2 . Parks around the world

Hyde Park, London, England

There are many parks in London. Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, which covers over 350 acres. There are paths for people on bicycles and there are often open - air concerts held in the park.

Park Güell, Barcelona, Spain

In this park, designed by Antony Gaudi, there are different houses in different colours. There are also things like a colourful dragon. At the top of the park is a terraced area where you can get a wonderful view of the city of Barcelona and the sea.

Stanley Park, Vancouver, Canada

Vancouver is a city near the sea and mountains. There is beautiful Stanley Park in the city centre, covering an area of one thousand acres. It is the largest park in North America. There are First Nations totem poles (图腾柱) in the park.

Ueno Park, Tokyo, Japan

Ueno Park is an old park in the city of Tokyo and there are hundreds of beautiful cherry trees. In April and May every year, the trees are pink or white.

Chapultepec Park, Mexico City, Mexico

This is the largest urban park in Latin America. It's a very important green space in this big city. Containing nine museums, a zoo, an amusement park, and a variety of green recreational spaces, Chapultepec Park is an invaluable place for the city residents and its visitors.

4 . Different countries celebrate Christmas in different ways. We asked some of our friends to explain what happens in their countries. This is what they told us:

France

In France, Christmas is always called Noël. Everyone has a Christmas tree, sometimes decorated in the old way with red ribbons and real white wax candles. Fir trees in the garden are often decorated too with lights on all night.

Father Christmas is called Père Noël. The Christmas meal is an important family gathering with good meat and the best wine. Few people send Christmas cards. More people send New Year cards to wish everyone good luck and joy for the New Year. These days Christmas lunch is a starter of foie gras (a strong tasting pate made from goose liver) followed by lunch of seafood — usually including lobsters and oysters.

New Zealand

Christmas starts for us with gifts under the tree, to be opened on Christmas morning. Then it’s onto a Christmas lunch either at home or at one’s parents place. Turkey or chicken with all the trimmings (佐料) is eaten. Then comes tea time. It is a BBQ for friends and family to get together, and have a few beers or wines with the meal!

Russia

In the days of the Soviet Union, Christmas was not celebrated very much. New Year was the important time — when “Father Frost” brought presents to children. With the fall of Communism, Christmas can be openly celebrated either on December 25th; or more often on January 7th. This unusual date is because the Russian Orthodox church uses the old “Julian” calendar for religious celebration days. Special Christmas food includes cakes, pies and “meat dumplings”.

Sweden

The most important day is Christmas Eve. A special Christmas meal is eaten on Christmas Eve — ham (pork), herring fish, and brown beans — and this is the time when families give presents to each other. Many people attend a church meeting early on Christmas Day.

6 . I Still Look for Patches

Aren’t we lucky, when we had a childhood friend willing to be our everlasting, faithful companion(同伴)？I can still remember the day I met my special _________ .

One spring evening, my mother and I patiently waited for my father to come home. His_________ in the doorway made no clear impression on my mind. Suddenly, I heard a_________ “Yip”. “Did I hear something? Daddy, please tell me. What was that?”

As he_________ his pocket he answered, “Nothing. It was only my pocket.” The look on my face must have been a sign of_________.

“Amy!” Softly, daddy called.

I slowly turned around to look at daddy’s_________. There, crawled in his palm was a little dog. _________ several brown spots on her white fur, I named her, “Patches(斑点).”

Patches became a_________ and blame taker. If I was troubled, I could depend on her two ears to listen_________ to everything I had to say. If unfortunately I broke a glass, my trusting companion would willingly__________ responsibility. Her__________ devotion(奉献) only made it hard to separate from her.

When I was about 10, my family moved into a house which wasn’t__________ enough to contain a dog. Sadly, we had to__________ her. My auntie, owning a house with vast pieces of land, __________ her.

I can still remember her eyes__________ at me forlornly(可怜地) as she left. The__________ in her eyes will be with me forever.

I saw her once or twice before she__________. Until my dying day, I shall always expect to see her. I believe that, to this very day, she is still trying to find her way back to her true home. Because I have no__________ that she died, I continue to have faith. The picture is__________ in my mind: a thin white dog comes jumping up, __________ me in loving dog kisses.

8 . It happened in a small office of the immigration authority in the German city. It was a hot day in May when I stopped being a( n) _________.

It had been a _________ road that had brought me to this door: a childhood in India, a 14-year stay in the US and finally a life of 25 years in Germany. In all those years, I’d   _________ my Indian citizenship, though hesitating over whether to _________ the identity because of the inability to vote in Germany.

Now, approaching retirement, I want to spend more time in where I grew up. I was afraid, though, that more than six months’ _________ could result in a loss of my resident status in Germany, which over the years had become my _________ . And I knew I couldn’t _________ to let this door to Germany close forever. If so, what would my family do without me?

At 3 pm I knocked _________ on the door, uneasy and went in. The official, a middle-aged woman asked me to take a seat when she got my file out. I wasn’t sure if I’d have to show some documents to prove I’m _________ to get the citizenship in Cermany. Actually, she didn’t asked me to show anything. She just handed me a half page text in German and asked me to __________ it out. I started reading it, but she __________ me, saying mildly, “Please read all, including the place and state. ”So I started again. It was an oath (誓言) I was reading, swearing to be __________ to this country and to __________ all the social rules. Then she asked me to sign to give up my Indian __________. My eyes were full of tears, reading the citizenship certificate she handed me. We shook hands. No photograph, no flowers - just a __________ handshake. To __________ my tears, I said it was a huge step in my life, however, a terrible __________ as well. I watched sadly as she took my old Indian passport away. “Can I get it back after it’s been __________?” I asked. "That’s something you’ll have to ask the Indian consulate (领事馆) , ”she said. "It’s their __________, not ours, and certainly not yours. ”

Now I could live in Germany, vote, and travel to many countries without needing a visa. However, why did I feel so __________?