Reading is a good hobby for all kinds of reasons. First, reading is {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (education). You can always keep yourself happy {#blank#}2{#/blank#} you like reading. You will never feel {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (boring) or tired.

Next, you can read a book anywhere—in a car, {#blank#}4{#/blank#} a plane, or even in the bathroom. All you need {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (be) a book.

    Another good reason for reading is that it is {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (use). If you read as a hobby, you will get better and better at it. And you will read {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (fast) and find it easier to understand {#blank#}8{#/blank#} you read. As your reading skills improve, you will find your schoolwork becomes much better.

    Some people say that reading is out of date. This is not true. You can read on computers, and the better you read, the better your computer skills will be.

    Good {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (learn) may become writers, too. They always have more things {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (write) about. Reading is a wonderful hobby. Why not start reading right now?

Dear Jack,

    How are you? I had great fun last Saturday, June 20th. It was a traditional festival{#blank#}1{#/blank#} (call) Dragon Boat Festival that day.

    This festival is in memory of Qu Yuan, one of{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(great) Chinese poets. He killed{#blank#}3{#/blank#}by jumping into the Miluo River on May 5th of the Lunar calendar, 278BC. People there rowed the boats{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(save) him, {#blank#}5{#/blank#}it was too late. They were very sad and then threw rice into the river to feed the fish so that they would stay away from his body.

    From then on, every year on this day, people enjoy{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(eat) zongzi once a year, but now we regard it as our daily food.

    Have you ever{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(watch) the dragon boat races on TV? It is another important part of this festival. Several{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(team) row their dragon-shaped boats as fast as they can. The first team to reach the finish line{#blank#}9{#/blank#}.

    If you have a plan to visit China next year, would you like to spend this festival {#blank#}10{#/blank#}us?

Best wishes,

Xiao Qiang

    Last year, I did not like my English class. Every class was like a bad dream. The teacher spoke so quickly {#blank#}1{#/blank#} I didn't understand her most of the time. I was afraid to ask questions because I didn't know {#blank#}2{#/blank#}to pronounce words correctly. I just hid, behind my textbook and never said {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Then one day I watched an English movie called Toy Story. I {#blank#}4{#/blank#} in love with this exciting and funny movie! So I began to {#blank#}5{#/blank#} other English movies, too. Although I could not understand everything the characters said, their body language and the expressions on their faces helped me to get the meaning. I also realized I could get the meaning {#blank#}6{#/blank#}listening for just the key words. My pronunciation improved as well by listening to the conversations in English movies. I discovered that listening to something interesting is the {#blank#}7{#/blank#}to language learnning. I also learned useful {#blank#}8{#/blank#}like "It's a piece of cake" or "It serves you right". I did not understand these sentences at first. But because I wanted to understand the story, I looked {#blank#}9{#/blank#}up in a dictionary.

    Now I really enjoy my English class. I want to learn new words and more grammar so that I can have {#blank#}10{#/blank#}better understanding of English movies.

    Happiness is for everyone. You don't need to care about those people who have beautiful houses {#blank#}1{#/blank#} large gardens and swimming pools or those who have nice cars and a lot of money and so on. Why? Because they may be unhappy.

    In fact, happiness is always around you if you put your heart into it. When you are in trouble at school, your friends and teachers will help you. When you are at home, your parents are always taking good care of your life and your {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (healthy). When you make a {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(succeed)，your friends will say congratulations to you. All these are your happiness. If you notice a bit of you, you can see that happiness is always around you.

    Happiness is not the same {#blank#}4{#/blank#} money. It's a feeling of your heart. When you are poor, you can also be very happy, {#blank#}5{#/blank#} you have something else that can't be bought with money. When you meet {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (difficult), you can say loudly you are very happy, because you have more chances to challenge {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (you). So you can't always say you are poor or you have bad {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (lucky). As the saying goes, life is {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (like) a revolving door. {#blank#}10{#/blank#} it shuts, it also opens. If you take every chance you get, you will be a happy and lucky person.

Linda learns words by {#blank#}1{#/blank#} them {#blank#}2{#/blank#} something interesting.