China covers large areas and has a great population. Different living habits have always been an interesting topic in the country. Recently, another difference between southern Chinese and northern Chinese became a hot one: the way people shop at markets.

    People from southern China say that they always buy what they need for just one or two meals. It is normal for them to buy half of a Chinese cabbage, two potatoes and 0.25 kilogram of beef at a time.

    However, one may be laughed at if he does this in the north. Instead, buying vegetables and meat enough for a week is usual. Also, you can buy a small amount (数量) of fruit, such as a single apple or pear, each time in the south. Shop owners even help you peel and cut them. But shop owners in the north hardly offer such service. And many fruits are sold in baskets and boxes.

    The difference could be due to the different weather.

    Food can be kept for a long time in the north, as it is usually cold and dry there. Many northern Chinese have the habit of storing food, especially for the long winter. But the hot and wet weather in the south makes southern Chinese buy just enough food for one meal or one day, or else the food may go bad.

It's 5 o'clock. Sean Murphy is on his way home from work. He is tired and the bus is full, but when he thinks of seeing his lovely family at home, his heart is full of joy again.

"I want to see my wife, my children and my mother," he thinks. "But first of all I want to sit on the sofa. I want to relax and read a good book."

Finally Mr. Murphy is at home. He is very tired now but he is happy. He says hello to his family. Then he sits down on the sofa, stretches(伸展)his legs and lifts up his book.

"Now I can relax," he thinks and smiles. But Mr. Murphy is not alone in the room. His mother is playing the guitar and his wife is playing the piano. His two younger children are fighting and his two older children are arguing about the television. And the pots and pans are bubbling on the cooker(炊具).

It's the same every day. Poor Murphy is very unhappy. He talks to his friend about his problem at a bus stop.

Mr. Murphy's friend listens to him carefully. Then he says: "Go and see Linda McCormack! She is a very clever woman. She knows the answer to everything."

Mr. Murphy thinks it worth(值得)a try. The next day, when he gets home, he doesn't go into the house as usual. He goes to the garage(车库)and gets on his bike.

     Once there was a good vegetable patch (菜地), and there grew a very big tree. Both the vegetables and the tree 1 the place wonderful. But no one knew that the vegetables in the patch and the tree couldn't 2 each other for a long time. The vegetables didn't like the tree's shade (树荫) because it stopped them from getting enough 3. The tree, on the other hand, hated the vegetables. The 4 was that the vegetables drank nearly all the water before it could get to him, leaving him a little water.

     They kept this situation 5 the vegetables got completely bored with the tree one day. Then they decided to use up all the water in the ground so that the tree would die.

     What would the tree do? Without question, the tree answered back 6 refusing to shade the vegetables from the sun. It was so hot that the vegetables became dry. Before long, all of them 7died.

     At that time, the vegetables and the tree realized that it was 8to help each other than to fight. They learned that they should 9 those around them. From then on, they decided to work together, using both the shade and the water to grow. Before long, they together showed 10 a beautiful picture.

Something unexpected happened in the summer of my eleventh year. The home I had grown up in burned to the ground in the middle of the night. Thankfully, my mom, dad, grandma, brothers and I escaped along with my dogs. Yet, we had nothing but the night clothes we were sleeping in. I spent the rest of that night with a friend of my family. I tried unsuccessfully to sleep in the bed in his house. I was too scared.

    The next day my mom brought me a few T-shirts and pairs of jeans that another friend gave to her. One pair of them was too short and the other pair was too long, but I didn't care. At least I had some clothes again. My dad returned to our broken home to see what he could find. The only thing he could save was my mom's rings.

    To spend the summery dad rented us a big house on the same road as our old house had been. As we moved in, our friends and our community continued to donate (捐赠) all they could to help us to get back on our feet. There were more clothes, furniture, food money, and even some books for me to read. Love was around us.

    Looking back now I am thankful for all we went through that summer because it taught me so much about life, love and people. It showed me that when you have nothing left but love, for the first time you see that love is enough.

My name is Nancy. I'm twelve years old. I'm from China. I am a middle school student. I'm in Class Three. I like green and blue. This is my new friend. Her name is Wendy. She is thirteen years old. She is from England. We are friends, but we are in different classes. Wendy is in Class Four. She likes red and yellow. She is a good student. All the students and teachers in her class like her. Wendy likes swimming, and she often swims after school. I can't swim. I like basketball and football. I often play basketball with my sister in the afternoon. 

We like animals very much. I have a dog, and she has a cat. Where are we now? Oh, we are in the park. We are playing with our dog and cat.