Peter is thirteen years old. He is in Grade Two this year. He likes to play football and watch football matches. And he often reads newspapers. He does his best to know where and when there is going to be a football match. Now Peter is having lunch. He is listening to the radio, too. He is very happy because there is going to be a nice football match on TV at four this afternoon. He wants to watch it very much. But he is going to have English and Chinese lessons. He thinks hard and finds a way.

    “ Hello, Mrs. Black,” Peter says to his teacher on the telephone, “ Peter is ill in bed. He wants to ask for half a day's leave ( 请半天假 ).”

    “ Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.” says Mrs. Black, “ But who's that?”

    “ It's my father, Mrs. Black.”

    John went to spend his summer holiday in China with his parents last year. They visited some famous cities like Beijing, Guangzhou, Kunming and Shanghai. In Beijing he visited the Great Wall, Tian'anmen Square and the Palace Museum. They also went to the zoos and the parks. The weather was fine and cool. They had a good time in the parks. They also took lots of photos there. In Guangzhou, they visited some museums. They were very interesting but kind of crowded. In Kunming the weather is never too hot in summer. They visited the Stone Forest, the Golden Temple and EXPO Garden. They climbed the Xishan Mountain. In Shanghai they went to the beach and had great fun playing in the water.

    “It's very interesting to visit China and I learned a lot about Chinese history,” John said. “If I have another chance, I'll come back to China again.”

A Faithful Dog

    More than seven hundred years ago, the Prince of Wales had a very big and brave dog called Gelert.

    One day the Prince wanted to go hunting(打猎) with his men. He told his dog to stay at home and look after his baby son. The baby was in a wooden cradle(摇篮), which was like a small bed.

    When the Prince came back from hunting, Gelert ran out to meet his master. He wagged his tail and jumped up to put his paws(爪子) on the Prince's chest. Then the Prince saw the blood(血) on Gelert's jaws(下巴) and head.

    "What have you done?" the Prince said. He rushed into his house and looked for his baby son. The cradle was lying on its side on the floor. The clothes were torn and there was blood on them.

    "So you have killed my son?" the Prince said angrily. "You unfaithful dog!" He took out his sword(剑) and killed the dog. Just as Gelert was dying, he managed ( 设法 ) to bark. Then the Prince heard a baby call to the dog. The Prince ran out of the house and saw his son lying on the ground unhurt (没受伤). Near him was a dead wolf. Then the Prince knew that Gelert had defended(保卫) the baby and killed the wolf.

    The Prince ran back into the house but it was too late. Gelert was dead. The Prince was very sad indeed. Tears ran down his face when he realized he had killed his faithful friend. The Prince carried the body of his brave dog to the top of a mountain and buried(埋葬) him there. After this, the Prince never smiled again. Every morning at dawn, he walked up the mountain and stood by the dog's grave for a few minutes.

    If you go to Mount Snowdon in Wales, people will show you where Gelert is buried. There is a sign by his grave. It reminds people of a brave and faithful dog.

    Jane Goodall is a famous scientist. For more than 40 years, Goodall lived mostly in Tanzania in East Africa, studying chimpanzees(黑猩猩).

    As a young child, Jane Goodall was interested in animals. She grew up in the English countryside and was always climbing trees or riding horses.

    When Jane was 23, she got a chance to go to Africa. Even though she had never been to college, she got a job with a famous scientist named Louis Leakey.

    One day Louis Leakey said he needed a volunteer. He needed someone to go to a lake in Tanzania to study a kind of chimpanzees. Jane was excited.

    On July 16, 1960, she began her exploration(探索).At first, the chimpanzees ran away from Jane. But with the passing of time, they got used to her being around.

    Every day, Jane would follow the chimpanzees, taking notes on their behaviour. She learned many new things about chimpanzees. She watched how a chimpanzee made a tool. She learned how some chimpanzees became good leaders. She watched animals get angry and get upset. She wrote everything down so others would understand animals as she did. She learned that if you pay really close attention to animals, you will understand what they are "saying".