When people travel abroad(国外), they sometimes stay in the homes of the local people. This is a homestay.

    I am living with an old English couple, in the west of London. They have a clean four-bedroom house. This is a new house. It has two bathrooms and a garden with many beautiful flowers. I have a bedroom of my own.

   There are some shopping centres and a restaurant near the house, and the house is close to an underground station. It takes about 30 minutes to take an underground to the centre of London.

    I think a homestay may be a good choice for you if it is your first time to visit abroad. The local people are friendly and helpful. If you want to celebrate the holidays with them, you will get to know more about their culture and customs.

    In northern Scotland there is a long deep lake called Loch Ness.  More than 200 meters deep, it is the largest lake in the UK.  People  say  a  big monster (怪兽)  lives in its dark, cold waters. It weighs more than 1,000 kilos and is at least ten meters long. Some people say it has a head like a horse. Others say it looks like a snake. Many people travel to Loch Ness to look for this strange monster, but only a few people have seen it. At least, they say they have seen it.

    The Loch Ness Monster is a famous legend (传说). The first story about a monster in Loch Ness was told over 500 years ago, but the legend of the monster spread widely only in the twentieth century. In 1933, a husband and wife reported that they saw a big monster in Loch Ness. Several people have taken photos, but at least one of them was a hoax (骗局). During the 1960s, a team was formed to look for the monster. They took many photos and made movies, but they were never able to find a monster.

    There is no real fact that a monster lives in Loch Ness, but there is also no fact that one doesn't live. One thing is true about Loch Ness: there are a lot of tourists there.

Last week I had a pretty good vacation with my family. We had great fun playing in different places. On Monday, the weather was sunny and hot. We went to White Beach and _______ (swim) in the water. On Tuesday, it was cloudy and humid(潮湿的).We visited two museums in Central Park. We saw many old things. On Wednesday and Thursday, it was rainy and windy. We walked in the city. We bought some interesting things and ate some delicious food. On Friday, the weather was cool. We went hiking in the mountains.我们很累但是感到很高兴。I really enjoyed my vacation.

{#blank#}1{#/blank#}Sara likes to make friends with popular people, because she finds it easier to communicate with them.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#}When Jane is happy, she likes to talk to everyone in her class. But when she feels sad, she doesn't even say "hi" to anyone.

{#blank#}3{#/blank#}Paul is poor in his study, and he always feels shy to talk with others, so he has very few friends.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#}When Peter feels uncomfortable talking with someone, he often looks here and there.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Susan is a good student, but she is never sure what to talk about when she stays with others.

    Who's building the new China? It's not the factory owners or the business men and women of China. It's someone else. We see them every day. They work day and night in the terrible working conditions and weather. They build the roads, the theatres, the cinemas and the supermarkets, They even clean up our rubbish. They are China's migrant workers(民工).

    More than 140 million workers have left their homes in the countryside to look for jobs in big cities all over China. They hope to be rich, but they realize they have many difficulties in making enough money. And one of the difficulties that these workers have is the discrimination(歧视)from the people in cities. Migrant workers are living far away from those who they love. Yes, they dress differently, they speak differently, and they have different habits, but they work hard. The people in cities treat them as outsiders, and most governments don't want to give them medical care and public schooling for their children. If China hopes to move into the future, many things need to change. The first is discrimination！We need to stop our discrimination！They may not make as much money as some people do in cities, but they are good honest people just trying to survive this game of life. These workers are very important and necessary to China's economic(经济)development and have become an important force for the change of Chinese society. They are building the new China, so we should help them.

    How do you usually go on a trip? By car, by train or by plane? {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Do you know why?

    First, I like trains because I can walk in them, and don't need to always sit (坐) there. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Second, I can know much more about China because there are many people on the train. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Third, I can play games on my computer or on my cellphone (手机), but on a plane I can't do that. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} I don't need much time to get to the place I want to go. I don't like buses, because they are always crowded (拥挤的), and they stop many times on the way. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} So many people like going on a trip by train. What about you?