On Timmy’s thirteenth birthday, he got many presents. Timmy’s uncle gave him a special present. It was a trap (捕捉器) for catching birds.

One day, Timmy wanted to catch a bird. He put his_______in the garden, stood by and hoped that some birds flew down. However, the birds were_______of him and would not come near the trap. Then, Timmy left. After dinner, he went to the_______again and saw a little bird in the trap. Timmy put the bird in a cage. He_______it with food and water and cleaned the cage. A few days later, Timmy forgot to_______the cage door after he changed the water. The bird came out and flew_______the room toward the window. Timmy tried to make it fly back into the cage. Unluckily, he hurt the bird_______Timmy felt very_______, so he looked after it carefully in his free time. One day when Timmy went to bed, the bird died. Timmy could not_______well at night for a long time because of the loss of the bird. He always thought of the dying bird________he closed his eyes. After that Timmy didn’t catch birds any more.

Many students ask for advice about improving their English. There are three basic questions.

The first question is about real English. Li Hao from Hubei wrote, “I enjoy watching English films and listening to real English songs. But it takes a long time. What do you think?”

This is a great way to learn English! Talk about the film or song with your friends, and guess the meaning of the new words. Just enjoy yourself!

The second question is about speaking. Sam, from Suzhou wrote. “Our school has a foreign teacher. But I'm shy and can’t speak to her. What should I do?”

When I visit China, lots of people in the street say, “Hello! How are you? Where are you from? Do you like China?” These are good questions to start a talk. Many people are shy when they speak English, so before you begin, take a deep breath and smile! Smiling always helps.

The third question is about vocabulary. Oliver, from Anhui wrote, “I want to remember all the new words. I write them down, but I forget them quickly. What should I do?”

Try to remember eight or ten words a day. Write them on pieces of paper and place them in your bedroom. Say the words when you see them, and change them every day. And when you’re   shopping, how about counting the English words, or saying the English names for everything you see?

Once a great lion was sleeping in a forest. A little mouse happened to(碰巧) come and ran over his face. The lion woke up and caught the little mouse very angrily. He was going to eat her. “Oh, dear kind lion!” said the little mouse. “Please forgive (原谅) me. I didn't mean to do you any harm (伤害). Let me go, I shall pay back your kindness and help you.”

“Ha, ha, ha,” laughed the lion, “How can a little thing like you help a great lion? But I’m not hungry now, you can go.” “Thank you very much, kind lion! I hope I shall be able to help you some day.” said the little mouse.

Some time after this, the lion fell into a trap. Just then the little mouse came along and heard “help” from the lion. She began to look for the lion and found him, she ran down to the lion, and said, “You were very kind to me once. Now I'll save your life and repay（报答）you the kindness which you showed me the other day.” Soon she cut the ropes of the trap with her sharp teeth, and the lion was happy to be free again.

“Thank you, little mouse!” said the lion, and then they walked away happily.

Birds are people's friends. Our city holds a " Love Birds Week" every spring to protect birds. The week lasts from March 2nd to 8th. The city is near the sea and it's a place with many hills and forests. It's a perfect place for birds. Most wild birds come here for a short stay while they are flying south in winter.

Birds in our city are still in trouble. People often catch them for food and fun. In many restaurants in our city, eating birds is popular and it usually costs much money. This is why more people kill birds. They make money by selling birds. In the Forest Park, even during the "Love Birds Week" last year, people could see someone hunt birds now and then.

This year the government wanted to offer a better home to birds. So during this year's " Love Birds Week", many teenagers went to the street to give out leaflets. Now more and more people understand better that they should treat birds in a more helpful way. More and more people get to know that loving birds means loving themselves now. They all learn a lot from "Love Birds Week". This is a good news for birds.

The Class 1, Grade 8 students had a school     56     to the World Park. Their teacher Mr. Wu     57     Linda to join it. The weather was clear. The trip took about three hours, the students felt     58     on the way. But as soon as they got off the bus, they     59     very excited. The     60     world was there in front of them. There are models of over a hundred places of     61     from all over the world. They were small but wonderful. They saw the model Eiffel Tower. It's     62     of steel and is really tall. The model Golden Bridge looked as     63     as the one back home. The students couldn't     64     their eyes when they saw the sights.

When they came back, Daniel put some     65     on his home page for everyone to look at.

66. 假如你叫张华，请给你的外国笔友Tom写一封电子邮件介绍一下你的情况。电子邮件要点如下：

How are you? I am Zhang Hua. ___________________________________________________

Yours sincerely,

Zhang Hua