This week, our topic is pollution. What are the answers to all of our pollution problems? We asked two experts to give their views.

    ◇Forest Smith is a member of Green First, an environmental group.

    Our future on the Earth looks very bad. We are dumping waste on our land. We can't breathe the fresh air. The sea is polluted too.

    I visited some relatives recently in a small village. They grow their own food and cycle everywhere. They are not wealthy, but they are happy and healthy.

    We must close the factories producing useless products. That will reduce rubbish and air pollution. We must recycle more, give up all cars, and improve public transport.

    A big problem is overpopulation in big cities. We must give up big cities and factories, and go back to a simple way of life.

    ◇John Green is a scientist at a university.

    Things are not as bad as Forest says. We'll have a bright future. We don't need to give up cars but we need to invent better, cleaner engines.

    This won't stop the problem of traffic jams. So we need better public transport. We should also recycle more.

    But some things are getting better. My sister returned last month after living abroad for five years. She said, “Our old neighbourhood doesn't look the same as before－it is cleaner and greener now.”

    In a word, science has brought many improvements to our life.

{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Alex does well at school. He is always ready to help teachers and his classmates.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Ben plays most ball games well. He is also the leader of the school football team.

{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Ellen often does housework at home. She wants to make the classroom clean and tidy.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Sarah likes talking with foreigners in English. She can get good scores in the English test.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Edward is good at playing the violin. Last year, he played it in the school Art Festival.

A. The cleaning monitor              B. The music monitor

C. The class monitor                  D. The PE monitor

E. The English monitor                F. The math monitor

An American in Beijing Lives His Chinese Dream

    Wearing his bright red armband (袖章) and speaking fluent Mandarin (普通话), 62-year-old Terry could be taken for any regular Chinese man from a distance.

    His Chinese name is Gao Tianrui. He became interested in Chinese culture as a teenager when he read the Tao Te Ching by Laozi. At 18, he took a ship to Taiwan to learn Chinese. On the ship the captain advised him to have a Chinese name." He named me Gao Tianrui, based on the pronunciation (发音) of my English name," he said. Then he first visited Beijng in 1987 on business.

    Gao Tianrui lives in a Siheyuan with other three families. His neighbors are very helpful and friendly. Gao Tianrui once didn't know much about Chinese living habits and his neighbors helped him to overcome difficulties. Gradually, he could speak Chinese fluently.

    Having lived in Beijing for more than 20 years, Gao Tianrui has also finally achieved his Chinese dream: becoming a public security (安全) volunteer. Life as a"Xicheng Dama" has even made him an' online celebrity. Xicheng Dama is a club for volunteers, usually women in late middle-age, who roam (漫步) the streets of downtown at Beijing's Xicheng district. And now Gao Tianrui has joined their club.

    "I like helping others", he said. "I live in the Siheyuan and my neighbors and I usually help each other…This is where I live, where my friends are and where I call home."

Information Card

    Tea, coffee and cocoa are three major drinks all over the world. Tea is drunk by the largest number of people in the world. Tea, as well as silk and porcelain, began to be known by the world over a thousand years ago and has been an important Chinese export since then.

    Tea has a history of over 4, 000 years and China is the home of tea. In ancient China, tea was used as a kind of medicine, while nowadays people drink tea daily.

    Longjing, Pu'er, Wulong and Tieguanyin are all famous tea. Thanks to the mild climate and rich soil in Fujian, Zhejiang and Yunnan, tea is produced mainly in these provinces.

    The word for tea in different languages came from Chinese, like "cha'i" in Russian. And the Japanese character for tea is written exactly the same as it is in Chinese.

    Over the past centuries, Chinese people have developed their unique tea culture, which includes tea planting, tea-leaf picking, tea making, tea drinking and so on. Tea is also popular in some sayings, like "A friendship between gentlemen is like a cup of tea." In dances, songs, poems and novels, tea is often mentioned, too

    Dear Mike,

    I am so grateful you are coming to see my father at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday. Here is how you can find North Street Hospital.

    After coming to the People's Square, you walk northwards at the traffic lights and then come to the gate of East Street Park. Turn right and walk along the road. You'll find the Police Station. And then turn left and go along the road and take the second crossing on the right. Go on until you reach the end. You'll find North Street Hospital in front of you.

    I'll meet you at the gate of the hospital. I'm sure you'll have no trouble coming here.

Yours,

Wang Ping