2 . In April, you can see a lot of pink and white cherry blossom in Japan. Most Japanese schools and buildings have cherry blossom trees outside. In Japan the school year begins in April. In some parts of the country, the first day of school is also the start of cherry blossom their family and friends. They sing, drink, eat and talk until late in the evening. Japanese people started to hold（举办）parties like this long ago.

There are more than 305 kinds of cherry blossom trees in Japan. The Japanese love cherry blossom. They think that a flower is like a man’s life, short but bright.

3 . What do we know about the sea? Most of us have seen it. We know that it looks very pretty when the sun is shining on it. We also know that it can be less pretty when the weather is terrible. What other things do we know about it?

The first thing is that the sea is very big. Look at a map of the world and you will find there is less land than sea. The sea covers 3/4 of the world. Some parts of the sea are very shallow (浅的). The sea is very deep in some places. At a place near Japan, the sea is nearly 11 kilometers deep! If the highest mountain in the world were put into the sea at the place, there would be two kilometers of water above it.

5 . There are a lot of interesting things in the world. If someone tells you that they can fish in the desert, you must think they are joking. But this is true. In some places of Africa, people can fish in the desert. It must be very interesting to get some fish from the sand. And in the woods of Asia there is a kind of bird. To our surprise, this kind of bird doesn’t eat anything but iron. I think the bird’s teeth must be harder than the iron. We all know that snakes can eat mice, but in a place in Africa, a kind of big mouse can eat snakes. Isn’t it interesting? Have you ever heard of “brush trees”? They are different from trees we know. People use branches to brush teeth, and they are good for people’s teeth.

You must be very surprised to hear these interesting things. But they are all true. In fact there are a lot of interesting things in our world. If you are careful enough, you can find them easily around you.

Now they are in Bill’s bedroom. We can see some Chinese books on the desk and on the bed there’s a shirt. It’s Bill’s. His trousers are on it, under his shirt, too.

Now let’s look at the other picture. You can see a woman and a girl in it. The woman is Bill’s mother and she’s in her daughter, Ann’s room. You can see a photo of the Whites on the wall. Between the windows is a desk. A clock is on the desk. It’s eleven. What’s that on the floor? Oh, it’s Ann’s hat. It looks like a brown hat.

8 . Jack loves travelling by train. Travelling by train is very comfortable. Most of the trains are air-conditioned, warm in winter and cool in summer. Jack usually chooses a non-smoking section, taking a seat by the window so he can enjoy the outside views. If it is a night train, the experience can be more exciting. He just sleeps the whole night and the next day he will be in a new city. By the way, he never has to worry about his meals. The train provides food 24 hours a day.

Travelling by train has another advantage（优点）: you may meet some old friends or you can listen to people talking about something of your interest. Last week when he was on a train, for example, he ran into a primary school classmate. They didn’t hope that they could bump into（偶遇）each other that way. They talked about many things: The games they played, the jokes they made on their classmates and the funny things they had done.

9 . Parents are the closest people to you in the world. They love you just because you’re their children. And they’d like to do anything for you. Like a lot of middle school students, Mary has a problem. She doesn’t get on well with her parents. “I really want to be my daddy’s little girl. But my father just doesn’t understand. He talks with me but doesn’t listen to me,” said Mary.

Do you and your parents also have problems? Well, why not take a walk and have a talk with them on Saturday? A study of last year showed that 1,500 Beijing families had the same problem as Mary’s family. The children, 12 to 15 years old, didn’t like talking with their parents much. They weren’t happy at home. Of course, lots of kids feel that way. But you and your parents will be much happier if you can be friends.

Here are some ways to have a good talk with them: Find a good time to talk, like when you’re eating dinner, going out for a walk or watching TV. Tell them something you’re interested in, or ask them to talk about their lives when they were young. They love to talk about those! Listen to them carefully, and look at them in the eyes. Be honest. Your parents will trust (信任) you more. You’ll have a happy family.

10 . In Britain, cars, buses and bikes must keep to the left side of the street. If a person wants to cross a street, he must be very careful. Before he crosses a street, he has to stop and look to the right first and then the left. While in China, we look to the left first instead. When visitors are in London, they should learn how to take buses and underground trains. The most important of all, they must know in which direction (方向) they are going and which bus and which underground train they should take. At the bus stop they should wait for their buses to come. As soon as they get on a bus, they must pay for their fares (车费).