One of the gifts was a beautiful swan, and it was a very valuable gift at the time.

Mian took good care of the swan on his way to the emperor. One day he passed by a lake and wanted to let the swan drink some water. But as soon as he set the swan free, the swan flew away, leaving only some feathers on the ground. Mian was very worried, but he didn’t run away. He decided to tell the emperor what happened. He picked up a feather and kept going on his trip.

When Mian met the emperor, he told him what happened and said, “This swan feather is light, but it carries my deep respect for you.” The emperor was happy with Mian’s honesty and sincerity (真诚). He forgave Mian. People now use the saying to show that a good gift doesn’t have to be expensive.

What matters is the sincerity it carries.

A lot of animals travel from one place to another. We call this migration.

In Africa, large animals, like elephants and zebras, migrate to find food and water. They usually follow the same ways every year.

A lot of birds migrate to find food and better weather, too. They are usually birds that eat insects. They spend the summer in northern Europe, because there are lots of insects there. In the winter there aren’t any insects, so the birds fly south to southern Europe and Africa. Some insects migrate, too. In North America, millions of monarch butterflies fly south to spend the winter in Mexico, California and Florida, where it’s warmer. They travel 50 km-65 km each day and they travel about 1, 125 km.

Some fish migrate to breed (繁殖). Salmon (鲑鱼) can swim over 20, 000 km in their life. They were born in rivers in Ireland, Scotland and other places in northern Europe. The young fish swim down the river to the sea and into the Atlantic Ocean. They live in the ocean until they are adults. Then they return to the river where they were born. They lay their eggs in the river and then they usually die. Salmon do this, because their eggs are safer in the river. Other fish can’t eat them.

Arctic terns (北极燕鸥) travel the furthest when they migrate. They spend the summer in the Arctic, but when winter comes they fly to the Antarctic, because it’s summer there. The next year they fly back to the Arctic again. In one year these small birds travel 36, 000 km from one end of the earth to the other and back again. Nobody knows how they do it.

Mr Magicman is a magician. He is famous in his town and he goes to all the children's parties. He does lots of magic tricks. He makes all kinds of animals from balloons. He plays card tricks and like Harry Potter, he can make things disappear. He tells wonderful stories. Sometimes, he sings and dances for the children. All the children love Mr. Magicman. When children see him in town, they wave(招手) and they shout “Hello” at him. He waves back and sometimes, if he has his hat on, he raises it to greet them.

Today is Saturday, June 26th, 2020. It is sunny. It is Peter's birthday. Peter is ten. At 2 o'clock, all the children, including me, of course, were at Peter's house. We played party games and ate some delicious cakes. We waited for Mr. Magicman. Then Peter's dad came in, saying, “I am terribly sorry. Mr. Magicman has got a very bad headache and he cannot come.”

Hearing this, all the children were upset. Then, we discussed together and made a plan. We made a banner(横幅)and went to Mr. Magician’s house with it. Peter also took a cake with him. After we knocked on his door, Mr. Magicman slowly opened his door. Seeing us standing outside the door, he smiled. Then we held up our banner. The banner read, "Get well soon, Mr. Magicman. We all love you." Then we gave him a cake. Mr. Magicman opened his mouth and he made the cake disappear soon! He is really an excellent magician!

A man was sitting in the park watching the ducks on the pond, when a woman came near him.She had a white dog with her.

She sat down on a chair, took out of a magazine and began to read.

The dog was sitting between her and the man.

After it had been sitting quietly for about ten minutes, the dog turned and looked up at the man.

“ Excuse me,” the dog whispered(低语),“ but you look like a kind man. Please buy me from this awful woman.”

The man could hardly believe his ears. A dog was whispering to him, in English.

“ She is so mean to me,” the dog continued. “She never pets me or plays with me. She doesn't feed me properly and she often beats me when she is unhappy, which is most of the time.”

The man was amazed to hear the dog say all this. He was even more surprised when the dog added, “ And I am really a very good dog. I’m quite famous, too. I won a medal in the last war and was twice wounded in action. I’ve saved three children—two from drowning and one from a fire.”

The man decided that he would try to buy the dog from the woman. He would pay a lot of money if necessary. The dog would soon earn tens of thousands of dollars on television. It would be the world's first talking dog.

“ Excuse me,” he said to the woman,“ but I love your little dog. Will you sell him to me?”

“I’ll be pleased to sell him, “ the woman said. “ You can have him for ten dollars.

“ Ten dollars!” the man said. “ Only ten dollars? Why so little? ”

“ Because,” the woman said, “ he’ s a trouble- making liar(说谎者).”

Different countries have different customs. When you travel to other countries, please respect their customs just as the saying goes: When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

Very often people who travel to the United States forget to tip. It is usual to tip those who help carry your bags, taxi drivers and waiters. Waiters expect to get a 15% tip on the cost of your meal. So do the taxi drivers.

In England, make sure to stand in line even if there are only two of you. It’s important to admire lines there. It’s a good idea to talk about the weather. It’s a favorite subject of a conversation with the British.

In Spain, people have dinner very late and restaurants do not generally open until after 9 pm. It’s a good idea to have a light meal in the afternoon if someone invites you for dinner. In this way, you may not feel too hungry at the table.

In Japan, people usually give personal or business cards to each other when they meet for the first time. When a person gives you a card, don’t put it into your pocket right away. The person expects you to read it.

A kind of body language is acceptable in one culture. Maybe it is impolite in another. So don’t forget to be careful of your body language to express something in conversation.

Some years ago, a big fire burned down a large part of city. Lots of houses were     41     (break). A rich lady met a little boy in the street. She called him and said, “Take this box, my boy,     42     do not lose it unless I see you again.”

The boy took the box, and the lady turned     43     to search for something else. Just then many people were     44     (run) around, and they couldn’t see each other.

That night, the lady lived in a     45     (friend) home outside the city. The next day she looked for the boy everywhere, but she couldn’t hear anything of     46     (he). There were some very     47     (use) letters and all of her treasures in the box. The lady was very upset because of     48     (lose) them.

On the following night, someone found     49     boy lying on the ground with the box at a corner. He had been there for a long time     50     (with) food. The boy was almost dead with hunger, but he never thought of leaving the box.

56. 同学们，沐浴在晨光中，行走在上学路上，当我们有充足的时间安排一天的学习生活时，我们会发现每天早起给我们带来许多好处。请你根据图示，以“It’s good to get up early”为题，写一篇短文。

It’s good to get up early

Getting up early is a good habit. It’s good for us in many ways. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________