A hobby is something you enjoy doing when you're free.     ①     . Western people like to try exciting new things. They like to go on adventures（冒险）and often do something physically  challenging（体力挑战）.     ②     . They usually do something like handwriting or painting for fun.

Hobbies can bring us great joy as well as a lot of knowledge.     ③     . Making things can develop our imagination（想象力）and creation （创造力）. Sports can help us stay healthy. Hobbies are fun.     ④     . Sometimes we have to spend a lot of time studying

for our hobbies. But I think that if you really enjoy doing something, you should never give up. And then you will have a lot of fun with your hobby.

Everyone Can Change the World

    What can we do to help protect the environment? It seems useless to just pick up a piece of trash, but what will happen if you keep doing it every day? Tommy Kleyn, an ordinary man from the Netherlands, may give you the answer.

    Tommy Kleyn walked past a polluted river on his way to work every day. It used to be a beautiful view, but the trash on the bank made it dirty and smelly. So Tommy decided to pick up the trash along the river a little bit at a time after work. "It took me about 30 minutes to fill one garbage bag with trash, but one garbage bag didn't seem helpful in a place as polluted as this. I decided to fill one bag of trash each day as I passed by," Tommy said. Every day, Tommy took pictures of the river and shared them on his Facebook page. To his surprise, in just six days, he had made great progress with his cleanup effort. He felt happy and kept doing it. Gradually, more and more people knew about Tommy's story. Other people in the community began following in his footsteps and cleaning up trash on their way home, too.

    "The idea is to encourage people to fill one garbage bag with litter each day. It only takes 30 minutes, but it really makes a difference and you will be amazed at how good you feel afterwards," he said.

    People from all over the world have been moved and inspired by Tommy's story. No effort is useless if we keep doing it every day. Ordinary people like you and me can also make a difference to the world we live in if we take actions right now.

    In common with many countries, Britain has serious environmental problems. In 1952, more than 4,000 people died in London because of the smog. The government introduced new laws to stop smog from coal fires and factories and the situation improved a lot.

    Today, London is much cleaner but there is a new problem: smog from cars. Part of the problem is the new "out of town" shopping centers. In the past, people often walked to shops near their home. Now, many people drive to the new shopping centers. So, the small shops have disappeared and more people have to travel to do their shopping.

    Critics (批评家) think that Britain needs cheaper public transport. An early morning train trip from Glasgow to London (about 600km) can cost about £100, for example. A 15-minute bus trip can cost over £1. 00.

    Many people are trying to reduce the use of cars in Britain. Some cities now have special bicycle paths and many people cycle to work. Some people also travel to work together in one car to reduce the pollution and the cost.

Dear Mr. Zhang,

    Next week, a group of exchange students (交换生) from the USA will come to visit Taizhou.

    I make a plan for them. We will eat breakfast at our school first. Then we can take them to Mei Lanfang's Former House (故居) by bus. It takes only 25minutes. They can learn to sing Beijing opera there. In the afternoon, we will go to Tiandehu Park and take some photos there. In the park we can have a picnic as our lunch. Then we will go to the cinema to watch a new film. After that the girls can go to the shopping malls to buy things they like and we will take the boys to our school playground to play football for one and a half hours.

    In the evening we shall invite(邀请) them for dinner in a restaurant. They can try Chinese food. I' m sure they will have a good time in our city.

Yours love,

Tony

    Chinese are very generous when they begin to educate their children. No caring about money, parents often send their children to the best schools or even abroad. They also want their children to take extra-course activities because they think their children may have a good start in life. The Chinese believe that the more expensive an education is, the better it is. So parents will spend a lot of money on education.

    However, what most parents fail to see is that the best education they can give their children is usually very cheap. Parents can see that their children are skilled in some areas while poor in others. What most parents fail to realize is that today's children are lack of(缺乏)self-respect and self-confidence.

    The problem is that parents are only educating their children on how to study well, but parents are not teaching them the most important skills they need to be confident, happy and clever.

    Parents can achieve this by teaching practical skills like cooking, sewing and doing other housework. These activities are teaching a child not only to read, but also to think. And that is more important.