【推荐1】Mulan is an exciting action movie. It comes from an old Chinese story. The movie is about a village girl, Mulan. She dresses up like a boy and takes her father’s place to fight in the army. I think the actress played Mulan’s role very well. The other actors are also fantastic and they did a good job in the movie. The movie shows Mulan’s love for her family, friends and country. If you want to watch a movie this weekend and you plan to see something enjoyable, choose Mulan.

【推荐2】Welcome to Esplanade Theater! The new play The Princess and the Frog will be on soon. Here is some information about the play.

________ The play will be shown from February 8th to April 11th. There are two performances a day from Monday to Friday, which begin at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.

________ We add one performance on weekends which begins at 3 p.m. Each performance lasts for 1.5 hours.

________ A child under 16 needs to pay 15 dollars for a ticket and an adult needs to pay 25 dollars for one. Family packages(套餐) can help you save money— 50 dollars for 3 tickets and 60 dollars for 4 tickets.

________ Please arrive here on time, or you have to wait for the next performance. Children under 3 are not allowed to enter. Please don’t smoke, talk loudly, eat or drink during the performance.

________ If you want to book a ticket, please visit our website www.esplanadetheater.com or call Mr. Miller at 617-219-4300.

The Princess and the Frog Dates: February 8th to ________ 11th Time: From ________ to Friday: 10 a.m., 7 p.m.                  Weekends: 10 a.m., 3 p.m., 7 p.m. Theater: Esplanade Theater Duration(时长): One hour and a ________ Ticket Price: $15/child under 16                            $25/an ________ Family packages: $50 for 3 tickets; $60 for 4 tickets Warning: Late comers and children under 3 are not allowed to ________. Ticket Booking: Website: www.esplanadetheater.com Mr. Miller’s phone number: 617-219-4300

【推荐3】Monkey King is an exciting Chinese cartoon movie. It's about a hero, Monkey King. The movie tells us that we can overcome(克服) any difficulties if we face them. Besides, the sound and special effects are also great.

Shadow is a wonderful action movie. I think the main actor Deng Chao played the role very well. The other actors were also excellent. I like the Chinese painting style in the movie.

3 Idiots is a comedy. It is so funny that I want to watch it again and again. By the way, the language in the movie is easy to understand. So if you are learning English, and you want to have fun, watch it!

I Robot is a science fiction. It is about the life in 2035. You can see robots(机器人) walking on the streets and doing housework at people's homes. But then there is a problem: when robots get out of control, will people's life be in danger?

【推荐1】Shaoyang is in the southwest of Hunan province. It covers an area of 20,876 square kilometers and has a population of about 8.3 million. Shaoyang has a history of over 2,500 years and remains an important city in Hunan.

There is lots of beautiful scenery (风景) all over Shao yang. Mount Nanshan with large green hills, grassland and clear water won high praise from TaoYuanming. Mount Nanshan has different kinds of stones and its peaks (山峰) are in strange shapes and different sizes. Mount Yunshan is well known for its mysterious fairyland (神秘的仙境). Huangsand has a well-kept forest with unusual birds and animals. It is worth a visit.

Many people in Chinese history, such as Wei Yuan and Cai E left their footprints in Shao yang. Wei Yuan was famous for his HaiguoTuzhi and Cai E was best known for his role in fighting against Yuan shikai.

Now the transportation (交通) in Shaoyang is convenient. Welcome to Shaoyang.

Most women like to have things for daily use in their handbags at all times. Few will put a pair of scissors (剪刀) among these things. But for Shi Qinling, scissors are always with her everywhere she goes.

Shi is a paper-cutting artist. She took an interest in paper-cutting when she was a child. At that time, she often played with paper, cutting it into different shapes. This interest later became a great love for paper-cutting. In 2010, Shi started learning paper-cutting and also got a good job about it in Shanghai.

At first, it was very boring for Shi because she had to spend at least eight hours cutting one shape every day. However, when she was able to try a more difficult shape, Shi would get a sense of achievement. That made her try harder.

After nearly 12 years of learning and hard work, the 35-year-old became the youngest paper-cutting inheritor (继承人) in Shanghai. She is great.

