Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland, is famous for its festivals. There are twelve festivals around the year. Half of them are celebrated during the months of July and August.Thousands of people visit it. Here are some of the events（公开活动）you can enjoy in Edinburgh.

Edinburgh International Festival

The first Edinburgh International Festival was planned during World War II for artists to find hope and communicate with each other. Later, actors, musicians, dancers and singers from all over world came over to give performances.

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

This is one of the largest art festival in the world. There are thousands of shows across the city. It was first held as a supplement（补充）to the Edinburgh International Festival. Then it developed very well. Anyone can perform in the festival and many artists take part in it. During the festival, you can go to the Royal Mile to watch performances for free.

Edinburgh International Book Festival

It began in 1983. It is the largest book festival in the world. It is held every year in Charlotte Square Gardens in the center of Edinburgh. There are over 700 event for kids and adults who love books. You can meet many writers, talk to them or ask them to sign a book. Kids also like it because they can listen to stories and watch artists draw pictures of the stories.

C

B

Venus is close to Earth．It is the second planet from the Sun．Earth is the third planet from the Sun．Venus is similar to Earth in size and mass (质量).It is often described as Earth's“sister”.

    Scientists have been learning about Venus for a long time．First they looked at Venus through telescopes(望远镜)．But Venus is covered with thick(厚的)clouds．Scientists could not see Venus well through the clouds．So they made guesses about it．

    For a long time, scientists thought that Venus had water and plants．They thought Venus might have animals，too．But they didn't know for sure．

    Then scientists found a way to learn more about Venus．In the 1960s，they began sending probes (航天探测器) to Venus．The probes flew through the thick clouds．They took pictures of Venus up close．They found out many things ,too．The probes sent the pictures and things they found out back to the scientists．

    The scientists learned a lot from the probes．First they learned that most of their guesses were not right．And they learned that Venus is very hot．

    After that，scientists knew they could not send people to Venus．But they still wanted to know more about it．So they sent new probes．These new probes took great pictures of the planet．The pictures showed that Venus has plains(平原)and mountains! And in some ways，Venus looks like Earth．

{#blank#}1{#/blank#}Sam wants to have fun playing in the water and he likes playing beach volleyball.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#}Jim likes watching dolphin shows and he also wants to ride on the roller coaster.

{#blank#}3{#/blank#}Kate would like to go to a theme park. Micky Mouse is her favorite.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#}William decides to visit a museum，he wants to see an IMAX film there.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Nancy is a nature lover. She prefers to watch wild animals.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}, there is always a reason to smile and be happy.

    Some of the biggest trees started off as the smallest seeds,{#blank#}2{#/blank#}.

    Life may fly by in the blink of an eye,{#blank#}3{#/blank#}.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}, sadness too, I have felt it all, ever since I met you.

    There are two sides to every story,{#blank#}5{#/blank#}.

    Hello, boys and girls, please look at me. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. My name is Lucy. This is my head. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} I have two eyes and they're very big. I have two hands and two legs. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} It's a robot, too. Her name is Lily. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. Her head is small and square (方形的). She has one eye, and it's small. She has no hands, but she has four legs. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}.