It is a very common thing for a person to have a good friend. My good friend is Linda. She is a rich and proud girl. She often thinks that she is too good for anyone, so nobody wants to be her friend.

One day after school, I was waiting for Linda when Lucy came up to me. She gave me a biscuit and I accepted it. We talked and joked, and from then on, I began to spend more time with Lucy than with Linda. I felt a little uneasy.

After a few days, I went to see Linda when Lucy came and sat with me. She offered me a sandwich. She also offered one to Linda, but Linda refused it. She walked away. I was angry with Linda for being so rude and thoughtless.

"Never mind," Lucy said. "I'm used to it. "

After school, I tried to catch up with Linda.

While walking home, I tried to correct her attitude(态度), but she would not listen to me. She said, "Go and join your 'dear' Lucy. I know you make new friends and forget the old ones. "

For the next few weeks, we did not talk to each other. Then, one day, Linda came to Lucy and me, saying," I'm really sorry about what I did. I'm a spoiled (宠坏的)girl, but I also need good friends just like you. Would you please forgive(原谅) me?" Lucy and I looked at each other and smiled. From then on, Linda, Lucy and I have been best friends.

Qian Xuesen was born in Shanghai on December 11th, 1911. He is known as" the father of China's space program" and" the king of the rocket".

When he was 24 years old, Qian Xuesen went to America for further study. After graduation, he worked in America for a few years, where his working conditions were better. In the early 1950s, he heard New China had been founded (建立) and decided not to stay in America any more. He succeeded in coming back to his motherland in 1955 though the American government tried to stop him.

In 1956, Qian Xuesen suggested setting up a special organization, which later became the leading organization for China's rocket and air travel programs. In June 1964, China successfully created its first medium rocket. Qian Xuesen also played an important role in developing China's first man- made satellite (卫星). On April 24. 1970, "Dongfanghong-1"was successfully sent into the air.

Zhu Yilin, who was said to be the last student of Qian Xuesen, once said," I learned a lot of professional knowledge as well as the spirit and attitude that a scientist should have from Mr. Qian, especially his deep love for the motherland. Without that, he couldn't have helped to develop science and technology when New China was badly in need of scientists for its development. Without that, he wouldn't have made the great contribution(贡献) to rocket industry in the late 19508 and early 1960s when conditions in China were too hard."

Hello, everyone. I'd like to have a brief introduction to the overseas study group. There will be group members visiting the USA. We will start our journey at 19:00 on August 15th from Shanghai and will arrive in at 22: 15. From August 16th to 23rd we'll in Harrison Middle School. As for the nights, we'll stay at the local students', so that we'll have more time to practise our spoken English. After that, we'll tour some large , and the last stop is San Francisco. On August 27th, we'll fly back to our homeland, and we'll enjoy our parents' warm hugs the next day.

Do you know howimportant it is to have breakfast? A study of 2,000 teenagers in the US showedthat eating breakfast daily is helpful to young people.

According to the study,teenagers eating breakfast weigh around 5 pounds less than teenagers not eatingbreakfast. Although they take in more calories(卡路里)in the morning, they are more active during the day because they have more energy.This means they burn (燃烧) more calories than non-breakfasteaters. The breakfast does not even have to be very healthy, as eatinganything is better than nothing.

The study also showsthat eating breakfast keeps  teenagersfeeling full for longer, so they will not eat too many snacks(零食) later in the day. This is good news as most popular snacks, likesweets and potato chips, are usually unhealthy and full of calories.

Another big advantageof eating breakfast is that it helps teenagers do better at school. This isbecause it gives them more energy to keep their attention in class.

What's more, a studyin the UK shows that adults(成年人) eatingbreakfast daily put on less weight and also perform better at work.

Whatever your age is,take time to have breakfast every day.

What would the world be like if cars could drive themselves? Imagine seeing an empty car passing by on its way to pick up its owner or a car full of passengers who are reading, listening to music or even sleeping. But none of them are worried about the road ahead.

Well, all of this could be the future of driving. There are several companies, including Google, working on driverless cars. So far, no Google self-driven cars have gotten a traffic ticket(罚单), but some of them have been in accidents when other cars hit them.

These cars are now still in the testing stages(阶段). But, if the tests are successful, these electric self-driven cars could be put into use very soon.

The cars have many advantages. They are able to park themselves, or slow down when they notice objects close by. They can also control the speed if there is danger.

Scientists and engineers believe, with the help of wireless signals (无线信号), cameras and GPS, creating a safe self-driven car might be possible. The cause of deadly (致死的) road accidents is usually careless drivers or bad conditions. The self-driven car may be able to prevent(阻止) these. However, some people don't like the idea. American lawyer Whit

Drake does not believe these cars are safe. He thinks the possibility of technology making a mistake will be too high.

Sarah the seagull(海鸥) and her mum lived in New York by the sea.

Every day Sarah and her mum would fly over the waves, diving(潜水) in to eat the small fish in the shallow water. Sometimes people would feed Sarah and her mother a sandwich or some potato chips. They always had a lot to eat. At night, Sarah and her mother would rest under the roof of a nearby building. It was a quite warm place to live in.

But one day it started to get colder. The little fish always swimming in the waves were a lot harder to find. There were no more people coming to the beach, so no one was there to feed Sarah and her mother any sandwiches or chips.

