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When settlers (移民）came to America during the 1600s, they were surprised to find so many trees. Some trees were so huge that a large man could not put his arms around them. Those trees helped the settlers a lot. They were glad and thankful to have these trees. They used them to build houses and make fire. From the wood of the trees, they made furniture, tools and so on.

Most people thought the forests would last forever. However, by 1800, America had its first wood shortage (短缺). How did it happen? People had not known that trees were being cut down faster than new ones could grow.

Some American people made trips to foreign countries. There they saw destroyed forests and learnt the importance of protecting forests. They came back to the United States and warned that if Americans didn't use trees more carefully and wisely, someday the forests would all be gone. However, people were not ready to listen. Years went by, and America's forests kept disappearing. It made some people really worried. But they did nothing.

Finally, J. Sterling Morton, the man who is remembered as the father of Arbor Day (过节), got people to listen. He named a Tree-Planting Day, or Arbor Day. He worked hard to make Arbor Day a national holiday. On that day, people usually plant a lot of trees.

Today, millions of trees have been planted in the United States because of Arbor Day. Arbor Day is such a good idea that many other countries now also have Arbor Day. Many, many trees are being planted all over the world because of J. Sterling Morton's work.

When is your favorite time? Lily goes to school from Monday to Friday. And lunchtime isher favorite time. 

Lily loves the school lunch. Some students don't like the school lunch, because they thinkit's not good. They bring(带来) their lunch to school. Their mothers make(做) hamburgers orsalad for them for lunch. Some students bring leftovers(剩饭菜) for lunch. But Lily doesn't!She thinks the school lunch is good. Her lunch is only $1.35. She can buy good and healthyfood. She has lunch with her friends. Boys can have lunch with girls. They like to talk about(谈论) their favorite subjects, their favorite teachers and their favorite days. After lunch, they liketo play games.

At school, Lily likes lunchtime. For Lily, her school days are very happy. 

One day, I saw Harry sitting under a tree. He looked very sad. So I asked him what was wrong. " Nothing, " he said. "I'm too short to join the school basketball team. "" And our PE teacher thinks I have little hope to be in the team in half a year, " he added. " Why not join another team?"I asked. " But my dream is to be an excellent basketball player in the future, " he said. He told me his father wanted him to change his idea to join the school ping- pong team. " Good idea, "I agreed. " You're sure to be excellent, because you have a smart head. " The next day, he joined the school ping- pong team. He worked harder than any other boy. Soon he was very popular in the team and looked happy every day. Last month, in the city's middle school ping- pong match, he and his team won the championship(冠军). 

Sometimes your dream may not come true. Then make a small change, and it will bring you another success. 

 Frank is a nice American boy. He is a fourteen-year-old middle school student. His school is big, clean and beautiful, so he likes it very much. There are many nice trees and flowers in it. Frank' s classroom is on the second floor of a brown teaching building. There are twenty-four students in Frank's class. Frank has to study different subjects, and geography is his favorite subject. His geography teacher is David Green, a short and interesting man. He says it's fun to study rivers, lakes and mountains with Mr. Green.

He also likes computer science, and the computer classroom is his favorite place. There is a computer for every student. Students can use computers to finish their homework, but they can't play computer games in class. Some computer lessons are difficult for Frank and he always studies them hard(努力地). Computer science is very important to Frank, because he wants to work in a big computer company (公司).