Mary is an English girl. She's six years old(岁). Her mother takes her to school in the morning and brings her home in the afternoon. She likes her nice school. She likes her teachers, too.

    One day, she says (说) to her mother, "Mum, we have a new girl in our class today, Her name is Kim. She's six years old, too. She's very nice, but she isn't English. She is German(德国人)".

    "Does she speak (说) English"?

    "No, but she laughs(笑) in English", Mary says happily(高兴地).

    I have a problem. Her name is Luca, We do not see eye to eye.

    Like yesterday, we saw the number 9,999. She said, "All those nines. They feel so.... so purple!?"

    Purple? I saw it as logical and orderly. Not as colours. I think Luca and I live in different universes.

    But we have to do a report on the Statue of Liberty I really doubt if I can work with her.

    At our first meeting on Friday, we come up with a plan. She will make a Statue of Liberty, and I'll write the report. But on Monday, with only one week until our report is due, she tells me she's leaving to visit her great-grandfather for six days, because he's ill. It means that I, the one who can't even draw a stick figure, will have to make the statue. And she, the one who doesn't like to think logically, will have to write the report.

    "Please be at my house at 2:00 on Sunday," I say. I cross my fingers.

    While she's gone, I spend lots of hours making the sculpture according to some directions I find online.

    Sunday at 2:00 arrives, and Luca is late. Finally, I see her skipping down the sideway, carrying only a small piece of equipment.

    "What's that?" I ask." Where's the report?"

    "It's a digital recorder," she says." A report didn't feel right, so I did something else."

    I try to keep my voice calm as I say," But this is not about feelings. I's about the Statue of Liberty. Statues don't have feelings." Our project is due tomorrow. We're doomed.

    "Statues don't have feelings, but my great-grandfather does." Luca says.

    Now I am quite sure that we're from two different universes because I have no idea about what she's talking about.

    "I interviewed him about when he came to America and saw the Statue of Liberty," she continues." Listen." She turns on the recording.

    A scratchy voice comes on." In Hungary, I had no food and hoped to go to America, where I could eat, have a better life. Finally I got on the ship. Then the sunshine started. Oh! There she was, Lady Liberty. Like hope itself All of us cried. All my life, I remember that feeling, of seeing the Lady.""

    Looking at Luca, I think awhile. "You are right. That's what the Statue of Liberty is all about. Who says a report has to be on paper?" I say quietly. And a smile spreads over her face.

    Can you imagine what happens while we are making the presentation the next day? When Luca's great-grandfather says" All my life, I remember that feeling, of seeing the Lady," everyone is staring at our statue, quiet.

    Xie Wanying (October 5, 1900-Febrary 28.1999), better known by her pen name Bing Xin, was oneof the most well-known Chinese writers of the 20^th century. Many ofher works were written for young readers. Her pen nameBing Xin carries the meaning of a pure heart, and is taken from a line in aTang Dynasty poem by Wang Changling.

    Bing Xin was born in Fuzhou, Fujian, but moved toShanghai with her family when she was seven months old, and later moved yetagain to the coastal port city of Yantai, Shandong, when she was four.Such a move had akey influence on Bing Xin's personality and philosophy (哲学)of love and beauty, as the hugeness and beauty of the sea greatly opened youngBing Xin's mind and heart. It was also in Yantai, Bing Xin first began to readthe classics of Chinese literature, such asRomance of the Three KingdomsandWater Margin, when she was just seven.

    In 1913, Bing Xin moved to Beijing. She started herwriting career as she wrote for a school newspaper at Yanjing University whereshe was a student and published her first novel. Bing Xin graduated fromYanjing University in 1923 with a bachelor's degree, and went to the UnitedStates to study at Wellesley College, earning a master's degree at Wellesley inliterature in 1926. She then returned to Yanjing University to teach until1936.

    In 1929, she married Wu Wenzao, her good friend whenthey were studying in the United States. In literature, Bing Xin founded the"Bing Xin Style" as a new literary style. Shecontributed a lot to children's literature in China such asA Myriad ofStars (1923),Spring Water (1923),Six-one sister(1924),ToYoung Readers (1926),Homeward South (1931),The Collected Worksof Bing Xin(1932-1933). Bing Xin's literary career was productive. Shewrote a lot of works — prose, poetry, novels, reflections and so on. There is aBing Xin Literature Museum in Changle in Fujian Province. The Bing XinChildren's Literature Award is named in her honour.

What do you usually do on Saturday? I usually go to Michael's Farm (农场) to see my grandfather and my cousins on Saturday. Michael is just my grandfather's name. 

It's far from my home to Michael's Farm. This Saturday, my friends Eric and Jim go there with me. At 10: 00 am, we start off by bike. We take a lot of food and drinks with us because we want to have lunch on our way to the farm. First, we ride on Blue Road for one and a half hours. Next, we have lunch under a tree near a crossing. After lunch, we turn left at the crossing and ride on Sky Road for another (再一的) hour to get to my grandfather's farm. Along the way, we are tired (疲劳的) but happy. 

My grandfather lives in a big farmhouse. He is very happy to see us. We help him water vegetables, feed (喂) animals and do some cleaning. We play games with my cousins. My grandfather cooks lots of food for us. 

We have a good time with my grandfather and my cousins on Michael's Farm. The next morning, we ride back home.

My English learning began in primary school. I was happy to say sentences like: "What's your name? "and to answer this question with "My name is Renato". 

I felt I was not a little boy any more because I could understand a foreign language. English was so wonderful for me. For the first time，I was able to understand my favourite English songs. How great it was!

After finishing middle school，my family couldn't pay for my study in an English school. My mother gave me some advice. "What about learning English by reading books and singing songs? "she said. Then I started reading books in English and using songs as a way of learning English. 

Three years later，I found a job and sometimes I talked to some foreign people. One day，I lost my job unluckily. I decided to go back to school to learn English. 

Now，I still love English. I use TV，music and the Internet to learn English. These things help me to improve both my listening and speaking. I hope I will have more chances to use this language in the future. I also hope more people can love it. 

Liu Mei has some e-friends. The table below(下面的表格) is some information(信息) of her e-friends.