How is it going? I am here in the US writing to tell you some _________ time about my life. I have many new friends here. They are very helpful and always help __________ with my English, so I can speak English better now. On the weekend, they _________ to play tennis with me in the morning. Then we go to the library to ___________ together. In the afternoon, we go to the park and have a lot of fun. It is very ____________ to play games in the park. And then, we go for dinner. I like to eat some __________ for dinner but my friends always have hamburgers. It is easy to _________ a place to eat Chinese food here. But the food in the US is different from that in our country. After dinner, I always go to the cinema to watch movies ___________ my friends. When I spend time with my friends, I feel _________ happy.

_________ you? Are you having a good time?

Yours,

Emily

Tom lives with his grandfather. Every day his grandfather gets up early to read books. Tom asks his grandfather, “Grandpa, I want to read books just like you. But I always forget (忘记) what I read. Is reading really useful?”

His grandfather doesn’t answer him, but says, “Take this little basket (篮子) to the river and bring me back a basket of water.” Tom runs to the river with the basket, but all the water leaks out before he gets back home. His grandfather says “You have to walk faster next time.”

Tom goes to the river with the basket again. He runs faster this time, but the basket is still empty (空的) before he gets back home. Tom says “See, Grandpa, it’s no use (用处)!”

“Is it no use?” his grandfather says, “Look at the basket.”

Tom looks at the basket and finds the basket is different. It is very clean, inside and out. “It is like reading books. You may forget what you read, but when you read, it will change (改变) you, inside and out.”

Hello, my name is Alice. Do you want to know something about Chinese food? In China, there are many different kinds of food. Some of them are so popular. Among them, I think dumplings are the real Chinese food.

Everyone in China likes dumplings very much, and there are many different kinds of dumplings. Some have beef and vegetables in them, and some have eggs and carrots in them. But I love eating dumplings with vegetables and pork.

Usually people make dumplings at home. If you have no time to make them, you can buy them in a supermarket. Then you can take them home and eat them with vinegar (醋).

The Spring Festival (春节) is very important in China. When it comes, we make dumplings, and usually we put a coin (硬币) in a dumpling. We think if one eats the dumpling with the coin in it, he can be lucky (幸运的) in the new year.

Welcome to China. I’ll ask you to eat the real Chinese food with me: dumplings.

What do you like to drink every day? Do you like cola? If so, you should be careful, because such soft drinks (软饮料) are not healthy. As we know, one soft drink has about 40g of sugar. Too much sugar is bad for your teeth and eyes and makes you fat.

How about energy (能量) drinks? Sporty kids like them a lot. This kind of drink has caffeine (咖啡因) in it. It can give you more energy. But don’t drink too much. Once a student wants to do well in his PE test. Hoping to have more energy, he drinks some “Red Bull (红牛)”. As a result, he can’t sleep for the whole night and feels sleepy the next day. Of course, he does badly in the PE test.

So what can you drink? Don’t worry, here are some cool and healthy drinks. Let’s have a look!

Water. It is the best and healthiest drink. Water has no sugar or calories (卡路里). It doesn’t give you bad teeth or make you fat. How much water should you drink every day? The US research group Mayo Clinic says about 8 glasses of water a day (200 ml water for each glass) is good for us.

Juice. If you don’t like fresh fruit and vegetables, you can drink 100% fruit juice. Just don’t drink too much—about 940 ml each day is fine. When you open a bottle of fresh juice, drink it in one sitting. Remember not to leave it to the next day, because it will go bad easily.

Milk. Milk helps you build a healthy body. Milk is rich in protein (蛋白质), vitamin D and calcium. They are all good for children’s bones and teeth.