【推荐2】Paul received an expensive car from his brother as a Christmas present. One day, when Paul came out of his office, a boy was walking around the shining car. “Is this your car?” he asked.

Paul answered, “Yes, my brother gave it to me for Christmas.” The boy was surprised. “You mean your brother gave it to you and it cost you nothing? Paul, I wish...”   he hesitated （犹豫）.

Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to wish he had a brother like that. But what the boy said surprised Paul.

The boy said, “I wish that I could be a brother like that.” Paul looked at the boy in surprise. Then he asked, “Would you like to take a ride in my car?”

“Yes, I'd love to.”

After a short ride, the boy said, “Paul, would you mind stopping the car in front of my house?”

Paul smiled. He thought he knew what the boy wanted. He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big car. But Paul was wrong again.

The boy ran into his home.Then in a short while Paul heard him coming back. He was carrying his little crippled （残疾的）brother. He seated him down and pointed to the car.

“There it is, Buddy. His brother gave it to him and it cost him nothing. Some day I’m going to give you one just like it.”

Paul lifted the boy to the front seat of his car. The older brother sat beside him and the three of them began an unforgettable ride.

Mike lives in the country (乡村), and he loves playing in the river near his house.     1     And he moves there with his family.

Their new house has a garden, but the garden is very small.     2     "Is there a river near here?" he asks his mother on the first morning.

"No, there isn't. But there is a beautiful park near here, Mike, and there is a pool in it.     3     "

Mike is happier now.     4     Mike wants to walk near the pool, but there is a sign in front of it.

His mother reads it to him.

Warning (警告): No swimming!     5       46 people have fallen (掉落) into it.

Mike looks into the pool carefully, and says, "But I can't see them."

【推荐1】Please look at my family photo. Those are my grandparents. They are seventy but they often have sports. These are my parents. My mother is a teacher. She gets up early and she likes noodles for breakfast. She often plays ping-pong at night. My father is a doctor. He goes to bed late and he doesn’t do sports. That is my brother, Eric. He often has milk and bread for breakfast. He plays soccer at weekends. This is me. My name is Alan. I like blue very much. My sweaters, T-shirts and trousers are all blue. For breakfast, I like eggs, milk and some cakes. I don’t like playing soccer. I just watch soccer on TV. Sometimes I play tennis with my friends after school. It’s fun.

【推荐2】My grandmother is fifty-six years old. She loves to plant a lot of flowers. She likes animals because she thinks they are cute. And she enjoys cooking, but the dishes don’t taste good. She doesn’t like sports at all.

My grandmother has two pretty big eyes and she has long brown hair. She looks really beautiful. She always has a bright smile on her face and all the neighbors like to talk to her. We all think she’s also very generous and likes to help others. She often gives food to poor people. Sometimes, she gives them money to help them.

My grandmother is very popular with her friends and grandchildren. She often tells stories to us. We spend a lot of happy time together. But sometimes, she is strict with us because she hopes that we can get into a good university（大学） in the future.

We love our grandmother and hope she will be healthy and happy forever.

【推荐3】Mrs. White asks Monica, “Do you want to have a treasure hunt (寻宝游戏)? ”

“Yes, Mom.” Monica says. Mrs. White gives (给) her a green note (便条). It says, “You can find books in it.” Monica comes to the bookcase and sees a yellow note in it. It says, “You can sit on it.”

Monica comes to her bed, but she can’t find a note. She comes to her chair and sees a red note. “You can find your tape in it.” It says.

Monica comes to her tape player and sees an orange note next to it. It says, “Call 786-0987.” Monica comes to the phone and calls 786-0987. “Hello? This is Aunt Maria.”

“Oh, Aunt Maria, my treasure (珍宝) is you!” says Monica.

【推荐2】A farmer had a cow. He took very good care of this cow and one day when it was ill, he was very worried. He telephoned the vet.

“What’s the problem?” The vet asked him when he arrived. “My cow’s ill,” the farmer said. “I don’t know what’s the matter with her. She’s lying down and won’t eat. She's making a strange noise.”

The vet looked over the cow. “She’s certainly ill,” he said, “and she needs to take some very strong medicine.” He took a bottle out of his box, put two pills into his hand and said, “Give her these. The pills should make her better.”

“How should I give them to her?” the farmer asked. The vet gave him a tube (管子)and said, “Put this tube in her mouth, then put the pills in the tube and blow. That'll make it.”

The next day the vet came to the farm again. The farmer was sitting outside his house and looked more worried. “How’s your cow?” the vet asked. “No change,” the farmer said, “and I’m feeling very strange myself.” “Oh?” the vet said, “Why?” “I did what you said,” the farmer answered. “I put the tube in the cow’s mouth and then put two pills down it.” “And?” the vet asked. “The cow blew first,” the farmer said.

【推荐3】I am Mike Smith, a doctor from London. I really feel that life in China is changing so quickly. Recently I had a business trip to Tianjin. I left my Beijing apartment and walked half a street to the subway station. About twelve stops later, I reached the high-speed rail station. After two minutes of security (安检), I picked up my ticket, which I had bought on my phone while on the subway. Then I walked to the terminal (终点站) and got on the train. Twenty-eight minutes later, I was in the center of a beautiful city—Tianjin. I could enjoy a nice walk along the riverside towards my hotel. It is amazing that the whole experience took no more than a few hours, with no cars, no airports, no credit cards (信用卡) and no long lines, just my smart phone, only a few US dollars and comfortable walking shoes. In most places in the developed world, there is no experience like this. But China is different.

So in my opinion, if we think highly of China’s modern wonders, I believe its high-speed rail system must be one of them. And it's one symbol of a new China and a sign of China’s strength (实力) as well.