I am glad to receive your letter.

Looking forward to your reply.

Yours,

Li Jin

2 . Like all big cities, Paris has a traffic problem: lots of cars, lots of traffic jams and lots of pollution from exhaust fumes. So the city began a project to improve the situation.

Under the Velib project (‘Velib’ comes from velo liberty, or ‘bicycle freedom’) people can take a bicycle, use it for as long as they want, and then leave it at the same or another bicycle station. The first half-hour on the bike is free, but if you don’t return it after 30 minutes, you have to pay. But it’s only €1 a day or €29 a year! The bicycles are heavy (25kg), and they are all gray and have baskets. There are about 20, 000 of them in the city, and around 1, 450 bicycle stations. So there are a lot more Velib stations than the 298 subway stations!

Paris is not the first city to have a project like this. But not everybody thinks it’s a great idea. One Parisian said, “These bicycles are only for short journeys. If people want to travel across the city, they won’t use a bicycle —they’ll still use their cars.”

A city spokesman said, “The bicycle project won’t solve all our traffic problems, of course. But it might help reduce air pollution. Traffic, together with factory fumes, is a big problem. There aren’t any simple answers to traffic problems and pollution in cities. But unless we do something now, there will be more traffic jams and temperatures will continue to rise, so the problems in our environment will get worse. The bikes might help people to lead a healthier life, too.”

How is everything going?

Yours,

Li Jin

6 . This is news on the hour, Ed Wilson reporting. The President and First Lady will visit Africa on a goodwill tour in May. They plan to visit eight African countries.

Reports from China say the Chinese want closer ties between China and the U. S. and Western Europe. A group of top Chinese scientists start their ten-nation tour next month.

Here in Miami, the mayor is still meeting with the leaders of the Teachers’ Union to try to find a way to end the strike (罢工). City schools are still closed after two weeks.

In the news about health. Scientists in California report findings of a relationship (关系) between the drinking of coffee and the increase of heart disease among women. According to the report in the American Medical Journal (杂志), the five-year study shows this. Women who drink more than two cups of coffee a day have greater chance of having heart disease than women who do not.

In sports, the Chargers lost again last night. The BBs beat them 1 to nothing. The Wingers had better results. They beat the Rifles 7 to 3. It was their first win in their last five matches.

That’s the news of the hour. And now back to more easy listening with Jan Singer.

7 . Thirteen can be a challenging age. Not only did I have to _______ my changing body, I also had to deal with the _______ move from my country home to a crowded suburb.

When we moved, my beloved _______, a small brown pony, had to be sold. Feeling alone, I couldn’t eat or sleep. I missed my friends and my pony. My father realized that and _______ an old horse for me in the market. I named him Cowboy.

Cowboy was without a doubt the _______ horse in the world, and he was pigeon-toed and knock-kneed. But I didn’t _______ his faults. I loved him beyond all reason. I joined a riding club and _______ rude comments about Cowboy’s looks. I never revealed how I felt, but deep down inside, my heart was _______. When Cowboy and I entered the events _______ the horse is judged on appearance, we were ________ out of the game. This ________ experience made me determined to do something.

And then I realized that my only chance to ________ would be in the timed-speed events. I chose barrel racing (绕桶比赛). For the whole next month I woke up early every day, rode Cowboy five miles to the arena (比赛场) and we ________ for hours in the hot sun.

My turn ________ came. At the signal, we dashed toward the first barrel, quickly whipped around it and with perfect precision ________ the second and thundered on to the third. We tore around the final curve and shot for the ________ line. No cheers filled the air. The end of our run was met with surprised ________. With the sound of my heart pounding in my ears, I heard the ________ call our time. Cowboy and I had beaten other fancy horses and won the blue ribbon!

________, I gained much more than a blue ribbon that day. At thirteen, I realized that no matter what the difficulties, I’d always come out a ________ if I wanted something badly enough to work for it. I can be the master of my own destiny.

8 . The 2024 Peace Poetry Awards

The awards contest is to encourage people to explore peace and the human spirit. There are three age categories: Adult (19 & over), Youth (13-18), and Youth (12 & under). The yearly contest is open to people worldwide. Your poems must be unpublished, and in English.

Deadline

All entries must be submitted by July 1st. 2024.

Entry Fee

Adult (19 & over) — $15

Youth (13 - 18) — $5

Youth (12 & under) — no fee

Notes

1. You may submit up to three unpublished poems. At most 30 lines per poem.

2. Include name, address, email, telephone number, and age in the upper right-hand corner of each poem. For the Youth (12 & under) category, please also include your school’s name and your teacher’s name.

3. Title each poem.

4. Please keep copies of all entries as we will be unable to return them.

5. Email your entries to: cwarner@napf.org and Click here to pay your entry fee online; or send your entries and entry fee to Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, 1622 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101.

Awards

Adult Winner — $1,000

Youth (13-18) Winner — $200

Youth (12 & under) Winner — $200

Winners will be announced by October 1st, 2024 on our website. Winners will be notified by email. Past years winning poems can be found here.

How is it going these days? The Students’ Union of my school will

Looking forward to your coming.

Yours,

Li Jin