The ostrich is the largest bird in the world. The ostrich is found in nature in Africa, but it is raised all over the world for its meat.

    The ostrich is a unique（独特的）looking animal. It has long skinny legs, a big body with small wings, a long neck, and a dangerous long beak（喙）.Even though it has wings, it can't fly. But they aren't completely useless either. They help a lot with balance when the ostrich is running at full speed and needs to change directions. The ostrich usually weighs between 200 and 300 pounds and can grow to 9 feet tall. Its large body is covered with feathers.

    The ostrich is famous for its speed on the ground. Its powerful legs allow it to reach speeds of 40 miles per hour! Ostriches can also use their strong legs to kick any enemy or even kill a human or a lion. However, in most cases the ostrich just use its speed to run away from any danger.

    Ostriches eat whatever they can find. This includes plants ,insects, and small animals like lizards. They often live in groups. A group will have around ten birds, but some groups even have 100 birds. This way the whole group can help to protect the eggs. Ostrich eggs are the biggest eggs of any animal at an average of 3 pounds.

    Ostriches don't actually put their head in the ground as many cartoons like to show. What they really do is to lie down and put their head and neck flat on the ground to hide. From a distance all you can see is their body, so it appears as if they have put their head in a hole in the ground. Ostriches can not only kick with powerful feet, they are also armed with 4 inch long claws（爪）on their feet.

Have you ever been to Holland（荷兰）? If you live in Japan and you have never been to Holland, you should go to Huis Ten Bosch（豪斯登堡）. Huis Ten Bosch is an amusement park near Nagasaki（长崎）in Japan. All the houses there look like the houses in Holland. All the restaurants have famous food from Holland, such as cheese.

Huis Ten Bosch is really big. There are five large hotels there. The park has an old-fashioned train, many buses and taxis, and several boats for people to travel around. Most of the buses and taxis are more than 80 years old. For people who like shopping, there are many stores where you can buy the souvenirs from Holland. For people who like movies, there are many movie theaters. One of them shows cartoons all day. Athletic visitors can enjoy ice skating, tennis and swimming. For people who are interested in animals, there's wonderful zoo. The zoo has many animals from South America, especially Peru（秘鲁）. If you want to visit the amusement park, you have to take a boat. There are many boat rides for visitors to Huis Ten Bosch.

    Scientists are trying to turn deserts into usable land again. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}, so people can live and grow food. They are learning a lot about deserts. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Scientists may not be able to change these deserts. People are doing bad things to our planet.

    Some places don't get much rain. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. This is because green plants are growing there. Small green plants and grass are very helpful for dry places. Plants don't let the hot sun make the soil too dry. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. When a little bit of rain falls, the plants hold the water. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}, land can turn to desert much more easily.

    There are some skills for students to listen to the teachers in class, which means you're going to have to practice them. Just as you would have to practice basketball to be a better player, you also have to practice listening. How to listen in school? {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    One of the things you'll need to do is to make sure that your mind doesn't wander(漫游). It's easy to start thinking about other things, especially when you are not interested in the subject. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

   Next, listen for the main ideas. If you want to catch every little piece of information, you'll feel tired and bored. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Not only does this show respect to the teacher, it also helps prevent your mind from wandering. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Or it could just be someone talking to their neighbors who shouldn't be, it can even be some birds outside the classroom window, or a group of kids who are talking loudly as they pass the door to your room.

    Finally, you need to take notes because you will not remember everything the teacher said. You'll have to take down the notes so that you can study it after class. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Listening isn't always easy, but if you follow these simple steps, you'll be much more successful in your classes.

    Here is a picture of my birthday party. My friends and I are all very happy at the party. Peter is eating the birthday cake. My mother makes it for us and it's delicious. My sister Molly is singing. And Selina is playing the guitar for her. Selina's father is a music teacher and he teaches Selina to play the guitar. Dave is talking about basketball with my brother. Where am I? I'm in front of Dave.