Anna

    I work in a bank (银行). My home is near a park and is about ten kilometers from my office. I usually go to work by train. I usually get up at 6:30 a. m. and take the train at 7:00 a. m. It usually takes me about thirty minutes to get to my office. The train is quick and cheap. I am never late for work.

Joe

     I am a student. My house is near a river . My school is across from (在……对面) the river. I can walk to school.  It takes me about thirty minutes. But I often go to school by boat, because it is more fun. It takes me about twenty minutes.

    A couple (夫妇) have travelled around the world in 297 days—without taking any planes Tom Fewins and Lara Lockwood used 78 buses, 61 trains, 34 cars, 18 boats, six bicycles, and even one elephant. They wanted to prove that tourists can still be well travelled without damaging the environment. They aimed to product less than 3,000 kg of carbon dioxide(二氧化碳)， compared with six times that amount if they had gone by plane.

    They spent ten months travelling44，609 miles through l 8 countries on land and sea．The couple's world tour began in June 2008 with a two-hour bus journey to London from their home in Oxfordshire．They took the train，Eurostar，to Brussels and then caught a bus and train to Hamburg before going to Copenhagen．The couple even rode on an elephant for l 5 miles through the Chinese part of the Mekong River(湄公河)．

    The couple hoped to write a book based on their journey to teach other travellers how to travel without damaging the environment．

    Years ago in Scotland, the Clark Family had a dream. Mr. Clark and his wife worked and saved, making plans for their nine children and themselves to travel to the United States. It had taken years, but they had finally saved enough money and had received passports and tickets for the whole family to travel on a new ship going to the United States{#blank#}1{#/blank#} However, seven days before their departure, the youngest son was bitten by a dog. Because of the possibility of rabies(狂犬病), he was not allowed to leave the house for fourteen days.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}They would not be able to make the trip to America as they had planned. The father, filled with disappointment and anger, watched the ship leave--without the Clark family. The father was really disappointed and complained both his son and God for their bad luck.

    Five days later, terrible news spread across Scotland. The huge Titanic had sunk(下沉){#blank#}3{#/blank#}The Clark family was to have been on that ship but because the son had been bitten by a dog, they were left behind in Scotland.

    When Mr. Clark heard the news, he hugged his son and thanked him for saving the family. He thanked God for saving their lives and turning what he had felt was a bad thing into good luck{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

A. The family's dream was broken.

B. Although we may not always understand, all things happen for a reason.

C. Nothing is impossible if we put heart into it.

D. The family was filled with excitement about their new life.

E. The unsinkable ship had sunk, taking hundreds of lives with it.

    As Grade Nine students, we are as busy as bees. Every day we have to spend a lot of time finishing our homework, so we don't have much time to do sports. However, almost all the students realize the importance of exercise. We still try to spare time(课余时间) to do sports after school.

    Tom (a 15-year-old boy from Class 9)

    Doing sports is part of my life. As soon as the bell of the last class rings every day, I will be excited and rush out of the classroom to play football with my classmates in the football field. Playing football can help me keep healthy and always make me energetic(精力充沛的). In this way I can learn better later on.

    Lucy (a 14-year-old girl from Class 6)

    Rope skipping(跳绳) is my favorite sport. I often do it with my sister Lily. We want to take part in the school rope skipping competition(竞赛). So we practice it again and again so as to win the competition.

    Jim (a 16-year-old boy from Class 2)

My dream is to be a professional runner. I usually train hard every day so that I can make my dream come true. Sometimes my parents are not happy. They say I spend too much time in running. But I never go running during the class. I do it after school. I don't think it has any bad effects on my study.

    Information Card

    In English, people use many expressions(表达) with the word "dog". People in the west love their dogs and treat them well. Dogs without owners to care for them lead a very different kind of life: The expression' to lead a dog's life" means living an unhappy life.

    Some people say we live in a dog-eat-dog world. That means many people are competing the same things, like good jobs. They say if a person wants to be successful he has to work like a dog. This means they have to work very hard. Such hard work can make people dog-tired. And, this situation would be even worse if they became ill as a dog.

    Sometimes we should let a sleeping dog lie, which means we'd better not trouble a person who may cause problems. And if someone says you are a lucky dog, he is just saying you're very lucky.

    Still, people say every dog has its day. This means that every person enjoys a successful period during his or her life. To be successful, people Often have to learn new skills(技能) . Yet, some people say that it's always impossible to teach an old dog new skills. They believe that older people do not like to learn new things and will not change the way they do things.

    There are also some other dog expressions. The dog days of summer are the hottest of the year. A rain in summer may cool the weather. But we do not want to have a very heavy rain. In other words, we do not want it to rain cats and dogs.

    Hello, boys and girls. My name is Daniel. I am a student in No.5 Middle School. There are many clubs in our school. We can join different clubs. I like music, and I am good at singing and dancing. So I want to join the music club. What about my friends?

    Jenny and Jessica are my friends. Jenny is a nice girl. She likes playing chess very much. She wants to join the chess club. She thinks playing chess can make her smart. Do you know Jessica's hobby（爱好）：Her favorite sport is swimming. But she doesn't want to join the swimming club. She wants to join the music club, because she wants to be in the same club with me.

    Evan is also my friend. He likes Chinese a lot and he wants to join the Chinese club. He wishes to go to the Great Wall someday. He always says. "He who doesn't reach（到达）the Great Wall is not a true man. "

Information Card