I've got some information for everyone who are going to Britain next month. As you know, you'll be staying with a family for two weeks. Now the most important thing is money. You should take about ￡30 in cash(现金) and about ￡200 in traveller's cheques(支票). Then when you arrive at the airport, you'11 be met by your host family. You must remember to wear a red shirt so that the family can find you easily. I've told them to look out for the red shirts. You'll also need to take with you four photos of yourself and, of course, it's very important that you take the school letter. While you are there, if you have any problems, please call our agent. I'll give you her office phone number. It's 580-4436 and the person to ask for is Mrs. Belcher. She's in the office from 9: 00 to 17: 00 every day. OK! That's everything. Have a good trip.

Have you ever been to Beijing, the capital of China? The Greens have been to two of the greatest cities in the world. One is Beijing, the other one is Paris. The Greens have been in Beijing for half a month for the summer vacation. They enjoy themselves there. 4.They’ve been to many great places. During the first two days, they went to Tian’anmen Square. It’s very large and there were many people taking photos there. Next, they went to Beihai Park. They went boating there and had a boat race with other visitors. They had a great time there. 5.长城是世界上最著名的地方之一。 They climbed the Great Wall for the whole day. There were so many people on the Great Wall. The Greens were so excited that they took lots of photos there! For the last two days, they went to the Summer Palace. How beautiful Beijing is!

【推荐1】An artist had made many beautiful pictures. But he thought he had not yet painted a real beautiful thing in the world.

On his way of searching it, he met an old priest(牧师). The artist told him that he wanted to paint the most beautiful thing in the world, but he didn’t know where to find it. “How easy!” answered the priest. “It must be faith(信仰).”

The artist travelled on. Later, he met a young girl. She told him that the most beautiful thing in the world was love. Without it, there would be no beauty.

Still the artist kept on his search and met a soldier(士兵) who looked tired. The artist asked him the same question and the soldier answered, “I think it should be peace(和平).”

“But how can I paint faith, love and peace?” thought the artist as he was going on. Then he suddenly found that he had reached his house. As he walked in, his eyes lit up. In the eyes of his wife(妻子) and children, he saw faith and love.

“How we miss you, dear! We wished every day that you would come back safely,” his wife said as she ran to him. He sat on his favourite chair and his heart was at peace.

Later, the artist painted the most beautiful thing in the world—home.

Yuan Longping, “the father of hybrid rice（杂交水稻）”, is one of the most important agricultural scientists. He spends his whole life on hybrid rice.

Food was a big problem in China in the past. It was because China had 22% of the world’s population, but only 7% of its farmland. In the 1960s, China had serious hunger. Millions of people died because they had no food. Professor Yuan was very sad to see this. “How can I help people have enough food?” he thought. He decided to work on a new kind of hybrid rice that had a high output（产量）. He and his team studied the rice seeds（种子）day and night. At last, in 1973, they grew a new kind of hybrid rice. 袁隆平很高兴因为他的想法实现了。This rice is strong. Farmers can grow it in many different kinds of farmland and also in bad weather. It can also fight diseases. Its output is much higher than common kinds of rice.

Professor Yuan has already left us, but he will be remembered forever.

【推荐1】During my second year of the nursing school, our teacher gave us a test. I was a hardworking student and I did well in all the subjects. I finished the questions successfully and easily until I read the last one — “What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?”

I saw the cleaning woman almost every day. She was short, about 60 years old and had dark hair, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question empty, so did my classmates.

Just before the class ended, one student asked if the last question would influence our test grade.

“Of course,” said the teacher. “In your life, you will meet many people. All people are important and all jobs are important. They deserve (值得) your attention and care, even if all you do is to smile and to say hello to them.”

I’ve never forgotten that lesson. Actually, that was the most important lesson of my life. I also learned her name was Dorothy.

When I was little, I used to be afraid of the dark. I always thought that there was a ghost in my closet(壁橱). Houses often made strange noises at night. Sometimes I could feel eyes watching me and I was afraid to move. I thought that if I didn’t move, “they” wouldn’t get me. Usually when this happened, I wanted to go to the bathroom. So before going there I would be huddling(缩作一团) under my quilt, trying to build up the courage for scary night-time trip to the bathroom.

My fear of the dark left me when I was in my early teens. I had a dream. In my dream, I saw this ghost. He was right in front of me. I somehow found the courage. I was so angry with him that I beat him. This dream was so exciting that I can still remember it. After this dream, my fear of the dark was gone. I’m not afraid of the dark or anything else anymore.

Has anyone else had a dream like this that helped him or her?

An old man was fishing on the bank of a river. A girl came to see him fishing. The old man was really good at fishing and it didn’t take long for him to catch a full basket of fish. The old man saw that the girl was very cute, and he wanted to give her a whole basket of fish. But the girl shook her head. The old man was surprised and asked, “Why don’t you want the fish?”

The girl replied, “I want the fishing rod (竿) in your hands.”

The old man asked, “Why do you want the rod?”

“It doesn’t take long to eat all the fish in a basket. But if I have the fishing rod, I can go fishing by myself and I won’t be afraid of not having any more fish to eat.”

I think you will certainly say that the girl is very smart. Wrong! If she doesn’t know how to fish, she cannot have fish to eat, even though she has the fishing rod. It’s useless to only have a fishing rod. Fishing skills are the most important, not the fishing rod.

Too many people think that if they have a “fishing rod” in their life, they will no longer fear the wind and rain. They are just like the girl, who thought that if she had a fishing rod, she would have fish to eat.