Britain is f{#blank#}1{#/blank#}as a country of animal lovers, and a many families have at least one pet. Americans also like animals, and about 60% of American families have a pet. People from other countries say that Americans think so much about animals and take them as well as people.

    At weekends people have many ways to see other animals. Many towns have a river with ducks. In Britain, people v{#blank#}2{#/blank#}farm parks, zoos, bird parks, and sea life parks.

    TV s{#blank#}3{#/blank#}about animals are very popular. Children are i{#blank#}4{#/blank#} in animals when they are very small. Children's life is wonderful b{#blank#}5{#/blank#}there are many different animals. Many animals in books have their own character: foxes are cunning(狡猾的), and cats are kind.

    We can watch stories about animals on TV. Animal World is very good. We can know more about animals. And we can see many other animals we can't see in our life.

    Animals are our friends and we s{#blank#}6{#/blank#}take the animals as our friends.

    It was Day 1 of our vacation on Cortes, a beautiful quiet island. "iPhone, iPhone, iPhone," my son kept moaning (呻吟). In front of him was a big window of facing the blue ocean. And a Coo gentle wind was coming in from the door. Clearly, he saw and felt none of it.

    Back at home, I'd soon give up and hand the phone over to him after five minutes of listening to this kind of moaning

    But not here. Before we left, I had told my, 10-year-old son the rule-no e-mails, no Facebook, no video games, and no iPhone. We came here to get away from them all' Here we were on our first day and already, he couldn't stand it.

    ____________I walked down the grass road to the beach and looked out to the sea. My 6-year-old daughter and my husband were drawing on pieces of wood. They were doing just fine.

    On Day 2, we spent the whole morning digging for shells(贝壳). This time, my son joined us. He collected .shellfish and other sea treasures. When we got back to our little wood house, I gave my son a book, and put him on the lovely garden chair. It was almost dinner when he looked up.

    The next few days passed in peace.

    On Day 6, my son was lying beside me on the beach, watching the sun going down. He was playing with the sand. And there was somethingshining.in his eyes, I realized how time slowed down for both of us. It was exactly what I wanted. Finally, we were able to sit quietly, without thinking about screens, phone calls and e-mails.

    A week away from all the electronics and life is good.

Jenny is excited to go to school these days. The 13-year-old girl from South Gate Middle School in Los Angeles, US, is taking care of three green abalones(鲍鱼) at school.

The students of Violeta Llamas' science class, including Jenny, have cared for the sea animals since January. The science class has eight teams. Each team takes turns to care for the abalones. Team Five—Jenny, Alexis, Jennifer and Ricardo—have now got their turn.

The abalones are kept in a box of seawater. Every day, Alexis checks if the water has too much salt. Too much salt is bad for the health of the abalones. Jenny makes fresh seawater. Then the four students work together to clean up the waste in the box and give some food to the abalones.

    "Sea life is like a baby. You have to clean them and care for them. " Jennifer said.

Nancy Cruso, a scientist, leads the project. She said the number of green abalones is going down because people have caught too many of them. She said protecting the sea lives now depends on the young students.

"The students love taking care of the abalones. " said Llamas.

"Taking care of the abalones could open the door for those who want to be a sea life scientist or an environment protector," she said.

The students' time with the abalones will end this school year. Cruso and a team of volunteers will record the abalones and then let them return to the sea.

    Here are some nice things on the teacher's desk. They are for some of us.

    This is a yellow notebook. It is for Jenny. 1 is Jenny's favorite color. On the notebook is a2. It is for John. John is always late（迟到）for school, the watch can 3him.  Is that new green schoolbag nice？ It's 4Wang Peng. His schoolbag is too old, so he needs a new one. Oh, that is a black 5for Kate. She can listen to（听）English on it. And that is a blue pen for Bill. He 6his pen.  Mr. Li buys（买） the new one for him. Here is the 7thing. It is an English dictionary for me. I like 8, but it's not easy for me. So 9English teacher buys the dictionary for me. She thinks it can help me learn English well.

    We're very happy to have10nice things from our teachers.

    It was the summer before my third grade. Our girls' softball team was facing real pitchers (投球手)1the first time. Before that, we could just hit the ball on the tee (球座). When the coach started pitching, hitting became2for me. I missed every single pitch. From the side, I heard my teammate Emily laughing at3. My face got hot and my throat felt like it had a softball stuck in. At that moment, I was starting to4playing softball.

    The next afternoon, when Mum said it was time to play the game, I told her I was5. She allowed me to lie down for a while. So I went to my room and6myself in bed. This was difficult for me because I was fine and just7to avoid softball.

    Soon Mum came in and said, "Time to go!" She didn't even ask if I felt8. I imagined Emily laughing from the sideline, and9I really did feel sick to my stomach. I began crying loudly. Still, Mum pulled my team T-shirt over my head. She said, "You have to10for the rest of the season, and only after that we can talk about 11you'll continue next year." She added that practice was what I needed, not12. She promised to practise with me.

    I got two hits that afternoon, and Emily didn't make a13. Every week after that, I practised at home14I got to be one of the best hitters on the team.

    That15taught me that being afraid is part of life, and I can do whatever is expected of me if I keep working and practising.

Students should like vacations. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} last week, I asked some students what they did last summer vacation. Their answers surprised me a lot. Some said they just {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (stay) at home and played computer games all day. Some said they had many classes in summer school. And many students even said their vacation was {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(real) boring. The summer vacation this year is coming soon. Do you want to have a better one? Here {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (be) some tips(小建议) for you.

First, find out what you are interested in and join some clubs. Next, it's just right {#blank#}5{#/blank#} spending some time and money on some trips. Learn to be {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (friend)when you meet new friends.

If your parents take you to another country, try to learn a {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (two) language.Take some photos of the beautiful places along the way. Finally, remember to finish your homework on time{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(know) more about your new lessons in Grade Eight.

I am sure if you can use {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (you) time well and have a good plan, you will have{#blank#}10{#/blank#}wonderful summer vacation.