"It is time to fly south for the winter," said Sarah's mum. "Why?" asked Sarah. "Because it has got too cold here," explained Sarah's mum. "There is no food, and it will soon get even colder.""     ▲   " said Sarah. "Don't worry," said Sarah's mum." We will come back when it is warm again. We are birds. We can change where we live and still be happy. We can have more than one home."

So Sarah and her mum said goodbye to the beach and flew away. They flew and flew, until they were out of the cold and back into the warm weather. They flew all the way to Miami, Florida.

There, they found a new beach. It was filled with fish, and there were lots of people to give them sandwiches and chips. Sarah's mum even found a new roof for them to sleep under.

"I like this new home," said Sarah." It is warm, and we have food. This is a nice place too.

"I told you it would be nice," said Sarah's mum.

"And when it gets warmer in New York again, we will go back. That is the nice part about being a bird.

We can fly to new places whenever we want. "

Whenever I'm invitedto somebody's house for the first time, I'll take a close look at their bookshelves.What they keep on their shelves, in my eyes, is a reflection(反映)of their personal tastes and interests. The books on a bookshelftell the story of a life.

My own shelves are akind of road map through my life, telling a chronological tale. First up comemy favourite childhood reads, like WatershipDown and His Dark Materials. The collection then moves on to teenage thingsI read in school- Nineteen Eight- Four, TheHandmaid's Tale and A Clockwork Orange. Finally, we come out of full-timeeducation and enter the real world, and this part is a reflection of myprofessional(职业的)life, from the firstexciting days of work experience to the present.

If you pointed to anybook on my shelves, I could name the year I got it, where I was working, and probablywhere I was living at the time.

    ▲    Itis an easy way to get to know about his hopes, dreams and interests. And a bigpart of that story is how we arrange(排列)ourbooks, and get on with them. It's such a personal thing, different from eachother. Some want to be with their books in every room. Others have them onshelves, behind glass or simply lining their floors. Each home has a story to tellthrough the way they live with their books.

It's often said thatwhat we read says something about who we are. The way we fill our bookshelves mightalso send a message about ourselves. From the pile of books on your bedsidetable to your well-organised shelves, whether we notice it or not, our bookcollections are telling a story before a single page has been turned.

In 1980, I went to Italy for business. One day, I sat with my friend in a well-known coffee shop in a neighbouring town of Venice(威尼斯), Italy, the city of lights and 1.

As we enjoyed our coffee, a young man 2 glasses entered and sat at an empty table beside us. He called the waiter and placed his order saying, "Two cups of coffee, one of them there 3 the wall."

We heard this order with interest and found that the waiter brought him one cup of coffee but he paid for 4.

When he left, the waiter 5 a piece of paper on the wall saying "A Cup of Coffee".

While we were still there, 6 middle aged men entered and ordered three cups of coffee, two on the table and one on the wall. They had two cups of coffee but 7 three and left. This time also, the waiter did the same. He put a piece of paper on the wall saying "A Cup of Coffee".

It was 8and perplexing(困 惑的)for us. We finished our coffee, paid the bill and left.

After a few days, we had a chance 9this coffee shop again. While we were enjoying our coffee, a man 10" dressed entered. As he seated himself, he 11the wall and said, "One cup of coffee from the wall."

The waiter served coffee to this man with the customary(惯常的) respect. The man had his coffee and left 12 paying.

We were amazed to watch all this, as the waiter 13 a piece of paper from the wall and threw it into the rubbish bin.

Now it was no 14 for us-the matter was very clear. The inhabitants(居民) of this town showed great respect for the poor, then it 15our eyes well up in tears.

Many years later, when I went to Venice for business again, I did the same thing as my appreciation to this beautiful world.

Brandon Forest Park is a place of interest. This large woodland is home to many birds. and other wildlife. It's open all year round to visitors.

In the centre of the park is the Forest Shop and Cafe. You can buy maps in the shop and there are all kinds of gifts and souvenirs on sale as well.

The Cafe is open from 9 am to 7 pm on Saturday and Sunday. It is open from 9 am to 3 pm from Monday to Friday. But on Wednesday it's shut all day.

There's also a large area for visitors to, enjoy a picnic lunch. But please don't throw rubbish.

Bicycles are for hire (租用). For an hour it costs $3.5 and for half a day it's $9. 79.

Special events are held at the park during the summer. There's going to be an outdoor play, a concert and a horse riding race this summer.

More information about the park can be found on our website www. Brandon forest park. com.

Mr Tang often smokedcigarettes(香 烟) in his school's washingroom. He started smoking at the age of 14. One day he learnt that thebasketball star Yao Ming, am ambassador (大使) to theChinese Association on Tobacco Control(中 国控烟协会), askedpeople not to smoke. Yao Ming was Tang's favourite star, and his words meant alot to him. He decided to give up smoking.

According to theChinese Association on Tobacco Control, about 310 million Chinese smoke. Among them,50 million are teenagers. A professor of Peking University said,"Teenagers can get cigarettes easily, especially when their parents smoke, orshops offer cigarettes to them. It's very important for parents to help theirchildren stop smoking."

A 15-year-old boynamed Li Kun from Bejing said his family didn't smoke. Because they thought smokingcould make people feel badly ill, they only allowed him to play with friendswithout smoking. Living in such a good family helped Li say no to cigarettes.Some of his smoking classmates once told Li that smoking made boys look nice, butLi disagreed. He said," Smoking is unhealthy and it's not cool at all.Please stop smoking now!"