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　

      Now students' English handwriting gets worse and worse. Their teachers worry about that. Is your English handwriting beautiful? If not, here are four steps that really work!

Use paper with lines 

      Using paper with lines can keep you writing straight instead of up or down when you write English words or sentences. Those lines on the paper can help you to write words in the right size. Be sure to fill the lined space completely. And remember that those capital letters are written properly.

Slow down 

If your writing is hard to read, try slowing down a little. For some kids, going a little slowly makes the handwriting clear. If you write too fast, it's hard for you to stop where you should, and even worse, you may make more mistakes.

Hold your pencil correctly 

When you hold your pencil correctly, writing is much easier. Some kids press down really hard when they write. That makes the handwriting not nice. Try to be relaxed and don't hold the pencil so hard. Let your writing appear nice and clean. If you do so, people will guess you are a student with a good habit.

Draw more pictures 

      Drawing can improve your handwriting. You need to use the skills to control your pencil better when you are drawing pictures. Even though you have no chance to draw at school, you can practice by yourself at home.

Handwriting is very important. Imagine you are a world-famous movie star or a well-known sports player, what do you do when your fans run up to you? Give them your autographs, of course!

    When you are feeling unhappy or forget how great you are, these are six ways to make you feel good about yourself.

    Look in the mirror(照镜子) and say to yourself, "I am a special person and there's no one in the world like me. I can do anything!" {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Do something nice for someone. Helping others always makes you feel good.

    Smile! {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Look for the good things in your friends and family.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Have you always wanted to decorate（装饰）your own room or learn how to swim? Go for it! New challenges are fun and give you a sense （感觉）of accomplishment（成就）when you have finished.

    Read and start a diary. Turn off the TV and let your imagination (想象) fly! {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Stay with your family. We all need our family time. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Learn something new!

B. There's something terrible in our life.

C. Talk with your Mum or Dad or maybe even your cousin.

D. It may not sound so good, but it really works!

E. Be friendly to people you meet.

F. Write down your thoughts, dreams or anything you want! Writing always helps to

    What do you know about the Northern European country of Finland（芬兰）? You may have heard of the Northern Lights(极光)and Nokia? Today Finland is also a world leader in making mobile games. The popular games Angry Birds and Clash of clans（部落冲突）are both from Finnish companies.

    Finland is not a very big country. How can it make so many world-class games?

    Innovation(改革，创新)might be the first reason. Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Finland this month. He spoke very highly of the innovation of the country. Finland gives money to help start-up companies. It even builds technology bases for them. There are now around 290 game companies in Finland.

    Finnish mobile games also stand out(突出，超群) because of the country's special Northern European art style. The style is mainly about being simple. It's a tradition of Finnish design. You many also see it in clothes, furniture and even buildings. In the game Angry Birds, the birds and pigs look very simple but cute at the same time. They easily interest the players.

根据短文内容，回答下列各题

    With the rapid development of science and technology, communication methods of people have changed a lot in the past years.

    As we all know, in ancient times, people communicated with people who were far from them only by letters, which took a very long time to get the message.

    In the 19th century, telegraph was invented, but it was not widely used, letter is still the main method at that time. In1836, John Coker invented the first electromagnetic telegraph(电磁电报机) in the world, then telegraph appeared and was popular, which was much faster than letter, bringing great convenience to people.

    As time goes by, telephones become increasingly widely used. Now, the phone has been developed as mobile phone, fixed telephone, Internet telephone and other kinds, being an essential communication tool in the modern information society.

    In addition, network communication is popular as well. It is especially widely welcomed by the youths. A great number of people communicate with others on the Internet by using software, such as email, QQ, WeChat, bbs, MSN and so on. Using software is easy. A computer which is connected to the network is enough. In China, WeChat has become the most popular communication software nowadays. WeChat, known as Weixin in Chinese, is a mobile phone text and voice messaging communication software which is developed by Tencent. People can make video calls that not only can hear the sound, but also can see the people you talk to.