Dear Li Lei,

    How are things going? 

    Last week I went to Kunming with my family. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} The weather was nice and warm. We stayed in a nice hotel（宾馆）with a large yard. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} We went swimming a lot. That was interesting. We had meals in the hotel, too. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} We also ate a lot of fruits like bananas, pears and pineapples (菠萝).

    On Friday, we went to Shilin by bus. The mountains were very beautiful and I took lots of photos. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} The clothes in the shops were very nice! I liked them very much. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Mother told me not to buy any. And I was not happy. But I enjoyed the trip to Kunming.

    What about your trip?

    I hope all is well with you.

Yours,
Han Meimei

A. There was a swimming pool in the hotel.

B. I wanted to buy some.

C. The next day we went shopping.

D. I had a wonderful time there.

E. The food was delicious.

      Grace was fourteen years old and was in Grade Eight. She had a part-time job, so she had to get up at five o'clock. She was a newspaper girl.

      Each morning, Grace left the house at 5:15. She always rode a bike to the corner to carry the newspapers.

      In winter it was still dark when she got up, but during the rest of the day it was bright. Grace had to send newspapers to people's houses in all kinds of weather. She tried to put each paper in the box where it would be kept safe from wind, rain or snow. Her customers thought she did a good job. Sometimes they gave her tips(小费).

      Grace made about $70 each month and she was saving some of the money to go to college. She spent the rest on tapes and clothes. Once a month she got the money from her customers together. Since many of them worked during the day, Grace had to get the money at night. Sometimes when Grace was ill, her elder brother had to send the newspapers and Grace's father had to help her.

      Grace had 70 customers now, but she hoped to get more later. Some day, if she got more customers, perhaps Grace could win a prize for being a very good newspaper girl. She wanted to win a visit to Europe, but she would be happy if she won a new bike.

    Stephen Hawking was born in England in 1942. He's one of the most famous scientists on space and time in the world. He is called the King of the Universe.

    He studied math and science at Oxford University, then he became seriously ill, which made him unable to speak or breathe without the help of machines.

    He went on to study at Cambridge University after graduating from Oxford University. In 1965, he got a Doctor's Degree of philosophy（哲学）. Because of his serious illness, it was difficult for him to draw diagrams or to write. So he started to think in pictures. With this new way of thinking, he is respected by people in the world. Then in 1988, he wrote his first important book, A Brief History of Time. It was sold more than 5.5 million copies in over 33 different languages. He was once invited to China to give lectures（做演讲）. His self-confidence and humouous conversations impressed us deeply.

    Back in the old days, young men were expected to go out and find jobs to support their families. Most boys dropped out of school(辍学) early, and went to get jobs as teenagers. Some just aged 13 became factory workers or farmers.  

    When Mark Twain finished the fifth grade, he left school and went to work at a printing shop. Thomas Edison got his first job when he was 12. He was a newspaper boy. This way, Mark Twain and Edison were able to help their families financially (经济上), since they did not come from wealthy homes. 

    Although they went to work at a young age, they didn't give up their dreams. Mark Twain tried many different jobs in his life, and he got a lot of experiences which he used as foundations (根据) of his stories. Thomas Edison came up with the ideas of his inventions while calling out the news headlines (标题). 

    No matter what job you are doing, you may find you are preparing for the future. Take every chance you can, and maybe one day you will become the next Mark Twain or Thomas Edison!