Although she is so good at paper-cutting, she keeps doing things to improve herself. The reason is that she thinks paper-cutting is not only an art form, but also a form of learning about traditional Chinese culture.

Shi plans to make more creative works of art to draw people to learn paper-cutting. She says, “Writers tell stories using words. I do something similar, but with a pair of scissors.”

On Sept. 19,2014 Alibaba went public on the New York Stock Exchange（纽约证券交易所）, raising $25 billion through an IPO(公司股票的首次公开发行), the biggest in the US history. It   shows that Ma Yun has done his business successfully. The short Chinese man seems to be the tallest in the world right now. Ma, who was an English teacher, has become one of the richest men on the Chinese mainland.

Born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, Ma grew up as a happy kid. At the age of 12, he wanted to learn English. Every morning, he woke up at 5 a.m. , cycling 40 minutes to a hotel near the West Lake where he could chat with foreign tourists.

On a trip to the US in 1995,Ma was shown the Internet for the first time. Seeing the chance, Ma returned to China and set up a website called China Pages without even knowing much about computers.

Four years later,18 people including Ma, his wife and his friends founded Alibaba in Hangzhou. People called him "Crazy Jack Ma". But 15 years later, Alibaba has developed into the world's largest e-commerce（电子商务）company.

No one thinks he's mad now. Ma' s favorite line has been printed on Alibaba's souvenir T-shirts. It reads, "Everybody should have a dream. What if that dream comes true?"

【推荐2】What is the difference between a fear and a phobia（恐惧症）？Somebody might have a fear of dogs. But if the fear has started to change a person's life，he or she probably has a phobia.

Flying may be the safest way to travel，but many people are scared of doing it. Fear of heights is also very common. For example，Spiderman actor Tobey Maguire can't stand high places. However，Tobey is not afraid of spiders that most people are afraid of. Rupert Grint，who plays in the Harry Potter movies，is（A）in fear of spiders.

（B）Some people have phobias that are more unusual. For example，cats are very cute for most of us，but not for such powerful people in history as Alexander the great and Napolean Bonaparte. Actor Nicole Kidman says，"I'm not scared of snakes or spiders，but I'm scared of butterflies. Sometimes when I came home from school，the biggest butterfly I had ever seen would be just sitting on our front gate. I would climb over the fence，move slowly to the side of the house，or do anything to avoid having to go through the front gate." Clowns are not so funny for actor Johnny Depp，whose childhood memory of the "painted faces and fake smiles" still makes him scared.

If you like unusual places, you should visit the Hebrides Islands（岛）. Not many people live on these islands in the northwest of Scotland. The land is not good for farming. It’s only good for keeping sheep. The winters are long, cold, and wet. It’s hard to make a living on the Hebrides, but for a visitor, these islands can be very special.

They’re not for everyone, however. Even in summer it is cool and windy. The water is too cold for swimming. There are no forests, and there are only a few trees and green fields. Instead of fields, there are just rocks（岩石）and small plants. The hills, too, are just piles of rocks. Sometimes the view（风景）looks like pictures of the moon.

But there is beauty in this place. From the beach you can often see all the way to the rocky hills. From the hills you can see far out to other islands and the open ocean（海洋）. The colors, too, are special. Blue is everywhere. It’s in the sky and in the ocean. It is in the tiny flowers that grow on the hills. In the spring there is also green in the hills. In the summer and fall the hills are more purple. Often the air is soft and gray with clouds and rain.

On these islands you can forget about the rest of the world. The evenings are quiet. The restaurants close early, and there isn’t any nightlife. Visitors stay at a guest house or a Bed and Breakfast. This is the best way to learn about life on the islands. The islanders are often friendly, and they like to talk.

If you want to meet islanders, you can also try the pubs（酒吧）or even the shops. People are in no hurry here. They like to chat about the weather or the fishing. There are also some tourist shops, but not many. They sell the usual tourist things. They also sell some beautiful clothes made of wool from the islands.

Do not come to the Hebrides for shopping. Come to walk in the clean, cool air. Come for the quiet beauty and for the views.