It's Sunday morning. Peter and his friends had a great plan for the weekend, but the weather is bad.

Sarah: We have to change (改变) our plan for the weekend. What about going to the museum?

Sheila: I' m sorry. I don't want to go to the museum.

John: Well, how about going to the cinema?

Peter: That's a good idea. What's on at the Palladium?

Sarah: Smurfs The Lost village. It's a very interesting new cartoon movie.

Peter: How boring! I always feel bored with such cartoon movies. I think they are for little kids.

John: Well, an exciting movie is also on at the Palladium, The Fate of the Furious. I always love action movies.

Sarah: I heard it was fantastic. Let's go to see it.

Peter: OK. Action movies are my favorite.

Sheila: Great. Let's buy the tickets online now.

    Esperanza lives in a poor Latino(拉丁美洲的) neighbourhood in Chicago, America. She dreams of having her own house one day. Her parents told her that when they moved from their last house, they would have a new and shiny(亮闪闪的) house. But the house is small and old.

    Many people live in Mango Street, in a big old house, Esperanza lives behind it with her family. A lot of the people who have come from Mexico don't speak English. Many miss their home country. Esperanza understands their sadness, but she also feels at home in America. She is an American, but her roots(根) will always be Latino.

    Esperanza is young. Like her friends, she has to grow up fast. She is stuck between being a girl and being a woman. In the poor and dangerous area where she lives, this is difficult for her. Mexican people usually live in a close neighbourhood. This means that people live packed(挤塞的) in together. Everyone knows everyone else. So Esperanza knows other older girls that do things she is not comfortable doing. It is just a fact of her life.

    But Esperanza has good friends too. She becomes friends with two sisters named Lucy and Rachel. They ride bikes and have adventures(冒险) together. Esperanza is also friends with a girl named Alicia. Alicia is afraid of the rats in her apartment. She shares her poems with Esperanza.

It was Saturday. After dinner, Mary would like to see a film with her 1 . But her mother said, "Could you please do the dishes, Mary? I have to go to 2 your brother."

Mary's brother Mike was ill in3 . Her father worked in another town and he was very

4 and couldn't come back. Mary had to help her mother do some chores. But her mother usually did everything and Mary didn't know 5 to do it.

Mary decided to 6 her friend a call first. On the phone, she told her friend to wait for her at home. Then Mary's mother7 her how to do the dishes. Before 8 , Mary's mother said, "Be9 , Mary. Don't drop them."

"Don't 10 , Mommy," said Mary. "They're light. I don't think they'll hurt my feet."

Jenny is my good friend. She likes sports very much. She plays tennis twice a week and she plays ping—pong three times a week. She also likes English. She reads English every morning. She goes to the movies with her mother once a month. She hardly ever watches TV at home. She does her homework every day.