Liu Yue is a Chinese girl. She is 13 years old and she is in No.14 Middle School. She has three friends. They are Wang Wei, Shi Chao and Cindy. They are all 13. Liu Yue likes China very much. Her favourite subjects are Chinese and Chinese history. Wang Wei likes painting, so her favourite subject is art. She thinks art is very interesting. Shi Chao is a boy. He likes playing basketball. His favourite subject is PE. He can play basketball at PE class. Cindy is an English girl. She likes singing. Her favourite subject is music. She thinks it’s very funny.

Welcome to the New Century Zoo. Our zoo opens just this month. It is in the centre of the city. There are many kinds of animals here. The elephants are from Asia. The zebras are from South Africa. The tigers are from Europe. And the monkeys are from North America.

Computers are very important in our life. People can search for information, send emails and do many other things. Many people buy things on the Internet, because they have no time to go shopping. But there are still many people shopping in the stores (商店). We have got some numbers in a survey (调查). Let’s have a look! 45% of people like shopping on the Internet and 55% of people like shopping in the stores.

64% of people learn about things on the Internet before buying them in the stores. 71% of women buy things on the Internet, but only 52% of men do this.

Why do many people shop in the stores? Some people don’t want to wait for their things to arrive. And some want to see the real (真的) things before buying them.

What do you think of it?

Our class has a survey in the street. We ask people how they spend their birthdays. Here are some of their answers.

I’m a middle school student. My birthday is on December 24th. I don’t have a birthday party. But every year on my birthday, my mother cooks a bow (碗) of noodles and an egg for me.

Liu Huan

I’m a doctor. These years, I always want to go home and spend my birthday with my parents. But I have to work. I usually give them a call after work and buy myself a small cake.

Li Nan

I work at a school. I’m a teacher. On my birthday, I don’t need to do any housework. My husband and my daughter do it for me. My husband also makes a big dinner.

Jia Ping

This is Mary’s school day. In the morning, she     31     (get) up at seven o’clock. After     32     (wash) her face, she has breakfast and then goes to school     33     (介) her brother. She gets to school at half     34     (介) eight. At nine o’clock, she starts class. She has three     35     (lesson) in the morning.     36     (冠) first lesson is maths. Maths is very funny     37     (连) it’s difficult for me. At ten o’clock, she has a rest. After thirty minutes, she has PE. It’s     38     (she) favorite subject, because it’s very     39     (interest). At twelve o’clock she has lunch in the school     40     (dine) hall. At afternoon, she has two lessons. At about four o’clock, she goes home.

The computer is very important because it can help people do a lot of things. Lots of children spend too much time on the computer. It’s bad for their study. Here are some suggestions (建议) for the parents.

Move the computer out of the child’s bedroom. It is good for children to reduce (减少) the time to use the computer.

Set a password for the computer. If your child wants to use it, he/she should get your permission (允许). If your child uses the Internet for studying, praise (表扬) him/her for that. When your child wants to use the computer to play games, you can take him/her to the playground and let him/her do some sports.