Subways are important in our life.     1     It is 48. 54 kilometers long and has 24 stops.

At about 6:00 every morning, many farmers from the villages in Shichuan Town come to take the subway.     2     In the past, the farmers had to sell them in town. There were not many people in town, so they sold vegetables slowly and cheaply.

Now the subway makes their life easy.

Usually people can walk into the subway station at 6:15 a.m. But the workers let the farmers get in five minutes earlier. They are friendly and often come to help them.     3    

Not long ago, some people wanted the farmers not to take the subway. They thought their big baskets brought some problems. But the subway station supports (支持) what the farmers do.     4     And there will be cleaners to clean the subway if their vegetables make it dirty (脏的). What a warm reply (回应)!

5 . It was my birthday last Thursday. I decided to celebrate by inviting a few friends out to supper. I chose a restaurant in a quiet part of town. It is one of my favourite restaurants because the food is good and the waiters are friendly.     1     so it is not usually necessary to book a table. In any case, Thursday is not a busy evening as before.

    2    . I looked around but no table was free. One of the waiters recognized me. He came across and explained the situation. “A party of tourists came in about half an hour ago,” he said. “It was like an invasion (侵略) .Suddenly the place was full! We can hardly manage.”

The waiter then pointed to a table in the corner. Fifteen minutes later, the people at the corner table paid their bill and left. I led my friends across and we all sat down.

Unluckily, our table was almost out of sight. We tried to call the attention of the waiter who sent us there, but he was busy with the party of tourists. An hour later, the tourists were finishing their meal and looking very satisfied with life. The waiter, now very tired, appeared at our table.     3    

A few moments later he returned to our table. We could tell from his face that he had bad news for us.     4     “All we can offer you,” he said, “is an omelet (煎蛋卷)!”

Good morning, boys and girls. My name is Grace Smith. My first name is Grace.     1     And it’s also my family name. Nice to meet you!

I’m a middle school student. Look! This is my ID card.     2     We have to bring along this card all the time in school. Here is my pencil case. I have a new pen.     3     It’s brown. It’s a birthday gift from my mother, so I like it very much. What’s that? It’s a blue ruler.     4     R-U-L-E-R. It’s my brother’s ruler. He is 14 years old. I am younger (更年轻) than he. We go to the same school.

Harbin is the capital of Heilongjiang Province (省) in the north-east of China. Harbin is famous for its cold winters.     1    

Every year, millions of people from all over the world visit Harbin.     2     The festival usually begins in January. During the festival, visitors can enjoy the beautiful Ice and Show World.     3     They can go skating and skiing too. If you like ice and snow, you will love Harbin.

    4     Tourists can see many traditional buildings in the city. If you take a walk down Central Street, you can see many nice European (欧洲的) style buildings. People also call this street “the Eastern Moscow (东方莫斯科)”.

Come and visit Harbin. You will love it!

9 . With every new school year comes a fresh start. What are you going to do differently and better? When you are preparing yourself, keep in mind the following:

    1     When you miss a day, or even a class, it’s easy to fall behind. The best way to stay with the development of the class is to be there! If you have to miss a class, make sure you meet with your teacher to find out what you missed. Also, listen carefully. and take notes in class. Don’t write down everything, just the main points.

Ask questions.     2     Believe it or not, most teachers want you to learn and they are always there to help you. If you aren’t comfortable asking questions in front of the class, go to talk to the teacher after class.

Take your homework seriously. Like it or not, homework is a necessary part of school. There’s not much you can do to get around it.     3     If possible, you can find a study partner and do homework with him or her.

Try new things and get new friends. Try a new sport, something you think you will be good at. If sports aren’t your thing, try joining a club. Keep your old friends, but get some new ones, too.     4    

Remember, it’s up to you to decide what kind of school year you’re going to have. Make full use of it while you can!