To:      tss_liam@kidstarmail.net

Subject: Hello!

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Hi, Liam!

      So you're my new pen friend. Let me tell you a bit about myself. I'm 14 years old and I live in Calgary, CanadaI have two older brothers, Brian and Sam. I'm the only girl.

      I love sports and I'm always looking for exciting new hobbies to try. I like playing baseball in winter.

      It's fun beating the boys! But summer is my favourite time of the year. I love skateboarding and rock climbing in summer.

     Skateboarding's great because it's so fun and easy to learn! I often skateboard after school. There are many placesin the park where I can do stunts. I'm good at stunts like jumping and turning the skateboard!

     Rock climbing is also really fun. I usually climb with my dad on weekends. We can't do it on real mountains very often because we live in the city. We do indoor rock climbing instead but it's not as challenging.

    So that's me! How about you? Please write back soon!

Bye for now!

Anne　

B

    Charles Lane loves playing all kinds of games．He has loved games all his life．He has always been interested in computers too．Today,his love of games and his interest in computers come together in his work．Charles works for a company that makes video games．

    Charles never dreamed of working is a video game company．"It all started by accident(偶然)"he said．"One of my friends worked for a video game company．He knew how much I loved games，and he told me about a job．It sounded like fun．"It was a job as a video game tester(测试员)．

    When a video game company has a new game，they give it to testers．Testers play the game and look for bugs(程序错误)in it．The company wants to find and fix(修补)all the bugs before they sell the game．

    Video game testers need to have good computer skills.They need to understand how computers work．Charles did not have great computer skills when he went for the job interview(求职面试)，so he was nervous．However,the interviewers said，"That's OK．We can teach someone to use a computer,but we can't teach someone to love games．"

    Charles worked as a video game tester for three years．Now he is a video game producer(制作人)．This means that he works on every part of developing a new game．He really enjoys his work．He says,"It's really a great job．I'm sure it'll give me what I need to live a happy life and have a good future"

根据材料内容完成下列任务。

How to be a good student

    As teenagers, how to be a good student? In my opinion, there are a lot of things we should do.

    Firstly, live a healthy life. We should have healthy eating habits.  Do more exercise to keep healthy. Secondly, have a good study habit. We should listen to the teacher carefully; try our best to finish homework on time. Thirdly, try to be an honest student. Don't tell lies and never cheat in class. Finally, obey the school rules. Don't go swimming alone without permission. Never take the mobile phones to school. Don't fight with others. Last but not least, we should be polite to the teachers and classmates.

    I hope we all become good students.

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Should mobile phones be allowed at school?

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Some mobile phones are more than just phones-they are being used as radios, cameras and MP4 players, and they are also used to send e-mails or surf the Internet. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    People have different ideas about whether students should use mobile phones at school or not, {#blank#}3{#/blank#} If their parents have something important to tell then, they can call their teachers for help. If someone's mobile phone rings during a Chinese class, he and his classmates can't concentrate on what the teacher is saying. Some parents also point out that their children often use their mobile phones to download(下载） unhealthy information from the Internet. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Other people believe that we can find some ways to use mobile phones to help students learn better in the classroom, since many of today's mobile phones are like mini computers. And children usually know more than adults about how to use new technology. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    What are your answers to the question?

    More than one million international students are studying in the United States. Many of them find it helpful to have a smart phone and an American credit card(信用卡).

    These things make it easy to pay for many kinds of goods and services. But getting a credit card as an international student is not a simple process. Normal US lenders ask for a social security number(社会保障号码). In addition, they ask to see a person's credit history. This helps the lenders fully believe that someone is responsible and make timely payments. These are the things most international students do not have.

    But one company is trying to make the process easier and fairer for them.

    Jack Guo is from China. He now studies at a university in California. He says having an American credit card makes it easier for students to get around town. And, he says, credit cards are important for international students who hope to live in the country in the future.

    Kalpesh Kapadia came from India to study at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He faced the same difficulties that many international students face when trying to get an American credit card. He decided to open SelfScore(万事达信用卡).

    Without asking for credit history and a social security number, SelfScore looks at materials such as passports，visas, and acceptance letters to American schools. The company also considers a student's ability to pay.

    About 10, 000 international students from more than 66 countries now have credit cards through SelfScore. Kalpesh says less than one percent of SelfScore's credit card holders are late for their payments because of different kinds of reasons.